A Unicorn Builds a Brand, Not Just a Book of Business with Joanne Tan: An EOFire Classic from 2021

0:01Boom! Shake the room, Fire Nation. JLD here and welcome to Entrepreneurs on Fire. brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals with great shows like The Product Boss. Today, we're pulling a classic episode from the archives, and we'll be breaking down a unicorn builds a brand, not just a book of business. To drop these value bombs, I brought to Joanne Tan and to EO Fire Studios. Joanne is a global brand builder, brand strategist, and visual branding expert. She leads a multimedia digital brand agency, 10 Plus Brand Inc., and mentor startup CEOs and executive coaches.

0:38In today's Foundation, we'll talk about building a company like building a bonfire. Every log needs to burn its fullest to contribute to a spectacular flame. To keep it burning, you need to keep fueling that fire with the best quality logs, and we tell you how to retain that top quality talent and more when we get back from thanking our sponsors. Hustle & Flowchart, hosted by Joe Feer, is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals. Join Joe as he discusses systems, mindset tweaks, reframes, and strategies to help you build a business that gives you freedom and fuel for your life.

1:11A recent episode on using AI for effortless content creation is a must-listen. Listen to Hustle & Flowchart wherever you get your podcasts. Ever thought about giving a TEDx talk? It's one of the most powerful ways to share your message with the world. And four-time TEDx speaker Taylor Conroy from Thought Leader can help you get there. Visit thought-leader.com slash fire to join Taylor's free training where he teaches you how to land a TEDx talk and spread your message to millions. Joanne, say what's up to Fire Nation and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with.

1:50Wonderful. I love the word becoming in your question because success is a process of growth, not an event. It is a journey, not a destination. So most people would say possession of money, fame, power is quote unquote success. Yes, it's part of the success metrics, but there has to be more to stay successful and to keep becoming more successful. Growth is first in growing the founders and CEOs themselves. And that process is never ending. then and only then when the founders and CEOs can grow their own vision, mindset, skill sets, EQ, IQ, can their startups and their companies grow in a healthy way in terms of culture, products, and services, long-term loyal customers, and revenue.

2:53So for most entrepreneurs, they want to scale fast, make millions or billions as fast as possible, even to be a monopoly like Google. And there's nothing wrong with dreaming big. The desire for getting rich quickly alone cannot get you very far, even though it might motivate you to end up with money, maybe tons of money. How long will that growth last? Are you happy with yourself? Can you sleep at night are you content about what you are offering to the world and with how you spend your own lifetime doing that so you need vision not associated with money to inspire first yourself the founders and ceos and second your do or die team members and third your loyal customers so here are examples of apple versus microsoft apple is a brand well i'm a branding expert so i would like to compare them at that level and microsoft is forever a computer machine is a functioning machine so apple commands the leadership as well as a high premium in terms of how they make money but microsoft is always a mess a cheap version of a computing okay now how does apple lead with vision thanks to steve jobs at 30 more than 30 years ago he had a vision and that is the vision of the apple that we celebrate the greatness in humanity we think different and because of all that apple is where it is today of course you have to iterate that vision you have to be loyal and you have to execute oh in that vision and also think about Uber, they got where they were some years ago very fast.

5:13Okay. They were quote unquote successful, but their brand is stained because of their bad culture. And that stain will stay with them and with the consumers for a long time. And that's where I want to move to next, Joanne. I want to talk about getting your team to buy in because if you do that, a culture is born. And just like you mentioned with Uber, like whenever I do hear the word Uber, I just think kind of what a scummy guy Travis was in a lot of ways. Like that's my first thing that I think about, you know, as a potential user of Uber. And that's bad for their brands for obvious reasons. So explain what you mean by if you can get your team to buy in a culture is born and maybe give us another example or two.

6:00Well, it all starts from the very top. The founders and CEOs, they set the tone. So when Uber was celebrating openly all this just completely not acceptable behaviors, celebrating the wrongs, they're on the wrong side of social justice, equality, equity. okay and monkey see monkey do and they attract people sometimes inadvertently but sometimes perhaps purposely the like-minded thinkers and doers and that is like a cancer growing on the company you can make tons of money but sooner or later it's going to haunt you the team's buy-in is, I'm not trying to moralize, is what the product can do to change the world in a positive way, and not just with your own products and services.

