Build a Brand That Lasts

Speaker 1: builted experience with Melanie you're here because you want to experience the life and business that you crave join me as I talk to women who have successfully built it a career and business that they love we dive into the topic of how they built it and talk about everything from Having the courage to make career leaps to the details of how to lead effectively create successful teams Implement strategies for growth and Infuse Tech innovation magic happens when we focus on the part of ourselves and our business that brings us joy so let's dive in jenel is the founder and CEO of becoming iconic a seven figure Global business and Leadership brand that elevates entrepreneurs who desire to create a seven figure Legacy through integral leadership thank you for joining us Jen tell us about becoming iconic and how you help entrepreneurs and Business Leaders succeed thank you for having me becoming iconic is such an Evolution it's been 16 years in the making it launched in January of 2020 and that was after 14 years of diving deeply into supporting women specifically in building businesses and I did that around the globe and very successfully but it was for specific company I was an ambassador for a specific brand and it was a point in my life where I realized I wanted to speak to more than just people who were interested in this particular brand I wanted to speak to the masses and I thought I want to be available also to the m masses so I decided to launch becoming iconic which was going to be my personal brand now the interesting story behind this is the word iconic came about and it was something I resisted I didn't feel connected to the word iconic I almost felt imposter syndrome who am I to say iconic will people be turned off from the word iconic will it trigger them the way it's triggering me but it just kept landing and kept landing and it was when the word becoming came first that I all of a sudden had that clickin moment where I realized oh wait I actually think that's what we're all doing I think we're all becoming day in and day out and the goal what we're all striving for is to be the best version of ourselves and that is in fact iconic it's not commas in the bank account it's not the title behind your name it's about who you're being day in and day out and that ability to look at yourself in the mirror and say I want to be better today than I was yesterday what lessons can I apply how can I move forward and being a Steward of that so becoming iconic has really been the evolution of of myself and now it's the evolution of thousands globally that's so true and thank you for being so honest with how you came to becoming iconic because you're right we all have this passion and this drive within us to be the best at whatever that is and you can be an iconic stay-at-home mom if that was what is your calling if that's what fills you up and you feel so fulfilled being at home with your babies then how can you be the most iconic stay-at-home mom what is that for you what does that look like what does it feel like what is the experience of your day and that is really about conscientious living intentional living and you can do that also by being a coach or a mentor or a creative or a podcaster it doesn't matter what the thing is it's how we are and how we're being through that that matters most tell us about your early career and what gave you the courage that exact moment where you said I'm going to launch becoming iconic well it's dramatic my hindsight and my best advice as I tell this story is if you feel the hum and the whisper for something more explore it it doesn't mean you have to act right away it doesn't mean you have to make a huge pivot and leave this career behind you or relationship it doesn't mean drastic moves but what it does provoke is the ability to look at this be like what's in this and and have that childlike curiosity but years ago this is probably seven years ago I felt the call and I ignored it because I was the top 1% I had an incredible income we were living the life the life that people have on their vision board and there was a part of me that thought how could I possibly want more am I selfish am I greedy am I not happy am I not fulfilled because I should be really Pleasant peaceful joyful this should be enough and it wasn't and I kept stifling it pushing it down because I felt like it was a part of my character in a negative way that ended up turning into a hemorrhage an interesting part of the story is this was humming this was humming I was like no I this should be enough I'm happy I'm happy stop this hum I'm good I went to an event for the company I was with and it was so out of alignment I didn't feel integral and integrity is my number one value so to spend a weekend at a conference that felt completely out of integrity and wasn't aligned it something happened to me and it was almost like it was the brick in the head moment I think oer describes it this way where it starts as a whisper then it's a talk then it's a scream then it's a brick in the head well that my brick in the head moment was I left that conference and I ended up hemorrhaging and I was hospitalized I don't know if this was an angel or not but this woman walked into my hospital room she was an OBGYN and she said I don't think this is physical and I said to what do you mean she's like I feel like your body is asking you something of you or you are literally getting rid of something does that sound accurate is there something that you've been holding on to that needs to be released or is your body calling you into something more and it was so odd because I remember thinking you're an OBGYN why are