The Business of You with Rachel Gogos

"Technology is an amazing enabler; it is people who are the key to success in distributed work."” -Sheryl Sandberg, Former COO of Meta

Ever envisioned leading your team effortlessly while sporting cozy slippers? Rachel Gogos turned this dream into reality when she founded The brandiD from the comfort of her home in 2007. Embark on Rachel's inspiring journey into remote work, a legacy spanning 17 years. The brandiD has seamlessly navigated the recent surge in remote work, emerging as a leader in the field. Here's your chance to delve into the intricacies of remote team management: 🌎 The benefits of a global reach ⏰ The challenges of team members in different time zones 👔  Maintaining work-life balance even with the always-on feeling 🔧 The essential tools for remote work success 

Join us in embracing the future of team management. Elevate your skills, foster global collaboration, and revolutionize your remote work experience.

Quotes

"The beauty of working remotely is depending on what your role is in the company, you can almost work at any time of the day when it fits your schedule."

"Building culture with a remote team is a challenge in building relationships. Close work relationships amongst people is a challenge with a remote team because you don't actually get to connect in person."

When it comes to growing your business, simplicity is key. To make more money, you don’t necessarily need to add more products–you just need to make better use of what you already have.

Tim Calise is an entrepreneur, investor, consultant, and podcast host who helps service business owners uncover the profits hidden inside their existing businesses. By the age of 25, Tim raised over $325 million for his investment company before moving on to building a 7-figure tech-enabled fitness business with his wife. 

Tim was one of the four executive team members at GymLaunch alongside Alex and Leila Hormozi, where he oversaw the development and launch of ALAN, a machine learning SaaS company. Currently, Tim helps make founders' dreams come true by implementing his Product to Profit™ Framework.

Transferring Skills from Other Industries

Tim is a big believer in what he calls talent stacking–taking his previous experiences and applying them to a new industry or problem. Launching a side business in college helped him develop his pricing and pitching skills. Working in hedge funds gave him the business and finance expertise he needed to open his first gym alongside his wife. 

From there, it was an easy jump to working with GymLaunch, where Tim’s experience nurturing leads put him in the ideal position to launch the ALAN software. After exiting from ALAN, Tim moved on to a new problem he could solve: helping service businesses create recurring revenue.

The Product to Profit™ Framework

The goal behind GymLaunch was to help gym owners make more money. One of the main problems that Tim kept running was poor profit margins–or what he called the “pay and pray strategy”. Most gym owners were spending $50+ to acquire a new customer, but the industry standard of free trials meant it took a long time to make that money back.

Tim came up with a new model where business owners use paid products and offers to get back their acquisition dollars at the time of purchase. For example, if your customer acquisition cost is $50 then your entry-level offer should be at least $100. The key is to use existing offers (like turning an onboarding program into a paid course) rather than reinventing the wheel.

Today Tim uses the same framework to help service-based businesses across dozens of industries generate more revenue and increase their profitability. 

Enjoy this episode with entrepreneur Tim Calise…

Quotes

“The core principle was we were our customer. We saw a problem, we solved it, and within 24 hours we had that business launched.”

“So many of us get into business from a delivery perspective. Take fitness, for example–so many personal trainers become gym owners. They’re really good at the service, but most of them have no idea how to run a business…I would say ‘What are your gross margins?’ to a gym owner and their eyes would glaze over.”

“I found peace in being a mentor and a coach, which was unexpected.”

“I’ve moved from me doing the execution to building a community of people who identify with the way I think and my perspective on the world, which is ‘How do we get to where we want to go without selling our souls in the process?’”

“When you have concentrations of revenue–either around a single product or customer–that is a risk to an investor.”

“We take the best stuff and bring it on the front end, and then we demonstrate or document behind-the-scenes, case studies, things like that, to show you what it’s like to be a customer before you pay us a dollar.”

“People resonate with confidence, clarity, and insight, and that’s what I’ve spent the last 20 years building and now it’s a matter of packaging and putting it in the right place.”

