June 19, 2024 • 43 mins
Effie Asafu-Adjaye is the founder of Beautiful Sparks – a branding agency that has worked with many of the beauty and fashion brands we know and love.
An accomplished professional and passionate student of business, Effie’s dedication to education and her commitment to growth and learning are truly motivating.
In this episode, Effie shares invaluable insights for listeners transitioning from regular employment to self-employment, we delve into overcoming self-doubt and leaning into the uncomfortable.
With Story-Telling at the heart of her business, Effie shares the importance of bringing your true-self and uniqueness to business. We bust some common myths and Effie is generous with sound practical advice for everyday business success.
Join us for a conversation that is jam packed with wisdom and inspiration.
Welcome to The Buzz Effie Asafu-Adjaye
https://beautiful-sparks.com/
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
E as Safura. Jay is the founder of Beautiful Sparks,
a branding agency who has worked with many of the
fashion and beauty brands we know and love.
An accomplished, professional and passionate student of business. Effie's dedication
to education and her commitment to growth and learning are
(00:23):
truly motivating. In this episode, Effie shares invaluable insights for
listeners transitioning from employment to self-employment. We delve into overcoming
self doubt and leaning into the uncomfortable
with storytelling. At the heart of her business, Effie shares
the importance of bringing your true self and unique qualities
(00:44):
to business. We bust some common myths, and Effie is
generous with sound practical advice for everyday business success. Join
us for a conversation that is jam packed with wisdom
and inspiration.
Welcome to the buzz, Effie.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Thank you so much for having me. It's exciting to
join you, Effie. I see
Speaker 1 (01:08):
that your first degree was a bachelor of business advertising
and marketing.
So would it be safe to say that you've always
known your career was going to be in that business
marketing space?
Speaker 2 (01:21):
I have a really interesting story about how I pick
that degree.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Oh, do you OK, Tell us. I love an interesting story.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
So I was inspired, like as a young, uh, person.
I watched a lot of movies, and it was
I think it was a Bruce Willis movie. Maybe not
Bruce Willis. What women want. It was like this nineties
movie about an ad agency. It had I can't remember
(01:50):
the stars, but it was ultimately this, like, ad man
kind of lifestyle. And I was like, This looks like fun.
I think this is what I want to do. That
IP
Speaker 1 (01:58):
That is interesting.
I love it. I love it. So you went straight
into that degree. And then a few years after that,
I see you did an MB a international exchange in China.
Is that correct?
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Yeah. So the exchange was part of the MB a
programme that I did in Sydney. So I did postgrad
in Brisbane. Ok, And then when I moved to Sydney
down the track, I did postgrad and we had a
block of time in China, which was really, really interesting.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
What? Like why did you decide to do that? MB
Speaker 2 (02:34):
a So with the career path that I had, I
had been in very much the creative industry side, so
working in branding agencies and working in more creatively inclined
beauty businesses. So I was really wanting to really level
up the commercial side of my skill set. So that's
(02:55):
why I transitioned to do the MB A.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Yeah, amazing.
Looks like you also held a couple of corporate jobs
before going freelance. So how did you come about that
freelance opportunity?
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Yeah. So the freelance opportunity was, I think, like everybody
in 2020. So when everything shut down, I know
Speaker 1 (03:16):
that. Yeah,
Speaker 2 (03:20):
quite interestingly, right before everything shut down. I took a
with my, um, corporate jobs. They were refracturing, um and
I was like, Oh, I've got the whole year to, like,
figure everything out. And I had a few things in
the pipeline wise. So I was like, Yes, let me
just leave. And then everything shut down. Did
Speaker 1 (03:43):
you know what was coming?
Speaker 2 (03:44):
And
so the freelancing was just to keep busy because I,
like all the jobs, were on hiring freezes. They weren't.
No one was doing interviews anymore because it was all
very uncertain. So I was like, OK, I'll pick up
some freelance stuff whilst the world is, you know,
Speaker 1 (04:02):
sorting itself out. And you had that financial backing, which
is kind of the dream. When you're going into freelance
to have that, you know, pay out, isn't it? Yeah.
And I think, um, you know, at that stage, had
you thought Yes, I've always wanted to work for myself.
This is the dream. Or did you think No, I'm
definitely going to go back to, you know, full time
Speaker 2 (04:24):
employment. I was definitely going to go back. Oh,
Speaker 1 (04:27):
really? So it really was an interim fix,
Speaker 2 (04:30):
so I
I had some really exciting opportunities. And I was, like,
the last phase of interviews. So I was like, I
am going back like this is just, you know, this
hiring freeze is temporary, but none of those jobs came
back online.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Yeah, because then you went back into full time employment,
didn't you?
So what was Yeah, what happened after 2020 when you
went freelancing? Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
So I kept going, and then there was another lockdown.
So from, like, 2020 I did like a short contract.
And then that was the with the intention that we
gonna look for something permanent, Um, and then after a while,
so
I started really gaining traction with the freelancing and I
(05:16):
really enjoyed it. I loved working with the brand and
the directly with the founders. And then I realised with
the jobs that I was applying for, I was kind
of just applying for them because I felt I had
to because that was like, Of course, I have to
go back. I started to lose a bit of steam
and a bit of excitement around them.
I found in interviews I was like, genuinely not that excited.
(05:41):
And I had to have a bit of a check
with myself about like, Is this really what I wanna do? Like,
I thought that was the path, but I was actually
finding a lot of just joy in working with these
emerging brands. And then it was actually in May,
mixing all the years up between
Speaker 1 (05:59):
lockdown. I think a lot of people
Speaker 2 (06:04):
in lock down. Um, I think I remember it was
around May in or some time that I was like
I just stopped applying because I just lost interest.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
OK,
so then going back a step, how are you getting
these freelance jobs?
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Yeah, So there are some really great communities online. So
there's some Facebook communities. There are some slack groups as well.
So what I did was ask my other freelance friends like,
where do you find freelance jobs? So a lot of
them are. There's these, like, quite thriving Facebook groups with
different kind of specialties.
(06:42):
Um, and some slack channels where things would be dropped in.
So it all kind of started with these small little pieces. Um,
I did connect with people on LinkedIn as well. So, uh,
businesses kind of in my area, sort of inner city.
I would just connect with them and had a couple
of coffees come out of that. So it was those
different combinations of
Speaker 1 (07:01):
things. Yeah. Nice. Yeah. Yeah, because that's often the hardest part.
When you're going out, you're going.
I mean, yours was more unintentional and and more organic,
but I think that's often the problem is when people
are going out to work for themselves or in a
freelance phase. OK, so where do I get started? Yeah,
So those are great tips. What was your biggest takeaway
(07:23):
from that freelancing experience in the early days? I
Speaker 2 (07:27):
think for me it was really interesting to see
founders in that sort of first four years kind of
scaling their businesses. So I found it really interesting around
observing different leadership styles and, um, different approaches to strategy.
And so I think it was also the mindset of
(07:49):
different business leaders as well as they grew their businesses.
So I think for me it was really learning about, um,
potential kind of pitfalls around, like
resource planning and team management. But then also being really
inspired by these people that had this cool vision, this
product and just kept going and gained traction.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
What would you say is the most common quality that
they all have?
Speaker 2 (08:14):
I think they are just absolute guns, like they just
never say no like there's always a way. So what
I've observed is that there's always a way to get
a result or an outcome, and I think they're really
relentless about figuring it out. Even if they don't have any, like,
you know, subject expertise. Or they just find a way.
(08:37):
They find the people, they connect the dots.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
Yeah, that's good. Absolutely.
Then what happens?
Speaker 2 (08:44):
So after the stints of the
Speaker 1 (08:47):
and the project, you know, the contracts, contracts here and there.
What happens next?
Speaker 2 (08:53):
So, what I realised was that what I The work
I was doing was quite similar in the sense that
these brands at this stage had this similar problem to
be solved.
And what was that? So this was really around getting
help around articulating their story, their value proposition, their positioning,
what makes them unique and then translating that into their
(09:16):
social presence and campaigns and everything they do organically and pain.
So I was able to
understand what I had consistently been delivering for brands and
begin to package it up into, like, a a formal offer.