7:05Yes, Uber's products and services have made the world an easier place, a more convenient place to live, but that's not all that matters. Now, example is Nike. Nike relentlessly is making the consumers, making the world think about the brand Nike more than just a pair of shoes or sneakers. They celebrate human greatness. They celebrate human aspiration for justice, for social equality. And remember that controversial of siding with Colin Kopanek, right? He was kneeling during the national anthem before game. And even then President Donald Trump was taking advantage of that, you know, saying that you cannot treat our flag like this.

8:01But even though there are other ways of viewing it, it's not just about a flag, but about social justice. so nike make the choice to take a stand and there are people plenty of people who stop buying nike but at the end of the day nike's profits whether intended or not increased a whole lot for the next two years yes so that is about your team buy in you you celebrate something you stand for something when your brand stands for something, you have the vision to become greater than yourself. And that's why Apple started on the right foot. And Apple becomes the brand of excellence. And that's why Nike will forever do what they're doing.

8:58And I hope that they're going to keep doing that. It depends on their management. But if their management, if the CEO, if the leadership changes their mind, then they are no longer Nike. Okay, I hope not.

9:13So the leadership set the tone. And then you inspire your teams to buy in. To buy in not only about the money, which is, yeah, you need to buy in about the process of making profit. But also what the product stands for that inspires people to make the world a better place for everybody. So, Joanne, one thing that you talk a lot about is either being a stargazer or a firefighter, which are two very interesting words. So, can you explain what this means and what the difference is between the two? No, it's on the grindstone. That's a grinder. Stargazer is you don't lose track where you're going. You don't lose track about your vision.

9:58I talked about vision, that if your brand stands for a out-of-this-world idealistic vision, it inspires people. It inspires people more than just mere shoes or mere computer machine. OK, so stargazer is to always look up to your North Star and align your company's actions, performance, culture, how you motivate your employees, how you inspire your customers and followers with that vision. And that will propel you on the right track. Remember, growth is a journey. OK, it's a never ending journey, but you always need to follow the North Star to stay on track. And if you are putting, you know, putting out fires every day, nose on the grindstone and never looking up, you're not going anywhere.

11:02You're just chasing after the next quarterly result and you are just in a hamster's wheel. OK, and you can't grow. You cannot scale if you are not a vision-driven leader. And it's hard because most of the startups, they don't have enough hours in the day, the founder and CEO. They have fires all over, okay? Today is one, tomorrow is maybe two. And so once they are so absorbed with the daily grinding, the operation, they lose track of their vision. What is it that I really want to deliver to the world? what does my product or service stand for, then, sorry, you cannot be going very far and become a great brand.

11:53And Fire Nation, the reason why you're listening to this episode is because you want to become a great brand. And we're going to be talking about becoming a great brand. We're going to talk about becoming a rock star, building a power brand, and then hiring and building the right best team you possibly can. And when we get back, we're thanking our sponsors. The amount of software required to run a growing business can be daunting. And how do you even know if you're using the right tools? There's help desk software, payment software, email marketing tools, blogging tools, SEO tools. Well, I've got some great news for you, Fire Nation.

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12:57And it's built to deliver results and revenue faster to help your business grow. So dump the disconnected tools and the chaos that comes with them. discover what HubSpot's all-on-one platform can do to streamline your business. Visit HubSpot.com to grow better today. Do you have a message inside that you know is meant to be shared with the world? Giving a TEDx talk is one of the most powerful ways to share your message with the world and Thought Leader can help you get there. Thought Leader is a speaker coaching company that has helped over 550 and counting coaches, speakers, entrepreneurs, authors, and experts land TEDx talks.

13:31Thought Leader is not affiliated with TED or TEDx, but they're able to get these results because their founder, Taylor Conroy, is a four-time TEDx speaker himself and past EO Fire guest. You might be thinking a TEDx talk sounds great, but where do you start? Taylor has put together a free training that's going to teach you how to land a TEDx talk in as little as 90 days. Join Taylor to learn exactly what TEDx organizers are looking for in their speakers, how to write a talk that goes viral once it goes online, and more. Visit thought-leader.com slash fire. Join Taylor for this free training and get your message out of your head, out of your heart, and out into the world where it belongs.

