ALIGNED
4. The Power of Authentic Branding
On Ep. 4 we dive deep into the magic of Authentic Branding.
When you lead with your heart, align with your core, and tap into the essence of who you truly are, something beautiful happens.
You attract your dream clients, create irresistible energy, and build a business that feels as good as it looks. 💫
Discover how authentic branding can elevate your business AND your life.
Join our private facebook group designed to provide our listeners with a community of next level women! We can't wait to see you there!
www.facebook.com/groups/dreamagency.biz
Website: www.dreamagency.biz
Email: emily@dreamagency.biz
Instagram: @dreamagencybiz
On Ep. 4 we dive deep into the magic of Authentic Branding.
When you lead with your heart, align with your core, and tap into the essence of who you truly are, something beautiful happens.
You attract your dream clients, create irresistible energy, and build a business that feels as good as it looks. 💫
Discover how authentic branding can elevate your business AND your life.
Join our private facebook group designed to provide our listeners with a community of next level women! We can't wait to see you there!
www.facebook.com/groups/dreamagency.biz
Website: www.dreamagency.biz
Email: emily@dreamagency.biz
Instagram: @dreamagencybiz
Welcome to Aligned, a podcast by Emily and Emily. We are two successful entrepreneurs, artists, dreamers, and lovers of life dedicated to living in full alignment with who we are. What we do and how we show up in the world. Join us on a magical journey of juicy conversations that will make you feel inspired, alive, and ready to bring your biggest, wildest, dreamiest dreams to life. If you know in your heart that you're ready to live life at the next level without sacrificing ease, joy, and flow, Then this podcast is for you. So sit back, relax, and tune into the place within you that knows and believes that you are worth everything.
Emily Hopper:Welcome to Aligned, a podcast by Em Em. Welcome to Where we talk about all things that feel good doing business differently and showing up as our true and most authentic selves. We created a wonderful business called Dream Agency, where we really get to do business differently. We are heart led feminine forward and we prioritize flow over force in all areas. Our core values have been for the longest time, ease and flow. Because we believe that every woman deserves creating their best and most beautiful dream life. And so today we're going to talk about authentic branding. Authentic branding really plays such an important role in creating your dream business and your dream life. Because it really allows you to align who you are, what you do and your business so that all all becomes kind of this one Identity, this one brand, uh, where you get to show up as your most authentic self and you draw people towards you. You bring customers in, you find the people you're meant to work with. You really are just magnetizing your brand from the core essence of who you are. So we're going to talk about that today and how we have built an authentic brand, what authentic branding means to us, and all of the wisdom and magic little bits and pieces that we want to share with you. So I have Emily Saler here today, my business partner and total just magical woman. And so we'll start, we'll just get right into it. Emily, what is authentic branding to you?
Emily Saler:Oh, to me, so, oh, there's so many juicy points about authentic branding, but I think the one that came up the strongest for me, while you were speaking is just the difference between a successful brand versus an authentic brand and how. For so many of us, when we start out creating a business, creating an online brand for ourselves, we think that there are certain things that we have to do. There are certain ways we have to show up, systems that we have to have in place in order to be successful. And the truth is, if we do those things, we might find a little bit of success. But to fully show up, as our Greatest selves and experience, not just success, but absolute fulfillment and joy and those like incredible, like magical, almost miracle moments that, are what make life so sweet and delicious. It's so important for us to show up as our authentic self. Because yeah, that's when like our success isn't capped, it's beyond just what's on paper. It's beyond. uh, yeah, it's beyond the like image of what success can be. And it's about the feeling and the, yeah, the joy and the emotion. And Yeah. exactly. Yep.
Emily Hopper:It's an energy that you put behind a brand and when people see it, they feel it. It's not just, oh, this looks nice. This is probably a real business. It's oh I feel what these people are putting behind it, and I want to be a part of it.
Emily Saler:Absolutely. Yeah. You're almost like creating a community just by showing up for your, for your business.
Emily Hopper:Absolutely. So with Dream Agency, how do you feel we did that?
Emily Saler:Yeah. Okay. So we
Emily Hopper:and where does it start?