And I got more granular. I did some training around,
like how to, you know, price an offer and how to, um,
(09:40):
sell the value proposition. So I got more intentional about
the work that I was doing. And rather than just, um,
like delivering, you know, I'm gonna spend X many hours
to do XYZ. It was about like,
I'm gonna solve your problem. These are the steps, and
this is the value. So getting more intentional about how
to sell, um, and kind of making that transition from
(10:03):
kind of freelance to like, consultant and, uh, like company owner,
whereby I'm now getting help with subcontractors to help deliver
the projects using the same process that I had been
using over those last few years. Yeah, right. So, yeah,
it was about getting
intentional about formalising what I had been doing.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
And did you have any guidance or support to do that? Like,
did you have a coach or a mentor that helped you,
you know, articulate that niche?
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Yeah, I did an online, an online course, Like how
to become a consultant, One of those ones where it
was like, Yeah, so it was one of those online,
you know, module by module.
Understand your customer, like, do your personas. So all the
foundational stuff, um, to be able to package up something
(10:59):
as a service that can be repeated and also in
a way that other people can help you to deliver
at that same level.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Yeah, right. Right.
You're very, um, education. Like you keep going back to education.
Would you say that that's like a a really core
value of yours? Oh,
Speaker 2 (11:18):
absolutely. Yeah. So definitely like growth and learning. Um, so
commitment to that is been It's been quite consistent, So Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1 (11:29):
yeah. What is it that you get out of that?
What is it that that feeds you personally?
Speaker 2 (11:34):
I love. Oh, it's very general, but I love learning. Um,
but I love, um, just expanding my mind. So, like,
just evolving the way that I see problems the world
and being able to understand myself, others and business in general.
(11:55):
So it's just that evolution that I really enjoy. I
Speaker 1 (11:59):
love it. Love it, love it.
So, you know, um, you've got Yeah. So you've got
your niche. You know, your niche product. You know? You
know what you formalise that, um, intention and that offering,
Um What happens next for
Speaker 2 (12:15):
you?
Yeah. So it's then about, um how do I get
clients now? And, like, transition from this freelance to this
company owner. So there are lots of more courses things around, um, outreach.
So how do you actually engage with someone with intent
in a way that's valuable and not annoying? Um, so
(12:38):
learning about that,
um also expanding my offer. So traditionally, I had been
doing just kind of branding strategy, and since then, I've
now evolved to do branding design and, um, now looking
at some other things as well. So I think it's
been about, like, again, evolution. So what is the next
(12:59):
layer of service that I can provide? And that's come
from
understanding when I've handed over the work to the brands
that I've worked with what worked? Well, what didn't What
do they then need help with? So So it's just
about continuing that, um, support journey,
Speaker 1 (13:15):
and so do you run that order at the end
of your at the conclusion of the project. So
Speaker 2 (13:22):
I usually check in with them about six months later
because it
it takes them a while to kind of roll everything
out and get some traction and get their team really
implementing the strategy. So I'd like to check in about
six months to see what's working for them and what
they need help with. And that information has helped me
figure out what could be next for involving the service offer.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Yeah, absolutely. So if you had your time again going
out on your own,
um, was there anything that you would have done differently
Speaker 2 (13:53):
because I didn't realise I was going to stay and
stick at this. I think if I knew, I would
have been
earlier in terms of being more intentional about building something
a bit with some more rigour and formality. And But
I wouldn't have changed it because I think being kind
(14:15):
of open and, you know, I think that's helped me
in finding the right path
Speaker 1 (14:20):
and and having and yeah, sort of stumbling into it.
You'd be things that you'd be learning along the way
that you probably wouldn't have if you had have been
that intentional. That's right. Yeah, yeah.
You know, speaking to the listener who might be ready
to go out on their own, What would your top
tip be that you would have benefited knowing, you know,
(14:43):
when you started out?
Speaker 2 (14:44):
Yeah, So I would say, thinking very early on about
client acquisition. So I think at the time when you start,
it's very much about how do you deliver the service? Um,
and how do you do a good job at that? Um,
I think being as intentional about how you're going to
(15:04):
build and nurture your client prospects for now and into
the future, I think that's something that I never really
thought about.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
Yeah. And why, Like, why did you Why did you
suggest that? That was obviously something you didn't think of.
But what has happened that had made you realise? Oh,
that's actually really, really
Speaker 2 (15:23):
important. Yeah. So I think what I'm learning now is
everything is relational and long term. So with brands that
I'm speaking to now, I may have actually reached out
to them a year ago or 18 months ago. So
not everyone is ready to take action now. They may
not need your help, but I think just being really
genuine about the relationships that you cultivate when people are
(15:45):
ready and they'll put their hands up and absolutely earlier
on I didn't realise that I thought it was more like,
um, let's outreach now to get work now. Um, yeah.
Rather than let's actually build relationships for when people need help.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
That's key. That's a key. And then, you know, you've
got some pretty pretty impressive portfolio of clients there too.
Um, for the listener who has their sight set on
this calibre of client, but not sure where to start.
What would your advice be? What's
Speaker 2 (16:19):
worked really well for me has been linked in. So
I would say
making connections on LinkedIn and just sharing content that's valuable
to people within your niche is a really great way
to get on people's radar. Um, and then, yeah, I
just again, Yeah, LinkedIn's been really good, and I would
(16:41):
say as well, it's been really interesting. I never I
work a lot with US brands and I never
I think the question I get a lot now is like, Oh,
why why is that? But it's like I never ruled
that out. Um, I think like we're so connected, Um,
with Zoom now. And if you have great experience and
(17:05):
you can help somebody, I really don't think, um, where
you're located is limitation
anymore. So I'd say being really open to having, like, international, um,
connections from the start, because we're so just a call away.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
Yeah, absolutely. How does that work, though? Because obviously the
markets are different in the different countries as well. So
is it just you knowing, you know, really knowing well,
those different markets
that give you that
Speaker 2 (17:36):
edge? Yeah. So with the work that I do, it's
the overarching sort of strategy. So the strategy work. I
see more tactical implementation. There's definitely value in being local.
There's the nuances around seasonality and trends. But I think
the overall
(17:56):
matching kind of brand work is universal. And I think,
if you know your niche very well, um, there are
nuances in different markets, but the general kind of there's
universal rules around kind of the beauty category that are very,
um universal.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
Yeah. No, that makes perfect sense. That makes perfect sense
in those early days, as you were doing all your
you know, um, LinkedIn outreach and putting yourself into those channels.
Did you ever struggle with self doubt?
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Oh, yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Yeah, it's I think it's just natural. Yeah. And
Speaker 1 (18:41):
how do you deal with it?
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Um, I think you have a few. You give yourself
some time to be a bit nervous and like, Oh,
my gosh, what am I doing? And then you just
get over it. Um, I, I love that. You just
get over it. Um, just posting on LinkedIn, which is
so bizarre because I'm on there constantly now, but because
I hadn't used it when I was in my corporate job,
(19:04):
I never used it other than to find a job
I
found I was, like, very nervous about posting about my
business and my services and which now, looking back, was like, What?
Why
Speaker 1 (19:16):
do you think that is? I've got some thoughts, but
I'm keen to hear what you think.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
I think for me because it was this new identity
for me going to like Oh, yeah, I'm a business
owner now And I think it was about taking ownership
of that and feeling of
a bit like, Oh, what am I doing? And so
I think that was a big piece. Was like I
felt uncomfortable because it was like the new me showing
up on LinkedIn and when I had previously not done
(19:44):
anything on there, so it was a bit uncomfortable, but
it's fine.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
And now it's all part of your every day for
the listener who might be, you know, feeling that comes
up for them. You know, you've said, just get
with it. But you know, the reality of that can
sometimes be a bit tough. What's your advice in overcoming
that self doubt?
Speaker 2 (20:05):
I think what's worked really well for me is for
every situation that's new and unfamiliar and makes you a
bit nervous. I think about what was the last time?
When was the last time I felt this way? And
when did I, like, overcome it? So you just kind
of remind yourself that,
OK, this is a good sign that I'm nervous because
it means I'm doing something new and important to you,
(20:28):
and that's potentially gonna grow me. That's why I'm a
bit scared. So you just kind of think back to
the last couple of times when that happened and everything
was OK.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
Beautiful. So a bit of self nurturing? Yeah. Yeah, I
love it.
We often talk about measures of success here on the buzz, Um,
and and and, you know, obviously in different businesses at
different stages, all have different measures of success. Do you
remember what your measures of success were? Starting out?
Speaker 2 (20:57):
Yeah. So mine was I wanted to, like, have afternoons
free that I could go for ice cream on a weekday.
And so it was lifestyle.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
And I love that. It
Speaker 2 (21:11):
was, um, when I was freelancing because that was like
what I thought, being a business owner,
Speaker 1 (21:17):
you free?
It's in the word.
Yeah. Yeah. So
Speaker 2 (21:24):
that was um, that was success. And that's of all,
Speaker 1 (21:28):
what is it now? So, you know, having afternoons free
for ice cream and freelancing, and then we're moving into,
you know, being a company owner. What does success look
like for you now?
Speaker 2 (21:39):
So for me, it's about the quality of the work.
So the calibre of the work now? So I've, um, written, like,
you know, at the end of the year, it's about
having this, like, beautiful portfolio of work that I've worked
with really great collaborators on, um, that I'm really proud of.
So it's a different measure now. Yeah,
Speaker 1 (21:58):
absolutely. Do you still get to have ice cream in
the afternoon? Not as much as 2024 goals.
And then obviously working with clients, I can imagine. You know,
they've obviously got different measures of success, depending where they
are and their business. What have you found to be
a common measure of success across your clientele? What are
(22:21):
they mostly all after?
Speaker 2 (22:23):
So the brands that I work with, they are very
much about building community. So they want, like, raving fans.
They want people to be excited about their mission.
So very much things around engagement and building a tribe
are really, really important to them. So, interestingly, the when
(22:44):
I speak to them on the phone, they don't come
to me saying, Oh, we want your help to help
us make XYZ million. It's more like we really want
to improve our message
so people get us and we can grow our tribe.
So it's very much, um, around Mission and galvanising people
around
Speaker 1 (23:02):
that, Yeah, absolutely. You know, we talk about solutions, selling
and often, you know, um, when we do marketing discovery sessions,
we're referring to the problem that we're trying to solve. Um,
you know, you've spoken about community
and and whether or not that's really a problem, But
what are the what are the problems that your clients
(23:23):
have and how do you solve them?
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Yeah, so there's quite a few at this stage, so
normally they have grown. They're in kind of year, 4
to 7. So what normally happens is they're growing their
team internally. They're building an internal marketing team. They're growing
their agency partners. Um, normally, what happens is there's misalignment
in terms of what the brand stands for, and that
(23:47):
plays out in different ways. So, um, agencies producing content
That's kind of all over the shop because there was
no kind of blueprint for the brand, and often they're
wanting to get into retail, so they they'll start as
direct to consumer. And they're going to pitches for retail
to get into retailers. And they they're getting knocked back
because they value prop isn't clear enough. They've got great products,
(24:10):
but they
not enough differentiation. Um, also with the US brands just
because of the scale of retail, they do need VC
support as well. Um, and also V CS will see that, actually,
you've got a great product. Um, but your branding is
a little, you know, it's not distinct enough. Um um, like,
there's no kind of system around community building, So those
(24:33):
are the big things that stand in their way, Um,
in terms of getting to the
next stage that they have to
Speaker 1 (24:39):
love it. And this podcast is all about storytelling, right?
Taking listeners on a journey where they get to know, um,
our guests and ride the ups and downs of the
business journey. Storytelling is also obviously really super important and
incredibly powerful in the Ecommerce space. Can you tell us why?
And and share some examples of successful brand storytelling that
(25:02):
you have spearheaded
Speaker 2 (25:04):
so storytelling? It's really about human connection. So when we
think back to like ancient tribes and everything like that,
the way that everyone connected was through stories to pass
information and build relationships. And it's so similar with human, um, connections.
That we connect with brands the the most through stories
(25:26):
helps us to identify with them, um and
and their values. So that's the kind of the school
of thought that I've always believed in and seen played
out really well and how that works really well, My
favourite examples of that are Christmas, Christmas time and Christmas campaigns.
(25:47):
So one of my favourite, um, this is one of
my corporate day stories. The one of the beauty brands
that I worked with had,
uh, limited edition Christmas product. It was the same product
came out every year, but it came back with a
new story. So new packaging, new campaign, new story and
that was some of the most rewarding work of my
(26:08):
career was being able to How do we re invent
this every year? Um, and it was about customer insights.
So what do we know about our audience? What are
their aspirations, Their desires? And how can we tell a
new story this year that really speaks to
and their dreams and just brings joy around Christmas? So
(26:29):
I'm like a big Christmas campaign fan. I love, um,
Aldi ads. How
Speaker 1 (26:38):
are they? Yes, yes,
yes, absolutely. Yeah, yeah. There's
Speaker 2 (26:43):
also some good Apple ads around Christmas as well, so
it's just a really emotional time, and you can do
so much with storytelling
Speaker 1 (26:52):
getting that connection. Mm, love it, love it. And it's
one thing you know to have a story. But then,
obviously it's another to implement a strategy that really cuts through,
as we know, a very saturated e-commerce market for the
listener who might have their stories sort of but are
struggling to cut through. What would your advice be?
Speaker 2 (27:14):
I would say, being in terms of execution, being really
true to yourself, so not trying to copy trends too much.
I see a lot of brands that I speak to.
It's very important to stay connected to trends, but not
to get lost in that
Speaker 1 (27:30):
make them become your identity That's
Speaker 2 (27:32):
right. So I think always bringing something very distinct and
unique that's unique and special to you, um is the
way to stand out?
Speaker 1 (27:42):
Yeah, Yeah, absolutely good advice.
Now, I can't go past a good myth busting session.
And I know there are a tonne around, you know, branding, branding, misconceptions.
Can you share one or two that you see regularly
and share some advice on the, you know, pits and workarounds?
Speaker 2 (28:03):
Yeah, So one is probably when you launch a brand
and you're doing branding that it's just about the logo,
the typeface, the colour palette.
And there's many more layers to building that brand identity.
And that's around like your value proposition, your brand voice
and your brand story and all your manifesto and then
(28:24):
your system to translate that into your content as well.
So I think
I think the word branding is is quite broad. It is, yeah, absolutely.
And I think there are a lot more layers to it, um,
that people sometimes are aware of, and they may not
know there's there's more facets to developing that identity.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Um,
obviously, what isn't a misconception is the amount of times
a potential customer needs to see your brand before making
a buying decision to start considering a purchase. Um, and that's,
you know, at least seven times now. I think it is,
isn't it? So what kind of influence does branding have
(29:04):
on the online customer journey? Yeah,
Speaker 2 (29:07):
so it's about that consistency. So, like you've said, you
do need
that exposure seven times or more. But that exposure needs
to be consistent, whether it be the message, the tone,
the visual cues so that your brain remembers over time.
And that's a really important piece as well.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
Yeah, So for the listener who's about to launch their
eCommerce presence, what are top three Must dos before launch,
Speaker 2 (29:36):
I think absolutely getting your brand story created and making
sure that it doesn't just live on the about us page.
Your storytelling needs to be weaved through the different pieces
of your page, so you, um, in the same way
that a customer would flow through the site, the story
should as well, so making sure it's sprinkled across different, different, um,
(30:00):
parts of their journey.
Speaker 1 (30:03):
So that's on the website and
in, you know, obviously in your ads in your social media.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
Yes,
Speaker 1 (30:10):
absolutely sure. It sprinkled throughout that as well.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
So being able to turn your story into content, themes
and content pillars and making sure that that's that's there
as well.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
Yeah, yeah, community and support is one of my favourite topics.
It's a pretty big deal. And one question I always
ask my guests is about their professional and personal support networks,
because my belief that, you know is is that building
a business is similar to raising kids. It takes a village,
and it really is so much tougher on your own
(30:45):
who has been in your support network, whether that's personal
or professional, that's sort of been integral to getting you
where you are
Speaker 2 (30:53):
today. Yeah, so I've had, uh, lots of different groups
and support, which has been great. So
there I have a business mentor that I've been working
with for the last 12 months, who's just been amazing.
And
Speaker 1 (31:08):
why did you decide to go for a business mentor?
Speaker 2 (31:11):
So I definitely needed more help than an online course.
So I think I had done the online courses I
needed somebody that had,
you know, had done the groundwork had that wisdom has
worked with many different businesses and has that foresight, and
he's almost like he can see the future. Wow.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
Yeah,
Speaker 2 (31:35):
so good. So I literally I have to do everything
he tells me to do, because when I don't, I
can see, like in my notebook that he told me
to do that, and I didn't.
And this is what happened. So he is just the
most wise person
Speaker 1 (31:52):
that How did you find him? Um, I
Speaker 2 (31:54):
I did a bit of a Google search I was
looking for, like, business mentors, business coaches, and met with
a few, and it was really important to find the
right fit and the right.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
I think so, Yeah. I've been down that business Coach
Road and, you know,
had a couple of false starts just because, you know,
you think it's OK and then you get into it.