we talking about this this is like chakra stuff I mean I'm here I'm in a medical facility and she walked away and left I never heard from her again never saw her again but what she did was plan to seed for me to look at things with a fresh set of eyes I looked at the relationship I had with the company I was with I looked at who I was within that and I realized the more doesn't mean greed the more just means there's more of me I have more capacity I have more to give and what if I just start exploring and so that was that exploration it took time it was about a year after that that I finally took a big public step into it but there was a lot of behind the scenes work and a lot of healing and a lot of realizing that as women When We crave more we often equivalate that to the feeling of greed or that we should be more humble in what we have and I'm here to say as a woman who has completely rejected and eradicated that now that it's actually so selfish of us to stay small and stifle our dreams and not follow through on the things that have been God given to us as a matter of fact that is a more selfish act than actually stepping into something audacious and bold and seeing we're made of and that's when I feel like us as women we really start to understand our power to have capacity we think so small we think 24-hour time slots we get all into this story and narrative that we've been brought up in we've witnessed and we've participated in but when we stop and cut that cord what we realize is oh my gosh I am far beyond a 24-hour time frame I have the ability to do so much and serve so much I don't know if this is the right word but it's what's coming through is like a healthy addiction of let's see what I've got today let's see what we can do let's see the experiences we can create let's see how much laughter I can bring in let's see how much joy and fulfillment this day can hold and I have to tell you from personal experience it is the most Exquisite life because we start to see that we have played small and we have thought small for far too long so true and isn't it so interesting how when you're supposed to move in a direction if we're resisting it life or the universe or God will find a way to move you in that direction and it's so interesting that you are talking to a doctor because doctors usually don't speak that way and also good for you for listening it's not always easy is it I know you believe that sales LED with soul weightless and lifelong clients tell us about that so one of my passions is to teach entrepreneurs how to look at people as humans again and not with numbers on their foreheads and it breaks my heart and I been an entrepreneur for a very long time so I have seen a lot of Trends and a lot of es and flows in all sorts of Industries and I work with clients in all Industries and it's unfortunate what I'm witnessing right now and I feel called as a leader to hold us more accountable to the way we're behaving and how we're looking at people as a point of Revenue versus a point of connection and relationship and something that matters we have to remember why we started in the first place most of us started like for you this podcast or coaching or mentoring or whatever it is you're doing you started because you realized you had something to give to someone there's that spark of like wow I'm really good at this or I've been through this I could teach somebody through my experience and that was the spark and energy of why you started doing what you were doing and somehow along the way it gets muddy and murky and we start to make everything about the amount of income we're making in our businesses in our lives and we lose that point of connection and relationship and more than ever in history we are craving that and yet we're not doing it for each other so Soul Le sales to me starts with how you wake up in the morning and how you greet people and how you do your social media and the way you feel and move in your company but it's also about looking at people as a heartbeat my brand is known for that that I don't even like the term followers on social media I think that's such an disempowering message and and term why do you mean followers these are people who made the conscientious choice to come and be a part of a community this is community it should be Community because that's what it is and I think we've lost touch with the idea of like one person on social media following us is such a gift and something to be grateful for now it's I need to have a 100,000 to feel qualified and successful since when it takes one person to connect with and grow a relationship with to feel Uber successful because there's impact and results and you feel in such Community with each other and the revenue follows so soued sales is about going back to heartbeats going back to the person that's sitting in front of you and realizing what a gift and privilege and honor it is that they chose you to even be curious about I mean when somebody books a call with me to learn about my services I am so grateful that they see something in me and they feel the trust to come forward and ask that of me that to me is success that to me is a point that I want to pay attention to and the result on the other side of that is whether there's a nice fit and if not maybe I got to bless them with a great conversation not everything needs to be dollars and cents not everything needs to be vanity metrics what if we just started treating every encounter like something very Divine and magical and beautiful and what could we spark from that that's so true because your followers only a fraction are probably people who you're actually doing business with and that