IAM551- Creative Strategist Helps Entrepreneurs Grow Their Brands

Bri Seeley is a Creative Business Growth Strategist for Entrepreneurs. She is a born catalyst who will help you grow your brand, maximize your impact, and grow your profits by both transforming yourself and your business. Her expertise in, psychology and entrepreneurship will support you in creating the success you desire on your terms. She is the author of the best-selling Permission to Leap and has been seen on The TODAY Show, Forbes, Entrepreneur, Yahoo! and more.

• CEO Hack: 1) Time management through batching and multi-purposing things 2) Training every new employee
• CEO Nugget: If you don't ask the answer is always no
• CEO Defined: Complete order and total freedom

Website: http://www.briseeley.com/

Instagram: http://instagram.com/briseeley
Amazon: bit.ly/readp2l

Check out one of our favorite CEO Hack’s Audible. Get your free audiobook and check out more of our favorite CEO Hacks HERE

Transcription

The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!

Intro 0:02

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place, Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO podcast.

Gresham Harkless 0:29

Hello, Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today Bri Seeley of briseeley.com Bree it's awesome to have you on the show.

Bri Seeley 0:39

Hello, thanks for having me.

Gresham Harkless 0:40

Yeah, no problem. Super excited to have you on and what I want to do is just read a little bit more about Bri, so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing. And Bri Seeley is a creative business growth strategist for entrepreneurs.

She's a born catalyst who will help you grow your brand, maximize your impact, and grow your profits by both transferring and transforming yourself and your business. Her expertise in counseling psychology and entrepreneurship will support you in creating the success you desire on your terms.

She is the author of The Best Selling Permission to Leave and has been seen on today's show, Forbes Entrepreneur, Yahoo, and many more Bri Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

[restrict paid=”true”]

Bri Seeley 1:17

I am sure I am.

Gresham Harkless 1:18

Awesome. Let's do it. So they kick everything off, I want to hear a little bit more about what I call your CEO story. And what led you to get started with your business?

Bri Seeley 1:25

Yeah, I am kind of a lifelong CEO, our lifelong CEO, I guess usually I say entrepreneur that's so interesting. I grew up going to work after school with my mom, she was a single mom, and basically helped her run the business that she ran, I would help her restock merchandise count the towels at the end of the night train her employees which were generally four times older than I was like, and just kind of got the bug.

And when I was in high school, she had another company and she would throw me the keys in the summer and say, you know, call me if it's on fire. And so I just at a very young age kind of like sparked this entrepreneurial desire within me.

And so I started my first business at the age of 23 had a fashion brand because I had studied my bachelor's and master's both in fashion design, and sewing since I was five years old, and launched my fashion label did really, really, really well got picked up by Zappos and dress Toni Braxton and LA Fashion Week and apparel news and Women's Wear Daily and all these things.

But I realized about eight years in that I just wasn't excited by it anymore. I still loved fashion, but I didn't like the business of fashion. And so with some guidance from the universe, 72 hours later, I closed my business down and walked completely into the unknown had no plans or ideas about what was next.

And basically what came out of it was me helping other entrepreneurs, essentially doing great things with their businesses. And so I'm about to enter your sixth of this business, which is great and awesome. I've had other secondary businesses along the way, but really helping entrepreneurs is my passion.

Gresham Harkless 3:11

Nice. Well, I definitely appreciate that. And obviously super excited to have you on and I think it probably does take a lot of guts to be able to kind of take that leap to move from something that you know, that you've been doing.

But I feel like it kind of speaks to what you said with your story where a lot of times we evolve. And sometimes we forget that evolutionary process. And sometimes what worked for us yesterday sometimes won't work for us tomorrow and may not even light our fire as much.

Bri Seeley 3:36

Yeah, totally. And I you know, one of the things I've really learned on my journey as an entrepreneur is the importance of having that alignment and continuing to know that what it is that you're doing is exactly what it is you're also that's also lighting you up.

And also, you know, is making the biggest impact in the world as well. Because, you know, you just being excited about something if it's not making an impact in the world, it's not really a business.

So for me, it's kind of always straddling those those different areas and making sure that everything is still moving in the right direction.

Gresham Harkless 4:12

Yeah, I can imagine definitely, probably definitely, with your background and everything in your expertise, you probably have a lot of clients that have to work through that as well, too. Try to figure out where that alignment is, what is that alignment, and how to align everything.

So I know that's probably one thing that you do, could you expand a little bit more and tell us like how you work with your clients and a lot more, a little bit more about your book as well, too.

Bri Seeley 4:33

Yeah, one thing that's really important to me that I have learned over, you know, my entrepreneurial career and just working with a ton of people is that business has is it's so multifaceted that you need to have a holistic strategy.