It's like, No, this isn't the person for me. So
I think that's really important meeting with different people and,
um, yeah, really having a clear picture of what you
(32:26):
want out of the, you know, out of the sessions
Speaker 2 (32:31):
and another group, um, that I've been part of. It's
like a group of business owners that the ethos the
group of a community like a global community and there
are different chapters. And the idea was that it was
started originally a
like location. Independence, like work anywhere, Um, but now it's
(32:52):
just people with predominantly remote, um, businesses with kind of.
I think they call themselves like micro multinationals where they're
working across different regions. And it's just been really great,
mainly to learn things around, like, what are the latest tools? Technology?
So from a text,
it's been really, really helpful for me to understand what
(33:15):
tools people are using to be more efficient with their work.
And the people in the community are just lovely. So
there's a group in Sydney. We meet for, like, a
drink every other month, and, um, we've got they do
like conferences and things like that. And so that's been really,
really great for me,
Speaker 1 (33:33):
great and personally,
Speaker 2 (33:36):
yeah, so I have a loving family, so they are
so supportive. So Mum is like Team Effi like, Yes,
she's been so amazing, like
she's just everything I've done and the decisions I've made
around OK, I'm like, I'm not going to go back
(33:57):
to corporate. She's been so supportive, so I just adore
her so much.
Speaker 1 (34:03):
I love that. I love that. Yeah, that's so important.
So
you know when you're you're talking about your business coach
and you know the decision can sometimes be, You know,
when you're starting out in business, it can sometimes be
a bit of a tough decision because, you know, I've
got the funds. But do I reinvest them into growing
the business? Or do I reinvest them into you know, myself?
(34:25):
What would be your advice with someone who's might be
grappling with that, um, choice?
Speaker 2 (34:32):
Personally, I've been choosing to reinvest in myself because I
can see
the the RO I long term. I can see the
pay pay off. So, um, that's just been a personal choice. Um,
I know everyone's situations are different financially, Um, but I
think if you're in the position where your kind of
(34:53):
day to day is taken care of, I think there's
nothing more valuable when you're first getting started. Um, in
just levelling up your ability to manage your business and
understand how to grow it.
Speaker 1 (35:06):
Yeah, good advice
I'm always conscious of of sharing the real business journey
with listeners. Those stories, uh, you know about real people.
It's it's important to celebrate the successes as it is
to acknowledge the tough times. What would you say has
been your biggest challenge since starting your business?
Speaker 2 (35:23):
I think managing Rests
has been really hard. So I think it's been really hard,
because depending on like, I I'm on LinkedIn a lot
like depending on whose content you're looking at. It's like
Speaker 1 (35:41):
I know in different time zones, too.
Speaker 2 (35:42):
Yeah, it's this balance of like,
I know I need to do these, you know, things
on my agenda because that's what I said I would
do to be able to, you know, get the outcome
that I'm looking for. But then I also said that
I would do, you know, rest and play. And it's
those days where it's like, which are you gonna choose?
(36:03):
Like which promise are you gonna keep to yourself? Like
I feel those days, um, are really challenging.
Speaker 1 (36:10):
And how do you work through them? How do you decide?
Speaker 2 (36:14):
Um, I think about the consequence, which will have the
worst consequence in that moment. So if I'm absolutely exhausted,
there's no way like you've got to put yourself first. Um,
and there are some times where it's like I'll just
push through a little bit because this is very important
for me. It's literally like a minute by minute kind
(36:35):
of decision making thing. It's very, very hard. So
Speaker 1 (36:38):
just taking small steps. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And, um, what gives you the most satisfaction in your
business right now?
Speaker 2 (36:47):
I love delivering amazing work and making clients happy like
it's just such a rush. Like it's like I describe
it as like when you have when you're in the
corporate world and you've got a great performance review and
you you get a pay rise. It's like that, like
every time. It just feels so good to know that
(37:07):
you've helped, because often they have the vision, but they
don't know how to bring it to life. And because
they they need your
skills. So being able to help and just making them
really happy that they're they've got what they need to
help them with their next step. That's I love that feeling.
Speaker 1 (37:25):
Yeah, And do you celebrate it? I do. What do
you do? How do you celebrate? This is really important.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
So I feel maybe this isn't the best habit. But
I love. I love like food. A lot of food rules,
I feel like Is this, like, emotional?
Speaker 1 (37:44):
It's on the flip side. It's on the flip side.
It's OK, go with it. I
Speaker 2 (37:49):
love, um, yeah, dinners and things like that. Um and yeah,
I think it's a lot of a lot of time.
Speaker 1 (37:59):
There's nothing wrong with that. Ey, Yeah, I love it.
So what is the most valuable lesson you have learned
from a client to date?
Speaker 2 (38:10):
Um,
I would say
there's something really, really beautiful about just service. So, like
doing things with the intention of service and not like,
I want this outcome for me. I think that's been really,
really interesting. I think that's been the common denominator with
(38:32):
the founders that I have found the most inspiring. And
the businesses that I've enjoyed working with the most like
they're genuinely about their community and their team, and that's
that just it carries through into everything that they do,
and it just makes I don't know, their businesses just have, like,
this energy that this
Speaker 1 (38:53):
invisible power yeah, yeah, love it. So if the listeners
started their own business and might be struggling a bit
with business Mojo, what advice would you share? I
Speaker 2 (39:03):
think it's
about persistence, like it's these things that we hear. Like
I've heard it a million times, like, keep at it,
be persistent. But like I can genuinely say that like
I see now, like I had mentioned, there's client
prospects that I connected with, like, 18 months ago, that
(39:25):
kind of show up like it's like those seeds that
you plant like It does take time, but they do Bloom.
And I think I can only say that because I've
seen it now. And if you told me, like
12 months ago, like I would be like, What are
you talking about? I want to see the results now, Um,
but there is this different. There's this time frame of
(39:47):
like waiting whilst you kind of keep working and keep
planting those seeds for that next level.
Speaker 1 (39:53):
And so patience and thinking of the long you know,
it's a long game.
How do you get through that, um, day to day,
when you're not feeling like being patient,
Speaker 2 (40:05):
Yeah, so it's like I try not to talk in cliches.
But this stuff is true. It's so
Speaker 1 (40:12):
true. True? Yeah,
Speaker 2 (40:14):
yeah. So having like a really clear mission and a
why So that's like,
you've got to know what? Why you're doing what you're doing.
And I think if you do when things are really,
really hard, like even though you're not feeling great, like
it's just a refresher about why you're doing this and
why you're going to get up and do it again tomorrow.
(40:36):
And that's really important.
Speaker 1 (40:39):
Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.
So what's next for beautiful sparks?
Speaker 2 (40:44):
So for beautiful sparks, we are now evolving into offering
more services from just strategy. So looking at what implementation
looks like So with the brands that we've worked with
that have gone through our strategy process, we've got a
really great framework for them. So now we're looking at
how do we implement this across developing
social content, helping you to manage your execution of it
(41:07):
in terms of those tactics, Um and yeah, just continuing
to layer on more services that are relevant to our
clients but also aligned with the core kind of expertise
of the people that I work with in terms of
the subcontractors that I
Speaker 1 (41:23):
work with. Yeah, right. And what's next for Effi?
Speaker 2 (41:28):
So for me, I need to get back to that,
you know, ice cream in the
Speaker 1 (41:33):
afternoon. I love it. Well, that's a goal for 2020
20
Speaker 2 (41:37):
four. So 2024 is about, um you know how I'm
just becoming this, like, big cliche, slowing down, slowing down
to go fast. So that's gonna be the big goal
is like,
you know, focus on what's important not trying to do
(41:59):
everything and haste, because now that I see the long game,
I'm like, OK, I need the energy I wanna have
the energy to be, you know, keep going. Um, So
I definitely see
the time frame that it takes to make things work,
and I'm committed, and that means, you know, slowing down
(42:20):
a little bit, so I can, you know, run the marathon.
Speaker 1 (42:23):
Yeah, absolutely. Great. Great. Great plan. Well, you've been an
absolute gem, Effi. Thank you so much gold in this episode,
you're the ultimate professional. Um, thank you for all your
practical tips and and hints you've shared with us today.
Um, I think I'm going to have to go back
and write a few things down. We're in my own
(42:44):
brand strategy. We sincerely appreciate your generosity and and for
taking the time to spend with us this morning. So, um,
I'd love to get to know you and your business journey.
I'm looking forward to seeing what's next. So thank you
for joining me.