Emily Saler:yeah, so we actually have a process that we follow for creating an authentic brand. And it really comes, most important point is that we tap into our core first. So I always reference, we have a graphic and it's three circles and the inside is your core. So that's who you are, your values, your, your dream clients. It's really like the, essence in the core and what makes you, you, what makes your business unique. And, we tap into that first. And then we use that as the foundation for everything we create, every, every way in which we show up, our interactions with our clients, our interactions with our team, our, graphics that we build online, our logo, everything comes from that core first. So then you have, so essentially it's the core first. And then next, where we're tapping into who we are, and then next ring becomes our visual identity. So how we're showing up. So the logo and colors and tone and, it can even be like systems and culture and best practices and all those things. And then the final ring is like the actual creation of, of the thing. So the products, services, what you're delivering, any marketing materials that you're putting together. So they all have this link to the core of who you truly are and it radiates out into everything that you do and be and Yeah, and then when you can create your business from that authentic alignment again what you spoke about That's where the magnetism happens because when you can show up From that place of who you truly are and everything that you do and create it's consistent. It's clear It's aligned and people begin to feel it like it's beyond just seeing it and knowing it it's like feeling it and Yeah, and that's where the magic happens
Emily Hopper:Yes, that's so well put. You know, Listening to that process, it's the process that we take all of our clients through. It's really like a requirement for us to get clear on those core values, the core that we like to say the essence of who they are, for working with us, that is a requirement. I will say though, that most successful businesses though, they start with that third outer ring. They just say, I mean, I cannot count. Yeah. And I can't count how many. Clients have come to us to me in my past business and just saying, I really just need social media content or, just something that.
Emily Saler:Yeah totally.
Emily Hopper:Or need because they think that that is what's going to create their next level or their success. And Emily and I always start with, okay, but let's backtrack. Let's get to the core of who you are. Where is this all coming from? Like. Why are you in business? What's your, why, what do you prioritize? What, what is your dream? Like just personally, what's your dream life. And so Emily and I will really like extract, we also like to say this, extract the essence of who they are, because that is truly where an authentic brand is going to come from is like you said, from that core place and then everything aligns. That's the foundation. And then everything just is always orienting from that coming from that. Aligning to that instead of let's just create some deliverables, some creative pieces and see what happens. when you, when you start with that core, it's almost like you have a higher power behind it as well. Because when you are, and I just did this recently, I just journaled my dream life. Again, I've done it before, but it put me in this incredible epic dream state. I felt it in my whole body. It was like. Just this tingly magnetic, just flow energy running through me. And when you put yourself in that dream state, you're connecting to something greater than you. And so when we do that with clients, it's also an opportunity to get the universe on board. It's an opportunity to say this is really what I desire. And when you're really speaking from the heart and coming from the heart, greater forces. Come to help you and come to give you that lucky break or, it just magnetizes in a way that you can't imagine.
Emily Saler:Words. It's like the unseen totally. yeah. The unseen forces that bring true success and fulfillment. Yeah, I also think what makes this process unique as well with our clients is it's also our opportunity to tap into their true essence and who they truly are and up and immerse ourselves in it. So then when, when we are creating for them. We are creating from their true essence, as opposed to, Yeah just make the thing, right? And use use my brand colors, or they might not even have that, right? And so, yeah, again, bringing that unseen force and power into everything we are creating for them as well. Yeah.
Emily Hopper:yeah, because it allows us to make more intuitive decisions as well. So when Emily's doing their branding, if we were just doing what they want. it's gonna look so different than if we know who they are and what their dreams are and what they value. Emily almost always ends up, presenting a brand that, it's almost like I love watching their faces. When Emily presents her branding it, it's like something that they had maybe imagined, but didn't ever know how to express. And because Emily has tapped into their essence. She can create something beyond their wildest dreams that's so aligned perfectly for them. And it just gives the most epic wow factor, and it's so incredible to be a part of. And
Emily Saler:I will say, um,
Emily Hopper:the most amazing in the world. Ha ha ha
Emily Saler:I will say though that the logo creation process is one of my most favourites because it's like the first physical manifestation of the core essence. So it's, it's the first like tangible thing that you get to see from extracting your essence, in that discovery process, which is so fun. And I love to, I, in my process as well, I love to play with different variations because we're all. Very dynamic individuals, our businesses are very dynamic, so I like to kind of take it different directions based on what I've heard as well. And then they ultimately have the choice of you know what, like this, like being dreamy Dream Agency is and being badass and feminine. That's what speaks to me the most. And so that's the direction I want to go. Because I remember when I presented just for example, for Dream Agency, when I presented to you. There was a few different, directions that we could go. But part of the fun is when you get to choose and be like, yes, okay, this is my million dollar authentic brand. I can feel it. This is the highest, Version of our business. This is the direction that I want to go. Which I think is also a really exciting moment as well. Um, because a choice and a decision, right? Yeah.
