How Faith and Branding Can Ignite Your True Potential

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0:57Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the show. So we have a tremendous conversation for you with Belle Rape. Belle is a branding specialist. She helps you find your brand, find your style, and earn what you are worth. Belle is an incredibly dynamic individual. This is a wonderful conversation. And if you are struggling to make a connection with your audience, with your prospects, with your marketplace, with your peers, inside your industry, If you are struggling to make that connection, oftentimes it's because your brand is misaligned with what you are trying to achieve and Bell helps you find that connection.

1:39You're going to love this episode. It is packed full of both high-level insights and ideas as well as tactical guides to get your brand where it needs to be to earn what you are worth. You're going to love Bell Rape just as much as I loved this conversation. With that, let's get on to Bell Rape.

2:20I know, I should have hit record. I was actually, when I was researching for the show, I was watching a YouTube video of a show that you were on, and they did that. It was like, got you sitting down and getting your cup of coffee, and they're like, you didn't realize. And I have a cat now for some reason.

2:41For everyone listening at home, if you hear a random meow in the background, it's because I now have a cat. I'm not necessarily a cat person. Nothing against that, just not necessarily. But my girlfriend got a cat. She brought the cat here and my children fell in love with the cat. So then she was like, I can't take these, this cat away from your kids. So now the kid's here. So then did she have to get another cat? Is that how that worked? No, it just gives her a reason to visit. Because you're not enough.

3:14All right, let's get into the interview. So I have my first question for you is you say on your website that leaving corporate was an act of reclaiming yourself. I would love for you to talk about exactly what that means and why you felt that way. Yeah, absolutely. Well, first of all, thanks so much for having me on. We talked about before we started that like we kind of match and intentionally. I want to be like, yeah, right. I called Ryan. I didn't call him and tell him what to wear and he didn't call me. So I really love this. Um, and that kind of conversation, I never could have gotten away with in corporate America, but that's my personality.

3:53Um, so I say, yeah, I, I am a corporate dropout. Um, I used to be so ashamed of that because I felt like I just completely failed at my last corporate job. And by that, I, part of that was, yes, I lost my identity. I was trying to fix myself into this. It was classic square peg round hole situation that every day for three, three and a half years, I was trying to be something that a leader in a position I was never meant to be in. The position was never meant for me. I took it because it kind of seemed like the right fit at the right time. And I was chasing money. and I was like I can do this and after I got into it it was just drudgery and I was just like I can't continue to do this I truly lost myself in that position trying to find and figure out something that I was never meant to be um and that is heartbreaking especially if you're someone who is type A, a go-getter, very driven, never says no.

5:07Like, I had no boundaries either. And that was another part of losing myself is that I was working like seven days a week, which is stupid. Dumb. I mean, dumb. As passionate as I am about the work that I do now, and I love what I do, I don't work seven days a week. Because your girl needs a rest. Everybody needs a rest. So, yeah, I was just so unbelievably lost. And I'm so fortunate that I was able to kind of reverse engineer finances and what I was doing to be able to leave that job, thankfully. Thankfully, thankfully. And figure out who I am again. The good news is that you're in good company.

5:47I also have dashed myself up against the rocks of corporate America multiple times only to realize that I was not built for that world. So I think to your point, what I found myself doing was getting good at playing the corporate game versus getting good at what I was supposed to be doing in my role. It was like, how do I play politics around this person? And how do I position myself here so that the thing that I want gets done? Not let me create the best thing in the position that I was in. Let me focus on my work. Let me dial in. And it's, okay, if I want to get this little thing here and take this territory and add more headcount, I got to come around here and smooth this person.

6:33I'm like, and I found the same thing. I'm like, I don't want to do an only thing. Most of these people are assholes. Like, I don't even want to, like, I got to kiss this guy's butt and I got to go to her cocktail party and I got to be on this task force. And I'm like, I don't want to do any of those things. Like, I hated every second of it. And the part that I would love for you to dig in a little more is I also felt shame when I not fitting into that world. I felt like, well, all the people everyone admire have these, you know, CMO of this position or CEO of this company. And that's how you get known.

7:05And that's how people respect you. And when I couldn't fit into that world after multiple tries, I also I had that shameful feeling of like, what's wrong with me? So, like, how did you deal? How did you come through that? Was it, did you have? The holidays are here, and that means it's the most wonderful time of the year to save with Rakuten. Use Rakuten to stack cash back from your favorite stores on top of holiday sales. That's savings on savings. With Rakuten, you can get cash back on gifts for everyone on your list, from toys for the kids to kitchen gear for the person who loves to cook to electronics for everyone.

