February 07, 2019

[175] The Journey to Create a Brand that Stands Out with Catherine Hildner

44 minutes

At what point do you stop going it alone, and invest in help to grow your business?

In this episode, my guest, Catherine Hildner from Kitty Meow Boutique, shares her journey to craft the business she’d dreamt of.

We discuss her business journey, including her recent decision to invest in a coach, a photographer and a website developer to help her re-vamp her brand.

We also discuss the importance of working on your business instead of always working in your business – taking the time to look at the big picture.

And we discuss dealing with difficult customers – and ways you can prevent and manage difficult customer service situations.

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Highlights and quotes from this episode:

“I just love the feeling of creating something that brings someone so much joy.” {Catherine}

Developing a signature style and easily identifiable branding took Catherine several years.

“One thing I love about business is you never stop learning – you’ve got to keep moving forward.” {Jess}

Catherine’s business grew organically over time. This year she worked on solidifying long term planning, branding development and relaunched her website.

“For makers who start with a side business, we’re so focused on the small elements of it that looking at the big picture can fall by the wayside.” {Jess}

“Realising I was spending way too much time working in my business not on my business is when things really started to change.” {Catherine}

Catherine invested in her business during this phase with a coach, a photographer and a website developer to bring her vision into life.

“If you can’t get excited about your business and have passion when a customer contacts you to make an order then what are you doing in this business?” {Catherine}

Jess recommends Bernadette Jiwa’s The Fortune Cookie Principal for fostering relationships and communication with customers.

Catherine shares anecdotes about times she has managed challenging customer interactions.

“If you make a mistake you have to own it, apologise, do everything you can to make it better and learn from it and move on while implementing the lessons you learnt.” {Jess}

This situation can be stressful but it’s a way to strengthen your policies and become more confident win what’s okay and not okay in your business.

“You can ‘fire’ a client if they are not a good fit for you or you don’t think you can serve them in the way they want to be served.” {Jess}

Your routine will look different in times of stress and unexpected life events.

Check out Catherine’s business on her website – Kitty Meow Boutique.

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By Jess Van Den

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