Speaker 2 (42:59):
Ey. Thank you. It was so lovely to chat.
Speaker 1 (43:02):
If you're looking for some free resources to start creating
a buzz with your digital marketing, then go to bees
Knees marketing.com dot a U backslash free. That's bees knees
marketing.com dot a U backslash free. Follow the prompts and
take advantage of our free resource library and get your
business buzzing.
E as Safura. Jay is the founder of Beautiful Sparks,
a branding agency who has worked with many of the
fashion and beauty brands we know and love.
An accomplished, professional and passionate student of business. Effie's dedication
to education and her commitment to growth and learning are
(00:23):
truly motivating. In this episode, Effie shares invaluable insights for
listeners transitioning from employment to self-employment. We delve into overcoming
self doubt and leaning into the uncomfortable
with storytelling. At the heart of her business, Effie shares
the importance of bringing your true self and unique qualities
(00:44):
to business. We bust some common myths, and Effie is
generous with sound practical advice for everyday business success. Join
us for a conversation that is jam packed with wisdom
and inspiration.
Welcome to the buzz, Effie.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Thank you so much for having me. It's exciting to
join you, Effie. I see
Speaker 1 (01:08):
that your first degree was a bachelor of business advertising
and marketing.
So would it be safe to say that you've always
known your career was going to be in that business
marketing space?
Speaker 2 (01:21):
I have a really interesting story about how I pick
that degree.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Oh, do you OK, Tell us. I love an interesting story.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
So I was inspired, like as a young, uh, person.
I watched a lot of movies, and it was
I think it was a Bruce Willis movie. Maybe not
Bruce Willis. What women want. It was like this nineties
movie about an ad agency. It had I can't remember
(01:50):
the stars, but it was ultimately this, like, ad man
kind of lifestyle. And I was like, This looks like fun.
I think this is what I want to do. That
IP
Speaker 1 (01:58):
That is interesting.
I love it. I love it. So you went straight
into that degree. And then a few years after that,
I see you did an MB a international exchange in China.
Is that correct?
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Yeah. So the exchange was part of the MB a
programme that I did in Sydney. So I did postgrad
in Brisbane. Ok, And then when I moved to Sydney
down the track, I did postgrad and we had a
block of time in China, which was really, really interesting.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
What? Like why did you decide to do that? MB
Speaker 2 (02:34):
a So with the career path that I had, I
had been in very much the creative industry side, so
working in branding agencies and working in more creatively inclined
beauty businesses. So I was really wanting to really level
up the commercial side of my skill set. So that's
(02:55):
why I transitioned to do the MB A.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Yeah, amazing.
Looks like you also held a couple of corporate jobs
before going freelance. So how did you come about that
freelance opportunity?
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Yeah. So the freelance opportunity was, I think, like everybody
in 2020. So when everything shut down, I know
Speaker 1 (03:16):
that. Yeah,
Speaker 2 (03:20):
quite interestingly, right before everything shut down. I took a
with my, um, corporate jobs. They were refracturing, um and
I was like, Oh, I've got the whole year to, like,
figure everything out. And I had a few things in
the pipeline wise. So I was like, Yes, let me
just leave. And then everything shut down. Did
Speaker 1 (03:43):
you know what was coming?
Speaker 2 (03:44):
And
so the freelancing was just to keep busy because I,
like all the jobs, were on hiring freezes. They weren't.
No one was doing interviews anymore because it was all
very uncertain. So I was like, OK, I'll pick up
some freelance stuff whilst the world is, you know,
Speaker 1 (04:02):
sorting itself out. And you had that financial backing, which
is kind of the dream. When you're going into freelance
to have that, you know, pay out, isn't it? Yeah.
And I think, um, you know, at that stage, had
you thought Yes, I've always wanted to work for myself.
This is the dream. Or did you think No, I'm
definitely going to go back to, you know, full time
Speaker 2 (04:24):
employment. I was definitely going to go back. Oh,
Speaker 1 (04:27):
really? So it really was an interim fix,
Speaker 2 (04:30):
so I
I had some really exciting opportunities. And I was, like,
the last phase of interviews. So I was like, I
am going back like this is just, you know, this
hiring freeze is temporary, but none of those jobs came
back online.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Yeah, because then you went back into full time employment,
didn't you?
So what was Yeah, what happened after 2020 when you
went freelancing? Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
So I kept going, and then there was another lockdown.
So from, like, 2020 I did like a short contract.
And then that was the with the intention that we
gonna look for something permanent, Um, and then after a while,
so
I started really gaining traction with the freelancing and I
(05:16):
really enjoyed it. I loved working with the brand and
the directly with the founders. And then I realised with
the jobs that I was applying for, I was kind
of just applying for them because I felt I had
to because that was like, Of course, I have to
go back. I started to lose a bit of steam
and a bit of excitement around them.
I found in interviews I was like, genuinely not that excited.
(05:41):
And I had to have a bit of a check
with myself about like, Is this really what I wanna do? Like,
I thought that was the path, but I was actually
finding a lot of just joy in working with these
emerging brands. And then it was actually in May,
mixing all the years up between
Speaker 1 (05:59):
lockdown. I think a lot of people
Speaker 2 (06:04):
in lock down. Um, I think I remember it was
around May in or some time that I was like
I just stopped applying because I just lost interest.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
OK,
so then going back a step, how are you getting
these freelance jobs?
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Yeah, So there are some really great communities online. So
there's some Facebook communities. There are some slack groups as well.
So what I did was ask my other freelance friends like,
where do you find freelance jobs? So a lot of
them are. There's these, like, quite thriving Facebook groups with
different kind of specialties.
(06:42):
Um, and some slack channels where things would be dropped in.
So it all kind of started with these small little pieces. Um,
I did connect with people on LinkedIn as well. So, uh,
businesses kind of in my area, sort of inner city.
I would just connect with them and had a couple
of coffees come out of that. So it was those
different combinations of
Speaker 1 (07:01):
things. Yeah. Nice. Yeah. Yeah, because that's often the hardest part.
When you're going out, you're going.
I mean, yours was more unintentional and and more organic,
but I think that's often the problem is when people
are going out to work for themselves or in a
freelance phase. OK, so where do I get started? Yeah,
So those are great tips. What was your biggest takeaway
(07:23):
from that freelancing experience in the early days? I
Speaker 2 (07:27):
think for me it was really interesting to see
founders in that sort of first four years kind of
scaling their businesses. So I found it really interesting around
observing different leadership styles and, um, different approaches to strategy.
And so I think it was also the mindset of
(07:49):
different business leaders as well as they grew their businesses.
So I think for me it was really learning about, um,
potential kind of pitfalls around, like
resource planning and team management. But then also being really
inspired by these people that had this cool vision, this
product and just kept going and gained traction.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
What would you say is the most common quality that
they all have?
Speaker 2 (08:14):
I think they are just absolute guns, like they just
never say no like there's always a way. So what
I've observed is that there's always a way to get
a result or an outcome, and I think they're really
relentless about figuring it out. Even if they don't have any, like,
you know, subject expertise. Or they just find a way.
(08:37):
They find the people, they connect the dots.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
Yeah, that's good. Absolutely.
Then what happens?
Speaker 2 (08:44):
So after the stints of the
Speaker 1 (08:47):
and the project, you know, the contracts, contracts here and there.
What happens next?
Speaker 2 (08:53):
So, what I realised was that what I The work
I was doing was quite similar in the sense that
these brands at this stage had this similar problem to
be solved.
And what was that? So this was really around getting
help around articulating their story, their value proposition, their positioning,
what makes them unique and then translating that into their
(09:16):
social presence and campaigns and everything they do organically and pain.
So I was able to
understand what I had consistently been delivering for brands and
begin to package it up into, like, a a formal offer.
And I got more granular. I did some training around,
like how to, you know, price an offer and how to, um,
(09:40):
sell the value proposition. So I got more intentional about
the work that I was doing. And rather than just, um,
like delivering, you know, I'm gonna spend X many hours
to do XYZ. It was about like,
I'm gonna solve your problem. These are the steps, and
this is the value. So getting more intentional about how
to sell, um, and kind of making that transition from
(10:03):
kind of freelance to like, consultant and, uh, like company owner,
whereby I'm now getting help with subcontractors to help deliver
the projects using the same process that I had been
using over those last few years. Yeah, right. So, yeah,
it was about getting
intentional about formalising what I had been doing.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
And did you have any guidance or support to do that? Like,
did you have a coach or a mentor that helped you,
you know, articulate that niche?