Emily Hopper:And I think that kind of plays to one of our main points is that authentic branding is not just what sells, it's what feels good. It feels so fucking good. Oh my
Emily Saler:good. Yeah.
Emily Hopper:in over six years because I love it so much. Every time I go on my website, I feel it. I'm like, Oh, this is my core. This is who I am. Just like in a visual. Representation. And so when you did present logos for Dream Agency, there were a couple that were kind of like, Oh, well, this is kind of what we thought we wanted
Emily Saler:Exactly.
Emily Hopper:spot on. But then the one that we went with, it's because it evoked this feeling of Oh, this is me. This is like the blended core of our essence. This is
Emily Saler:Yeah. Totally.
Emily Hopper:good, And so I think that's at the foundation of authentic branding is. It's doing what feels good, which is, a big rebellion logical and streamlined and what is going to sell, what is everyone else going to like? And that's another point we can get into next is like creating, creating from your heart versus creating what you feel like others will like,
Emily Saler:yeah. Yep, trying to be liked And trying to do what you think will be successful, what you hear other people say, like even what, you hear the experts say, and it's like actually the greatest guidance that you will ever get for creating the most aligned business for what you desire in your life is going to come from inside. It is not going to come from out here. And that also is a way. So another one of the points that we have is like that. Authentic branding is the branding of the future. And I believe that because I believe that it's a way for us to create something that maybe has never been created before. When we look outside of us, we're creating from what other people have done to find success. When we look inside of us, I mean the inspiration that could come. So we're not only creating something that we love and are excited to show up for and that. Other people love, but it could be so different than what's ever been created before. And then now there's this ripple effect of inspiring and teaching others, right. And like paving a new way for business to be. And that's what I love so much about Dream Agency because I really feel like it's, yeah, it's a business that has never been created before. We have not, we haven't copied anybody else's style to create this energy, this, energy and agency. Um, And it's going to pave the way for how business can be conducted and be successful in the, in the future, which is like, what is so exciting to be a part of, right? Why we love showing up for it. Yeah.
Emily Hopper:Absolutely. Oh my gosh. Yes, that gives me chills. It's we, and it goes back to the, the part that I mentioned about doing what feels good in business is such an act of rebellion in our world right now, and Emily and I came together and we decided. We're going to create a business and we're going to do it in a way that feels really fucking good.
Emily Saler:Yep.
Emily Hopper:And we do not care what the status quo is, what everyone else is doing, because we know that what's in our hearts needs to come out and needs to be seen. And it's going to be epic and people are going to want to work for us. And cut to now we have a team. Who will literally work unpaid at this point.
Emily Saler:amazing team!
Emily Hopper:They're committed. I can't tell you, like one of the women on our team, came to me and said, I am part of this team and I'm here for Dream Agency and I'm here to watch it grow and I don't even care if you can pay me or not, it's, I'm here because it
Emily Saler:By the way, we really want to pay our people very, very, very well.
Emily Hopper:We do pay,
Emily Saler:We do yeah.
Emily Hopper:but we're just starting out, so the cash flow is a little bit slower and it's a lot more upstart, groundwork, getting it off, getting it off the, And, but, our team is so committed because, and she said, because it feels good
Emily Saler:Yeah.
Emily Hopper:to work here. It feels good to show up for this. It's unlike any company I've ever worked for. You care about mental health, health, you care about how I'm doing. And, Emily and I are going to do a
Emily Saler:could be a whole nother episode I was just gonna say! Yeah.
Emily Hopper:Leadership leading with empathy and love and understanding, but really I think Emily and I are creating the business that we've always wanted to work for and it just did not exist out in the world. And so we came together and are creating it ourselves. And at the core too, was like, we want to do authentic brands. We want to be an authentic brand and we want to create authentic brands. What does that look like? What does that mean to us? And so, I mean, another question I have, if you want to get into like more specifics, so what does authentic branding look like in content creation? So we do a lot of content, like monthly content creating, and I have a lot to say on this as well, but you know, a lot of clients will come to us and they just want us to create content. They feel that monthly content is what's going to get them to the next level. And They just want content. And that's the word that's being thrown out so much now, just make me content. And we definitely can. And of course we go back to our process that Emily described at the beginning. And then when we get to the actual content creation, what ends up happening is we need their input so much. We need photos of them. we still create, even if we're doing someone else's content, we're still making it so authentic. We're still. Extracting from them the things we need to be posting content that looks like they posted it themselves,
Emily Saler:Yeah, totally. And feels like them, right? Because it's all about the feeling. Yeah.
Emily Hopper:Right. And, I, a funny kind of little story about one of our clients. We do so much content for her and we've been doing it for years. And every time we look at the analytics of what's performing best, it's never the things that we spent the most time on,
Emily Saler:Oh my gosh, I believe that so much too, Yeah.
Emily Hopper:Yeah. It's never the thing that we branded all Q and made looks, look so amazing. I swear it's always the thing that looks like she just took a selfie and
Emily Saler:Yeah. Yeah.
Emily Hopper:her feelings. And actually
Emily Saler:real.
Emily Hopper:Cause it's real. And the post that actually has to this day performed best for this particular client is a photo of her recovering from a broken ankle.
Emily Saler:No way!
Emily Hopper:And she just she had sent me a text with that photo and like talking about it and I basically just regurgitated it and posted it for her. And everyone loved it. And it had the most engagement of all time. And it's because it was real. It was authentic. It felt relatable. It, felt like you were just talking to her. It was, very authentic, and so that's really what we find is what does best. and then from a branding perspective, Em, like, how do you create authentic content, monthly content?
Emily Saler:Authentic monthly content. Well, I feel like you just spoke to all of it just now. No, it's all good. Um,
Emily Hopper:and then I answered it.
Emily Saler:But, but what that inspired in me was something that we had talked about earlier, which is, the buzzword of humanizing your brand and that it's something that, that, corporations want to do, or like bigger companies essentially, like they want to humanize their brand and they think that they'll do that through
Emily Hopper:More
Emily Saler:pictures. Yeah, exactly. Pictures of people. Yeah, exactly. More defined brand guidelines that incorporate humanized. And I'm like, gosh, if you could just put some feeling into your writing and your pictures and your stories and, make it more about the feeling as opposed to being perfect, jotting all the I's, crossing all the T's, showing up as this professor, Professional business like a robot and, uh, yeah, like if, if you can remove that and even I think about responding to like crisises or whatever in a joking lighthearted manner or It's just, it's just really about being more real and like how humans would talk to each other. And yes, and coming from the heart and exactly. Yeah, which, which also leads me to another point, that we, that we wanted to talk about, which was what, Authentic branding is, but also what it isn't, because I do think that it's really important that as we are creating our brand, as we are creating content, yes, we're tapping into our core essence, but we're keeping that what feels good at the front of our mind when we're choosing what to share, because you do not have to share everything about your life to be an authentic brand or everything about your business or, like that. Is not how it has to be. You get to share what feels really good to you. What feels exciting to you. I love the saying, like what's light is right. And so, If it evokes that good feeling in you, then it's likely, yeah, it's likely what is, what is true for you to follow in and share and create.
Emily Hopper:Like a, a bit of a sweet spot between showing up with this facade, that's one end of the spectrum of what, what sells? What do people need me to look like in order to make more sales? This very rigid, almost like mask you put on before sharing content. It's one end of the spectrum, and then the other end, like you're saying, is like, oversharing. Broadcasting every moment of your life to where it is a little unprofessional. We don't, we don't need to see all of that, And so it's this sweet spot in the middle, and I think, Dream Agency, we do it so well where we have real and authentic kind of a library of photos and assets that we use that. We're taken by us, in a very real way and we share that with a bit of branding like a little like
Emily Saler:Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm
Emily Hopper:then, we always make our captions really real like they're not scripted. It's very much what's in the moment, what we're feeling because I think that is what people are drawn to. If you can tell on, Instagram or social media or websites and video content. You can tell when people are trying too hard, when they're like forcing themselves into this box and gosh, Emily and I are definitely not here to be
Emily Saler:Not in the box.
Emily Hopper:of box.
Emily Saler:Yeah.
Emily Hopper:I get me out of that box. I just want to be real. I just want to be me. And that's really, what authenticity is, is being yourself. But. And when you're doing it as a brand, you're just refining it a little bit, you might be pulling back a little bit or loosening up a little bit, to find that magical
Emily Saler:what feels good.
Emily Hopper:of what feels
Emily Saler:really, yeah, that's really what I'm and like I think it's worth noting too that if what feels really good to you, especially as a starting place, is that you've taken a course, they've outlined, how to get started with a business and you follow it. To a tee, like if that's what really feels good to you to start, do that a hundred percent that's leading you still, that's still doing what's authentic to you and true for you. If you are like super drawn to share a story about yourself that like is a lot, but it actually helps women a lot because of what you went through and and it, and it feels like what's true for you to do and what's right for you to do. Like it really. It's kind of like a, yeah, like a gut check before you create something, is this an alignment? Um, and especially, so something that we do for all of our clients is create like a brand positioning statement, which is really like an encapsulation of, your essence. So all the questions that we ask, all the core, work that we do, we put it in a sentence. And. The goal of this sentence is that you can do that gut check, and this is especially helpful when you have lots of people on your, on your team. So you can do a bit of a gut check does this align with what I'm creating, with what I believe in, with, what feels good, according to, according to my core, and what's true for me. So,
Emily Hopper:when you're doing what's true for you, there's really no right or wrong, like we're kind of giving some examples and guidelines. But the goal of everything we're saying is to do that gut check and to know this is right for me You know, and if it's right for you right, and you trust that it will be seen and Heard, That is authentic branding and it might it might be crazy there's definitely some brands out there who are doing some off the wall stuff But it's authentic and people are watching,
Emily Saler:Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Mm
Emily Hopper:you is being really like more reserved and like almost, very neutral and dare I say, like boring, but there's going to be people who resonate with that as well, And I think that's the key to remember when creating content is that you're not here for everyone to like you, you're here to find. The people that resonate with what you have to offer. And there will always be someone groups of people out there who do, because we live in a very large world and we're able to reach many, many audiences. And every single human is different. And so there's always going to be people who resonate with, your authenticity. And it's really just about finding the courage and the power within. To rise above the fear and the ego and everything that's holding you back and just show up, show up as your truest, most authentic self and see what happens. Watch the ripple effect. The first few times you might not hear anything and that's okay too. It's good practice. it's good. I mean, when we started this podcast, we were like, We don't really have an audience yet, but who cares? Like we're going to show the fuck up anyway.
Emily Saler:good.
Emily Hopper:It feels good. Exactly. And this whole podcasting, project for us is not for the money. It's not for the sales. It's because it feels so darn good for us to show up in this way and share who we are in an authentic, outlet and we're committed, and there's no. Doubt in my heart that this will be an epically successful podcast because we got so clear, so aligned, we know it feels good. We know it's true for us and we're committed to showing up.
Emily Saler:yeah,
Emily Hopper:And to me, that is how you build an authentic brand right there.
Emily Saler:totally agree. I love I really want to point out and emphasize what you said you're not gonna Speak to everyone and be liked by everyone. And that really is a part of creating an authentic brand, especially online nowadays is we cannot be attached to what other people think of us. We really have to stand true in ourselves and our trust and our heart. When we are showing up online and, and, yeah, and creating our brands and our businesses, because. There is no way to be liked by everyone and you know the saying like if you speak to everyone you speak to no one Right. so Yeah it's definitely an edge that everybody will come up against as they're creating their business um but if you can if you can get over the hump and start to attract your tribe like oh god yeah then that's when ripples happen and and yeah
Emily Hopper:And then I think. So that's kind of where to start. Right. And then I think when you're ready to take it to the next level, you then create a system around it.
Emily Saler:Yeah, oh yeah, I
Emily Hopper:Right. And it's it's still authentic. It's not super scripted, but you now know what works for you.
Emily Saler:totally.
Emily Hopper:you want to share, it's aligned. And now you create a system around it. You, have a team who helps you create this. Or if it's just you, you have. Systems in place, things on your calendar, software that you use to make it quicker and easier to get out. Because I promise you, once you start showing up authentically, people want more. And then the next hump you're up against is, Oh gosh, I, I can't keep doing
Emily Saler:how do I keep up? Right.