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8:31And you know that when the first problem of the day is a clanking blower motor, there's no need to break a sweat. With Grainger's easy-to-use website and product details, you're confident you'll soon have everything humming right along. Call 1-800-GRANGER, click Grainger.com, or just stop by. Grainger, for the ones who get it done. Good mentors. Did you do mindset work? Like, how did you come through that kind of natural evolution of feelings to get to where you are today? Yeah. Oh, man. You, like, hit the nail on the head. And you just reminded me of, so you've seen a Christmas, not a Christmas story, what is it?

9:09National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. and so um Clark Griswold he's wrapping up his last few days of the Christmas year or of the year he's getting ready to go on Christmas vacation and the big boss comes by and there's like all of the peons following him in a row and he starts out like yeah Merry Christmas Happy Holidays Happy Hanukkah Happy Guadal I mean all the things about how he gets to the end of the line he's like kiss my A kiss and I'm like that's how it goes that's how it goes I feel like it's such a game And it really did get to be a game. And I found myself talking differently to different people in the company.

9:47And I'm like, why can't it just be me? I just want to be me. And so, Ryan, I kid you not. So when I left that job, I put my head in the sand for a few weeks. And meaning that, like, I just kind of like sat on the couch and I was like, I can't, I can't bell right now. I'm not even at my best to bell enough. And that is not me. So I just, I needed to rest. I just needed to rest. So I allowed myself that grace period just to rest. And thankfully, like I was able to do that. I know like my husband and I don't have children. So I didn't have like that to continue or to contend with. I mean, being a parent is hard.

10:35It is hard. Yeah. And then, you know, so I was able to like feed myself and clothe myself and take care of the basic necessities and figure it out. And I know that was all God's planning. It was his divine timing. It was his plan for my life to be able to do that. So I did it for a couple of weeks. And then I was like, OK, I know I can do this again. So I started just kind of networking again and talking to people. the more I was really open and honest with how I was feeling, the more of those similar stories started coming out. And I started talking to more entrepreneurs and people who are really trying to break out of the corporate world and saying, what is, I started asking those deeper questions.

11:18I wasn't afraid anymore to ask those deeper questions. I wasn't afraid anymore to be like, what if, what if I leave? What if I fail? What if I tank? I just started asking them those questions. like how are you feeling how does this make you feel I wanted to really get to the core of like finding my tribe honestly we all want to find someone who is similar to us like please acknowledge that my feelings are legit it's like legitimize my feelings right now what I'm going through and if it's not like okay then tell me that it's that it's not like what I should how how I could be feeling in the moment.

11:57What was your experience? So I started asking more of those questions. I just allowed myself to rest. And then I put myself back out there. And by the grace of God, I just, I got positions, like contract jobs, which was great. And I was like, oh, I think I can do this. Dude. And then, bro, bro, let me just say it like kiddos say it, bro. COVID hit. Had I known that COVID was coming, I probably would not have had enough function to leave my job. I would have still been there. I would have suffered through it. But I just took it as an opportunity like, hey, the world is shutting down. I can figure out a business to make this work now because I know I can do my job from just about anywhere.

12:43You don't need me sitting in your office. You don't need me to hold down real estate that you don't want to pay for anyway. to have a position to do my job with excellence. So yeah, I just kind of, I got my feelings validated, had a good cry, got a snack, put my big girl panties on, strained my crown, and kept going. I don't know how I didn't know this before, but there's one phrase in the Bible that is written 365 times and it's do not be afraid. Do not be afraid is written 365 times and I don't think that 365 times is a coincidence, right? Every day, do not be afraid. He will guide you. And I think the fact that you, that faith is such a large part of both your business and your life is incredible.

13:44I think that more people, I hope more people have the strength, the guts to talk about their faith and to integrate their faith into their business, whatever that may be. Right. I try to as much as I possibly can. How has that aspect, how has faith played a role in guiding this new chapter? Right. It's all over your website. It's part of your it's part of your message. I've heard you mention it many times in other places. Like, it's obviously a huge part of your life. And how do you use your faith to guide you through, you know, becoming an entrepreneur, coming out of the corporate world? Yeah, yeah.

14:24So in the corporate world, it really wasn't something that I was open to talking about as much. It was kind of poo-pooed. It just, you know, it was never a hard written state and rule. Like, do not talk about your faith. Do not talk about, you know, your beliefs. it just wasn't something that I felt like I could be super open about no one was really receptive to it but it really dawned on me one day when I think I was listening to another podcast I can't even tell you what it was I listened to so many podcasts and listen to so many books that there was a phrase in it that said you know at the end of our life we all want to get to that point where you get to the pearly gates and you hear God say, well done, my good and faithful servant.