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Yeah, I did an online, an online course, Like how
to become a consultant, One of those ones where it
was like, Yeah, so it was one of those online,
you know, module by module.
Understand your customer, like, do your personas. So all the
foundational stuff, um, to be able to package up something
(10:59):
as a service that can be repeated and also in
a way that other people can help you to deliver
at that same level.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Yeah, right. Right.
You're very, um, education. Like you keep going back to education.
Would you say that that's like a a really core
value of yours? Oh,
Speaker 2 (11:18):
absolutely. Yeah. So definitely like growth and learning. Um, so
commitment to that is been It's been quite consistent, So Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1 (11:29):
yeah. What is it that you get out of that?
What is it that that feeds you personally?
Speaker 2 (11:34):
I love. Oh, it's very general, but I love learning. Um,
but I love, um, just expanding my mind. So, like,
just evolving the way that I see problems the world
and being able to understand myself, others and business in general.
(11:55):
So it's just that evolution that I really enjoy. I
Speaker 1 (11:59):
love it. Love it, love it.
So, you know, um, you've got Yeah. So you've got
your niche. You know, your niche product. You know? You
know what you formalise that, um, intention and that offering,
Um What happens next for
Speaker 2 (12:15):
you?
Yeah. So it's then about, um how do I get
clients now? And, like, transition from this freelance to this
company owner. So there are lots of more courses things around, um, outreach.
So how do you actually engage with someone with intent
in a way that's valuable and not annoying? Um, so
(12:38):
learning about that,
um also expanding my offer. So traditionally, I had been
doing just kind of branding strategy, and since then, I've
now evolved to do branding design and, um, now looking
at some other things as well. So I think it's
been about, like, again, evolution. So what is the next
(12:59):
layer of service that I can provide? And that's come
from
understanding when I've handed over the work to the brands
that I've worked with what worked? Well, what didn't What
do they then need help with? So So it's just
about continuing that, um, support journey,
Speaker 1 (13:15):
and so do you run that order at the end
of your at the conclusion of the project. So
Speaker 2 (13:22):
I usually check in with them about six months later
because it
it takes them a while to kind of roll everything
out and get some traction and get their team really
implementing the strategy. So I'd like to check in about
six months to see what's working for them and what
they need help with. And that information has helped me
figure out what could be next for involving the service offer.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Yeah, absolutely. So if you had your time again going
out on your own,
um, was there anything that you would have done differently
Speaker 2 (13:53):
because I didn't realise I was going to stay and
stick at this. I think if I knew, I would
have been
earlier in terms of being more intentional about building something
a bit with some more rigour and formality. And But
I wouldn't have changed it because I think being kind
(14:15):
of open and, you know, I think that's helped me
in finding the right path
Speaker 1 (14:20):
and and having and yeah, sort of stumbling into it.
You'd be things that you'd be learning along the way
that you probably wouldn't have if you had have been
that intentional. That's right. Yeah, yeah.
You know, speaking to the listener who might be ready
to go out on their own, What would your top
tip be that you would have benefited knowing, you know,
(14:43):
when you started out?
Speaker 2 (14:44):
Yeah, So I would say, thinking very early on about
client acquisition. So I think at the time when you start,
it's very much about how do you deliver the service? Um,
and how do you do a good job at that? Um,
I think being as intentional about how you're going to
(15:04):
build and nurture your client prospects for now and into
the future, I think that's something that I never really
thought about.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
Yeah. And why, Like, why did you Why did you
suggest that? That was obviously something you didn't think of.
But what has happened that had made you realise? Oh,
that's actually really, really
Speaker 2 (15:23):
important. Yeah. So I think what I'm learning now is
everything is relational and long term. So with brands that
I'm speaking to now, I may have actually reached out
to them a year ago or 18 months ago. So
not everyone is ready to take action now. They may
not need your help, but I think just being really
genuine about the relationships that you cultivate when people are
(15:45):
ready and they'll put their hands up and absolutely earlier
on I didn't realise that I thought it was more like,
um, let's outreach now to get work now. Um, yeah.
Rather than let's actually build relationships for when people need help.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
That's key. That's a key. And then, you know, you've
got some pretty pretty impressive portfolio of clients there too.
Um, for the listener who has their sight set on
this calibre of client, but not sure where to start.
What would your advice be? What's
Speaker 2 (16:19):
worked really well for me has been linked in. So
I would say
making connections on LinkedIn and just sharing content that's valuable
to people within your niche is a really great way
to get on people's radar. Um, and then, yeah, I
just again, Yeah, LinkedIn's been really good, and I would
(16:41):
say as well, it's been really interesting. I never I
work a lot with US brands and I never
I think the question I get a lot now is like, Oh,
why why is that? But it's like I never ruled
that out. Um, I think like we're so connected, Um,
with Zoom now. And if you have great experience and
(17:05):
you can help somebody, I really don't think, um, where
you're located is limitation
anymore. So I'd say being really open to having, like, international, um,
connections from the start, because we're so just a call away.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
Yeah, absolutely. How does that work, though? Because obviously the
markets are different in the different countries as well. So
is it just you knowing, you know, really knowing well,
those different markets
that give you that
Speaker 2 (17:36):
edge? Yeah. So with the work that I do, it's
the overarching sort of strategy. So the strategy work. I
see more tactical implementation. There's definitely value in being local.
There's the nuances around seasonality and trends. But I think
the overall
(17:56):
matching kind of brand work is universal. And I think,
if you know your niche very well, um, there are
nuances in different markets, but the general kind of there's
universal rules around kind of the beauty category that are very,
um universal.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
Yeah. No, that makes perfect sense. That makes perfect sense
in those early days, as you were doing all your
you know, um, LinkedIn outreach and putting yourself into those channels.
Did you ever struggle with self doubt?
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Oh, yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Yeah, it's I think it's just natural. Yeah. And
Speaker 1 (18:41):
how do you deal with it?
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Um, I think you have a few. You give yourself
some time to be a bit nervous and like, Oh,
my gosh, what am I doing? And then you just
get over it. Um, I, I love that. You just
get over it. Um, just posting on LinkedIn, which is
so bizarre because I'm on there constantly now, but because
I hadn't used it when I was in my corporate job,
(19:04):
I never used it other than to find a job
I
found I was, like, very nervous about posting about my
business and my services and which now, looking back, was like, What?
Why
Speaker 1 (19:16):
do you think that is? I've got some thoughts, but
I'm keen to hear what you think.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
I think for me because it was this new identity
for me going to like Oh, yeah, I'm a business
owner now And I think it was about taking ownership
of that and feeling of
a bit like, Oh, what am I doing? And so
I think that was a big piece. Was like I
felt uncomfortable because it was like the new me showing
up on LinkedIn and when I had previously not done
(19:44):
anything on there, so it was a bit uncomfortable, but
it's fine.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
And now it's all part of your every day for
the listener who might be, you know, feeling that comes
up for them. You know, you've said, just get
with it. But you know, the reality of that can
sometimes be a bit tough. What's your advice in overcoming
that self doubt?
Speaker 2 (20:05):
I think what's worked really well for me is for
every situation that's new and unfamiliar and makes you a
bit nervous. I think about what was the last time?
When was the last time I felt this way? And
when did I, like, overcome it? So you just kind
of remind yourself that,
OK, this is a good sign that I'm nervous because
it means I'm doing something new and important to you,
(20:28):
and that's potentially gonna grow me. That's why I'm a
bit scared. So you just kind of think back to
the last couple of times when that happened and everything
was OK.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
Beautiful. So a bit of self nurturing? Yeah. Yeah, I
love it.
We often talk about measures of success here on the buzz, Um,
and and and, you know, obviously in different businesses at
different stages, all have different measures of success. Do you
remember what your measures of success were? Starting out?
Speaker 2 (20:57):
Yeah. So mine was I wanted to, like, have afternoons
free that I could go for ice cream on a weekday.
And so it was lifestyle.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
And I love that. It
Speaker 2 (21:11):
was, um, when I was freelancing because that was like
what I thought, being a business owner,
Speaker 1 (21:17):
you free?
It's in the word.
Yeah. Yeah. So
Speaker 2 (21:24):
that was um, that was success. And that's of all,
Speaker 1 (21:28):
what is it now? So, you know, having afternoons free
for ice cream and freelancing, and then we're moving into,
you know, being a company owner. What does success look
like for you now?
Speaker 2 (21:39):
So for me, it's about the quality of the work.
