March 14, 2024 • 48 mins
Join Women's History Month's Co-Host Dr. LaTonya L. Small, Founder and Empowerment Strategist of LT Empowerment, Incorporated, a consulting company that empowers and equips women to thrive in their purpose. Dr. Small’s featured guest today will be Yolanda M. Smith, Founder and Chief Brandthrupist, of Branding 4 Success, LLC. Dr. Small’s Email: http://www.ltempowerment.com Website: http://www.ltempowerment.com
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Success 4 Women is broadcast live Thursdays at 2PM ET.
Success 4 Women TV Show is viewed on Talk 4 TV (www.talk4tv.com).
Success 4 Women Radio Show is broadcast on W4WN Radio - Women 4 Women Network (www.w4wn.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com).
Success 4 Women Podcast is also available on Talk 4 Podcasting (www.talk4podcasting.com), iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, Audible, and over 100 other podcast outlets.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/success-4-women--3126970/support.
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The topics and opinions expressed on thefollowing show are solely those of the hosts
and their guests, and not thoseof W four WN Radio It's employees or
affiliates. We make no recommendations orendorsements for radio show programs, services,
or products mentioned on air or onour web. No liability, explicit or
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questions or comment should be directed tothose show hosts. Thank you for choosing
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W four WN Radio. I gotthe time And did you know women represent
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just three percent of Fortune five hundredCEOs in less than fifteen percent of corporate
executives at top companies worldwide. Haveyou wondered what the secrets are to getting
into the top ranks, whether inthe private or public sector. Do you
want to figure out how to stopbeing held back in your career? Are
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passed over for promotion, then you'rein the right place. Hi. I'm
doctor Mattlanann Lewis, President and CEOof the Executive Women's Success Institute. I
have decades of experience in the military, the federal government, and corporate America,
and my mission is to help womensucceed and tap into their full potential.
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I want to reach a million pluswomen around the world to become the
leaders they are meant to be.So if you want to move into a
management or executive level position, ormaybe you are a female veteran transitioning out
of the military into business entrepreneurship,then reach out to the Executive Women's Success
Institute at three zero one six ninethree three two eight four. Let us
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get you on the fast track tosuccess. Welcome, Welcome to the Successful
Women's Show, where you can viewus on Top for TV and listen to
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us on the Woman for Woman Network. I am doctor Latania Small, your
co host for today. Today's topicis elevating your brand for business impact and
I have the unique and pleasure tointroduce my guest, Miss Yolanda M.
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Smith. Now, let me tellyou a little bit about Miss Yolanda M.
Smith and what you are in storefor. Yolanda M. Smith and
bodies purpose driven, purpose driven successwith a mission to empower others to achieve
their optimum. Best known for herpersonal brand expertise and business strategy, she
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founded the Branding for Success LLC,where she strives as a CEO and Chief
Brandfifist, Certified both as a brandAnalyst and diversity, equity and inclusion communicator.
Yolanda is an international speaker and coach, and she empowers entrepreneurs and professionals
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to develop a compelling personal brand forinfluence, impact and income to grow their
business and achieve their careers. Intwenty and twenty three, the Coach Foundation
recognized her as a leading personal brandcoach, where she also gained distinct her
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distinct as a Forbes BFK member ina twenty and twenty three SB Award recipient
for Outstanding Speaker Excellence, and Inkmagazine celebrated her as one of the most
one of the most admired women leadersin Business for twenty twenty two, and
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she also was recognized in twenty twentytwo as a brand Anthetist excuse me Anthesis
for the Year of Global Level.Furthermore, Yolanda has been penned two bestsellers
with Reputation to Reward and Notables,which is notable securing a top ten final
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spot at the twenty twenty Authors EleaitAwards. Any further time taken away from
our guests today, Miss Lelanda M. Smith, come on to the stage.
Thank you, thank you for havingme. What a great introduction,
girl, I need you. It'seasy. It's easy to recognize someone of
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your caliber. And let me justadd something that isn't in her bio because
people want to say, well that'sall finding good, but how do you
really know her? What's the realdeal? So let me peel that back
and spill the tefa all everyone inthe audience. This is not only is
she that she said, what shesays is what she does, She does,
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walk what she does. But Iam a true witness of being one
of her. She's coaching me alongwith my brand, to elevate my business.
So what everything that I've read shedelivers check off the box. So
Yolanda again, welcome today. Wejust want to talk about how we can
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elevate our business for that you know, elevate our brand for business impact.
Yes, so again I've read ofwho you are. But you know when
we talked about you are the CEOand the chief brand fists. You know
in a world of today, youknow what does that mean? Because you
know this is for women who wantto elevate, elevate their business for success.
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Thank you. That mean when wetalk about branding because I know sometimes
that appears to be the word ofthe day. You know, what's your
brand and everything, But why isthat so important for today? Thank you
for asking that question, because that'ssuper important. And I'm excited to be
here so so, you know,love seeing you along your journey and this
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is just another facet of who youare and who you are becoming. So
definitely thrilled to be here with you. You know, when you think about
personal branding, and I'll take astep back, you know, I've been
doing personal branding to twenty thirteen.It was something I actually stumbled up on
because I was the chair of anonprofit and I wanted to give back.
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I didn't want to just sit thereand push the papers and you know,
try to collect funds. All thatis important, but I wanted to really
engage with the girls. And soone of the things that I discovered was
a thing called personal branding. Soas I started to do my research,
I became more and more fascinated.And I had worked in the pharmaceutical industry
for years and was still working init at that time, so I was
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very familiar with branding, with marketingright, but never from a personal level.
And so it was up on discoveringthat that I realized there's something here.
It's not just about the product orthe service. It's literally about you.
And so when we think about branding, branding is our ability to really
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have a relationship with other people toget it's the experience you have with others,
how they come to know you.Right, it's at the end of
the day, it's their perception thatmatters. So yes, it's reputation,
it's images, it's those things.But truly, Jeff Bezos said it best
personal branding is what people say aboutyou when you what when you leave the
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room, Because when you leave theroom and their gossiping, because they will,
is it positive or negative? Andso it's not the color, it's
not the logo, it's not thewebsite, it's not the business card.
Those are things that can enhance yourbrand, but you have to know what
that brand is first and how youwant to show up to the world.
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Wow, how do you want toshow up to the world. So you
know, when we think about forthose of us who are in business,
or for those of us who aretransitioning, trying to transition into a business,
or just want to stay where weare in our career, but level
up. How do we get there? How do we enter the room?
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You know, in terms of ourbrand. And when I think about branding,
you know, some of the stellarones, like you said, some
of the fellow ones are Apple.When you think about Apple, when you
think about Starbucks, when you thinkabout ninety they have a distinct brand.
You know who they are. EvenMcDonald you can see those Golden office and
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you know when they represent. Sowhen we are doing our work, when
we are doing our development, whenwe want to go high and elevate ourselves,
what must we do? Yeah?Good question. So when you see
the Starbucks the lady, which wehaven't still figured out what that has to
do with coffee, but it works, right. We know that Starbucks,
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that's their brand identity right where youcan notice them anywhere they would be in
the world. So I think whenwe think about the brand itself, however,
it has to start with the brandto be able to get the brand
identity and what does that mean?That means we have to have the ability
to really be able to articulate ourvalue to other people. They have to
understand that we are giving something thatdoes something for them, right, So
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it's all about the value we deliver, what's in it for them? And
people often mistake the brand as beingabout themselves and it's me me, me,
me, me me me. No, I hate to tell you,
it's really not about you, Butit's about your ability to deliver to other
people. And if you do that, and you do that well, you
serve others, then the rewards comeback to you. So when you back
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to your question about transitioning or elevatingup, it's really about how well you're
able to articulate your value, liveauthentically so that you can make genuine connections.
Remember, connection is the new currency, and today we even tell you
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your network equals your net worth.So how you're able to be genuine and
make those connections and then stand out? Because right now we're in a very
crowded, very crowded marketplace. Sowhat are you doing to stand out?
Why are you how are you positioningyourself to become the ovo that's their only
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viable option? So why choose youfor the position, for the promotion,
for the role. And essentially,if you're just starting your personal brand journey,
because we're all a brand, don'tthink you're not where you sit today.
You are a brand. The questionis are you being strategic and intentional
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with your brand or are you justsitting back allowing it to organically grow.
Now, that doesn't mean you won'thave success, but what that is is
that you're leaving it to chance.That can be risky because it only takes
one person to come in and upsetthe apple cart and everything can go downhill
quickly. Right, That's why youhave to be strategic and intentional. And
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as you know, we talk aboutthe five steps to a powerful brand,
right yeah, and those steps encompassone. Authenticity. Who are you so
essentially, how are you showing up? Right? How are you showing up?
Are you really bringing your true selfso that people feel like they can
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connect and get to know you.Because when that happens, when people feel
like they know you, they knowyour story, that's when the magic can
happen. And so then number twois your value? What is your superpower?
What is that expertise that you canoffer to the world? What is
that thing? And how are youable to with confidence and clarity share that
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with the people you want to serve? Three? Yeah, then three is
your story? What is that story? Because again, that's what's going to
emotionally connect someone to you. Andso if I feel like I know you,
people will say if they feel likethey know you, they fit.
We talk about the magic happening.Those are the people that promot you,
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sponsor you. They will nominate you, they will do business with you,
they will hire you. Heck,they'll even marry you and loan you money.
It doesn't get better than that,because it's about the connection, right
right, the connection. And thennumber four is that positive digital footprint.
We are living in a digital worldright now, So what are we doing
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to ensure that we show up,we're discoverable, and that people get a
sense a glimpse into who we trulyare at the swipe, at the click,
you know, at the scroll.And then number five is that brand
mastery. That's where once you've doneall those things that I mentioned, how
are you activating it in the marketplace. And if you do that, and
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you do that well, then youhave the opportunity to get visibility, get
influenced, you have the impact,and then that leads to more income because
your value just shoots up. Wow, those those were all powerful, and
I hope everyone got a chance totake those down. Let's just unpack a
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couple of those, starting with thefirst one. And I know that when
I was starting out, one ofthe things about what was so great is
understanding who you are, because Ibelieve that before you can go out here
and have a brand, you gotto know who you are. And that
goes into your second point about yoursuperpower, because sometimes you may think,
hey, this is my gift,this is my purpose for some people,
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and I know a lot of womenthat I have met are still unclear of
what is it that I am todo. And it's like, you know
the story of you're trying to gosomewhere if you have two forks in a
row, if you don't know whereyou want to go, you know what's
good, you don't know what youwant to take, and so you have
to be very intentional and really sitin that and know your purpose. And
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I think when you know your purpose, not don't think, but when you
know your purpose, it leaves youinto your superpower. And that's also a
reflecting of how, like you said, how do you show up? You
know, you may show up likeI think, I'm a caring person.
I do this, and I dothis and then when others get that perception
and be like, no, shedoesn't come off like that to me.
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And so you need to understand againthat who you are is a reflection of
how the world sees you, becausethose are the people that you're going to
do business with, those are thepeople that you're looking for your elevation,
those are the people on your job, those are the people that you know
are going to promote you. Soit's really making sure that you are what
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I always like to say that youare in alignment with your assignment and your
assignment is your purpose. So canyou go and speak a little bit about
you know, the importance of youknow, step one and two, because
so many times, you know,we get anxious. We want to get
that impact, we want to getthat income. See that's what you want.
You want the dollars, but youdon't want to do the work,
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and so you don't and you haveto do that investment. You have to
do that investment. And so canyou kind of unpack that a little bit
and by and by all means,tell us some lessons that you have seen,
people you have coached, or somethings that you have witnessed that be
like a anss, this is whatyou need to be mindful of. Then
they've done it, got the Tshirt? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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You know, first of all,let's start right here when you talk about
the investment, because the investment isso important, and what you mean by
investment is saying, are you takingthe time to invest in yourself? When's
the last ask yourself, when's thelast time I've actually invested in myself for
some professional development, right, forsome coaching, Because this is what we
do as women. We nurture everybodyaround us, helping everybody be successful around
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us, and we often forget toeven give ourselves the same do right,
We invest a lot of times onourselves. We look good, right,
but we don't invest in ourselves.So that investment encompasses everything from just overall
self care awareness. You know yourmental health, your physical health, your
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spiritual health, but also then youknow your intellectual property and how you want
to show up in the professional realm, and how you feed your purpose and
your passion. So that's what wemean by the investment, And what we
will do is oftentimes we will shyaway from spending money to get the help
that we need that will take usfurther faster. But one of the things
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I want to say to people whoare in that transition period or thinking about
wanting to do something and what thatnext looks like is that why not get
with the who that's done what youwant to do so that they can take
you along further faster and you don'thave to make the mistakes that they made
because you're going to learn from yourmentor's mistake. Think about how much I
come up and I just be honestand transparent when you guys about what may
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have happened to me and my businessand my career, because it's not for
the faint of heart. Let's behonest. I mean, if you're an
entrepreneur, you aspire to be anentrepreneur, you got to get in and
dig in and do some serious work. And every day is not a jolly
day, you know, but it'snecessary and it's so fulfilling in that.
The second part to what you're talkingabout is how do you get grounded in
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your value and what you can provideto other people versus allowing the dollar to
control your actions. So what wesay there is we don't chase we don't
chase money, We chase our passion, you know or don't you know?
How the people, the kids yousay about that, we ain't chasing paper,
right, We don't chase the bag. We're not chasing the bag.
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We're chasing our passion. Because ifyou truly operate in your passion, you'll
have the greatest level of level ofsatisfaction. When you have a greater level
of satisfaction, that breeds better performance, obviously bereater performance, whether you're in
the workplace or you find yourself inyour own business, then we'll yield optimal
results. Right Because at the endof the day, yes, we do
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want to be profitable, we dowant to have more income, but it's
not where we start. That's notthe mindset of where we are. We're
going to do the things that weknow we are gifted and God has just
divinely planted in us. Follow thatpurpose, follow those gifts and those talents
He gave you to do this becausewhen you're not doing that, let me
tell you this, when you're chasingsomething over here that you may not even
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be divinely called to do, butyou know, all this is the trend
and everybody's making money doing it.So you run over here and that's what
I call those quick get rich strategiesthat don't work. But you run over
here and you do that, you'retaking away from what you're really assigned to
do, right, so what areyou doing? Then you end up robbing
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the people that need you most,because your gifts are here to serve other
people, and then you rob themof that. But when you get clarity
on what that thing is that you'redesigned to do, and we are operating
in that space and that passion,the rewards will come. The rewards will
come, So there's no reason tochase the reward. There's no reason to
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skip the steps of really being ableto understand who you are, build a
powerful brand, a solid business frameworkso that you can have the sustainability because
one thing that we do know isthat most businesses are out of business within
five years. That's a fact.That's a fact. Because it gets hard
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and then we just give up,We want to quit because we haven't prepared,
we haven't done the hard work upfront to really understand who we are,
why are we doing what we're doing, and then how do we do
it so that we can do itsuccessfully? Do it right? You know,
have contingency plans in place for whenit's not going to go well,
wow, you said a lot rightthere that you said, you know if
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it's a wow, But this isthis is a com These are the conversations
that we need. Yes, theseother conversations that we are missing at the
table. These are the conversations thatwill lay a foundation for success. Because
it's not a like you said,it's not of I want to get rich
quick. I want this income.I want to do it just like that.
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It is taking the time. AndI always use the illustration of I
like cakes, right, One ofmy favorite cake is well, I would
say this my favorite cake is aseven up cake or a pound cake.
Love that I make a mini startedcream and cake. I bet you would
love it because it cakes. AndI know my trainer may be listening.
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So what I do like cakes?I have to work it off a little
bit longer. But let me tellyou about when you look and think about
your best reserve, your best dessert, whatever it may be, you don't
want that in a microwave. Noone has said I like a bread pudding.
I like a banana you know abanana pudding. I like a red
velvet cake. Or you can putit in a microwave. I'm good with
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that. They want that to bebate. The ingredients all mixed up,
and so it goes through the process. And just like because you can't wait
to taste that, because you cantaste and smell every every component, every
ingredients. It's the same thing thatwe need to do our due diligence when
we're thinking about our career, ourbrand, and our purpose to do the
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same process and go through those steps. And I want to go back to
when you were saying that the importanceof this kind of making make having that
understanding of your story. Why isyour story so important? Why need that
connection so important? Because, likeI said, sometimes we want to we
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want to move. We are afast paced We want it yesterday. We
don't want it today. We wantedit yesterday. But how can we build
a foundation that's gonna lights So whenyou think about the story, let's unpack
that a little bit, because yeswe do. We do live in a
fast paced society. And even admittedlyme being a action taker. So there's
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a thing called the bank code you'refamiliar with that you have it. That's
a personality assessment that I give out. So if anybody's interested, just go
to my bankcode dot com forward slashbfore s my bankcode dot com forward slash
before s, and it's ninety secondsand you can take the assessment. But
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essentially, I am what it's calledan ak, an action taker and a
knowledge right. I like to knowwhat I need to know so that I
can speak with a level of confidenceand intelligence. Right, But I also
like to move fast. The challengewith moving fast all the time is that
you may skip vital steps. Right, You may skip vital steps, So
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you want to be cautious of thatto have a reasonable amount of information and
data to be able to make informeddecisions. As it relates to your story,
your story is so powerful because,let me tell you something, facts
tell stories sell. Facts tell storysell. You can be very relatable to
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somebody by just sharing your story.So one of the stories I share often
is about me being in a conferenceroom with a lot of colleagues and we're
brainstorming literally how to improve employee engagement. That's a hard task, you know,
but it walks the CEO of thecompany, and I got excited because
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I had only at that time beenat the company about a year and a
half, and our company was thirtyeight thousand people strong, so imagine you
didn't see the CEO every day.So he walks into the room and he
knowed I knew some other people,but he didn't know a few of us.