actual Business Connection is so great and with team members making sure they're doing what brings them joy and like you said understanding that they're real people one of my team members just said my parents are in town can I do something maybe a little bit differently this week of course enjoy your parents as long as we're coming together and we're accomplishing what we set out to do we're human beings that's a great point and seeing people and being able to honor people and that's what builds trust that's what builds longevity ity and sustainable business my biggest gifts and my Edge is I know how to teach sustainable business I know how to build a business that withstands the test of time and I have watched a lot of entrepreneurs scale to seven figures and wave that flag loud and proud so they should I'm not taking away from that but then a year or two later it's like where did they go what happened to that person that was so loud and proud and it's because we build a lot of our business and we put a lot of our worth upon the commas in our bank account that is the reflection of your impact it's impact first and when you are showing up that way the revenue is just the side effect it just happens you don't have to think about it a new client oh look at that the business is growing of course it is because you're focused on the right thing people feel when you're looking at them with a dollar sign on their forehead people feel when you're selling to them and nobody likes those DMs I mean can we give up the whole cold DM thing when when's that gonna just please you know I I love it when I'm scrolling through the DM I'm like oh a real person this is a real comment right someone that really wants to interact you Empower Business Leaders to feel excited to sell their products every day I'm someone who loves sales and Business Development I know not everyone does what advice would you give someone who doesn't I would have to have a really good sit down discussion and come down to like the root cause of why that is and in my heart I feel like it's probably one or two things either number one is the belief in yourself there's a big crack in belief of whether you can actually put this out into the world and there's time to sort of mend that crack and belief and the really interesting thing to that that is not comfortable and most people don't want to hear is the only way to mend that is by doing is by getting out there and failing forward doing things before you're ready doing things with the willingness to be like I did not do that well I think at the first time I did a presentation for the products I was representing I wouldn't have bought a product from me like there's no way I would have bought a product from me it was terrible I didn't make eye contact even more ball cap because I was so insecure and so worried what people thought of me and like what am I even doing and I was all up in my head and in my face it was hard to get through to me but you know what I did it and because I did it I was able to do the next one and because I did the next one I was able to do the next one and it was not Perfection it was just this progression and what I believe is so many people sit on the sidelines waiting for the feeling to come first like when I feel confident then I will or when I have more experience then I will or when I make more money then I will and those things don't come first all of that is waiting for you to stand up in it and then the other side of this is is it in fact integral and aligned if you're not excited about talking about something maybe it's time to look in the mirror forcing something will never be a win forcing something will never sustain forcing something is not worth it because you're betraying yourself and breaking that trust every single day I did that I hemorrhaged you don't have to do that and it doesn't need to be that dramatic of a story but there's something there so look at those where's the crack in your belief is it in yourself and if so act do something and it's so counterintuitive because you think but I don't believe in myself what do you mean do something just try something build your trust in yourself and your confidence by actioning and if the Kracken belief is about the product or service then it's time to look that and say is there a way I could build on this product or service is it something I really feel passionate about and if it's not there's something where you get to make a choice and a pivot and a shift and if it is it's like what do you need to do more of is it education is it hiring a mentor is it it learning being a student is it just sitting and sharing quietly in the meantime while you build up that expertise and that could be it too that's such great advice and thank you for being so honest about the first time you sold your product because we can build up that oh I'm going to get a no in our head before we even try trying means you're making progress even if you're getting a no I remember my first years in sales I got so immune to the word no and once you get past that and you stop caring and you have the belief in abundance to know that if you keep trying eventually you're going to get the yeses and then the yeses flow but thank you for being so honest oh yeah it was bad it was really bad and you know what there's still times where if I go back to the early days of my podcast everybody start we all start somewhere had a thing or two to learn back then but you know what I'm so proud of myself that I did it anyway I'm so proud of myself that I have this journey and evolution that people can listen to and tap into to realize you've walked in on chapter 12 friends chapter 1 was not So