15:16Done is still action. And I knew that I had to continue taking action on my life. There was still so much to be done. I just didn't know what. And maybe this is it. Like, I feel like I've hit the jackpot doing what I do right now. And because I get to talk about my faith, I get to be open about that. And I've lost followers. I know there's clients that I haven't gotten because of it. Look, I don't care. I don't care. Because at the end of the day, I know I'm going to be provided for. I am still, I'm alive. I'm healthy. If I weren't alive, I know where I'm going, which like, that's not a bad place to be either.

15:54I'm going to heaven. Really? Not bad. So I kind of, I really try and take that step back. And it's a hard look at what does my life look like without my faith and without my religion. I'm dust. I'm dead. There's nothing. And when I get to talk about my faith and my religion, I know that I light up. I get to ignite myself and ignite others to have that ability to go out and do what they were designed and created to do. I was designed and created to do this. And when I work on personal brands with my clients, I get to ignite them to go out and do what they were designed to do. And when I put it in those terms, they completely understand it.

16:38Like, look, we're all matches. When you strike a match, that is your personal brand coming to life. And then you have this confidence in what you are doing and who you are, which could be the backbone. Like you lean on your faith, you lean on your family, you lean on your friends. that gives you that confidence to shine even brighter even brighter to go out and illuminate the world that we are in there's so much darkness like why be why contribute to that darkness when we are all light go and be a light and do what you were designed to do yeah so i get to talk about my faith and it's an honor too it's a blessing too and we're we're called to talk about our faith.

17:25As Christians, we're called to talk about our faith and build God's kingdom. So I have a platform and I'm going to do it. I love that. One of the things that I find so interesting about people who have not embraced branding, have not built a brand, who fight the idea of doing that type of work, even what I think is kind of derivative work, which is marketing, right? It's very tough to do marketing without a brand. Almost impossible. It often doesn't work. You're just kind of wasting dollars. But when people ask me about it, and I'm not a branding expert in any regard, my side is much more on the tactical marketing side.

18:01I've been a CMO and a CEO.

18:07It's such a struggle for me because, to me, brand is so obvious. And when people ask me about it, I'm like, it's a filter. It's the filter. You want to know why you have crappy clients? Because your brand isn't strong. You want to know why people struggle to buy from you? Because your brand isn't strong. You want to know why your closing message doesn't connect with prospects, with vendors, with partners? Because your brand isn't strong. When your brand is strong, clear, and actually is a representation of who you are or your business is, then the people who connect with that message just self-select in.

18:46They're like, yes, yeah, that's the one right there. That's me. I want that. Like that either whether it's filling a gap in their life that they don't have or it just immediately connects with who they are. And it's so obvious to me. It's so many people struggle to grasp that concept. Why do you think that is like why is it that companies will go spend, you know,$100 ,000 on a marketing campaign with a brand that's mushy and gray and all over the place and antiquated. And like and then they wonder why they're getting this terrible ROI when it's no one knows what to connect to. Right. Because you you spend money on a fancy graphic on for a Facebook ad.

19:30Do you think that's just going to change everything? Like what is it about the concept of branding that it feels like people either get it or they don't? And how do we start to turn the people that don't into believers? Right. I mean, that is an amazing question. So I think people still, like two part, people still think branding is for influencers. So they're like, I don't want to be the Kardashians. I don't want to be the next, you know, Brady family or, you know, whatever that influencer is. They don't think that they want to be that influencer status. When I say influencer status, I don't want that either.

20:07I want to have a super strong brand that magnetizes my tribe, my audience of people towards me. I want to be attracted to them. I want to fill the gap of what they need, which is what you said. So I think that the pendulum is starting to swing a little bit more towards a more positive sentiment of having a personal brand because I truly think that the statistics are getting out there. So 74, 75 % of Americans trust someone with a personal brand. The higher the trust need, the more you need to have a personal brand. So what I mean by that is, so someone like a, if you're going to hire a doctor, dentist, lawyer, most of the time, the first place that someone is going to go to is your social media, you know, or look for you on a website.

21:01They're going to see, they want to know who you are. If I'm going to have a surgeon cut me open, I want to know that they're not hanging out in the club the night before. I don't need someone trying to cut me open with a laser or with like a shaky hand, you know, like, I want to know who they are. What kind of bedside manner do you have? What's your reputation? So your personal brand is your foundation of who you are. And most people still have that idea that they don't need a personal brand because they aren't an entrepreneur. They aren't a small business owner. They don't have a product or service that they're selling for themselves.