So he came over to me,introduced himself and says, I don't
believe we met, And I said, no, my name is Yolanda Smith.
Extended my hand, shut it,shook his hand, and he goes,
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Yolanda, tell me something about yourself, you guys, I choked in
that moment. I couldn't even getit out. I stuttered, the words
could not come out, and finallyI uttered my job title. And then
I looked at him and I nervouslygiggled that, and he smiled at me
and moved along. I knew rightthen. I knew right then I had
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made a huge mistake and failed totell the number one person in charge of
that company something interesting and compelling aboutme. But when I tell that story,
so many people can relate, rightbecause oftentimes the words just escape us.
In terms of being able to sharewith somebody who are we Now today
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I would have no problem with that, But back then I didn't even know
what personal branding was. That wasthe spring of two thousand and nine,
because I'll never forget it. Itwas just like I mean, I can
see it like it was yesterday,right, But being able to then they
relate and I share that story andthey're like, oh my god, I
get it, that was me.I don't know how to do that,
you know, and then you havethat nervous giggle. But the other key
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component there is what did I do? I uttered my job title? You
guys, I am here today totell you, ladies, even gentlemen,
you are not your job title.Faith. Yes, your job title is
on loan to you. It cancome and go at any time, even
if you're the CEO of your company. That's why I say I'm the branthropist,
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because why nobody really knows what thatis. And most people, if
they are interested, we'll say,well, brandthropy, what is that?
Tell me more? And then guesswhat you got them at? How well?
And you get to extend the conversation. When I said my job title,
do you realize there was two hundredother people in that company at the
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time that had the same job titleas me. So I didn't make myself
stand out at all and believe itor not, over the years, I
had met that gentleman, the CEOand multiple occasions at multiple functions, and
every time it was like I wasmeeting him for the very first time because
I was not memorable. See,part of that personal brand is, yes,
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this is the experience, the relationshipyou have with someone, your ability
to articulate your value, live authenticallyand stand out. But how do you
make yourself memorable? What becomes thatthumthing that makes you memorable? Like you
you're the empowerment strategist, I'm thebranthropist. Who are you and what can
you add to that? Who youare in a way that people go,
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oh, she's the brandthrofist, orshe uses this name brandthor or something.
I mean a lot of times theycan't even pronounce it, but it keeps
the conversation going. It's interesting whatis that? Even if it creates the
mystery? Right, So the storyshould be a little bit interesting when you
go to tell your story, whetherit's one about something you've lived through or
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what your personal brand statement, whichis very similar to an elevator pitch,
but we say minus the job title. I don't like the job title.
Your job title doesn't even need tobe on your headline, on your LinkedIn
or nowhere. You are not yourjob title. You need to align to
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your ownable assets, those things thatare yours to own. Yes, and
that is so true. And foran example, I'm just going to share
my which I've had my coach workwith me online and again, one thing
about a brand, and I wouldsay, because I am still in the
process, I am investing in me. I am investing in me. I'm
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gonna say it again, I aminvesting in me. Anything that is important
to you, I urge you tofind someone who has the expertise to help
get you there. Anything that isimportant. My fitness is important. That's
why I have a trainer. Mybusiness and where I want to go,
That's why I have a coach.My mindset is important. That's why I
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have a therapist. When I'm justtime for me to go out, I
have an image consultant. Anything myfinancial is important. I have a financial
planner. Anything that is important.It is important that you invest in yourself
and find someone you trust, atrusted agent who can take you there and
who you align with. There areall types out there, not knocking anyone
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but you have to find someone thatfits your core values, your core values
and that and it will help andit will take you on the road that
you need to. And so whenYolanda was talking about that brand statement,
we talk about vision statements and youknow you do that. Everyone has a
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vision statement and that's where you wantto go. It should be epic where
you plan to go. But yourbrand statement, since we're talking about brand
is again, like she said,it's who you are, what you do,
how you do it, and howyou add value. That's your brand
statement. Yeah, that's your brandstatement. It's like an elevated speech,
as she said, like an elevatedspeech, and everyone everyone should have that.
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I mentored some youth and we Imentored some youth and we tell them
at the high school level. Haveyour elevator pitch, have your have your
elevator pitch, have your elevator speechready, because you don't know when opportunity
will come and you may not think, well I don't have much to add.
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You can always add to the story. But the key thing is to
have the story. Yes, that'sthe key thing. Yeah, no question
about it, and and be confidentin it. And this is the thing
that we tell people and you're goingto give yours in a second. But
when you understand and you can witha level of confidence and clarity, say
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who you are, what you do, how you do it, and watch
somebody should care with confidence. Peoplelove working with confident people. That comes
off so much more powerful. Iremember, I've tell this story real quick,
and we'd love to hear yours.But there was a young lady that
was working with me, and shewas an alumni at one of the universities,
and they invited her back with someother alumni to give as a panelist
(31:33):
for some of the current students there. So she says to me, she
called me Missielanda says, so thatI don't know if that's what I tell
you if she was younger, right, She said, miss Alanda, what
am I going to say? Whatam I going to say? I said,
do you really have to ask me? I have to introduce myself?
I said, you already know you'regoing to introduce yourself using your brand statement,
(31:56):
I said, because everybody else isgoing to say, is I am
a give their job title and tellwhat year they graduated from the school and
I graduated and blah blah, blahblah blah. Right, I'm telling you
that's how it's going to go.It's just the normal way of doing things.
She got to that stage and literallysaid her name and gave her elevator
(32:17):
speech, and the crowd erupted.But not only that, let me tell
you how powerful having a personal brandis. They looked at her like,
where in the world, who isshe? Where did she come from?
She caught the attention of the faculty, and I want you to know that
the next call she got was apaid speaking gig at the university. A
(32:39):
paid speaking gig at the university.So this is stuff that we know has
been proven to work in various settings. So whether it's the corporate setting,
the business, the small business sectorof the entrepreneur, the coaching, the
speaking, it works. We've replicatedthis over and over and over again because
(33:00):
at the end of the day,if people, if you can help people
understand who you are, you havea bit of a story that they connect
with, people do business with,who people they know like and trust.
That's it. Yeah, so you'regonna give yours? Yes, okay,
okay, America, here is mybrand statement. I am your empowerment strategists.
(33:24):
With a passion to help one millionwomen thrive in their purpose. I
teach and offer coaching strategies and examinethe voice, vitality and vision that enables
you to excel in your purpose.I focus on the roof of your situation,
(33:44):
identify roadblocks, and establish goals andsystems so you can unlock your true
potential to reach your personal and professionalgoals. That's who I am. Your
empowerment strategies. Yes, And ifyou listen to that and you saw it,
she said, who am I,what do I do? How do
(34:05):
I do it? And why shouldyou care? Right, It's always about
what's in it for the other person, because at the end of the day,
we want to help other people toachieve their desire goals, whether it's
the boss that you're working for,whether it's you and your business trying to
help people through your coaching, orwhether you're providing products and services that serve
(34:30):
people. Because at the end ofthe day, what I can tell you
that I know is that if youcan solve a problem, you can make
some money. You can make somemoney. That's the easy part. The
harder part is doing the upfront workto say who is my customer? First
of all, who am I?Then who is my customer? Because we
(34:51):
can't serve everybody. And it's likeyou might make a candle and say,
oh, everybody's my customer. Everybodylikes candles. But here's the thing.
If you're talking, then you're marketingto everybody. Then you're not marketing to
anybody. You talk to. Everybodyyou're talking to know what there's riches in
the niches. So you have toknow who's your customer and why are you
(35:13):
uniquely positioned to serve them. That'spowerful stuff and I had to learn that
because I was on, oh Iwant to reach people? Yes, yes,
what you got narrow working for you? Yeah? Yeah. And it
doesn't mean that you can't position yourselfto scale, right, You can position
(35:35):
yourself to scale. The key,though, is that you've got to start
somewhere. So you got to keepthe main thing the main thing. So
when you're talking about your brand andsomebody is trying to align with you and
you're trying to amplify that brand inthe marketplace, you can't be I'm a
coach here, I sell widgets here, I do this over here, and
I got bulk gum over here.In some t shirts and books over here.
Until you establish that main thing asthe main thing, then you can't
(36:00):
branch off. I liking it too. Rihanna, I like her. She
is an artist, right, sheis a singer. She started singing.