14:10That's thought-leader.com. So, Joanne, we're back, and I want to talk about becoming a rock star. How do we do that? What is the process? Dare to dream big. Dare to think of your brand as a great brand. and there are great brands out there for you to copycat, okay? Think big, dream big, and start with a grand vision and stay on course with that vision. When you do that, you have set a foundation for yourself to become a rock star. So for those whose visions are very limited, Oh, I just want to sell my company in four years. Yeah, if that's what you want, that's what you get. But I'm talking to those who want to build something that lasts a long time beyond your exiting this planet Earth.

15:15Okay, we have Walt Disney. We have great brands like Tesla. We have great brands like Nike and so on and so forth. So this is what I mean. When you become a rock star, you have to dream first and foremost and prepare yourself to be a rock star. And again, even if you fail, what a grand way of failing. You did not waste your time. You're pursuing your dream. You're pursuing the greatest of yourself. You dare to push your limit to get yourself out of your comfort zone. Your thinking, your vision is more than just quarterly results. So that is the difference between a rock star and anybody else. When you dare to think like that and push yourself like that, I can assure you one thing at least, your journey is fun, exciting, and rewarded.

16:18Fire Nation, don't you want to dream big? Aren't you listening to this so you can dream big, so you can have fun and exciting moments all along your journey? Of course, this is why we're doing what we can do. Otherwise, we would just be dying a slow death in a cubicle like so many people are. So let's talk about building a power brand. Let's talk about vision. Let's talk about discipline. Let's talk about execution. Break this down for us, Joanne. Let me give you an example of the American Revolutionary War. At the time, it was a colony. And for those revolutionaries to dare to proclaim that we are going to become our own country, they risk losing their head, their family, their reputation, everything, their property.

17:07Okay, so for them to do that is more than just, I'm not going to pay the tax you're imposing on me without representation. They need vision. They need a grandiose, out-of-this-world cause, and that is the Declaration of Independence, that all men are created equal. that all men are created equal is the words that soldiers will willingly give up their life to die for and and even after the war is won all men are created equal continue to inspire humanity indefinitely because after the war is won we're a teeny tiny little step towards that grandiose goal but humanity as a whole is far from achieving that goal that's that's the power of having a vision okay then you have to make sure you have mission mission is to how how many years am i gonna uh we're gonna fight this war it has to end we gotta win this war as soon as we humanly possible so either it's a it's a time sensitive it's a defined by time we're gonna win this war in five years or 10 years and then we can declare a mission accomplished and then you need to fight each battle and win each battle in order to win the war so for a company you need to execute and you don't plan like my next 18 months what's my business plan and then two years three years five years no you do it reversely what is my mission after you develop your vision your vision needs to be out of this world grandiose like i have a dream like you know martin luther king's i have a dream and if you don't have a dream well obama would not become the first black president in the united states but back then you know you got to declare something that is associated with your company's vision.

19:28And then under that, you have a mission. Within 10 years or within five years, what do I want my company to become? And then in order to realize that mission and declare it complete, what do I need to do in the three years and then in 18 months? So that's execution. And then stay on course and you tweak here and there and see what did I do right? What did I do wrong to stay on track to achieve the vision, to achieve the mission, to achieve the goals, very specific goals? And 18 months, I'm going to evaluate, have I reached the goal or not? How much closer or how far am I from my three-year goal?

20:14And you stay on course. So you both work hard, stay on track, but keep your eyes on the North Star and be a stargazer at the same time. And for us, we help brands to first establish their vision, establish their brand essence, establish their brand persona and the strategies and the structure. And then we help them stay on course and we amplify their brand messaging internally and externally. So they will stay on track to become a great star. Fire Nation, there's so much there. I really hope you took all of that in because it is the vision. It is the discipline. It is the execution that's going to result in the success or failure of the brand that you're building.

21:04So you, Joanne, recommend hiring people that are smarter than you, which I totally get. I love being in rooms with people that are smarter than me because, of course, I'm learning something from these people. And I also believe that you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with. So I want to spend time with smart people. But how do we actually hire people that are smarter than us and get into details as to why? Building a company is like building a bonfire. Every log needs to burn to its fullest to contribute to the grandest, most spectacular bonfire. And to keep that bonfire burning, you need to keep fueling the fire with the best quality logs.

21:51Okay? The firewood. Now, the firewood, each piece is a talent who really specialize in their respective field. And so the CEO's job is, I would say the metric for a successful or not successful CEO is how you can inspire and get on board top talents and then grow with them. You grow together. So again, it circle back to your vision, to your dream. Because people jump on board, not just because of what you promise as tons of money. Yes, that's important. But also the vision of where your company is going for the future. Because people are spending their precious lifetime with you, trusting not only you as a person, but also your dream.