So the calibre of the work now? So I've, um, written, like,
you know, at the end of the year, it's about
having this, like, beautiful portfolio of work that I've worked
with really great collaborators on, um, that I'm really proud of.
So it's a different measure now. Yeah,
Speaker 1 (21:58):
absolutely. Do you still get to have ice cream in
the afternoon? Not as much as 2024 goals.
And then obviously working with clients, I can imagine. You know,
they've obviously got different measures of success, depending where they
are and their business. What have you found to be
a common measure of success across your clientele? What are
(22:21):
they mostly all after?
Speaker 2 (22:23):
So the brands that I work with, they are very
much about building community. So they want, like, raving fans.
They want people to be excited about their mission.
So very much things around engagement and building a tribe
are really, really important to them. So, interestingly, the when
(22:44):
I speak to them on the phone, they don't come
to me saying, Oh, we want your help to help
us make XYZ million. It's more like we really want
to improve our message
so people get us and we can grow our tribe.
So it's very much, um, around Mission and galvanising people
around
Speaker 1 (23:02):
that, Yeah, absolutely. You know, we talk about solutions, selling
and often, you know, um, when we do marketing discovery sessions,
we're referring to the problem that we're trying to solve. Um,
you know, you've spoken about community
and and whether or not that's really a problem, But
what are the what are the problems that your clients
(23:23):
have and how do you solve them?
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Yeah, so there's quite a few at this stage, so
normally they have grown. They're in kind of year, 4
to 7. So what normally happens is they're growing their
team internally. They're building an internal marketing team. They're growing
their agency partners. Um, normally, what happens is there's misalignment
in terms of what the brand stands for, and that
(23:47):
plays out in different ways. So, um, agencies producing content
That's kind of all over the shop because there was
no kind of blueprint for the brand, and often they're
wanting to get into retail, so they they'll start as
direct to consumer. And they're going to pitches for retail
to get into retailers. And they they're getting knocked back
because they value prop isn't clear enough. They've got great products,
(24:10):
but they
not enough differentiation. Um, also with the US brands just
because of the scale of retail, they do need VC
support as well. Um, and also V CS will see that, actually,
you've got a great product. Um, but your branding is
a little, you know, it's not distinct enough. Um um, like,
there's no kind of system around community building, So those
(24:33):
are the big things that stand in their way, Um,
in terms of getting to the
next stage that they have to
Speaker 1 (24:39):
love it. And this podcast is all about storytelling, right?
Taking listeners on a journey where they get to know, um,
our guests and ride the ups and downs of the
business journey. Storytelling is also obviously really super important and
incredibly powerful in the Ecommerce space. Can you tell us why?
And and share some examples of successful brand storytelling that
(25:02):
you have spearheaded
Speaker 2 (25:04):
so storytelling? It's really about human connection. So when we
think back to like ancient tribes and everything like that,
the way that everyone connected was through stories to pass
information and build relationships. And it's so similar with human, um, connections.
That we connect with brands the the most through stories
(25:26):
helps us to identify with them, um and
and their values. So that's the kind of the school
of thought that I've always believed in and seen played
out really well and how that works really well, My
favourite examples of that are Christmas, Christmas time and Christmas campaigns.
(25:47):
So one of my favourite, um, this is one of
my corporate day stories. The one of the beauty brands
that I worked with had,
uh, limited edition Christmas product. It was the same product
came out every year, but it came back with a
new story. So new packaging, new campaign, new story and
that was some of the most rewarding work of my
(26:08):
career was being able to How do we re invent
this every year? Um, and it was about customer insights.
So what do we know about our audience? What are
their aspirations, Their desires? And how can we tell a
new story this year that really speaks to
and their dreams and just brings joy around Christmas? So
(26:29):
I'm like a big Christmas campaign fan. I love, um,
Aldi ads. How
Speaker 1 (26:38):
are they? Yes, yes,
yes, absolutely. Yeah, yeah. There's
Speaker 2 (26:43):
also some good Apple ads around Christmas as well, so
it's just a really emotional time, and you can do
so much with storytelling
Speaker 1 (26:52):
getting that connection. Mm, love it, love it. And it's
one thing you know to have a story. But then,
obviously it's another to implement a strategy that really cuts through,
as we know, a very saturated e-commerce market for the
listener who might have their stories sort of but are
struggling to cut through. What would your advice be?
Speaker 2 (27:14):
I would say, being in terms of execution, being really
true to yourself, so not trying to copy trends too much.
I see a lot of brands that I speak to.
It's very important to stay connected to trends, but not
to get lost in that
Speaker 1 (27:30):
make them become your identity That's
Speaker 2 (27:32):
right. So I think always bringing something very distinct and
unique that's unique and special to you, um is the
way to stand out?
Speaker 1 (27:42):
Yeah, Yeah, absolutely good advice.
Now, I can't go past a good myth busting session.
And I know there are a tonne around, you know, branding, branding, misconceptions.
Can you share one or two that you see regularly
and share some advice on the, you know, pits and workarounds?
Speaker 2 (28:03):
Yeah, So one is probably when you launch a brand
and you're doing branding that it's just about the logo,
the typeface, the colour palette.
And there's many more layers to building that brand identity.
And that's around like your value proposition, your brand voice
and your brand story and all your manifesto and then
(28:24):
your system to translate that into your content as well.
So I think
I think the word branding is is quite broad. It is, yeah, absolutely.
And I think there are a lot more layers to it, um,
that people sometimes are aware of, and they may not
know there's there's more facets to developing that identity.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Um,
obviously, what isn't a misconception is the amount of times
a potential customer needs to see your brand before making
a buying decision to start considering a purchase. Um, and that's,
you know, at least seven times now. I think it is,
isn't it? So what kind of influence does branding have
(29:04):
on the online customer journey? Yeah,
Speaker 2 (29:07):
so it's about that consistency. So, like you've said, you
do need
that exposure seven times or more. But that exposure needs
to be consistent, whether it be the message, the tone,
the visual cues so that your brain remembers over time.
And that's a really important piece as well.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
Yeah, So for the listener who's about to launch their
eCommerce presence, what are top three Must dos before launch,
Speaker 2 (29:36):
I think absolutely getting your brand story created and making
sure that it doesn't just live on the about us page.
Your storytelling needs to be weaved through the different pieces
of your page, so you, um, in the same way
that a customer would flow through the site, the story
should as well, so making sure it's sprinkled across different, different, um,
(30:00):
parts of their journey.
Speaker 1 (30:03):
So that's on the website and
in, you know, obviously in your ads in your social media.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
Yes,
Speaker 1 (30:10):
absolutely sure. It sprinkled throughout that as well.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
So being able to turn your story into content, themes
and content pillars and making sure that that's that's there
as well.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
Yeah, yeah, community and support is one of my favourite topics.
It's a pretty big deal. And one question I always
ask my guests is about their professional and personal support networks,
because my belief that, you know is is that building
a business is similar to raising kids. It takes a village,
and it really is so much tougher on your own
(30:45):
who has been in your support network, whether that's personal
or professional, that's sort of been integral to getting you
where you are
Speaker 2 (30:53):
today. Yeah, so I've had, uh, lots of different groups
and support, which has been great. So
there I have a business mentor that I've been working
with for the last 12 months, who's just been amazing.
And
Speaker 1 (31:08):
why did you decide to go for a business mentor?
Speaker 2 (31:11):
So I definitely needed more help than an online course.
So I think I had done the online courses I
needed somebody that had,
you know, had done the groundwork had that wisdom has
worked with many different businesses and has that foresight, and
he's almost like he can see the future. Wow.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
Yeah,
Speaker 2 (31:35):
so good. So I literally I have to do everything
he tells me to do, because when I don't, I
can see, like in my notebook that he told me
to do that, and I didn't.
And this is what happened. So he is just the
most wise person
Speaker 1 (31:52):
that How did you find him? Um, I
Speaker 2 (31:54):
I did a bit of a Google search I was
looking for, like, business mentors, business coaches, and met with
a few, and it was really important to find the
right fit and the right.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
I think so, Yeah. I've been down that business Coach
Road and, you know,
had a couple of false starts just because, you know,
you think it's OK and then you get into it.
It's like, No, this isn't the person for me. So
I think that's really important meeting with different people and,
um, yeah, really having a clear picture of what you
(32:26):
want out of the, you know, out of the sessions
Speaker 2 (32:31):
and another group, um, that I've been part of. It's
like a group of business owners that the ethos the
group of a community like a global community and there
are different chapters. And the idea was that it was
started originally a
like location. Independence, like work anywhere, Um, but now it's
(32:52):
just people with predominantly remote, um, businesses with kind of.