Then what she did is she tookthat main thing of singing and said,
how do I monetize this? Andso, yes, you got your CDs,
you can stream. She started doingconcerts. Right then you saw Rihanna
(36:22):
doing voiceovers. Then she started actingand then she said once she established it,
and they said we know who reRe is. Then she did the
makeup and the Feny lounger, theFeny line, the clothing line. See
how that is. You can scaleoff of it. But she kept that
main thing the main thing, becausemost people will tell you until that main
(36:43):
thing is serving you and making theincome and the impact that you want to
have, you shouldn't be doing agazillion things. Now, we do believe
in multiple streams of backup, butit needs to be someone aligned. So
I'm a coach, right, butI also am a corpse trainer. But
what am I teaching? Personal brandingand business strategy? Then I have digital
(37:07):
products? What are those products onbusiness? And branding right. I'm a
two time best selling author and I'vegot other pinned ebooks. What do I
talk about? How to elevate,amplify, scale your brand right? And
then I do speaking when I'm onstage speaking, I'm not on stage speaking
(37:30):
about how to lose thirty pounds.No, I'm a branding coach. I'm
a branding business coach. I'm tryingto tell you how to unlock your potential
for your brand so that you canhave more impact, influence, and income
by elevating your brand. But you'rekeeping the main thing the main thing.
Then that's how people come to knowyou, and that's how they come to
trust you and believe in you becauseyou're consistent. Ooh ooh, look,
(37:58):
Ulna's information is throwing down at thebottom. I'm telling you there are certain
and I said this, they needto come to the challenge just what they
need to do. There are certainpeople who I have. Once I meet
them, it's non negotiable. Theyare a part of my life. Whether
they like it or not, theyare a part of my life and it's
(38:22):
very few of them. One ismy trainer. He will always be my
trainer until until God calls me home. He will always be my trainer,
and Miss Lana M. Smith willalways be my coach because what she says
is so real, it's so authentic, and I can see, I can
(38:43):
see the transformation in me. Ican see that, And again, I
value what she's offering because it's muchneeded. And I just want to take
just a quick moment because sometimes weunderstand the message. We are excited,
but let's be honest, there's thatfear. There's that fear of how are
(39:05):
we ready? Am I good enough? How do you address that? Because
you can have the best brand inthe world, but if you don't let
a niche and you're trapped in yourfear, yeah, it stops you.
How do you how do you talkto your clients? How do you convince
people? How what do you sayabout that when you see they're operating,
they're toiling in that fear. Yeah, well, I think that's where the
(39:27):
mindset work has to come in,right, the mindset work has to come
in. And unfortunately, we andparticularly women, have a lot of limiting
beliefs and things that have a tendencyto hold us back, and we have
to really work hard to do theright thing to make sure that we can
get where we need to be.And and it's one of those situations where
(40:00):
this is really weird. We're inthe middle of a show and my doorbell
is ringing and it's assigned package thatif I do not get it, we're
in trouble and I don't know whatto do. You can run and nobody's
home with me. Life doesn't lifehappen. Life happens you, guys.
Can you talk to them from once? I will so again after what she's
(40:23):
going to get her package, becauselife, life happens. And that's okay
because in life we learn how topivot, we learn how to still move
on. And so I'm hoping thatif you have any questions, you can
please put it in the chat.We can see your comments. We thank
you for attending. Yolanda offers agreat a great challenge. It is a
(40:45):
five day intensive challenge in the evening, so those of us who have to
work, you can still work andstill go to the challenge. It starts
normally around eight o eight pm EasternStandard time. And can I tell you
that challenge and I've been to somechallenge is I've been in some classes and
I've checked off the box. Yeah, yeah, that was good. But
(41:05):
this challenge, I can tell youthat it was one hundred percent. It
was one hundred and ten percent ofworthit. It was something even. And
when we got finished the challenge inthe evening, I had so much information.
I had so much knowledge, andthere was a community. Because one
thing that we know that you don'twant to do this alone. There is
(41:29):
the support. And I'm talking aboutyour challenge, and I want you to
kind of speak to that, youryour challenge, that challenge that you offer,
because if you just kind of listento this and you feel like I
don't know where to begin, whereto start, I have questions that challenge,
that community will definitely allow you toanswer some of your questions and it
(41:51):
will give you that resources that Hey, brother sister, we're all in this
together. We got this. Wecan do this. The Bible says Ironshaw
friends iron and that's the kind ofenvironment that she has and that's the kind
of environment that I need. That'swhat doctor Madison Lewis and Lewis does with
this show, That's what Ylaana doeswith her success, a brand for success.
(42:16):
That's what I do in LT Empowerment. That's what it's about building that
community. So can you go back. I know you were looking. We
were talking about the fear, butI also want you to talk about that
challenge, because that challenge is anopportunity. Yes, yes, I'm so
sorry you guys. I am aspeaker too, and I leave tomorrow and
those were my books to get thebooks, so uh uh. But but
(42:40):
when we think about the fear andthe limiting beliefs, what I was saying
is that so often, based onour experiences and what we've been told in
the past, we get stifled,right, We get ourselves in a position
where it becomes extremely difficult, uhto break through, to believe that we're
worthy of the things that are destinedfor us. I mean, and if
(43:01):
you think about it, the Bible, God wants us to prosper. He
wants us to be successful. Hewants us to be able to go out
and live in His will and telleverybody about the greatness of Him and what
He can do in your lives.Right, And so it's really about getting
rid of those those limiting beliefs.That little person on your shoulder telling you
(43:21):
what you can and cannot do.That is just so powerful because at the
end of the day, you know, it's the thoughts that you put in
your head that dictate your actions,and these are the things you start to
believe about yourself, whether they're trueor not. And so the thing that
I say is that we've got totake a moment and recognize that everything that
(43:43):
we were programmed to believe as kids, you know, and growing up about
what we should have what we shouldn'thave, we got to change that relationship
with ourselves. It's okay to befearful. I believe that if you're not
scared, you're not thinking big enough. Let me just be honest with that.
And the fear is a human emotionand it's something that I don't care
(44:04):
what you do, you're not goingto be able to get rid of it.
So my recommendation to the people thatI talk to and I coach is
that we've got to figure out howdo we manage the fear, because if
you don't manage the fear, thefear manages you, and that's where you
get stuck and can't move and can'tdo anythings. And so one of the
things we do in the Brand Dominationand Business Challenge we have five days where
(44:27):
you literally roll up your sleeves andit's intense and you get to work.
We start at vip starts at sevenpm Easter Standard time, General mission at
eight and the first day is mindsetunlocking that if I can help you to
unlock some of those blockages and reallyopen yourself up to the potential of what
you can achieve in life. Ohmy god. It just only gets better
(44:51):
after that because then by day twowe're starting to talk about the concepts of
building the brand, and then weget into the business frameworks, because if
you're going to be in business,you can't have an idea and go straight
to tactic. You've got a plan. You've got to prepare for success.
It doesn't just happen, you preparefor it. And then by day three
(45:12):
we're creating that story right and talkingabout strategies and goals. Day four we
bring in the big guns, wherewe talk about social media systems and processes,
because if you're already into business,how do you grow and scale it
in a way that you no longerhave to be the employee of your company?
You become the CEO, right.And then lastly, you know,
(45:35):
we talk about how to build thatdigital footprint and make everything so powerful.
So it's five intensive days where literallyI just pour it all out to you.
I just give it to I mean, people will tell you I give
it, give it, give it. But it's so important because I also
have that vision of really helping onehundred thousand women and a few good men,
you know, to be able tounlock the potential of their brand.
(45:57):
So yeah, well thank you.This has been truly truly awesome, truly
awesome. Again, it has beenstrolling in terms of how to how do
you find Yolanda Yolanda and Smith herinformation, in terms of her, her
dominance, her challenge. Definitely,it is so important strolling right now.
(46:21):
We just want to thank you.We want to thank you again. I'm
a witness. It's not that Ibrought someone on our first view. I
want to thank the opportunity. It'snot that I brought someone on who say,
okay, just let's talk about this. Well, whoever I'm connected with,
can I have tasted, smelled,touched all my senses. I have
(46:45):
to validate, to validate and vettthat this is real because one thing in
life, we don't have time forplay. So I just want to thank
you and I hope. I knowI don't have to hope. I know
that there was some great nuggets,there was some greats that were planning.
I would like to thank again myguests, Landa M. Smith and all
(47:05):
the viewers and listeners for joining ustoday. This is the Successful Woman's Show
and it is an honor in honorof Women's History Month, Yes, Women's
History Month. I was your codechair, I was your co hostxcuse me,
doctor Latanya el Small and if youwould like to reach me, of
(47:25):
course you can reach me at infoat ltempowerment dot com. My website is
ltempowerment dot com. Don't forget tosubscribe to this channel and also like and
share this episode with others. Againon behalf of the great Madeline Ann Lewis
(47:50):
who allowed me this opportunity. Ibow and say thank you for sharing your
platform with out women who are goingto continue to uplift what you're having for
sex. That's for woman, HappyWoman's history monk, and have a happy
and safe day everyone. Thank youhave the time to do them an
The topics and opinions expressed on thefollowing show are solely those of the hosts
and their guests, and not thoseof W four WN Radio It's employees or
affiliates. We make no recommendations orendorsements for radio show programs, services,
or products mentioned on air or onour web. No liability, explicit or
implied shall be extended to W fourWN Radio It's employees or affiliates. Any
questions or comment should be directed tothose show hosts. Thank you for choosing
(00:22):
W four WN Radio. I gotthe time And did you know women represent
(00:56):
just three percent of Fortune five hundredCEOs in less than fifteen percent of corporate
executives at top companies worldwide. Haveyou wondered what the secrets are to getting
into the top ranks, whether inthe private or public sector. Do you
want to figure out how to stopbeing held back in your career? Are
(01:18):
passed over for promotion, then you'rein the right place. Hi. I'm
doctor Mattlanann Lewis, President and CEOof the Executive Women's Success Institute. I
have decades of experience in the military, the federal government, and corporate America,
and my mission is to help womensucceed and tap into their full potential.