22:57They need to be buy-in to your dream. So to retain top quality talents, the CEOs need to be humble but also inspiring. Humble in terms of you respect people who have expertise expertise that you don't have. You know, you acknowledge you cannot do it all. Okay? You cannot be a micromanager. You have to be a source of inspiration. And that makes the great CEOs or failure CEOs. You know, whether you have that ability to inspire and let them shine and not be a micromanager. Fire Nation, you want to give smart people a long leash. You want to let them run, let them allow their genius to shine, give them the freedom that they know want to need to create the greatness.

23:58I mean, I love that example of how Google gives their employees sometimes up to 20 % of their total work time on free projects. Like that's how Gmail was created. That's how other great projects were created because you give great, smart, brilliant people flexibility to pursue their genius and to pursue their passions. And then you see what happens as a result. So Joanne, give us the one key takeaway that you really want to make sure Fire Nation gets from our entire chat today. Then share how we can connect with you, any call to action that you have for our listeners. And then we'll say goodbye.

24:31Number one is to make sure the company is growing on a solid foundation. And to build that foundation, take your time. Make sure you have the DNA. I call it the DNA decoding. You have the DNA sequence mapped out for your company. And then build the structure, the strategies, the stories, the three S's. I call it once you have the DNA sequence, then you put the meat on the bone. And then you can continuously inspire yourself and your company and your customers. with your brand vision. So this is number one. Number two is execution takes discipline. And sometimes, I would say most of the time, a CEO's time is very stretched.

25:28Okay. So make sure you You'll motivate and mobilize experts in different areas to be coordinatedly executing the vision of the company. And then the specific tasks that will lead to mission accomplished. You always have to stay on track. And we can help as a trusted partner for your journey, both in terms of establishing your brand DNA and then help you hold you accountable with specific metrics to execute that brand vision for internally as well as externally. the growth, both the internal morale and culture, as well as externally attracting loyal fans and loyal long-term committed customers who believe in your brand, not just buying a product or service.

26:32So these two things we can do, and we excel at creating the content that will be based on the brand DNA and then amplify with AI, human hybrid digital marketing. So if you have questions, you can email me or go to my website, my company's website, www.10plusbrand.com. and see if you are interested in any specific areas of our service because we have a full service menu from DNA decoding to creating content to creating website and videos and to amplify the brand with marketing technology. Fire Nation, so much value was given here today and you are the average of those five people you spend the most time with.

27:39So hire smart people and spend time with smart people. And you've been hanging out with JT and JLD today. So make sure to keep that heat going and head over to eofire.com. Type Joanne in the search bar. Her show notes page will pop up with everything we talked about here today. Make sure to visit 10plusbrand.com. That's 10plusbrand.com. Joanne, thank you for sharing your truth, your knowledge, your value with Fire Nation today. For that, we salute you. And we'll catch you on the flip side. Oh, I forgot to say that I host a podcast series called Interviews of Notables and Influencers. And because I'm very close to Silicon Valley, I last interviewed Tim Draper, a so-called first family of Silicon Valley, about crypto, about Bitcoin, Elon Musk and inflation and everything else.

28:29And before that, another Silicon Valley celebrity called Steve Hoffman, who just published a book called Surviving a Startup. I was interviewed. I interviewed him about that book and a lot of questions because I mentor startups as well and early stage startups. Thank you so much, Joanne. We will catch you on the flip side. Thank you so much. Thank you for the honor. Hey, Fire Nation. Today's value bomb content was brought to you by Joanne and Fire Nation. Are you ready to rock your very own podcast? If so, check out our free podcasting course where I will teach you how to create and launch your podcast for free.

29:13Freepodcastcourse.com. I will catch you there or on the flip side. Hustle and Flowchart, hosted by Joe Feer, is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals. Join Join Joe as he discusses systems, mindset tweaks, reframes, and strategies to help you build a business that gives you freedom and fuel for your life. A recent episode on using AI for effortless content creation is a must-listen. Listen to Hustle and Flowchart wherever you get your podcasts. Ever thought about giving a TEDx talk? It's one of the most powerful ways to share your message with the world.

29:45And four-time TEDx speaker Taylor Conroy from Thought Leader can help you get there. Visit thought-leader.com slash fire to join Taylor's free training where he teaches you how to land a TEDx talk and spread your message to millions.