Emily Hopper:so that's, and that's where we come in too, for brands is, we can do it consistently for you. but you know, if you're just starting out and you're smaller. Even finding just one assistant or creating the systems yourself, that's really, what's going to keep that momentum going and take you to the next level. And then I would say the level after that is then everything's automated, it's running on its own, and then you get to start doing projects that feel good to you again. So maybe it's a podcast, maybe it's writing a book, maybe it's doing something out in the world, like a
Emily Saler:That's definitely an inside of our process. I would say that probably is not true for everybody, but absolutely if you want to be big and you want to create consistent content that is what is true for us, right? We really, yeah, we really care about showing up consistently and And that is our process for doing that. There are also a lot of clients that we work with, or a lot of, yeah, a lot of people who come to us, they want that consistent content, they want to reach more people, they want to do more in the world, they want to have their content, taken care of for them so that they can work on other things that they're passionate about and excited about, and so that's definitely a trend that we see and that we can see. That we're here for, for sure, 100%. It's what we are creating. It's what we love. It's what feels really good to us. But yeah, everyone's gonna find their own groove.
Emily Hopper:right. I think just the theme of it all though, is you get into a flow
Emily Saler:Yeah,
Emily Hopper:and then you continuously create space
Emily Saler:yeah,
Emily Hopper:of what you love and whatever that looks like,
Emily Saler:totally. Oh, yeah, that feels really good.
Emily Hopper:yeah. Which is also why, with every client we work with, we get to know what their dreams are. And I know I already mentioned this, but, Like specifically, what, if, if you had all the money in the world, if you had all the time in the world, what would you be doing? And it's usually not related to business, usually business. And that's the kicker, right? Usually our business is what's helping us to. Do more of what we love and so when we know for our clients, for me, it's painting and surfing, if I had all the money in the world, I would wake up and I would go surfing and then I'd paint all day and knowing that it fuels my business, it makes me motivated to create the systems and processes I need so that I can just step back and go surf, And so when we know our clients deepest desires and their dreams, we're able to really work with them on that. And we even we'll visualize it for them. it's we're doing this for them so that they can go do whatever they want, whether it's like sail across the ocean, spend more time with kids, anything that they desire. That's what also fuels us and, uh, keeps us motivated.
Emily Saler:Yeah. So essential. that like first conversation digging into the core and then also, yeah, their vision. Like when I'm working with more corporate clients, I'll say like ideal state, Right. Like genuinely, truly what is ideal? What's the dream, because I think that a lot of people don't even allow themselves to believe that it's possible. And to believe that it can happen. Right. And so then they do the things that they think they got to do to get by. And it's okay, but let's tap into your heart's deepest desires here, hold that vision. And then it's it's almost like the core and then the visions on the outside. Right. And we are like getting to that. We're creating that through the.
Emily Hopper:Yeah, And it's really, I think that's also why we love doing what we do because we, it's not just an agency. It's not just branding. It's not just content creation. We're helping people to allow themselves to dream, And, Some people know their dreams, some people do not, and it's so rewarding to give people the space and the tools and the guidance and the permission to just dream. What is your dream life, and we're going to
Emily Saler:Oh, totally. i, one of my favorite, so on top of creating the logo, another one of my favorite moments is at the end of those calls, those discovery calls, and they are like, our clients are buzzing and they're just like, wow. And they can feel it. And We've had clients work with us before just because of that feeling, like we're for sure priced beyond, other people's price point and stuff. And, uh, yeah, because of that, because it feels so good to tap into your dream and believe it's possible and believe that you have the support and the help and can make it happen and that, and lots of people don't let themselves go there, but once you do, you can't go back.
Emily Hopper:Right.
Emily Saler:Yeah.
Emily Hopper:Yeah. Yeah. And I, I think that's a good point too. Authentic branding, everything we've talked about here today, we, well, and we naturally attract our dream clients. The
Emily Saler:Yeah. Yeah.
Emily Hopper:are also like our, we don't even use, we love to not use typical marketing terms like target audience and
Emily Saler:Yeah.
Emily Hopper:avatar. We just call them our dream clients. they're truly like who we want to work with as well. And the moment we connect, you feel the energy, they are inspired by us. We are inspired by them and you just feel it. And it's of course we have to work together. It's a no brainer. And then the rest is like the proposal and like the sales pitches and all that, that's so essential to a very traditional sales funnel in business. That's just like fluff for us. It's just like a formality.