(01:40):
I want to reach a million pluswomen around the world to become the
leaders they are meant to be.So if you want to move into a
management or executive level position, ormaybe you are a female veteran transitioning out
of the military into business entrepreneurship,then reach out to the Executive Women's Success
Institute at three zero one six ninethree three two eight four. Let us
(02:06):
get you on the fast track tosuccess. Welcome, Welcome to the Successful
Women's Show, where you can viewus on Top for TV and listen to
(02:30):
us on the Woman for Woman Network. I am doctor Latania Small, your
co host for today. Today's topicis elevating your brand for business impact and
I have the unique and pleasure tointroduce my guest, Miss Yolanda M.
(02:51):
Smith. Now, let me tellyou a little bit about Miss Yolanda M.
Smith and what you are in storefor. Yolanda M. Smith and
bodies purpose driven, purpose driven successwith a mission to empower others to achieve
their optimum. Best known for herpersonal brand expertise and business strategy, she
(03:15):
founded the Branding for Success LLC,where she strives as a CEO and Chief
Brandfifist, Certified both as a brandAnalyst and diversity, equity and inclusion communicator.
Yolanda is an international speaker and coach, and she empowers entrepreneurs and professionals
(03:40):
to develop a compelling personal brand forinfluence, impact and income to grow their
business and achieve their careers. Intwenty and twenty three, the Coach Foundation
recognized her as a leading personal brandcoach, where she also gained distinct her
(04:03):
distinct as a Forbes BFK member ina twenty and twenty three SB Award recipient
for Outstanding Speaker Excellence, and Inkmagazine celebrated her as one of the most
one of the most admired women leadersin Business for twenty twenty two, and
(04:29):
she also was recognized in twenty twentytwo as a brand Anthetist excuse me Anthesis
for the Year of Global Level.Furthermore, Yolanda has been penned two bestsellers
with Reputation to Reward and Notables,which is notable securing a top ten final
(04:54):
spot at the twenty twenty Authors EleaitAwards. Any further time taken away from
our guests today, Miss Lelanda M. Smith, come on to the stage.
Thank you, thank you for havingme. What a great introduction,
girl, I need you. It'seasy. It's easy to recognize someone of
(05:17):
your caliber. And let me justadd something that isn't in her bio because
people want to say, well that'sall finding good, but how do you
really know her? What's the realdeal? So let me peel that back
and spill the tefa all everyone inthe audience. This is not only is
she that she said, what shesays is what she does, She does,
(05:39):
walk what she does. But Iam a true witness of being one
of her. She's coaching me alongwith my brand, to elevate my business.
So what everything that I've read shedelivers check off the box. So
Yolanda again, welcome today. Wejust want to talk about how we can
(05:59):
elevate our business for that you know, elevate our brand for business impact.
Yes, so again I've read ofwho you are. But you know when
we talked about you are the CEOand the chief brand fists. You know
in a world of today, youknow what does that mean? Because you
know this is for women who wantto elevate, elevate their business for success.
(06:24):
Thank you. That mean when wetalk about branding because I know sometimes
that appears to be the word ofthe day. You know, what's your
brand and everything, But why isthat so important for today? Thank you
for asking that question, because that'ssuper important. And I'm excited to be
here so so, you know,love seeing you along your journey and this
(06:46):
is just another facet of who youare and who you are becoming. So
definitely thrilled to be here with you. You know, when you think about
personal branding, and I'll take astep back, you know, I've been
doing personal branding to twenty thirteen.It was something I actually stumbled up on
because I was the chair of anonprofit and I wanted to give back.
(07:09):
I didn't want to just sit thereand push the papers and you know,
try to collect funds. All thatis important, but I wanted to really
engage with the girls. And soone of the things that I discovered was
a thing called personal branding. Soas I started to do my research,
I became more and more fascinated.And I had worked in the pharmaceutical industry
for years and was still working init at that time, so I was
(07:29):
very familiar with branding, with marketingright, but never from a personal level.
And so it was up on discoveringthat that I realized there's something here.
It's not just about the product orthe service. It's literally about you.
And so when we think about branding, branding is our ability to really
(07:51):
have a relationship with other people toget it's the experience you have with others,
how they come to know you.Right, it's at the end of
the day, it's their perception thatmatters. So yes, it's reputation,
it's images, it's those things.But truly, Jeff Bezos said it best
personal branding is what people say aboutyou when you what when you leave the
(08:11):
room, Because when you leave theroom and their gossiping, because they will,
is it positive or negative? Andso it's not the color, it's
not the logo, it's not thewebsite, it's not the business card.
Those are things that can enhance yourbrand, but you have to know what
that brand is first and how youwant to show up to the world.
(08:33):
Wow, how do you want toshow up to the world. So you
know, when we think about forthose of us who are in business,
or for those of us who aretransitioning, trying to transition into a business,
or just want to stay where weare in our career, but level
up. How do we get there? How do we enter the room?
(08:54):
You know, in terms of ourbrand. And when I think about branding,
you know, some of the stellarones, like you said, some
of the fellow ones are Apple.When you think about Apple, when you
think about Starbucks, when you thinkabout ninety they have a distinct brand.
You know who they are. EvenMcDonald you can see those Golden office and
(09:15):
you know when they represent. Sowhen we are doing our work, when
we are doing our development, whenwe want to go high and elevate ourselves,
what must we do? Yeah?Good question. So when you see
the Starbucks the lady, which wehaven't still figured out what that has to
do with coffee, but it works, right. We know that Starbucks,
(09:39):
that's their brand identity right where youcan notice them anywhere they would be in
the world. So I think whenwe think about the brand itself, however,
it has to start with the brandto be able to get the brand
identity and what does that mean?That means we have to have the ability
to really be able to articulate ourvalue to other people. They have to
understand that we are giving something thatdoes something for them, right, So
(10:03):
it's all about the value we deliver, what's in it for them? And
people often mistake the brand as beingabout themselves and it's me me, me,
me, me me me. No, I hate to tell you,
it's really not about you, Butit's about your ability to deliver to other
people. And if you do that, and you do that well, you
serve others, then the rewards comeback to you. So when you back
(10:26):
to your question about transitioning or elevatingup, it's really about how well you're
able to articulate your value, liveauthentically so that you can make genuine connections.
Remember, connection is the new currency, and today we even tell you
(10:46):
your network equals your net worth.So how you're able to be genuine and
make those connections and then stand out? Because right now we're in a very
crowded, very crowded marketplace. Sowhat are you doing to stand out?
Why are you how are you positioningyourself to become the ovo that's their only
(11:11):
viable option? So why choose youfor the position, for the promotion,
for the role. And essentially,if you're just starting your personal brand journey,
because we're all a brand, don'tthink you're not where you sit today.
You are a brand. The questionis are you being strategic and intentional
(11:33):
with your brand or are you justsitting back allowing it to organically grow.
Now, that doesn't mean you won'thave success, but what that is is
that you're leaving it to chance.That can be risky because it only takes
one person to come in and upsetthe apple cart and everything can go downhill
quickly. Right, That's why youhave to be strategic and intentional. And
(11:54):
as you know, we talk aboutthe five steps to a powerful brand,
right yeah, and those steps encompassone. Authenticity. Who are you so
essentially, how are you showing up? Right? How are you showing up?
Are you really bringing your true selfso that people feel like they can
(12:15):
connect and get to know you.Because when that happens, when people feel
like they know you, they knowyour story, that's when the magic can
happen. And so then number twois your value? What is your superpower?
What is that expertise that you canoffer to the world? What is
that thing? And how are youable to with confidence and clarity share that
(12:39):
with the people you want to serve? Three? Yeah, then three is
your story? What is that story? Because again, that's what's going to
emotionally connect someone to you. Andso if I feel like I know you,
people will say if they feel likethey know you, they fit.
We talk about the magic happening.Those are the people that promot you,
(13:00):
sponsor you. They will nominate you, they will do business with you,
they will hire you. Heck,they'll even marry you and loan you money.
It doesn't get better than that,because it's about the connection, right
right, the connection. And thennumber four is that positive digital footprint.