Links mentioned in this episode:

Visit Tim’s Website: https://timcalise.com/ 

Connect with Tim on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tcalise/ 

You want to make your audience the hero of your website.

In this microsode, I delve into the world of personal branding and web strategy. Join Christy and me as we explore the importance of crafting a compelling narrative about yourself to enhance your credibility and reputation.

Key Points:

1. Audience-Centric Website Design: A website serves as a critical element in personal branding, acting as a virtual storefront where potential clients assess professionalism and credibility. Learn how to tailor your website to resonate with your potential clients and make them feel seen and understood.

2. Strategic Positioning: Effective personal branding involves positioning oneself as an expert in their field, communicating their value proposition clearly, and identifying target audiences for maximum impact.

3. Clarity in Communication: You may struggle to articulate your skills and offerings concisely, leading to a lack of confidence and clarity in your personal branding efforts. Your website serves as a powerful tool to communicate that message. Discover the importance of showcasing your authentic self and how to strategically position yourself to attract and engage your target audience.

4. Crafting Compelling Bios: Dive into the art of crafting a bio that goes beyond a simple narrative or resume. Learn how to unearth intriguing tidbits from your life story and weave them into a compelling narrative that enhances your credibility and builds trust with potential clients.

5. Social Media Amplification: Leveraging social media platforms strategically can enhance personal branding efforts, providing opportunities to showcase thought leadership, build relationships, and increase visibility.

Mastering the communication of your personal brand through your online presence is essential for establishing credibility, building trust, and attracting your ideal clients. Learn how your personal brand can boost your web presence in today’s microsode…

Did you know that brand storytelling can boost conversions by up to 30%? 

We’ve all experienced the emotional impact of a great story–whether through books, movies, or TV. Now our latest podcast guest is showing us how to harness that power for our businesses. 

John Ehrhard is the CEO and Founder of Orson, the first platform created to enhance human connection by sharing one’s authentic self through automated video storytelling. He is a seasoned producer in the unscripted television industry, with over two decades of experience working with almost every major network. 

Through his extensive career, John has mastered the art and science of unscripted storytelling, documenting over 50,000 hours of real people’s lives. His expertise lies in the ability to understand audiences and craft real stories to convert strangers into devoted viewers and fans. 

Storytelling at Scale

John’s journey into storytelling started with his own family. During the pandemic, he started manually capturing the life stories and memories of older family members. Putting his TV background to use, he then moved on to documentaries, creating personalized videos for Mother’s Day and other holidays. 

When his family started to share the videos with friends, John started getting requests from others who wanted to capture their own family memories. Creating individual videos was extremely time-consuming, so he started looking into how he could automate the process.

Part of what makes storytelling so powerful is the element of connection–the relationship between the storyteller and their audience. John was at a loss for how he could deliver that experience at scale. That is…until AI came on the scene.

After two years of hard work, John and his team cracked the code. They created an AI director that’s able to conduct interviews, read facial cues, and ask follow-up questions. They named the software Orson after legendary director Orson Wells.

Assembling the A Team

John had a wealth of experience in the TV business, but the world of tech and AI was completely new to him. Now he was faced with the challenge of turning what he’d always thought of as an art into a science.

As a first-time founder, John knew he needed the right team behind him. After raising capital for Orson, he leveraged investor relationships to put together a board of tech giants–people who knew the industry and had the right skill set to take Orson to the next level. 

John says finding people who shared his passion for storytelling and “made his life difficult in a good way” has been a key ingredient for Orson’s success. Not only did the board of investors bring new ideas to the table, but they also brought top talent, tapping into their networks to build an incredible team. 

Enjoy this episode with Orson founder John Ehrhard…

Quotes

“Stories are how we connect fundamentally…learning about people’s stories is how we inspire people, how we have empathy for people, and how we relate.”

“The nature of the product we’re building touched investors on a personal level.”

“At the end of the day, helping people connect and capturing stories…it’s really powerful.”  

“The thing I always found fascinating was that people never stop evolving– our viewpoints, what scares us, what inspires us. But when you’re in a relationship, you stop asking those fundamental questions.”

“Any technology for good always has ways people can twist it. You just need to be careful and put precautions in place to prevent that.”

“I think there’s an art form to people who know how to share themselves in a way that doesn’t feel like bragging or grandiose.”

Links mentioned in this episode:

Orson website: http://www.heyorson.com 

Love Story wedding videos: https://www.thelovestoryshop.com/ 

Connect with John Ehrhard on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-ehrhard-9b191917b/ 

Born and raised in Nicaragua, our latest podcast guest came to the United States at just 15 years old with dreams of independence. Decades later, she’s built a business that provides freedom for both her and her family.

Maria Marin is the CEO, President, and Founder of Unlimited Recycling, Inc., a one-stop-shop company specializing in waste disposal, recycling, and transportation for commercial, industrial, and institutional facilities. Established in 1999, the company has served high-profile customers like Selfridge Air National Guard, US Army TACOM, and more.

Maria is an alumni member of the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a mentor for the Stanford University Hispanic Entrepreneurship Program. She graduated from the Stanford Latino Entrepreneurs Leader Program in 2016. She is an EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2023 Michigan and Northwest Ohio Finalist, and also sits on the Board of Directors for the Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Breaking into a male-dominated industry 

Maria started her career at the Department of Natural Resources in the State of Michigan, where she learned about illegal dumping and mercury pollution in the Great Lakes. 

The same day Maria found out she was pregnant with her second son, she decided to start her own business: one dedicated to raising awareness about recycling and proper waste disposal. In the beginning, Maria focused on customer education, selling containers, and subcontracting other companies to do the hauling. 

But all that changed when the US Army contracted her for both recycling and trash removal. At the time, Maria didn’t know anything about trash hauling and she didn’t yet have her own trucks, but she took the contract and vowed to figure it out. She received excellent ratings from the United States Army for the completion of a successful 5-year waste and recycling contract–and the business has only grown from there.

Managing financial risk

Maria didn’t jump right into trash hauling. She waited seven years to buy her own trucks, until she was certain the company could support the investment. 

Maria has never taken on investors–she’s bootstrapped the company, getting loans when necessary but always careful not to get in over her head financially. She’s extremely conscious that her employees are relying on her and never makes large investment in personnel or equipment until she knows the work will be there.

Taking care of yourself as a CEO

After 24 years in business, Maria knows that in order to be at her best for her customers and employees, she needs to take care of herself first. She makes an effort to stay in good shape mentally, physically, and emotionally. 

Maintaining a positive attitude is key. No matter what happened in the office that day, Maria switches off at night by reminding herself she did the best she could–and that she needs to rest so that she can do it all again tomorrow.

Enjoy this episode with CEO and Founder, Maria Marin…

Quotes

“I always wanted to have my own business. I always wanted to be independent because I felt like I wanted to fly, I had wings, and I was restricted. I wanted to be unlimited.”

“I love to learn and I think we’re never done learning. Every day is an opportunity to grow.”

“I don’t have to prove myself to anyone except my customers, my employees, myself, and my family.”

“Have I faced adversity? Absolutely, but I think we all do at some point. It is a male-dominated industry, but when I walk into a room, I feel like I’m bringing so much value. My head is high. I have many, many years that I have dedicated, I have sacrificed to give to this community, and to give to the company.”

“I try to take care of myself first–mentally, emotionally, and physically. Because if I’m not those things, then what do I have to offer to my team, my family, and my customers? So it’s very important to me to stay in good shape in every way that I can and to stay in that positive attitude.”

Links mentioned in this episode:

Unlimited Recycling Website: http://www.unlimitedrecycling.com 

Unlimited Recycling Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DumpsterPlus/ 

Connect with Maria Marin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/unlimitedrecycling/ 

Social media–love it or hate it, it’s an essential part of doing business online. Many entrepreneurs fall firmly into the latter category, but our latest podcast is here to share an easier, more enjoyable approach to growing your brand on social.

Karlyn Ankrom is the Founder of Oh Snap! Social and creator of the Fan Firestarter Framework, a new approach to social media marketing made specifically for businesses “tempted to fake their own death and flee to Tahiti at the mere thought of content creation.”

Karlyn developed her user-friendly strategy after working for a decade with a variety of brick-and-mortar businesses that were “social allergic”, as she calls it–not because they didn’t want to do social media but because they were intimidated by it. In response, her system helps newbies get on the fast track to “unsucking their social media” in just one hour per week.

The Fan Firestarter Framework

After working for a series of start-ups and then a branding agency, Karlyn developed her own framework for social media success, which she now uses with all Oh Snap! Social clients. Everyone goes through the same system, from solopreneurs to CEOs of large companies.

The first step is a pulse-check audit, to see what’s working and what’s not. From there, Karlyn and her team work with the client to develop a strategy specific to their business goals. She asks her clients to think beyond vanity metrics like their number of followers and instead focus on the “why” behind their social media content–what outcome are they hoping to achieve by posting? 

From there, they move into the final stage, advancement, with either done-for-you or done-with-you social media posting.

Which Metrics Are Worth Measuring?

To Karlyn, the most important success metric for social media is website traffic. She thinks of social as the “conversation water cooler”, but the goal is always to bring that traffic over to the client’s website and/or email list. Google Analytics and referral traffic take priority.

Other important metrics include how many quality conversations you’re having in the DMs, how many profile visits your content is generating, and how many new people are discovering you through your content. The last two are especially important for newer businesses looking to grow their visibility and reach. 

Lastly, Karlyn recommends looking at your metrics to see which content is resonating the most with your audience, so you can create more posts like that in the future.

Growing Your Personal Brand on LinkedIn

Karlyn has had a lot of success building personal brands on LinkedIn, both for her clients and herself. One of the key strategies she uses is to publish SEO-friendly articles based on what her audience is searching for. She also recommends incorporating keywords into your LinkedIn bio and profile. Think about what terms your audience is searching for, then include those words wherever you can.

When it comes to social media, personal brands win out over company brands. Even when Karlyn’s clients publish content through their business profiles, she always asks specific people to share the post and add comments. Profile pictures are also important–make sure your photo is updated and that it’s a headshot, not a company logo.

The Future of Social

One of the major trends Karlyn has noticed in recent years is people want the internet to feel “smaller” and less noisy. With so many of us suffering from information overload, social media users are more interested in finding smaller groups with content that feels relevant and relatable to them. 

This explains the rise of niche communities like Discord and Slack channels. More and more people are moving off of larger platforms like Facebook and Instagram and into smaller groups. 

There have also been major shifts in the industry with the advancement of AI. At this stage, Karlyn says it’s not enough to replace human-written content for one simple reason: AI-generated content doesn’t capture your brand. Your unique voice is what makes content real and relatable to your followers, and ChatGPT can’t compete with that level of human connection (at least not yet). For now, Karlyn recommends being a “smart user” of AI and using it more for brainstorming than writing or strategy.

Enjoy this episode with Oh Snap! Social Founder Karlyn Ankrom…

Quotes

“I realized that a lot of the news that was out there was bad news. And I don’t have the heart for bad news all the time.”

“Would I be okay if I didn’t do this? When I’m eighty, am I going to be like, I really wish I’d started that business? Regret is so powerful.”

“A lot of that seasonality from a business perspective, we do not control as business owners. Just like we don’t control the algorithms of social media, we don’t control the behaviors of our buyers, or the economics of what’s happening in the world.” 

“I think the best thing about social media is that it’s very forgiving. People expect it to be very real and raw and relatable–and they don’t want it to be overly produced because it doesn’t feel as real to them so they’ll ignore it.”

