Round two with Create + Cultivate! They’re back sharing some great advice with us on how to put your best (business) self out there. They’ve asked a few of (our favorite) pros to figure out what really goes into making a brand impactful, long-lasting and genuine. We’re sharing their thoughts with you, below.
Written by Arianna Schioldager:
We’re ever curious about what makes a brand successful — and if there are certain tenets that will always remain important, especially in the face of shifting technology. So we asked three of our previous Create & Cultivate DTLA panelists to share.
1. Joy Cho: Founder of Oh Joy!
Ask for help and to let people help you whenever possible because you can’t do it all yourself. Also, find people that are better at you to handle the things that you don’t have time to do.
Work hard, be persistent, and don’t be afraid to put yourself out there.
Don’t try to imitate the success of others. Instead let their success inspire you to find success in your own way.
2. Carly de Castro, Co-Founder, Pressed Juicery
Defining a brand mission and building every facet of your brand with this in mind. Also learning from your mistakes. No brand is perfect and I would be lying if I said that we made some choices that we maybe thought were good for our company but in the end were not. What we learned is that it’s not only about the good choices you make, but how you learn from the not so great ones – this learning process has truly helped create and strengthen the Pressed Juicery brand DNA.
I also think it’s extremely important to stop and just be grateful every once in a while. As a growing and rapidly expanding brand sometimes it can feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done. We’re always thinking about the next step and striving to be better – but once in a while it’s necessary to just be thankful for what we’ve accomplished in these short 5 years, it’s a great boost of energy for me as we move forward.
 Don’t try to imitate the success of others. Instead let their success inspire you to find success in your own way.
3. Emily Henderson: Founder, Style By Emily Henderson
1. Steer away from anything generic. I’m not saying be controversial, I’m saying be interesting and if you feel strongly about something but are scared of the outcome – just do it. It’s fine. Most of the time you aren’t alone and your audience will respond to that opinion and if not, you’ll still get traffic.
Obviously if you are a big company you have to be a little more careful, but I’m much more attracted to brands that have more of a personality, make a statement, and stay away from cliche social sayings or really bland expressions.
2. Trust is EXTREMELY important. There are times when you’ll be tempted to sell out, there are times when you will sell out (I have) but man, just know that your audience is watching and while it may not be the death of you it can be hard to recover if you endorse something that you know people think is cheesy.
3. Think about your end goal for each new project. Is it money? Exposure? To broaden your network? New portfolio work? Fun? Ideally it’s a combination of those things. Then cater how you handle that project based on your end goal.
PS. Find more from Joy in Darling Issue 15 and more from Emily in Darling Issue 13!
Images via Elle Daniels