We are living in a digital worldright now, So what are we doing
(13:24):
to ensure that we show up,we're discoverable, and that people get a
sense a glimpse into who we trulyare at the swipe, at the click,
you know, at the scroll.And then number five is that brand
mastery. That's where once you've doneall those things that I mentioned, how
are you activating it in the marketplace. And if you do that, and
(13:46):
you do that well, then youhave the opportunity to get visibility, get
influenced, you have the impact,and then that leads to more income because
your value just shoots up. Wow, those those were all powerful, and
I hope everyone got a chance totake those down. Let's just unpack a
(14:07):
couple of those, starting with thefirst one. And I know that when
I was starting out, one ofthe things about what was so great is
understanding who you are, because Ibelieve that before you can go out here
and have a brand, you gotto know who you are. And that
goes into your second point about yoursuperpower, because sometimes you may think,
hey, this is my gift,this is my purpose for some people,
(14:30):
and I know a lot of womenthat I have met are still unclear of
what is it that I am todo. And it's like, you know
the story of you're trying to gosomewhere if you have two forks in a
row, if you don't know whereyou want to go, you know what's
good, you don't know what youwant to take, and so you have
to be very intentional and really sitin that and know your purpose. And
(14:54):
I think when you know your purpose, not don't think, but when you
know your purpose, it leaves youinto your superpower. And that's also a
reflecting of how, like you said, how do you show up? You
know, you may show up likeI think, I'm a caring person.
I do this, and I dothis and then when others get that perception
and be like, no, shedoesn't come off like that to me.
(15:15):
And so you need to understand againthat who you are is a reflection of
how the world sees you, becausethose are the people that you're going to
do business with, those are thepeople that you're looking for your elevation,
those are the people on your job, those are the people that you know
are going to promote you. Soit's really making sure that you are what
(15:37):
I always like to say that youare in alignment with your assignment and your
assignment is your purpose. So canyou go and speak a little bit about
you know, the importance of youknow, step one and two, because
so many times, you know,we get anxious. We want to get
that impact, we want to getthat income. See that's what you want.
You want the dollars, but youdon't want to do the work,
(16:00):
and so you don't and you haveto do that investment. You have to
do that investment. And so canyou kind of unpack that a little bit
and by and by all means,tell us some lessons that you have seen,
people you have coached, or somethings that you have witnessed that be
like a anss, this is whatyou need to be mindful of. Then
they've done it, got the Tshirt? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
(16:23):
You know, first of all,let's start right here when you talk about
the investment, because the investment isso important, and what you mean by
investment is saying, are you takingthe time to invest in yourself? When's
the last ask yourself, when's thelast time I've actually invested in myself for
some professional development, right, forsome coaching, Because this is what we
do as women. We nurture everybodyaround us, helping everybody be successful around
(16:48):
us, and we often forget toeven give ourselves the same do right,
We invest a lot of times onourselves. We look good, right,
but we don't invest in ourselves.So that investment encompasses everything from just overall
self care awareness. You know yourmental health, your physical health, your
(17:10):
spiritual health, but also then youknow your intellectual property and how you want
to show up in the professional realm, and how you feed your purpose and
your passion. So that's what wemean by the investment, And what we
will do is oftentimes we will shyaway from spending money to get the help
that we need that will take usfurther faster. But one of the things
(17:33):
I want to say to people whoare in that transition period or thinking about
wanting to do something and what thatnext looks like is that why not get
with the who that's done what youwant to do so that they can take
you along further faster and you don'thave to make the mistakes that they made
because you're going to learn from yourmentor's mistake. Think about how much I
come up and I just be honestand transparent when you guys about what may
(17:56):
have happened to me and my businessand my career, because it's not for
the faint of heart. Let's behonest. I mean, if you're an
entrepreneur, you aspire to be anentrepreneur, you got to get in and
dig in and do some serious work. And every day is not a jolly
day, you know, but it'snecessary and it's so fulfilling in that.
The second part to what you're talkingabout is how do you get grounded in
(18:18):
your value and what you can provideto other people versus allowing the dollar to
control your actions. So what wesay there is we don't chase we don't
chase money, We chase our passion, you know or don't you know?
How the people, the kids yousay about that, we ain't chasing paper,
right, We don't chase the bag. We're not chasing the bag.
(18:40):
We're chasing our passion. Because ifyou truly operate in your passion, you'll
have the greatest level of level ofsatisfaction. When you have a greater level
of satisfaction, that breeds better performance, obviously bereater performance, whether you're in
the workplace or you find yourself inyour own business, then we'll yield optimal
results. Right Because at the endof the day, yes, we do
(19:02):
want to be profitable, we dowant to have more income, but it's
not where we start. That's notthe mindset of where we are. We're
going to do the things that weknow we are gifted and God has just
divinely planted in us. Follow thatpurpose, follow those gifts and those talents
He gave you to do this becausewhen you're not doing that, let me
tell you this, when you're chasingsomething over here that you may not even
(19:23):
be divinely called to do, butyou know, all this is the trend
and everybody's making money doing it.So you run over here and that's what
I call those quick get rich strategiesthat don't work. But you run over
here and you do that, you'retaking away from what you're really assigned to
do, right, so what areyou doing? Then you end up robbing
(19:44):
the people that need you most,because your gifts are here to serve other
people, and then you rob themof that. But when you get clarity
on what that thing is that you'redesigned to do, and we are operating
in that space and that passion,the rewards will come. The rewards will
come, So there's no reason tochase the reward. There's no reason to
(20:08):
skip the steps of really being ableto understand who you are, build a
powerful brand, a solid business frameworkso that you can have the sustainability because
one thing that we do know isthat most businesses are out of business within
five years. That's a fact.That's a fact. Because it gets hard
(20:30):
and then we just give up,We want to quit because we haven't prepared,
we haven't done the hard work upfront to really understand who we are,
why are we doing what we're doing, and then how do we do
it so that we can do itsuccessfully? Do it right? You know,
have contingency plans in place for whenit's not going to go well,
wow, you said a lot rightthere that you said, you know if
(20:53):
it's a wow, But this isthis is a com These are the conversations
that we need. Yes, theseother conversations that we are missing at the
table. These are the conversations thatwill lay a foundation for success. Because
it's not a like you said,it's not of I want to get rich
quick. I want this income.I want to do it just like that.
(21:15):
It is taking the time. AndI always use the illustration of I
like cakes, right, One ofmy favorite cake is well, I would
say this my favorite cake is aseven up cake or a pound cake.
Love that I make a mini startedcream and cake. I bet you would
love it because it cakes. AndI know my trainer may be listening.
(21:37):
So what I do like cakes?I have to work it off a little
bit longer. But let me tellyou about when you look and think about
your best reserve, your best dessert, whatever it may be, you don't
want that in a microwave. Noone has said I like a bread pudding.
I like a banana you know abanana pudding. I like a red
velvet cake. Or you can putit in a microwave. I'm good with
(21:59):
that. They want that to bebate. The ingredients all mixed up,
and so it goes through the process. And just like because you can't wait
to taste that, because you cantaste and smell every every component, every
ingredients. It's the same thing thatwe need to do our due diligence when
we're thinking about our career, ourbrand, and our purpose to do the
(22:23):
same process and go through those steps. And I want to go back to
when you were saying that the importanceof this kind of making make having that
understanding of your story. Why isyour story so important? Why need that
connection so important? Because, likeI said, sometimes we want to we
(22:45):
want to move. We are afast paced We want it yesterday. We
don't want it today. We wantedit yesterday. But how can we build
a foundation that's gonna lights So whenyou think about the story, let's unpack
that a little bit, because yeswe do. We do live in a
fast paced society. And even admittedlyme being a action taker. So there's
(23:12):
a thing called the bank code you'refamiliar with that you have it. That's
a personality assessment that I give out. So if anybody's interested, just go
to my bankcode dot com forward slashbfore s my bankcode dot com forward slash
before s, and it's ninety secondsand you can take the assessment. But
(23:33):
essentially, I am what it's calledan ak, an action taker and a
knowledge right. I like to knowwhat I need to know so that I
can speak with a level of confidenceand intelligence. Right, But I also
like to move fast. The challengewith moving fast all the time is that
you may skip vital steps. Right, You may skip vital steps, So
(23:57):
you want to be cautious of thatto have a reasonable amount of information and
data to be able to make informeddecisions. As it relates to your story,
your story is so powerful because,let me tell you something, facts
tell stories sell. Facts tell storysell. You can be very relatable to
(24:23):
somebody by just sharing your story.So one of the stories I share often
is about me being in a conferenceroom with a lot of colleagues and we're
brainstorming literally how to improve employee engagement. That's a hard task, you know,
but it walks the CEO of thecompany, and I got excited because
(24:48):
I had only at that time beenat the company about a year and a
half, and our company was thirtyeight thousand people strong, so imagine you
didn't see the CEO every day.So he walks into the room and he
knowed I knew some other people,but he didn't know a few of us.
