Entrepreneurship: making your own magic in business

Posted on February 28, 2016 by brandaudits

So, it’s 2016. A chance to renew and refocus. To reflect. To give thanks for what’s gone and what’s to come. To stop putting excuses in the way of your dreams because life’s like that. You’ve got to make your own magic. Emma Isaacs

This is a quote from Emma Isaacs, in the latest edition of Latte magazine. Emma is the Founder and Global CEO of Business Chicks. Her words struck a cord with me, particularly the last line, “You’ve got to make your own magic.”

To be a successful entrepreneur, there’s no doubt you need to be innovative. However, you also need to translate your innovative ideas into reality. Combining the two, well that’s making your own ‘magic’.

You have to do more than feel magic. You alone are responsible for making the magic. You can’t wait for the perfect time, you just do it. You make it a priority and spend time on it every single day. You stay focused. You create a purpose around your idea and a ‘why’ and make it happen.

It is a mindset. You have a business idea—whether it’s a new product or service or even improving a simple online form—and you set about changing it and making it better.

I’ve had several “you’ve got to make your own magic” times in my life; times when I’ve had to make a conscious choice to trust my instincts, harness my idea and turn into a business.

One was creating my company, The Wrap Dress. The concept for this business grew from need. I had a hectic international travel schedule and I often went straight to a meeting from the airport. I needed an outfit that looked great with sneakers on the flight and professional with heels at the other end of the trip. But couldn’t find what I needed.

So I made my first Wrap Dress. It was a versatile staple that I could dress up or down for any occasion. It allowed me to get out the door faster, and still look and feel as fresh and crisp from morning ‘til night. I chose an Italian stretch fabric that I later discovered was used in swimwear. As it turned out, the material perfectly suited the everyday/everywhere/everybody style of garment.

I loved my dress and so did my friends. First one friend wanted one. Then another. Then friends of friends. Then people I’d never met.

I launched the Wrap Dress online in 2014—quietly as a prototype with only one garment.

It was daunting and a risk because I don’t have a fashion, pattern making or professional sewing background. Instead I asked lots of questions and found skilled people to work with. I didn’t wait for the ‘right time’, I got stuck in and made my own magic!

How are you going to make your own magic?

*Christine Moody is one of Australia’s leading brand strategists and the founder brand management consultancy, Brand Audits. With more than 30 years’ professional experience, Christine has helped a diverse client base of local and international brands, including Gold Coast City Council, Hilton Hotels, and Wrigleys USA, to develop, protect and achieve brand differentiation. Her particular interest is personal brand audits to assist executives realise their full potential.

For more information: chris.moody@brandaudits.com.au or +61 419 888 468.

Photo credit: Matt Palmer

Turning the bad into good: leveraging your strengths

Posted on February 17, 2016 by brandaudits

Brand + Business x Christine Moody*

Turning ‘bad stuff’ into ‘good stuff’ is a rewarding and empowering process (although it may not feel like it at the time). It’s also something we can all do if we have the right tools.

Remember the Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn, and Diane Keaton 1996 classic ‘First Wives Club’? In the film, three women start a successful business to revenge the husbands who left them for younger women.

Like the First Wives Club, you can turn bad stuff into good stuff. However, first you need to take stock of what you have, identifying your unique skills and education. You can then use these skills to leverage yourself to greater success.

Step 1: Identify your strengths
To help understand your personal strengths, it’s useful to start with a ‘personal’ brand audit.

I have used this process on a couple of occasions—most recently for a major challenge I was facing. This challenge was bigger than anything I had ever faced before, but I still had a choice: how to respond and move forward.

Initially, my reaction was ‘normal’: I was really upset and then really angry. However, when I was ready to fight, I knew I needed to take my time and plan my response.

I used a personal audit to get myself in order. Even though I don’t advise a ‘Do It Yourself’ audit, I wanted to test my Brand Audits’ tools to see if they translated from the corporate to the personal realm.

The process worked really well and it gave me the outcome I was looking for: the framework to focus on my strengths, my ‘why’ and planning my ‘where to from here’.

I thought of myself as a brand and audited my brand in the context of my values and how these are reflected in tangibles of my brand, such as my LinkedIn profile.

Step 2: Identify the opportunities
The personal brand audit enabled me to identify many opportunities, with the three top projects giving me a clear purpose and direction.

For me, the top three were:

Complete my master’s research thesis
Improve my health and fitness
Write a book about my challenges!

Step 3: Develop your plan of attack
The personal brand audit gave me a plan of attack and allowed me to complete—or at least start—my three top projects.

This goes to show that if you are really focused on what you want and where you want to go, you can achieve things you never thought you could—no matter what your circumstances!