Emily Saler:yeah,
Emily Hopper:know
Emily Saler:yeah,
Emily Hopper:that these
Emily Saler:true.
Emily Hopper:with us. And there's already that trust. There's already that feeling and the energy connection. And so we just quickly write up a proposal and it's a no brainer for them to sign. And. I think that is the beauty of authentic branding as well and businesses is the hard parts of business become so much easier because it's just all flowing and it all feels good and it's
Emily Saler:yeah,
Emily Hopper:money money is there and money is necessary and you know we love money and also it's almost like the connection is so strong with clients that You just, you would do it anyway. Like you
Emily Saler:yeah,
Emily Hopper:just, because you love it because you want to help them, you believe in them, and we love to say we're invested in our clients dreams as much as we are our own, so, we deeply care and that's also, what's different about our business is we care deeply. We're invested, we love our clients and we want to hold their hand until they're where they want to be. And
Emily Saler:Yeah.
Emily Hopper:yeah.
Emily Saler:Yeah. Oh, and then it just all feels so good and juicy,
Emily Hopper:and it just snowballs. It just gets
Emily Saler:snowballs. It gets better. and better. I also want to point out just like a little nugget because I think it'll help clarify. And I feel like I've been doing this throughout, but help clarify the authenticity piece. So M and I don't love doing proposals. There could be someone out there though that frigging loves proposals. And so that's their secret sauce, right? And so they hone in on that and then they make it this incredible part of their journey. And that's what hooks their clients. Whereas For Em and I, the relationship with our clients is the juicy part. That's what feels, we, they're like our soulmate, yeah, so that's what we focus on. That's where the magic comes. That's where we, we're tapping into our authenticity. And, yeah. And yeah, and that's what creates our successful business because that's who we are and what works for us and what feels good to us. And so it's really about, yeah, like looking inside of yourself and saying Oh my frick, I love this or this is my strength or, and I'm going to lean on that and, and that's going to become a part of my business and, and make me unique and make me successful. Yeah.
Emily Hopper:Yes, 100%. Yeah, I am all about it. Leaning into your strengths because that is what magnifies and amplifies and, versus trying to always fix your weaknesses. that is exhausting. That is hard. That is resistant. It just doesn't feel good. So yeah, I love that. It's, it, there's no one prescription, no one formula, no one way. And that's, that's, It's what Dream Agency is as well. It's we, we decided that no one gets to tell us what is successful for us. We are creating it because we know who we are and we know what works for us and we know what we love to do and we know that we want to live in our strengths and
Emily Saler:Yes! Ha
Emily Hopper:just is. And you find people to manage the things that you're not good at. And They love that. our podcast editor, Anna, shout out to Anna. We love her so much because she does. She loves to do all the things that we do not like to do and
Emily Saler:Exactly.
Emily Hopper:her. It lights her up and we are lit up by not having to do it
Emily Saler:Yeah, totally.
Emily Hopper:in those areas. So yes, we're all about living in your strengths and
Emily Saler:Yeah.
Emily Hopper:amplifying what makes you, you and leaning into that.
Emily Saler:So, I feel like I want to leave them with a, our, our followers, our listeners, with uh, next steps. Because I think that this is something authenticity is something that we have been practicing for a long time. so like believing in ourselves, trusting our heart, following our desires, like knowing that that is the way because we have lived that for so long and received the evidence that it works, we're quite confident in that. But there's lots of people who will be listening who like, have never ever considered that before. And, I know for myself, my, one of my starting points for this was writing a list of 50 ways, and I've potentially shared this before, but it's so powerful writing a list of 50 ways in which you are awesome. And I think that that that, that's just a really easy starting. Well, I mean, it's not easy, but a really simple starting point where we begin looking at, our strengths and who we truly are and what we love and the things that are. Things that are awesome about ourselves as a place to start developing that authentic brand and authentic business, because it takes a lot of courage as we talked about, but belief in ourselves as well, um, when we lead our business and life in this way. So I just want to share that little tip. Maybe you have one too. I don't know. Okay,
Emily Hopper:just on that tip, though, I remember it was so long ago, like, why say so long, but. Five years ago? That's long for me.
Emily Saler:Yeah.