I think they call themselves like micro multinationals where they're
working across different regions. And it's just been really great,
mainly to learn things around, like, what are the latest tools? Technology?
So from a text,
it's been really, really helpful for me to understand what
(33:15):
tools people are using to be more efficient with their work.
And the people in the community are just lovely. So
there's a group in Sydney. We meet for, like, a
drink every other month, and, um, we've got they do
like conferences and things like that. And so that's been really,
really great for me,
Speaker 1 (33:33):
great and personally,
Speaker 2 (33:36):
yeah, so I have a loving family, so they are
so supportive. So Mum is like Team Effi like, Yes,
she's been so amazing, like
she's just everything I've done and the decisions I've made
around OK, I'm like, I'm not going to go back
(33:57):
to corporate. She's been so supportive, so I just adore
her so much.
Speaker 1 (34:03):
I love that. I love that. Yeah, that's so important.
So
you know when you're you're talking about your business coach
and you know the decision can sometimes be, You know,
when you're starting out in business, it can sometimes be
a bit of a tough decision because, you know, I've
got the funds. But do I reinvest them into growing
the business? Or do I reinvest them into you know, myself?
(34:25):
What would be your advice with someone who's might be
grappling with that, um, choice?
Speaker 2 (34:32):
Personally, I've been choosing to reinvest in myself because I
can see
the the RO I long term. I can see the
pay pay off. So, um, that's just been a personal choice. Um,
I know everyone's situations are different financially, Um, but I
think if you're in the position where your kind of
(34:53):
day to day is taken care of, I think there's
nothing more valuable when you're first getting started. Um, in
just levelling up your ability to manage your business and
understand how to grow it.
Speaker 1 (35:06):
Yeah, good advice
I'm always conscious of of sharing the real business journey
with listeners. Those stories, uh, you know about real people.
It's it's important to celebrate the successes as it is
to acknowledge the tough times. What would you say has
been your biggest challenge since starting your business?
Speaker 2 (35:23):
I think managing Rests
has been really hard. So I think it's been really hard,
because depending on like, I I'm on LinkedIn a lot
like depending on whose content you're looking at. It's like
Speaker 1 (35:41):
I know in different time zones, too.
Speaker 2 (35:42):
Yeah, it's this balance of like,
I know I need to do these, you know, things
on my agenda because that's what I said I would
do to be able to, you know, get the outcome
that I'm looking for. But then I also said that
I would do, you know, rest and play. And it's
those days where it's like, which are you gonna choose?
(36:03):
Like which promise are you gonna keep to yourself? Like
I feel those days, um, are really challenging.
Speaker 1 (36:10):
And how do you work through them? How do you decide?
Speaker 2 (36:14):
Um, I think about the consequence, which will have the
worst consequence in that moment. So if I'm absolutely exhausted,
there's no way like you've got to put yourself first. Um,
and there are some times where it's like I'll just
push through a little bit because this is very important
for me. It's literally like a minute by minute kind
(36:35):
of decision making thing. It's very, very hard. So
Speaker 1 (36:38):
just taking small steps. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And, um, what gives you the most satisfaction in your
business right now?
Speaker 2 (36:47):
I love delivering amazing work and making clients happy like
it's just such a rush. Like it's like I describe
it as like when you have when you're in the
corporate world and you've got a great performance review and
you you get a pay rise. It's like that, like
every time. It just feels so good to know that
(37:07):
you've helped, because often they have the vision, but they
don't know how to bring it to life. And because
they they need your
skills. So being able to help and just making them
really happy that they're they've got what they need to
help them with their next step. That's I love that feeling.
Speaker 1 (37:25):
Yeah, And do you celebrate it? I do. What do
you do? How do you celebrate? This is really important.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
So I feel maybe this isn't the best habit. But
I love. I love like food. A lot of food rules,
I feel like Is this, like, emotional?
Speaker 1 (37:44):
It's on the flip side. It's on the flip side.
It's OK, go with it. I
Speaker 2 (37:49):
love, um, yeah, dinners and things like that. Um and yeah,
I think it's a lot of a lot of time.
Speaker 1 (37:59):
There's nothing wrong with that. Ey, Yeah, I love it.
So what is the most valuable lesson you have learned
from a client to date?
Speaker 2 (38:10):
Um,
I would say
there's something really, really beautiful about just service. So, like
doing things with the intention of service and not like,
I want this outcome for me. I think that's been really,
really interesting. I think that's been the common denominator with
(38:32):
the founders that I have found the most inspiring. And
the businesses that I've enjoyed working with the most like
they're genuinely about their community and their team, and that's
that just it carries through into everything that they do,
and it just makes I don't know, their businesses just have, like,
this energy that this
Speaker 1 (38:53):
invisible power yeah, yeah, love it. So if the listeners
started their own business and might be struggling a bit
with business Mojo, what advice would you share? I
Speaker 2 (39:03):
think it's
about persistence, like it's these things that we hear. Like
I've heard it a million times, like, keep at it,
be persistent. But like I can genuinely say that like
I see now, like I had mentioned, there's client
prospects that I connected with, like, 18 months ago, that
(39:25):
kind of show up like it's like those seeds that
you plant like It does take time, but they do Bloom.
And I think I can only say that because I've
seen it now. And if you told me, like
12 months ago, like I would be like, What are
you talking about? I want to see the results now, Um,
but there is this different. There's this time frame of
(39:47):
like waiting whilst you kind of keep working and keep
planting those seeds for that next level.
Speaker 1 (39:53):
And so patience and thinking of the long you know,
it's a long game.
How do you get through that, um, day to day,
when you're not feeling like being patient,
Speaker 2 (40:05):
Yeah, so it's like I try not to talk in cliches.
But this stuff is true. It's so
Speaker 1 (40:12):
true. True? Yeah,
Speaker 2 (40:14):
yeah. So having like a really clear mission and a
why So that's like,
you've got to know what? Why you're doing what you're doing.
And I think if you do when things are really,
really hard, like even though you're not feeling great, like
it's just a refresher about why you're doing this and
why you're going to get up and do it again tomorrow.
(40:36):
And that's really important.
Speaker 1 (40:39):
Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.
So what's next for beautiful sparks?
Speaker 2 (40:44):
So for beautiful sparks, we are now evolving into offering
more services from just strategy. So looking at what implementation
looks like So with the brands that we've worked with
that have gone through our strategy process, we've got a
really great framework for them. So now we're looking at
how do we implement this across developing
social content, helping you to manage your execution of it
(41:07):
in terms of those tactics, Um and yeah, just continuing
to layer on more services that are relevant to our
clients but also aligned with the core kind of expertise
of the people that I work with in terms of
the subcontractors that I
Speaker 1 (41:23):
work with. Yeah, right. And what's next for Effi?
Speaker 2 (41:28):
So for me, I need to get back to that,
you know, ice cream in the
Speaker 1 (41:33):
afternoon. I love it. Well, that's a goal for 2020
20
Speaker 2 (41:37):
four. So 2024 is about, um you know how I'm
just becoming this, like, big cliche, slowing down, slowing down
to go fast. So that's gonna be the big goal
is like,
you know, focus on what's important not trying to do
(41:59):
everything and haste, because now that I see the long game,
I'm like, OK, I need the energy I wanna have
the energy to be, you know, keep going. Um, So
I definitely see
the time frame that it takes to make things work,
and I'm committed, and that means, you know, slowing down
(42:20):
a little bit, so I can, you know, run the marathon.
Speaker 1 (42:23):
Yeah, absolutely. Great. Great. Great plan. Well, you've been an
absolute gem, Effi. Thank you so much gold in this episode,
you're the ultimate professional. Um, thank you for all your
practical tips and and hints you've shared with us today.
Um, I think I'm going to have to go back
and write a few things down. We're in my own
(42:44):
brand strategy. We sincerely appreciate your generosity and and for
taking the time to spend with us this morning. So, um,
I'd love to get to know you and your business journey.
I'm looking forward to seeing what's next. So thank you
for joining me.
Speaker 2 (42:59):
Ey. Thank you. It was so lovely to chat.
Speaker 1 (43:02):
If you're looking for some free resources to start creating
a buzz with your digital marketing, then go to bees
Knees marketing.com dot a U backslash free. That's bees knees
marketing.com dot a U backslash free. Follow the prompts and
take advantage of our free resource library and get your
business buzzing.
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