So he came over to me,introduced himself and says, I don't
believe we met, And I said, no, my name is Yolanda Smith.
Extended my hand, shut it,shook his hand, and he goes,
(25:10):
Yolanda, tell me something about yourself, you guys, I choked in
that moment. I couldn't even getit out. I stuttered, the words
could not come out, and finallyI uttered my job title. And then
I looked at him and I nervouslygiggled that, and he smiled at me
and moved along. I knew rightthen. I knew right then I had
(25:33):
made a huge mistake and failed totell the number one person in charge of
that company something interesting and compelling aboutme. But when I tell that story,
so many people can relate, rightbecause oftentimes the words just escape us.
In terms of being able to sharewith somebody who are we Now today
(25:57):
I would have no problem with that, But back then I didn't even know
what personal branding was. That wasthe spring of two thousand and nine,
because I'll never forget it. Itwas just like I mean, I can
see it like it was yesterday,right, But being able to then they
relate and I share that story andthey're like, oh my god, I
get it, that was me.I don't know how to do that,
you know, and then you havethat nervous giggle. But the other key
(26:19):
component there is what did I do? I uttered my job title? You
guys, I am here today totell you, ladies, even gentlemen,
you are not your job title.Faith. Yes, your job title is
on loan to you. It cancome and go at any time, even
if you're the CEO of your company. That's why I say I'm the branthropist,
(26:42):
because why nobody really knows what thatis. And most people, if
they are interested, we'll say,well, brandthropy, what is that?
Tell me more? And then guesswhat you got them at? How well?
And you get to extend the conversation. When I said my job title,
do you realize there was two hundredother people in that company at the
(27:03):
time that had the same job titleas me. So I didn't make myself
stand out at all and believe itor not, over the years, I
had met that gentleman, the CEOand multiple occasions at multiple functions, and
every time it was like I wasmeeting him for the very first time because
I was not memorable. See,part of that personal brand is, yes,
(27:26):
this is the experience, the relationshipyou have with someone, your ability
to articulate your value, live authenticallyand stand out. But how do you
make yourself memorable? What becomes thatthumthing that makes you memorable? Like you
you're the empowerment strategist, I'm thebranthropist. Who are you and what can
you add to that? Who youare in a way that people go,
(27:48):
oh, she's the brandthrofist, orshe uses this name brandthor or something.
I mean a lot of times theycan't even pronounce it, but it keeps
the conversation going. It's interesting whatis that? Even if it creates the
mystery? Right, So the storyshould be a little bit interesting when you
go to tell your story, whetherit's one about something you've lived through or
(28:10):
what your personal brand statement, whichis very similar to an elevator pitch,
but we say minus the job title. I don't like the job title.
Your job title doesn't even need tobe on your headline, on your LinkedIn
or nowhere. You are not yourjob title. You need to align to
(28:30):
your ownable assets, those things thatare yours to own. Yes, and
that is so true. And foran example, I'm just going to share
my which I've had my coach workwith me online and again, one thing
about a brand, and I wouldsay, because I am still in the
process, I am investing in me. I am investing in me. I'm
(28:55):
gonna say it again, I aminvesting in me. Anything that is important
to you, I urge you tofind someone who has the expertise to help
get you there. Anything that isimportant. My fitness is important. That's
why I have a trainer. Mybusiness and where I want to go,
That's why I have a coach.My mindset is important. That's why I
(29:18):
have a therapist. When I'm justtime for me to go out, I
have an image consultant. Anything myfinancial is important. I have a financial
planner. Anything that is important.It is important that you invest in yourself
and find someone you trust, atrusted agent who can take you there and
who you align with. There areall types out there, not knocking anyone
(29:41):
but you have to find someone thatfits your core values, your core values
and that and it will help andit will take you on the road that
you need to. And so whenYolanda was talking about that brand statement,
we talk about vision statements and youknow you do that. Everyone has a
(30:03):
vision statement and that's where you wantto go. It should be epic where
you plan to go. But yourbrand statement, since we're talking about brand
is again, like she said,it's who you are, what you do,
how you do it, and howyou add value. That's your brand
statement. Yeah, that's your brandstatement. It's like an elevated speech,
as she said, like an elevatedspeech, and everyone everyone should have that.
(30:26):
I mentored some youth and we Imentored some youth and we tell them
at the high school level. Haveyour elevator pitch, have your have your
elevator pitch, have your elevator speechready, because you don't know when opportunity
will come and you may not think, well I don't have much to add.
(30:47):
You can always add to the story. But the key thing is to
have the story. Yes, that'sthe key thing. Yeah, no question
about it, and and be confidentin it. And this is the thing
that we tell people and you're goingto give yours in a second. But
when you understand and you can witha level of confidence and clarity, say
(31:07):
who you are, what you do, how you do it, and watch
somebody should care with confidence. Peoplelove working with confident people. That comes
off so much more powerful. Iremember, I've tell this story real quick,
and we'd love to hear yours.But there was a young lady that
was working with me, and shewas an alumni at one of the universities,
and they invited her back with someother alumni to give as a panelist
(31:33):
for some of the current students there. So she says to me, she
called me Missielanda says, so thatI don't know if that's what I tell
you if she was younger, right, She said, miss Alanda, what
am I going to say? Whatam I going to say? I said,
do you really have to ask me? I have to introduce myself?
I said, you already know you'regoing to introduce yourself using your brand statement,
(31:56):
I said, because everybody else isgoing to say, is I am
a give their job title and tellwhat year they graduated from the school and
I graduated and blah blah, blahblah blah. Right, I'm telling you
that's how it's going to go.It's just the normal way of doing things.
She got to that stage and literallysaid her name and gave her elevator
(32:17):
speech, and the crowd erupted.But not only that, let me tell
you how powerful having a personal brandis. They looked at her like,
where in the world, who isshe? Where did she come from?
She caught the attention of the faculty, and I want you to know that
the next call she got was apaid speaking gig at the university. A
(32:39):
paid speaking gig at the university.So this is stuff that we know has
been proven to work in various settings. So whether it's the corporate setting,
the business, the small business sectorof the entrepreneur, the coaching, the
speaking, it works. We've replicatedthis over and over and over again because
(33:00):
at the end of the day,if people, if you can help people
understand who you are, you havea bit of a story that they connect
with, people do business with,who people they know like and trust.
That's it. Yeah, so you'regonna give yours? Yes, okay,
okay, America, here is mybrand statement. I am your empowerment strategists.
(33:24):
With a passion to help one millionwomen thrive in their purpose. I
teach and offer coaching strategies and examinethe voice, vitality and vision that enables
you to excel in your purpose.I focus on the roof of your situation,
(33:44):
identify roadblocks, and establish goals andsystems so you can unlock your true
potential to reach your personal and professionalgoals. That's who I am. Your
empowerment strategies. Yes, And ifyou listen to that and you saw it,
she said, who am I,what do I do? How do
(34:05):
I do it? And why shouldyou care? Right, It's always about
what's in it for the other person, because at the end of the day,
we want to help other people toachieve their desire goals, whether it's
the boss that you're working for,whether it's you and your business trying to
help people through your coaching, orwhether you're providing products and services that serve
(34:30):
people. Because at the end ofthe day, what I can tell you
that I know is that if youcan solve a problem, you can make
some money. You can make somemoney. That's the easy part. The
harder part is doing the upfront workto say who is my customer? First
of all, who am I?Then who is my customer? Because we
(34:51):
can't serve everybody. And it's likeyou might make a candle and say,
oh, everybody's my customer. Everybodylikes candles. But here's the thing.
If you're talking, then you're marketingto everybody. Then you're not marketing to
anybody. You talk to. Everybodyyou're talking to know what there's riches in
the niches. So you have toknow who's your customer and why are you
(35:13):
uniquely positioned to serve them. That'spowerful stuff and I had to learn that
because I was on, oh Iwant to reach people? Yes, yes,
what you got narrow working for you? Yeah? Yeah. And it
doesn't mean that you can't position yourselfto scale, right, You can position
(35:35):
yourself to scale. The key,though, is that you've got to start
somewhere. So you got to keepthe main thing the main thing. So
when you're talking about your brand andsomebody is trying to align with you and
you're trying to amplify that brand inthe marketplace, you can't be I'm a
coach here, I sell widgets here, I do this over here, and
I got bulk gum over here.In some t shirts and books over here.
Until you establish that main thing asthe main thing, then you can't
(36:00):
branch off. I liking it too. Rihanna, I like her. She
is an artist, right, sheis a singer. She started singing.