“The vanity metrics truly don’t matter. Followers don’t matter…my goal is always to connect the digital dots from social, which is kind of that conversation water cooler, over to your website. I look at Google Analytics and that referral traffic first.”

“Personal brand is where it’s at on LinkedIn.”

“People do business with other people, not logos.”

“Make it easy for people to give you money.”

“You can build a business utilizing Facebook but at some point, you have to have real estate on the internet that you own in the form of a website. It doesn’t need to be overly fancypants if people are connecting with you on Facebook, but they need to have a place, a home base, a storefront that you own. Because you don’t own Facebook.”

Links mentioned in this episode:

Oh Snap! Social Website: https://ohsnapsocial.com 

Connect with Karlyn Ankrom on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karlynankrom

What makes a successful entrepreneur? 

There’s no shortage of speculation about which traits are most important for business success. Today’s podcast guest is a great example of someone who not only has the innate curiosity and confidence of an entrepreneur but who has also learned to cultivate those traits in others.

With more than 25 years of experience, Dr. Kyle Flanigan is the Co-Founder and CEO of US Specialty Formulations (USSF), a pharmaceutical manufacturing company currently working on the first oral vaccine for COVID-19.

Kyle is an expert in pharmaceutical and medical performance materials development and consults with companies to provide stable solutions and services for formulation, scale-up technology, contingency planning, supply-chain issues, quality systems implementation, and new facility design. 

The Combination of Curiosity and Confidence

One of the key traits behind Kyle’s entrepreneurial success is curiosity. Back when he worked for other large pharmaceutical companies, he was always looking for a new and better way to do things.

Kyle brings a unique skill set to his industry, with his ability to marry the technical and business sides of pharmaceutical manufacturing. This broad range of interests allows him to network with people across different fields and establish long-term relationships with customers. He is genuinely interested in every person he meets, and customers can feel that.

The second key factor behind USSF’s success is confidence. Kyle and his co-founder Garry Morefield both have strong lab and pharmaceutical backgrounds and with Kyle’s expertise in business, they felt confident in launching their own company.

Building a Confident and Capable Team

Confidence is also a key component in building a strong team. One of the biggest challenges for Kyle and Garry has been staffing. They receive a lot of applications to join their company, but finding the right person for each role is still challenging. 

Their ultimate goal is to build a self-sufficient team that doesn’t need to be micromanaged; freeing up the founders to focus on larger strategic issues. Their team currently consists of 14 people but Kyle knows that as the company grows, he and Garry won’t be able to oversee every individual–so they work to develop confidence in their employees, with the goal that eventually the team will be able to run itself.

The Power of a Personal Brand

USSF’s marketing is limited by the pharmaceutical industry restrictions; they can’t make claims about what their products do, which makes branding even more critical. Almost all of their sales come from the founders’ networks and word-of-mouth referrals. 

Pharmaceutical development is a small field and Kyle and Garry have built strong reputations. The customers who need and want their products seek them out and USSF, although a small, boutique company, has quickly become the go-to in the industry. 

Enjoy this episode with CEO and Founder Dr. Kyle Flanigan…

Quotes

“What I found developing was an interesting skill set. There aren’t a lot of people with this skill set out there, to do a deep dive on the technical aspect of something and look at the applications and make the comments of ‘you can use this for this and this, because it has these properties’ and go through and list them all off. And at the same time, thinking as the businessman, how is this going to fit into my portfolio, what are my resources, what sorts of commitments am I going to make?”

“Because I have a wide breadth of industries and interests, which makes me dangerous across a wide range of topics. It’s served me well.”

“Throughout my whole career, I was always thinking ‘How can I do this better?’”

“A lot of it has hinged on our personal brands. They know us, we know them, and they can know what we can produce.”