So right now if we look out into the market, there are all these people saying, well, if you have LinkedIn you'll you'll have a successful business and if you have Instagram, you'll have a successful business and if you have the best sales team, you'll have the, you know, successful business.

And I think that all of those things are true. And none of those things are true because people really like to silo things and say that LinkedIn is the solution to all of the problems of your business?

My answer is actually, it's not at all, there's so many other things you need to look at in terms of building your business, it has to be a holistic picture, I like to use the analogy of a puzzle, you have a puzzle, there's tons of pieces, and they all have to be present.

And they all have to be fitting together in order to create the whole picture. I don't know about you, I actually love doing puzzles. And so like, I have a puzzle right now where there's a piece missing. And it's the most unsatisfying thing ever because I know that picture will never be complete.

I approach business in the exact same way, you need to know your customers' psychographics, you need to know what your team structure is, you need to know your organizational structure, and you need to know the wealth, incoming and outgoing in your business, you need to know your profit margins, you need to know all of your marketing strategies, what's your zone of genius, like, there's so many ingredients that go into business, that you can't just deny 99% of them and say, Oh, this one thing is going to be like the silver bullet for you to be successful.

So that's really my approach to business. Because I've seen so many people do all the things they should be doing, because the experts tell them, they should be doing them. And then they don't get anywhere in their business.

And oftentimes, it's because they're not looking at the full picture of what needs to be in place in order for that business to be successful.

Gresham Harkless 6:36

That makes so much sense. And I think so many times as you said, you know, the experts say, Oh, you need to be doing this, or you need to be doing that. And a lot of times we'll do that or sometimes even take away our energies, our time, or resources from the things that actually are moving the needle forward to do those things.

Because they are that shiny object, they are that thing that you have to be doing that sometimes we'll lose focus over what we're ultimately trying to do.

Bri Seeley 6:59

Yeah, totally. And the thing that I've really found, I've done a lot of research recently on like, why businesses fail, and you know, why entrepreneurs don't succeed, all those things. And really, a lot of the reasons they don't succeed are because they're not approaching things from a holistic level.

And so I don't know, I'm just really passionate about it. And I'm going to get I'm getting a lot more outspoken about all the kind of like, shiny object syndrome marketing that's out there, and how it's actually hurting businesses.

And there's a lot of businesses spending a lot of money on these, you know, guaranteed success results, things in their business that actually aren't making an impact or helping them move forward.

Gresham Harkless 7:43

Yeah, then that makes so much sense and how do you I guess help people to get to that holistic, I guess mindset or approach to business? Is there a process or a way that you've been able to see that people have been able to do it well?

Bri Seeley 7:56

So for me, I've kind of divided things down into three basic pillars, the people pillar, the found, like foundational organizational structure pillar, and then the strategy pillar.

And so when I work with someone, we work through all three pillars, and I actually list them in order of importance to right, like everyone wants to start with the strategy pillar. I jokingly call it the sexy pillar, because everyone wants to talk, Instagram, LinkedIn, and social media and networking and partnerships.

And like all these things, and I'm like, none of those things will work. If you don't first have the people pillar in place, and if you don't first have the organizational structural pillar in place. So I have to kind of get people like you said, into a different mindset,

Gresham Harkless 8:41

Yeah.

Bri Seeley 8:41

to be like, we will talk about Instagram, and Instagram will never be effective if you don't have a good sales process, you don't have a good product, and you're not speaking to the psychographics of your customer.

And like, all like, and this is the thing, right? Many entrepreneurs get into business because they're passionate about something, not because they know what it takes to run a business.

Gresham Harkless 9:02

Hmm

Bri Seeley 9:02

And they're a very different conversation. So for me, it's really important if you want to have a business that's around in 10 years, which by the way, 66% of people listening to this will not be around in 10 years.

You have to look at the first two pillars, and you have to look at them well and in-depth in order for you to have a business and not just a passion.

Gresham Harkless 9:24

Yeah, absolutely. No, I appreciate you bringing that up. I think a lot of times people do get attracted to the strategy part because that's why they wanted to be in business or they get to do what you know, they talk about in the E Myth of getting to be able to be that person that's working on those things.

But if you don't have those foundational things in place, then everything will fall apart. So I definitely,

Bri Seeley 9:43

I love that book.

Gresham Harkless 9:44

Yeah, it's a phenomenal book.

Bri Seeley 9:46

If your listeners haven't read it, like highly recommend the E Myth. It's one of the first books I read. I would say back in like 2010 When I first started working with a coach back then.

Gresham Harkless 9:57

Yeah, yeah, it completely hits it makes so much sense that it doesn't parable in a story. So it makes it so attractive because a lot of times we start things because we're super passionate about it, but not realizing that's not what necessarily runs into businesses.

