Finding Your ‘Why’ And What To Do With It
Welcome to our second in the series of #PeekIntoProcess. This one is specifically about how to market your purpose - finding your why and then, most importantly, what to do with it.
Erin is sitting down with Katrina Aronson, a marketing and business strategy coach, to discuss:
The Golden Circle + Finding Your ‘Why’
Starting With Your Story + Katrina’s ‘Why’
Erin’s ‘Why’ + Differentiating Your Brand
Read the Highlights
Erin
This is our second in the series of Peek Into Process, and today we’re talking about how to market your purpose, or finding your ‘why’ and then what to do with it? Which is what you do. Finding your ‘why’ is hard enough, but now what to do with it and to attract the people.
Katrina
Yes! I'm super excited to be on #peekintoprocess, which I think is so cool. It really gives people an insight into truly what you do on a larger scale and how you help people to actually make their brand come to life.
Erin
First, tell me a little bit about what you do?
Katrina
Sure. So I am a marketing and business strategy coach. I work with female entrepreneurs who are launching, growing, scaling their businesses so that they can do it in a way that's sustainable and powerful. I am obsessed with two things, and that is marketing and profits, because I really, fully believe that you can do something that you absolutely love to do. But as a mom, and as a woman, I realize you do have to do it in a way that's sustainable and profitable so that we can do it for the long run.
Erin
Yeah. Because sometimes we’re in it and say, when can I stop? Today we're going to take a look at your brand, you're letting me in, so I appreciate it. I know it's not the easiest thing to do, it’s very personal.
The Golden Circle + Finding Your Why
Erin
The first thing we're gonna do is start with your ‘why,’ and then we're going to get a little bit into brand theory. Why don't you first introduce us to the Golden Circle.
Katrina
Okay, so this is a concept that I did not come up with, and it's called the Golden Circle. It is the idea that if you really start with why you are doing something, and allow people, your ideal customer, to truly connect with your story (your why), they will be so much more invested. And you walk them through this is the circle around from why to how to what. We're going to show you examples so it will be less confusing.
Usually, businesses start with what they do, and that's far less inspiring. We're going to show you how to keep inspiring and keep it in a place where you can really pull people in to feel connected.
Erin
So should we start with what we've been doing? I know you gave us a little bit of an overview, but what do you do?
Katrina
So, my what is: I offer one-on-one coaching, and group coaching and courses, and business coaching.
Erin
How do you do that?
Katrina
Okay, so my ‘what’ is business coaching that’s designed to focus on, it's a value proposition in a way, I focus on in on during my coaching: marketing and profits, those are my major differentiators.
Erin
Yes, and can you tell me the vehicles that you use to get there? Like, what is the one-on-one coaching? What are things you dig into, even like some of your speeds and feeds. What are the services?
Katrina
We have four-month coaching, and I also do 90-minute coaching. So that's for someone who's just on the precipice of making a decision, or it really feeds into people that maybe aren't ready for coaching. And I know that, they know that, but I want to help in some capacity, so that’s where that’s really built from.
I also just started offering online coaching, which is meant to be kind of like a collective, it allows you to meet other women who are in similar places as you. And it also allows me to coach all three of you, and it breaks the cost down. I know the cost of coaching can be, if it's your first time getting coached can be the decision-maker for you. People will say I can't afford that. I am not doing this, of course, I'm doing it for profit, but I'm doing this because I truly am invested in it, so I wanted to come up with a way for people to get everything for less money, but still get the value.
Starting With Your Story
Erin
Why are you so invested in it and wanting to offer it to other people?
Katrina
I owned my own businesses for a long time. I've been an entrepreneur for seven years and it was always something that I wanted to do. And I did it in a way that, yes, I was making a lot of money in a multi-six figure business but I was running myself into the ground because I had no idea what I was doing. So, I was just trying different things and seeing what worked. I made a lot of very expensive mistakes, and I realized there had to be an easier way to do this.
So, I started helping people for free do what I had already done and not make those mistakes. And it really blossomed into its own business. The reason I do this, my why, is because I will be willing to truly do what they love to do in a way that is truly sustainable for their lives. And they can make money doing it. Every woman doubts themselves, and I want to be that voice for them saying “of course you can” so that they feel empowered and eventually it becomes their story, not mine.
Erin
Let's talk about the sustainability piece, I think that's really interesting on the ‘why’, because I feel having worked with you, that's the piece that moved me. Do you feel like that is a common request or a need of your clients and do those clients understand it is sustainability that they need? Are they able to define that?
Katrina
It depends on where she is in business, I had a call today, and the first thing that she said to me was “I feel so messy, and I'm juggling three kids,” and she kept going back to the business but at the end of the day I asked her “What is your schedule with your kids?” and she didn't really have a schedule. So she may not recognize that sustainability is so important because we want to grow our businesses, right? And we're not addressing the bigger issue. So, I guess the answer is it really depends on her awareness level.
Some people are drawn to me as a mom. I get people that say, I just liked you because you were a mom and doing this. So it absolutely comes through and most of the people I work with happen to be moms. It’s not that I wouldn’t work with someone who wasn't, but every mom needs sustainability so I think she is always attracted to it. Maybe by accident, maybe on purpose.
Erin
Have you always been a person who wants to help people? (Katrina nods yes) So that's inherent for you, this business isn't that far of a stretch, your ‘why’ is not that far of a stretch of who you are?
Katrina
It wasn’t, so I want to give you a tiny bit of background. I come from finance, but I left finance knowing I was either going to launch my business, or I was going to be a social worker, which is super weird when compared to finance. I went to social work school at the same time as starting to work retail so that I could see. It was an incredible journey and I call it the most expensive therapy I've ever gone through. It was my journey!
I remember my aunt saying to me, “I never would imagine you being a social worker.” It made sense to me. But now, today with what I'm doing I'm like, that is why I had to figure out how I can help people, but I always wanted to make money. So it was still, it was still growing.
Erin
And I had sort of the same feeling of storytelling, which I will get into for my “why”, going to grad school to be a poet and thinking I was going to be a professor. And realized actually, though, that I loved business. I was constantly copywriting on the side and working for a database marketing company and realized that I just missed the action.
Katrina
Love that and it's a part of you. Yeah, or it can be taught, but I know a lot of creatives that are not truly entrepreneurs, right? That want to do the creative piece but the business piece is not super interesting to them. So has the business part always been interesting to you?
Erin
Um, yeah, I think it's because I realized that words could actually motivate and change people's behavior. So then, that became more and more interesting to me. I actually really like B2B (business to business) because of the complexity of it, it's interesting and how that all works together.
Now we have your ‘why’, I want to give everybody a little bit more background on what “whys” might be. So Simon Sinek, who is the creator of the Golden Circle, right, his famous example is Apple. Apple, if you were to ask, what they do? What they do is they make computers. How do they do it? They do it through beautiful design, user friendly, simple to use methods, and design methodology. Their ‘why’ is that every day they want to fight against the status quo, right? They want to be different.
We can see that that allows and is big enough for them to make not only just computers but to make phones, we've got air pods, of all this, really, what has become extensions of our human body. We can, as the consumer, actually fight against the status quo ourselves. So this “why” of Apple is the way that I might feel when I get a new laptop, and I open it up and I'm going to do things differently than the person before me, which is way more motivating.
It used to be “Am I more of a PC person or an Apple person?” I think it's more creative, apple’s just what you choose. That's interesting, just associating this idea of being a creator, is already something that you're trying to be different or work against the status quo. So they knew what they were doing, for sure.