“When we give the team a task, we trust that it will be a good work product and will require minimal input on our side. You have to find the right people but then build that capability and work with them to develop that capability, so you can get to a point where even when you’re not overseeing it, they’re able to perform as you expect them to.”

Links mentioned in this episode:

Visit the USSF website: https://ussfgmp.com/ 

Learn more about the oral Covid vaccine: http://www.kyndr.com/ or https://vaxform.com/ 

Connect with Dr. Kyle Flanigan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyleyflanigan/ 

Many entrepreneurs would describe themselves as multi-passionate–we feel drawn to different niches and industries, and we dislike being put in a box. Our latest guest on the podcast is proof that not only can you find success as a multi-passionate entrepreneur, but there are plenty of ways to combine your passions or use one to fuel another.

Jason LaBaw is the founder and CEO of Bonsai Media Group, a full-service Internet Marketing Firm ranked as one of the top 15 SEO companies in the world by Top SEOs. The company serves top brands such as Samsung, Amazon, Supra Boats, and CTG. 

Jason holds certification in web management and web development from Western Washington University, as well as being AdWords & Google Analytics certified. His in-depth knowledge of digital marketing communications, combined with his technical experience as a certified web developer, makes him uniquely capable of driving both technology-focused and marketing-focused solutions. 

Building your team

One of Jason’s biggest regrets is not taking his recruitment and hiring process seriously during the early stages of his company. As Bonsai grew, its clientele shifted from mom-and-pop shops to global enterprise clients, and it was difficult to let go of team members who no longer aligned with where the company was headed. 

Over the years, Jason hired people who were either the wrong culture fit or didn’t have the skills necessary to succeed in their role, and he’s learned from those mistakes. His old strategy was to have someone put up a job posting and wait for applications to roll in. 

Now Jason personally creates videos for each job posting and interviews the candidates. The job market has gotten tougher, and so have Bonsai’s recruitment standards. Jason’s goal is not only to hire top talent but also to find people who are the right fit for their company culture.

Developing an app

Jason’s latest venture is Social Bee, a travel augmented reality (AR) app that combines elements of Pokemon Go and Trip Advisor to enhance the travel experience.

The app began as a social content platform, hosting contests and digital scavenger hunts. That soon progressed to offering digital tour guide services through AR. The original plan for Social Bee was to provide tips, trivia, and interactive videos to tourists to make their travel experiences more immersive and engaging. 

The business model targeted tour guides and travel influencers to create content, which users would then pay for while the app took a platform fee. Jason found that model was incredibly difficult to scale; it required too many conversations to bring new content creators on board. So he started looking for an alternative way to bring the app to market. This was right around the time AI and ChatGPT were taking off, and Jason wondered if he could leverage AI to create travel itineraries.

The new and improved Social Bee helps travelers create personalized itineraries using ratings and reviews pulled from Google. As the business grows, Jason plans to release a companion app and expand more into virtual reality. The profits from Bonsai will continue to support Social Bee until the app becomes cash flow positive, allowing Jason to use one successful business as a springboard for another.

Enjoy this episode with CEO and Founder Jason LaBaw… 

Quotes

“I would highly encourage people to allow the changes or the challenges in your business to inform you as to the changes you need to make.”

“My calendar rules my life. Everything is on my calendar because if it isn’t, someone else is going to book that time.”

“By not focusing on working on the business and growing the business and growing my team, I’m putting the quality of our work in jeopardy. I’m putting our clients, our team, and my family in jeopardy. There was a realization for me that this has to be a priority and I have to be a priority. Earlier in my career, I would sacrifice everything for the business.”

“Relationships in general are so important. You never know where somebody is going to land. They may be at a small yoga shop now, but three years down the road they may have a $300,000 RFP for a major enterprise.” 

“Social Bee is a seven-year startup. It’s been a journey, let me tell you. But I think like anything worth having, you’ve got to pursue it. You’ve got to have a vision and be relentless in working toward that vision.”