…if you are really focused on what you want and where you want to go, you can achieve things you never thought you could—no matter what your circumstances!

Step 4: Enjoy the results
The personal brand audit process enabled me to stop, breathe, reflect, and to look at the bigger picture before I dived into the next chapter of my life. The process pushed me forward and the results speak for themselves:

I completed my master’s research thesis after starting it six years ago. It really came down to locking myself away for two months. Each day I focused on what I could complete by breaking tasks down to bite-size actions. This structured process meant that I graduated in 2015!

I now focus on my health and fitness to align my mental strength with my physical strength. I joined a group fitness class with a trainer who links your goals to your exercise.This saw me completing in my first Tough Mudder, the hardest thing I have ever done physically or mentally! I also started ballet lessons at Queensland Ballet and Alvin Alley NYC (first time ever for both)!

My book titled—Designer Law School: Lessons from a Designer’s Life will be published at the end of 2016. I started writing about my challenges to help other Designers and this has been my most rewarding project to date! I set up a Facebook site (Designer Law School) and ran a prototype class to test the content and to receive immediate feedback on the topics! My aim is to help other Designers have basic legal knowledge—and therefore the confidence—to understand everything from contracts to supplier arrangements as they move through their careers.

Every ‘bad’ thing that has happened to me—without exception—I have been able to turn around and learn from, and then use the lessons to help others and myself.

So next time you have a challenge, thank the person or the situation because it gives you the gift of proving that you have the skills and the resilience to turn the bad stuff into good stuff, and move onwards and upwards!

If I can do it, you can too!

For more information: chris.moody@brandaudits.com.au or +61 419 888 468.

Photo credit: Christine Moody from the exhibition, China: Through the looking glass
(The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, July 2015)

How to get the best work from your Designers

Posted on February 2, 2016 by brandaudits

Brand + Business x Christine Moody*

How to get the best work from Designers? Step One: Back Off!

Earlier this week I shared The New York Times’ article, ‘How to Raise a Creative Child. Step One: Back Off’ on my social media sites. This article resonated with me because I see kids pushed to far towards maths and science to the detriment of creative pursuits but also because ‘Creativity’—is Design—is often under appreciated. While the article was clearly aimed at pushy parents it also contained many lessons for clients working with Designers. The reason I am writing this is not to criticise clients in any way, but to allow them to see ‘the other side’ and how they can achieve the best possible results for their businesses when working with Designers.

Creativity may be hard to nurture, but it’s easy to thwart.

One of the most standout comments from the article was, “Creativity may be hard to nurture, but it’s easy to thwart”. Clients may be unaware that they get the most value and the best outcomes when they treat Designers as the professionals they are, and leave Designers to do their job. Put aside the fact that most Designers are highly educated with broad, ‘real life’ experiences, clients are paying the Designer to bring in expertise that they do not possess. Clients therefore need to give Designers the freedom to do the job they are paying them to do.

Designer’s value add by immersing themselves in the business, thinking deeply about the problem outside of day-to-day operations, and creating original designs that communicates the business strategy. In a commercial world, working with professional Designers allow client’s businesses to achieve their objectives ie, to perhaps attract external funding (crowdsourcing or traditional banks); to assist in creating new markets; to allow them to stand out in a crowded marketplace; to attract the best staff and the best clients; and to create value in the business when it’s sold. If a Designer’s role is to simply to reproduce a more refined design of a client’s idea the client would be happy, but the clients are not getting the best possible outcome. Instead they are getting ‘paint by numbers’ and an under-utilised design resource.

Getting the best outcome is all about getting the brief right before commencing the project. The brief does not solve the problem but outlines what is known about the product or service at the time of writing. The best briefs are created together—with all stakeholders present—with the final outcome presented in the context of this brief. It’s about working together via work in progress meetings to see the development as the solution reveals itself and to gain an understanding of the thinking behind the design. It is not an aesthetic decision, but instead, a strategic decision. Design is a combination of creative freedom within the constraints of technical and budget reality overlaid with a strategic focus.

If there is one thing I know for sure, the more the clients leave the design to the Designers, the better the result. So remember—and I say this in the most respectful way…please clients, “Back Off”!

*Christine Moody is one of Australia’s leading brand strategists and the founder brand management consultancy, Brand Audits. With more than 30 years’ professional experience, Christine has helped a diverse client base of local and international brands, including Gold Coast City Council, Hilton Hotels, and Wrigleys USA, to develop, protect and achieve brand differentiation. Her particular interest is personal brand audits to assist executives realise their full potential.

For more information: chris.moody@brandaudits.com.au or +61 419 888 468.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinejanemoody