Creative Voices is here to help you find the answers yourself, not to tell you what the answer is. Because it's not the same for everyone. Just because one strategy works like gangbusters for someone else, if it makes YOU feel shady, it is NOT going to work for you.

Did you know that in Eastern languages the word for heart is the same word as for mind? The West has been built off of left brain thinking: numbers and data and analyzing. But building a heartfelt brand and mindful brand are one in the same. It's not pick or choose. Especially when you're small, building things the heartfelt way is the smart way.

Having a clear, compelling purpose is invaluable. But it's not the whole picture either. Think about it. An amazing purpose can pull at the heartstrings, maybe even spur action. But it's not necessarily why you stick around — why you open emails, look forward to checking in, or even share it with someone else.

As a small shop, leaning into your personality is the best tool you have for standing out in a noisy marketplace, building a memorable brand, and creating marketing that draws in your audience instead of just sells them on something.

When it comes to your work, brand strategy is the roots. Everything you don't see from the outside about who you are and why you care. But knowing this with razor sharp clarity, means that everything else you do is more effective. Everything that will be seen from the outside, things made for an audience and customers — a storefront, marketing, packaging, events, emails — all this will thrive when you have a strong brand strategy in place.

For those of you in America, it’s a holiday week. And for a country recently obsessed with preserving tradition and a way of life, it’s peculiar to really look at the history. Because this country is really rooted, not in the past, but in newness. (Plus some details on upcoming projects!!)

There is this piece of business building that's not being talked about enough...how is your work a sustainable part of your life?

All you’re doing is creating a community of people who like your brand and engage with your brand, but only a percentage of this circle will ever pay you. And if this feels crazy, realize that you probably already do it. This just elevates and expands the concept, you’re just putting strategy behind it.

Add Polaroids and voilà, instant personality. So much more fun than ho hum headshots. So next time you’re in a pinch and want some new photos but maybe don’t want to hire, consider the humble instant photograph.

If you care about your work, consider talking about your philosophy. Sure, not everyone will get it. But you have to stand for something to be loved.

After more than a decade of helping brands, here are the six factors — philosophies, if you will — that set all the best brands I’ve ever worked with apart.

We’re creating a series of short films that show the stories of a few business owners who left untenable work situations to search for something better. If this is you, please reach out! We would love to share your story. It just might inspire someone else to take the leap and build their own thing too.

What if the rest of your work life looked like it did this last week? How does that make you feel? What would you change? If you genuinely care about your work, my guess is that most of your frustrations can be addressed with brand building…

Do you have something you think about all the time but aren’t really doing? Is it ever too late to change directions in life?

Come along as we spend time with painter Ann Skyles as she shares her story and we get to witness her return to painting forty years after receiving her fine arts degree.

Kaizen is a principle of gradual improvement. Instead of setting big goals, kaizen urges us to continually set small, reachable goals. It’s about always aiming to be just one percent better.

All the pressing projects of running a business eat up your time and you put off brand strategy. And it’s a mistake that’s costing you time, money, and headaches.

My 4 brand building takeaways — Irregardless of your musical tastes, you’d be a fool to overlook the lessons in the brand Taylor Swift has built. Because she understands that you’re not selling, you’re creating an experience. And when you do that well, the selling takes care of itself.

My worry is that the people we need — those that are kind, thoughtful, and driven by more than money and image — are staying away from the messy work of running their own show because they despise the idea of sales and self-promotion.

What are the things that you think about all the time, but haven't ever done? If you weren't worried about failure and the demands of daily life, what would you do?

A slow, thoughtful short documentary about a painter who decides it's NEVER TOO LATE and starts to create again.

Start with a comprehensive brand strategy. Have a brand map. Hang it on the wall, look at it daily. Create a brand guide and update it often. You need a compass otherwise you’ll go in circles.

Then get to work implementing. Create photos and videos that tell your story. Creative content that helps your audience know you on a deeper level. Then keep bringing it to life. Over time.