“Just because you can work 12 hours a day doesn’t mean that you should. The person that you become on that conference call or on that one-on-one with an employee probably isn’t as good as the person who took the time to go for a walk or workout and do those things. For entrepreneurs and agency owners, it’s not the quantity of time, it’s the quality of time. So figuring out what’s necessary to maximize the quality of your time and the impact of the time you do have.”

Links mentioned in this episode:

Bonsai Media Group: https://bonsaimediagroup.com/ 

Social Bee website: https://socialbee.ai/ 

Connect with Jason LaBaw on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/labaw/ 

When Saima Rathor and Patricia Gallardo met outside their children’s preschool 15 years ago, they never could have imagined that one day they’d be founding a company together.

The two women struck up a fast friendship, and over a decade later they turned their shared passion for the transformative power of beauty products into EpicLight Beauty: a line of clean, multi-tasking products for women aged 35+ that break the standard mold of beauty.

EpicLight Beauty is inspired by Saima and Patricia’s rich Latina and Pakistani cultures. Their products address the changes in women’s skin, different ethnicities, and the beauty industry's perception of real women. The result is a celebration of women of all skin tones, ages, and skin types.

Since they launched last October, EpicLight Beauty has been featured in outlets like People Magazine, ABC News, and Beauty Independent.

Launching a Product-Based Business

After securing a product developer, manufacturer, and packaging company, Patricia and Saima started hitting the pavement – attending trade shows and making phone calls. With Patricia’s background in product development and Saima’s in finance, they made use of industry contacts and spread the word.

After a successful pre-launch campaign, they launched in October 2022. Initially, they sold direct-to-consumers online and through local pop-ups, but soon they opened an Amazon shop as well. As the company has grown, they’ve brought on help with their social media and now work with a team of influencers and content creators.

To avoid the pitfall that many product-based businesses fall into, Saima and Patricia have been careful to limit their skews. They focus on a select few products, all of which are multi-tasking and work for a variety of skin tones.

Building a Community Around Your Brand

EpicLight Beauty is entirely self-funded, which makes their growth even more impressive. From day one, Patricia and Saima prioritized building a community around their brand. Most of their marketing efforts center on the human connection and meeting their customers in person at pop-up events and tradeshows.

Their PR strategies have also focused on relationship-building. By reaching out to editors and making a connection, Patricia and Saima have been featured in major publications and even had their products featured in the Oscar's goody bag! They’ve also built a successful partnership with Erica Taylor, a well-known artist and educator in the beauty industry.

Many of Patricia and Saima’s industry connections and publication features have happened through word-of-mouth – something the founders credit to their network of fellow moms.

Throughout all their marketing efforts, Patricia and Saima reiterate how important it’s been for them to listen to their audience. Their tagline, “We see you because we are you” captures the heart of their brand.

Enjoy this episode with EpicLight Beauty Founders Saima Rathor and Patricia Gallardo… 

Quotes

“It’s just the feeling that I get. I can have the worst day, and if I go and put on lip gloss that I love, it makes me feel better. It has an emotional impact.”

“All the press we’ve gotten, it’s been through talking to a mom friend. It’s been this amazing network of moms helping each other, helping us get in touch with Allure, People, and all these magazines. It’s been wonderful to see the power of the mom network.”

“We’re not in a rush. We can take our time, go slowly, and have it grow organically. But we’re doing it.”

“Of course we want to grow and become really big, but it’s more important to have an ear on the ground; listening to our friends and women of our age group, understanding what they want and what they want to see. We want to build more relationships. That’s how we plan to grow.”

Links mentioned in this episode:

Visit the EpicLight Beauty website: https://www.epiclightbeauty.com/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/epiclightbeauty/ 

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/EpicLightBeauty/page/A29CD316-5980-4C13-84AA-2DCC3C4014AE?ref_=ast_bln 

Connect with Saima Rathor on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saimarathor/ 

Connect with Patricia Gallardo on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patricia-gallardo-547174b1/ 

Photo Taken by Cathrine White @cathrinewhite

In April 2020, when the rest of the world was shutting down, Madhav Srinath was gearing up to launch his company. 