Emily Hopper:Five or six years ago. I think you shared that with me. And it was such a pivotal point in my life. Truly. I remember the day. I remember the journal. I did 55. It was, I think, Reasons I'm Awesome. Uh, but it was like a confidence exercise. And it was when I had started my first business and as a solopreneur, I was just always in self doubt because I had no idea what was going on. I didn't know what I was building and just every day was like a whole adventure. And I remember feeling really down and you shared that and yeah, I, I can literally visualize it. It's me writing out the 55 things. And it's such a process, like 50 things is a lot,
Emily Saler:lot.
Emily Hopper:not five or 10. It's a lot. And so after about five or 10,
Emily Saler:Yeah. Yeah.
Emily Hopper:what's so powerful. You're also having to fight the internal critic of all the reasons why you're not awesome. And you have to shove all that away. And you're working with the self doubt. And it's all just in 20 minutes or something that it takes you. And, I, I know some people might struggle and have to like, put it away and then come back to it. And that's part of the process too. 50 things is a lot, but when I did it, Oh my gosh, I just, I changed. Like it was almost like my inner like chemistry changed because I was really allowing myself to appreciate myself and see my strength. And it was powerful. It was really powerful. So I highly recommend doing that if anyone, needs a place to start. I would say the place that I started, that I think is helpful and really simple and you can kind of just keep it in the back of your mind as you're, going throughout your day. It's actually like looking back on your past. Our little selves, our child selves, Know who they are. There's no question about it. We
Emily Saler:love that. Yes.
Emily Hopper:And so, thinking back to when you were little, what did you love? What lit you up? What, did you go nuts for? And even growing up high school, what classes did you like? Which ones did you absolutely loathe, and, when we were in school, we weren't allowed to dislike class. We were forced to be good at it. And so now, as an adult, you can look back and be like, Well, I don't ever have to force myself to do calculus again, but what were some of the classes I did get really excited for? And when I looked back, it was English and art and, I love to write and I love to paint. And so it was true for me and yeah, just remembering your young, innocent self and whatever he or she loved to do likely is still in your heart now and it's something you can lean into. And yeah, I think that's kind of where I started and just
Emily Saler:I actually,
Emily Hopper:back through you as an adult.
Emily Saler:totally. I remember doing a very similar exercise, and it came from a book, by Dr. Dane here, being you changing the world, highly recommend as we're tapping into our authentic selves. And he recommended an exercise where you close your eyes and you ask the question what is a time in my life when I was truly being me and allowing that memory to show up and come through and yeah, exactly. Like extracting the tidbits of what that means to be who you truly are. Um, and I remember having a memory that's so random, but, or at least it felt random. It was a memory of me as a little girl, I was wearing a sundress and I was in the back. We had a huge 80 acres of trees in our, in our, uh, at our farm and I was running through the bush in bare feet.
Emily Hopper:yes.
Emily Saler:it was like embracing my Freedom. Like my, that's what it felt like, to me was like, that was a freedom. Like I, I was in nature. I was just running. Like I'm very active. I love to be on the move doing lots and like embracing that, that that's good. And that's a part of who I am. And then, yeah, being in nature, being barefoot.
Emily Hopper:because you have a whole photo shoot that looks exactly
Emily Saler:gosh, I do.
Emily Hopper:like a main part of our branding.
Emily Saler:That is so true. Oh my gosh. Wow, never made that connection. That's amazing.
Emily Hopper:when you were saying that I was visualizing that photo shoot, she has a beautiful photo shoot of her in a sundress
Emily Saler:I'm in bare feet too.
Emily Hopper:Oh, that's beautiful. Yeah. And then, it became part of our branding cause It's
Emily Saler:Yep. core essence Yep.
Emily Hopper:of Emily. Yeah. Wow, I love that. Alright,
Emily Saler:so good.
Emily Hopper:it up.
Emily Saler:Yes. I think
Emily Hopper:you all for listening, and we hope we inspired something in you today. And, we just love being here and talking with everyone. Well, talking at everyone, I guess. And we will hopefully upload these on YouTube so that we can get some more feedback from the audience and respond and interact with you guys in the comments. but
Emily Saler:love to, if you guys can think of anyone where you think that this would really brighten their day as well, and resonate. Yeah. Share, share with you people.
Emily Hopper:Yes. All right. That's it from us. We hope you all have a beautiful, magical day full of ease and flow and joy and living in your strengths.
Emily Saler:Love it.