Then what she did is she tookthat main thing of singing and said,
how do I monetize this? Andso, yes, you got your CDs,
you can stream. She started doingconcerts. Right then you saw Rihanna
(36:22):
doing voiceovers. Then she started actingand then she said once she established it,
and they said we know who reRe is. Then she did the
makeup and the Feny lounger, theFeny line, the clothing line. See
how that is. You can scaleoff of it. But she kept that
main thing the main thing, becausemost people will tell you until that main
(36:43):
thing is serving you and making theincome and the impact that you want to
have, you shouldn't be doing agazillion things. Now, we do believe
in multiple streams of backup, butit needs to be someone aligned. So
I'm a coach, right, butI also am a corpse trainer. But
what am I teaching? Personal brandingand business strategy? Then I have digital
(37:07):
products? What are those products onbusiness? And branding right. I'm a
two time best selling author and I'vegot other pinned ebooks. What do I
talk about? How to elevate,amplify, scale your brand right? And
then I do speaking when I'm onstage speaking, I'm not on stage speaking
(37:30):
about how to lose thirty pounds.No, I'm a branding coach. I'm
a branding business coach. I'm tryingto tell you how to unlock your potential
for your brand so that you canhave more impact, influence, and income
by elevating your brand. But you'rekeeping the main thing the main thing.
Then that's how people come to knowyou, and that's how they come to
trust you and believe in you becauseyou're consistent. Ooh ooh, look,
(37:58):
Ulna's information is throwing down at thebottom. I'm telling you there are certain
and I said this, they needto come to the challenge just what they
need to do. There are certainpeople who I have. Once I meet
them, it's non negotiable. Theyare a part of my life. Whether
they like it or not, theyare a part of my life and it's
(38:22):
very few of them. One ismy trainer. He will always be my
trainer until until God calls me home. He will always be my trainer,
and Miss Lana M. Smith willalways be my coach because what she says
is so real, it's so authentic, and I can see, I can
(38:43):
see the transformation in me. Ican see that, And again, I
value what she's offering because it's muchneeded. And I just want to take
just a quick moment because sometimes weunderstand the message. We are excited,
but let's be honest, there's thatfear. There's that fear of how are
(39:05):
we ready? Am I good enough? How do you address that? Because
you can have the best brand inthe world, but if you don't let
a niche and you're trapped in yourfear, yeah, it stops you.
How do you how do you talkto your clients? How do you convince
people? How what do you sayabout that when you see they're operating,
they're toiling in that fear. Yeah, well, I think that's where the
(39:27):
mindset work has to come in,right, the mindset work has to come
in. And unfortunately, we andparticularly women, have a lot of limiting
beliefs and things that have a tendencyto hold us back, and we have
to really work hard to do theright thing to make sure that we can
get where we need to be.And and it's one of those situations where
(40:00):
this is really weird. We're inthe middle of a show and my doorbell
is ringing and it's assigned package thatif I do not get it, we're
in trouble and I don't know whatto do. You can run and nobody's
home with me. Life doesn't lifehappen. Life happens you, guys.
Can you talk to them from once? I will so again after what she's
(40:23):
going to get her package, becauselife, life happens. And that's okay
because in life we learn how topivot, we learn how to still move
on. And so I'm hoping thatif you have any questions, you can
please put it in the chat.We can see your comments. We thank
you for attending. Yolanda offers agreat a great challenge. It is a
(40:45):
five day intensive challenge in the evening, so those of us who have to
work, you can still work andstill go to the challenge. It starts
normally around eight o eight pm EasternStandard time. And can I tell you
that challenge and I've been to somechallenge is I've been in some classes and
I've checked off the box. Yeah, yeah, that was good. But
(41:05):
this challenge, I can tell youthat it was one hundred percent. It
was one hundred and ten percent ofworthit. It was something even. And
when we got finished the challenge inthe evening, I had so much information.
I had so much knowledge, andthere was a community. Because one
thing that we know that you don'twant to do this alone. There is
(41:29):
the support. And I'm talking aboutyour challenge, and I want you to
kind of speak to that, youryour challenge, that challenge that you offer,
because if you just kind of listento this and you feel like I
don't know where to begin, whereto start, I have questions that challenge,
that community will definitely allow you toanswer some of your questions and it
(41:51):
will give you that resources that Hey, brother sister, we're all in this
together. We got this. Wecan do this. The Bible says Ironshaw
friends iron and that's the kind ofenvironment that she has and that's the kind
of environment that I need. That'swhat doctor Madison Lewis and Lewis does with
this show, That's what Ylaana doeswith her success, a brand for success.
(42:16):
That's what I do in LT Empowerment. That's what it's about building that
community. So can you go back. I know you were looking. We
were talking about the fear, butI also want you to talk about that
challenge, because that challenge is anopportunity. Yes, yes, I'm so
sorry you guys. I am aspeaker too, and I leave tomorrow and
those were my books to get thebooks, so uh uh. But but
(42:40):
when we think about the fear andthe limiting beliefs, what I was saying
is that so often, based onour experiences and what we've been told in
the past, we get stifled,right, We get ourselves in a position
where it becomes extremely difficult, uhto break through, to believe that we're
worthy of the things that are destinedfor us. I mean, and if
(43:01):
you think about it, the Bible, God wants us to prosper. He
wants us to be successful. Hewants us to be able to go out
and live in His will and telleverybody about the greatness of Him and what
He can do in your lives.Right, And so it's really about getting
rid of those those limiting beliefs.That little person on your shoulder telling you
(43:21):
what you can and cannot do.That is just so powerful because at the
end of the day, you know, it's the thoughts that you put in
your head that dictate your actions,and these are the things you start to
believe about yourself, whether they're trueor not. And so the thing that
I say is that we've got totake a moment and recognize that everything that
(43:43):
we were programmed to believe as kids, you know, and growing up about
what we should have what we shouldn'thave, we got to change that relationship
with ourselves. It's okay to befearful. I believe that if you're not
scared, you're not thinking big enough. Let me just be honest with that.
And the fear is a human emotionand it's something that I don't care
(44:04):
what you do, you're not goingto be able to get rid of it.
So my recommendation to the people thatI talk to and I coach is
that we've got to figure out howdo we manage the fear, because if
you don't manage the fear, thefear manages you, and that's where you
get stuck and can't move and can'tdo anythings. And so one of the
things we do in the Brand Dominationand Business Challenge we have five days where
(44:27):
you literally roll up your sleeves andit's intense and you get to work.
We start at vip starts at sevenpm Easter Standard time, General mission at
eight and the first day is mindsetunlocking that if I can help you to
unlock some of those blockages and reallyopen yourself up to the potential of what
you can achieve in life. Ohmy god. It just only gets better
(44:51):
after that because then by day twowe're starting to talk about the concepts of
building the brand, and then weget into the business frameworks, because if
you're going to be in business,you can't have an idea and go straight
to tactic. You've got a plan. You've got to prepare for success.
It doesn't just happen, you preparefor it. And then by day three
(45:12):
we're creating that story right and talkingabout strategies and goals. Day four we
bring in the big guns, wherewe talk about social media systems and processes,
because if you're already into business,how do you grow and scale it
in a way that you no longerhave to be the employee of your company?
You become the CEO, right.And then lastly, you know,
(45:35):
we talk about how to build thatdigital footprint and make everything so powerful.
So it's five intensive days where literallyI just pour it all out to you.
I just give it to I mean, people will tell you I give
it, give it, give it. But it's so important because I also
have that vision of really helping onehundred thousand women and a few good men,
you know, to be able tounlock the potential of their brand.
(45:57):
So yeah, well thank you.This has been truly truly awesome, truly
awesome. Again, it has beenstrolling in terms of how to how do
you find Yolanda Yolanda and Smith herinformation, in terms of her, her
dominance, her challenge. Definitely,it is so important strolling right now.
(46:21):
We just want to thank you.We want to thank you again. I'm
a witness. It's not that Ibrought someone on our first view. I
want to thank the opportunity. It'snot that I brought someone on who say,
okay, just let's talk about this. Well, whoever I'm connected with,
can I have tasted, smelled,touched all my senses. I have
(46:45):
to validate, to validate and vettthat this is real because one thing in
life, we don't have time forplay. So I just want to thank
you and I hope. I knowI don't have to hope. I know
that there was some great nuggets,there was some greats that were planning.
I would like to thank again myguests, Landa M. Smith and all
(47:05):
the viewers and listeners for joining ustoday. This is the Successful Woman's Show
and it is an honor in honorof Women's History Month, Yes, Women's
History Month. I was your codechair, I was your co hostxcuse me,
doctor Latanya el Small and if youwould like to reach me, of
(47:25):
course you can reach me at infoat ltempowerment dot com. My website is
ltempowerment dot com. Don't forget tosubscribe to this channel and also like and
share this episode with others. Againon behalf of the great Madeline Ann Lewis
(47:50):
who allowed me this opportunity. Ibow and say thank you for sharing your
platform with out women who are goingto continue to uplift what you're having for
sex. That's for woman, HappyWoman's history monk, and have a happy
and safe day everyone. Thank youhave the time to do them an
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Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and current events with intelligence and humor. From the border crisis, to the madness of cancel culture and far-left missteps, Clay and Buck guide listeners through the latest headlines and hot topics with fun and entertaining conversations and opinions.