With a Bachelor's in Industrial Engineering and a Master's of Science in Computer Science, Madhav brought his background together to found NexusLeap: an analytics consulting company that specializes in equipping companies with scalable decision-making tools, helping them become more efficient and cost-effective.

Madhav has deep technical expertise in data warehousing, business intelligence, and cloud application management. Before founding NexusLeap, he served on Microsoft's advisory board for their Artificial Intelligence product offerings in the cloud and has held several analytics leadership positions in consulting and product companies. 

What started as a one-man show has turned into a successful company that not only survived the pandemic, but has grown tremendously since. 

Turning Tough Times into Opportunity

Before founding NexusLeap, Madhav was working as a sought-after consultant and helping a friend with fundraising for his Virtual Reality company. When Covid hit in early 2020 and the rest of the world hunkered down, Madhav decided to use it as an opportunity to get ahead.

When a client came to him for help solving a complex problem, he jumped at the chance. What started out as a solo consultancy grew quickly into NexusLeap.

Madhav freely admits that there may have been better times to launch a company – but with support from his wife (who joined the company a year later as their full-time COO), he was able to build solid foundations. 

NexusLeap made the most of uncertain economic times to help their clients come out the other side stronger than ever. Since then, they’ve grown steadily year over year.

The Power of “And”

Madhav is a firm believer in the power of differentiating your brand based on “and’s”. It’s not enough to be good at one thing; for a powerful differentiator, you need to bring multiple specialties together. 

For example, NexusLeap builds technical infrastructure and collaborates with business functions. Lots of companies build tech infrastructure, but it’s marrying the two together that makes NexusLeap so unique. Madhav knew that in most companies, the tech and business teams were siloed. He wanted to find a way to facilitate collaboration between the two. NexusLeap helps companies bridge that gap, so that their entire organization speaks the same language and is driven by the same incentives.

Leveraging Your Personal Brand to Grow Your Business

Although NexusLeap started out as Madhav’s personal brand, the current priority is growing the company brand so that it can stand independently. As a respected name in the industry, Madhav uses his personal platform to help his network learn more about the company.

As a startup founder, Madhav wears a lot of different hats. Spending dedicated time on marketing and brand identity tends to take away from other areas of the business, which is why he prefers to let it happen organically.

When Madhav posts to LinkedIn, for example, it’s to share client results or how proud he is of his team’s work. He encourages all of his employees to do the same. And since they’ve spent time building long-term relationships with every team member, the result is that NexusLeap effortlessly attracts new clients and talent. They’ve built a brand that’s known for resilience, excellence, and loyalty. If you’re trying to grow your business’s brand visibility, think about what values you want to portray through your content.

Enjoy this episode with CEO and Founder Madhav Srinath… 

Quotes

“From a differentiation standpoint, I always believe in the power of ‘and’s’. If I’m good at building cloud infrastructure, that’s great but there are a lot of people that are good at that. But what is the and? If I’m good a building cloud infrastructure and collaborating with business functions, all of a sudden there’s this really dangerous combination that very people can compete with.”

“I think what we do really well is it’s not one or the other, it’s one and the other.”

“There were probably better times. But it’s one of those things, when you create a surface area for luck, when you see the opportunity and you’re able to do it…you have to go for it without thinking about it too much logically.”

“Companies are led by business problems, that’s what strings them along. The value is had by solving that business problem. Technology generally enables those problems to be solved, but companies have such a hard time bridging that gap.”

“As we grow, I see more and more of my team members filling in those gaps I left behind. As a human being, there are weaknesses I have in addition to my strengths. So it’s cool to see my team members fill in those gaps and make the brand bigger and bigger.”

Links mentioned in this episode:

Visit the NexusLeap Website: https://nexusleap.com/

Connect with Madhav Srinath on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/madhavsrinath/