Bri Seeley 9:58

Yep.

Gresham Harkless 10:00

Awesome. So you might have already touched on this, but I want to ask you for what I call your secret sauce. And it could be for you personally or your business. But is it like that holistic approach that makes you unique and helps you kind of set yourself apart?

Bri Seeley 10:25

That's definitely part of it. Another thing that I'm really super passionate about too, and we talked about alignment is that I believe in something that's larger than myself as well.

And so one of my secret sauce things is every single morning is kind of stepping into that bigger energy, that remembering that me running a business at the end of the day is ultimately not actually about me, I just get to be the one that brings this gift forward for the furtherance of humanity.

And so a really big secret to my growth and success is I see the universe as my business partner. And I fully believe that I can't do this alone.

And if I were to try to human my way through it, or as I am a Harry Potter nerd, if I were to try to muddle my way through it I wouldn't be where I am today. So that's another big secret of my success, I guess.

Gresham Harkless 11:25

Awesome. So I wanted to switch gears a little bit. And I want to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. And you might have already touched on this. But this could be like an app, your book, some information about your book, or a habit that you have that makes you more effective and efficient.

Bri Seeley 11:37

So one of my biggest hacks, I think, is, in terms of time management, they're kind of two, the first one is batching, batching, has really saved me a lot of time and energy. And then the other one is kind of multi-purposing things.

So I have done this in a few different ways. One, when I make a YouTube video, that YouTube video becomes my content for literally every other platform. It's my newsletter, it's my podcast, it's my blog, it's my social media for the week, it's everything.

So that's one way I kind of double purpose. And another big tip that everyone's told me they love is that when I am training a new employee, or like a new member of my team, or whatever, what I do to train them, because a lot of people don't hire team members, because they're like, oh, I don't have time to train them.

I don't have time, I don't have time, which is hilarious when you look at it. But anyways, what I do is I do the activity on my laptop, and I record it, I screen record an audio record it, and then that becomes their training. So I'm concurrently doing the task while also training the person.

Then I cut the video and the audio together and uploaded it. And the cool thing is if my VA were to quit tomorrow, which she's not because she just sent me the most lovely thank you letter. I have all of the training that I would need to hire a new person tomorrow.

Gresham Harkless 13:07

Yeah

Bri Seeley 13:07

it would take me zero extra time.

Gresham Harkless 13:10

Awesome. So now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. So that could be like a word of wisdom or a piece of advice. Or if you can happen to a time machine. What would you tell your younger business self?

Bri Seeley 13:20

So one of the gifts that was given to me in 2014? I think it was when I was at a conference, Arianna Huffington was speaking. I ended up reaching out to her but as I was sitting there trying to reach out to her I had this like a devil an angel pulling at me.

And basically, what came to me, you know, the devil was telling me like, don't reach out to her like, Who do you think you are? She's never gonna respond to you. But basically, what the angel said on my other shoulder was if you don't ask the answers, always no.

Making that outreach to her basically allowed me to start writing for The Huffington Post, and one of my blogs went viral. That's what landed me on the Today Show, which, you know, six months later led me into coaching like, it really, that was a huge pivotal thing.

And I just imagine if I hadn't asked in 2014, where I would be and who I would be.

Gresham Harkless 14:17

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different quote-unquote, CEOs on this show. So Bree, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Bri Seeley 14:30

Being a CEO means to me, complete, utter, and total freedom. And yes, that's time freedom and money, freedom and creating all those freedoms. But also, for me, being a CEO is the freedom to be myself unapologetically.

And, you know, I get to live my core values every day and I get to use my voice every day and I get to be myself every day. And that is how I serve people and it's the coolest freakin thing in the world. I love it.

Gresham Harkless 15:03

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Well, Bri, I truly appreciate that definition. And I appreciate your time even more. What I wanted to do is pass you the mic so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional, you can let our readers and listeners know.

And of course, how best they can get a hold of you get a copy of your book, and find out about all the awesome things you're working on.

Bri Seeley 15:18

Yes, so the best way to find me there are two places one is my website briseeley.com. The other one is Instagram because that is my preferred strategy of choice. Umm, so you can come hang with me there. I love Instagram it's just one of my favorite places in the world.

And then if you are interested in getting a copy of permission to leap to help you get out of where you are and into other places. I can go on Amazon, and it's available in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook.

Gresham Harkless 15:51

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Well, thank you so much. And we will have those links in the show notes so that everybody can follow up with you on Instagram, your website and of course, get a copy of your book. And I truly appreciate you appreciate all the awesome work that you're doing and I hope you have a phenomenal day.

Outro 16:06

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO podcast powered by Blue 16 Media tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE And leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co This has been the I AM CEO podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

[/restrict]