21:38when in fact, the opposite is so true. If you're sitting in a job in a cubicle, if you ever have any hoax or aspirations of moving to a higher position, you need a personal brand because you need to start developing that voice within you and have a public place to share your expertise. You need to show that you're an expert in the industry. So also, I think that having a personal brand is extremely important for teenagers. Look, I have nieces and nephews who are teenagers now. And while I'm not a huge advocate for them being on social media, we can talk about that in a little bit, because social media can be very dangerous.

22:26But it is a way for them to start building their digital footprints and their digital resume. and they need to do it in a way that is well thought out, starting when they are young. Look, I didn't have social media growing up. Thank the Lord. I didn't have social media growing up because so many stupid things would have been captured. That now that stuff follows you. It's never permanently erased. So if you want to get into college, get that job, like I've turned down people for jobs because they looked great on paper on their resume. but I looked at their social media and I was like, nope, nope, nope, nope.

23:05I can't, I can't work with that and I'm not going to. So developing your personal brand is the foundation of who you are. It allows you to show your expertise in whatever industry you want to be in, to talk about, to show. And your marketing is all the pretty things. It's the aesthetics of your brand which will rarely if ever be right if you don't have your personal brand completely solidified it just won't you can spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on your logo like you were talking about but it just won't be right unless you know who you are yeah so your personal brand is your yeah no i i love your idea of almost like brand training for teenagers that they have a clear picture of like because because uh the company i just exited from a company in november of last year um and you know we were constantly hiring i never wanted to see a resume i just assumed that like look like you're you're interviewing for the job like you're probably like a reasonably intelligent human being or it was insurance industry so the bar is pretty low Sorry, all my insurance friends.

24:24But, you know, what I wanted to see was like, who is this person? Are they going to come in and be a problem? Like, are they going to go all like, you know, wokey on us when they get in here? Are they going to cause problems? Are they, you know, like, what are they doing? Are they going to take a ton of time off? Like, you know, we're a startup. Like, maybe in a company of a thousand, that's perfectly fine. It's all good. But like, this is grind time for us. And when we're hiring people, we're telling them like, you're not going to work seven days a week. I completely agree. but you're gonna have to put in a solid 45 and those 45 are gonna have to be dedicated hours like you can't be screwing around.

24:56Like we need to get things done. And we can go to their social media profiles and you would have a real clear picture like maybe they work out a lot. Maybe they have a hobby they're super into. Like I don't need to know you're great at the thing I need you to do today because I can train you for that. I need to know you have the skills, character, qualities of someone who can become good at my company. And I think today that is, especially for hiring, as more and more important than it is the actual skills to the job. Obviously, you know, if you're blasting rockets into space, you need to know be a rocket scientist.

25:32But like outside of some certain very technical professions, most things can be trained or learned. And what we really need to know, I think, today is who are you? What am I getting? Right. And our company cultures today, especially in a remote world, and I'd love your feedback on this, in a remote world, your brand is oftentimes goes hand in hand with your culture. And if it doesn't, that causes all kinds of problems. But if it does, your brand is going hand in hand with your culture. So if you have a brand that represents who you are and that matches the culture, then the types of people that want to work in that environment, they're the ones that interview.

26:11Right. I have a lot of friends that say, especially in the insurance, I came out of the insurance industry. That's kind of the industry that I've been in for the last 20 years. And every little boy's dream, just so you know. The problem is you develop this. Here's the thing. One, insurance is phenomenal. I love bus and shops and everyone who's in the industry that listens knows that it's fun to make fun of ourselves. But you develop this arcane like language, like you like there's like a language to insurance that once you learn it, it doesn't apply anywhere else so like if i were to take there's it's not transferable in any regard because the words are you it doesn't matter doesn't matter but here's my point i have all these friends and and people and i get asked to speak a lot and they'll be like oh you know you you say all the time that hiring is easy and i was like yeah hiring was easy and they're like wow we can't find anybody there's no good talent out there and i was like that's because your your brand blows who would want to work there like who would want to work there like look at your logo looks like it was made in a in a dot matrix by a dot matrix machine in the 70s right your office smells like mothballs your building hasn't been updated since the 90s right like who who would who's like yeah i i can't wait to go work at that place that place looks awesome you know i mean like there's no your social media stinks there's enough or non-existent like no one knows what they're getting so they don't want to come in.

27:38So I would love for you to maybe expand upon your thoughts of all this little diatribe that I went on. And really, I'd love for you to connect kind of this idea of brand and culture and how it equates to the people that we ultimately find. Yeah, yeah. Well, and I said it, I previously said it, like your brand attracts your tribe. We are, as much as we think we're like business to business or, you know, business to consumer, customer direct, you know, directly, we're still human. We have to have that human interaction. We were designed that way. God designed us that way, very specifically to want that human interaction.