Glamorous and wasn't full of accolades and recognition and all the things it was bruised knees scuffed knees dirty hands I mean I was in the work but are you willing and that's leadership so many people they don't take personal responsibility for themselves it's like everything all their power just gets projected to the outside world make me feel important tell me I can do it if someone says something negative to you just embody it and go into the fetal position and I can have this honest conversation because I was that person I know that feeling I know what that can do and how it can crack that belief cord again but what if we just decide to do things differently what if we just start collecting these lessons and say rather than that constant loop I get in and that feeling of giving my power over all the time what if I stepped into it what if I actually believed in myself what if I I affirmed myself what if I actually gave gratitude for what I already have because we always want more here's a spoiler lower you start making $100,000 months $200,000 months you hit seven figures then there's the next seven there's always more and that's great but it also can hinder us because the Chase and pursuit of more and not sitting gratitude for what is and that's so true because money and success does not always make us happy there's so much more bringing in those small moments of joy and making sure we're doing the things that are in alignment with who we are yeah you got it Melanie that's perfect how do you encourage your clients to welcome and sustain Financial abundance that is such an inside job and to answer that question with something that I believe is really important poignant and someone can apply right away is I teach people to ask money what's it like being in relationship with me what's it like and listen for the response most of the time we treat money the way we're in relationship with a partner or in relationship with a friend and so it looks like this maybe for you in your partnership you don't feel secure so you're constantly asking your spouse or partner are you cheating on me who you talking to on your phone you're suspicious you're not in trust you're constantly worrying about what they're doing when they leave the house I'm talking the way we're behaving in the relationship could money feel that way could money feel like you don't ever trust it like you always think it's going to leave could it feel stifled could it feel like you're constantly punishing it for something it hasn't even done to you even sometimes it comes to where we hoard it so are you in a relationship the type of person we like love me cuddle me make me feel important tell me you love me a hundred times a day like validate validate and so with money could it be I'm just going to keep you I don't ever leave me I'm just going to keep you in the account so then I feel safe and we're together and you're not going to go anywhere and so asking money what it's like to be in relationship with you is probably the most fundamental thing you could ever do in your life because it is an energetic relationship it's so true if we believe money is scarce it will be and if we believe in abundance it's amazing what can happen and how things can change I asked this question at the end of every she built- It episode because I believe it's so important to bring joy into our daily lives magic happens when we focus on the part of ourselves and our business that break us joy what is one tip that you can leave with us today about how you make sure to find and live your joy first of all that's a great ending question so let's just honor you for a second that is a really beautiful question that you ask your guest so thank you for that and your thoughtfulness around that what comes up for me and it's sort of been an underlying theme of our conversation is action I think we think and we believe that Joy is in the in between in The Quiet Moments and the doing of nothing and although I really believe in Quiet Moments and take taking time for oursel the most joyful times I have is when I'm outplaying with my kids or activating something in my business or learning about myself and or doing the workout that I said I was going to do those are the moments where I feel like I'm stacking joy in my day where I have all these itty bitty little Sparks that end up creating this beautiful fire at the end of the day I I really believe we need to stop thinking that the joy is something we have to search for and instead just start living our lives audaciously and realizing that when we do that the experiences the opportunities the moments the the connection the looking at your child laughing the kiss on the cheek from your partner the beautiful bird that flies into the tree the looking of the leaves against the Blue Sky the smell in the air the gratitude for water coming out of the to the dog that wags its tail every time it sees you these are joyful things so be open and available to it all don't sit back and wait for it to approach you you've got to go out and approach it I love that perspective and such an incredible reminder thank you for joining us today please tell us how and where we can find you you can find me anywhere at becoming iconic the website is becoming iconic. my favorite place is the podcast becoming iconic the master class so it's weekly master classes held on all podcast platforms thank you for joining us today I'd love to hear from you reach out to me at hello Sheil it.com on our Sheil it website or @ Sheil it on social thank you to my editor Rich drino who always makes us sound good until next time let nothing stop you from experiencing the life and business that you crave