Katrina
When you just walk from what to why, it feels a certain way. But when you start with the story, that's where the power happens. When you say, “We believe in going against the status quo every single day of our lives. We do that by creating technology and products that are beautiful, we always want to make you feel fresh and new”. Their “what” happens to be computers, but we all know whatever they put out, everyone will be watching.
Then you have Dell. Dell is a good product, it's known for being pretty durable and you always know they're gonna show up. So, what they do is, they have computers. You don't really know why they do it. Do you know why they do it? They've never really told us their story other than we're reliable. Right? We don't really know much about them. We don't know the “why” and it's partially to blame for feeling no loyalty for the brand. So you see how powerful it is. Obviously, Apple is this huge company, but take it down to the smallest companies.
Erin
I'm sure if you're on this, you probably know what Asana is. Asana is a project management platform that you subscribe to and it allows different people to lay out tasks. Their ‘what’ is that they’re a project management software, their ‘how’ is that they have a very organized, collaborative way to do that, but their ‘why’ is to help humanity thrive by enabling the world's teams to work together effortlessly. That’s beautiful, and from what I understand Asana is the leading project management software.
Another one is Uber, which we all know, “transportation as reliable as running water everywhere, for everyone”. Uber has democratized and made a very level playing field. Another one is ‘Airbnb’, that “you can be anywhere” is so simple, it's so big that it allows, you know, their products or their offerings to be bigger and greater.
Erin’s ‘Why’ + Differentiating Your Brand
Erin
I'm going to share my why. First of all we act like these are so effortlessly created, right? They’re not. I really struggled because I wanted to go right into copywriting and I wanted to just make it pretty but I worked with Katrina quite a bit to get to this. My “why” is to bring the beauty I see in things, moments, and life to others. My purpose is to help them see the beauty too. What I do is I help build brands and strategic planning for brands, but if I were to just say that I probably would sound much like the other people that are in my space. And those people in my space are all doing quite a good job of that—how I do it, my process, is what I believe makes Jones+Co. different.
I like research, I look for research, and then the information around us. My mom always talked about how I like to romance the ordinary. And so I wanted to bring that forward in my why, which is really, I think, that there's beauty in the smallest things. And when we see those things, or we read those things, those things make us stop and pause and feel calm. And so I am always sort of moving towards wanting peace and calm.
That's my “top of the pyramid” feeling and I really wanted Jones & Co, my brand, to feel that way.
Katrina
Obviously, if you've seen Erin's website, that was a labor of love for sure, but I think you do a really good job with this whole point of really bringing that through and romanticizing the ordinary, your photos, your feel. And that's, that's really what we're doing here. It's not just to have your why on paper. We're gonna walk you through how that comes through, but it's about actually tying it in your business and in your life as a business. Let’s use sustainability for your starter.
What I mean by sustainability is it’s really easy in marketing and business to stay busy all the time, but not necessarily creating any type of profit. Rather, you’re just spinning your wheels. So instead of trying to do all the things, it’s coming up with something that works well for you rather than working the crap out of every angle.
Erin
I would say a lot of my clients, a lot of times they’re in the market, they're very successful -- but they’re on the precipice of growth. So then they say “Oh, crap, I really got to get this together because I’m going to acquire another business or offer new products”. That’s my ideal client. Let’s talk about aspiration and the ideal client.
Katrina
Okay, so obviously, we've probably all heard this a million times. It’s so important to get laser-focused on who that dream client is, that muse. If you have an offering, and you're making it for this client, what do they need? Your copy is going to be for them too. Are they a mom, a dad, older, younger? The whole concept is overwhelming to people because they want to hit the bullseye.
Everything doesn’t have to be completely black and white. You can have several personas, but when you're building an offering, you need to have one persona in mind. Otherwise, you’re marketing to everyone and that's just wasteful.
We're not just selling something and we're not just getting on social media who are sending out emails selling things, it’s about your why. It’s about creating a connection. Knowing who you are and you’re strong in your foundation, you’ll always know what is right and wrong for your brand and business.