My Talk “Define Your Business and Develop An Authentic Brand” from Tory Johnson’s National Spark and Hustle Conference

I was asked to speak at Tory Johnson’s Spark and Hustle Conference which is taking place here in Atlanta NOW (read my blog about it HERE). I spoke this morning. It was my FIRST time publicly speaking about Authentic Beauty as a business and not specifically talking about makeup. I was really nervous. But once I got going I spoke from my heart and thank you to everyone for the great feedback!

I wanted to share with you all my talk. I wrote it out before I went up there and read it out loud and wrote and rewrote it several times so I would remember my key points. It is not verbatim what I shared on stage. I told a lot more little personal details about the history of how I got to where I am but the main message I wanted communicate is expressed below. If you want the Power Point Email me at alyson.hoag@authenticbeautyllc.com if you would like me to send it to you.

Thank you again and thank you to Tory for asking me to be a part of Spark and Hustle. (To see Tory’s interview on Good Day Atlanta click here)

Aly

DEFINE YOUR BUSINESS
& DEVELOP AN AUTHENTIC BRAND

I have been a professional artist for over 20 years (actually 25 but who’s counting?) I started off my career by getting kicked out of my 3^rd grade class for making them over while the teacher was out of the classroom. I built my career by working for major cosmetic companies until I was forced to work for myself. I spent 7 years working for myself servicing one person at a time as a technician.

As I built a successful business for myself I sat ALONE dreaming of a company that could do it better. I had a vision for a company that honored makeup artists, which honored women for the beauty that they ARE-instead of trying to sell you on the fact there are a gazillion things wrong with you, that didn’t use ingredients that were toxic. I dreamt about being able to transform the way the cosmetic industry does business.

I woke up one day after doing a lot of soul searching and knew that if I did not create Authentic Beauty my Authentic Self would be left unfulfilled.

The jump I had to make from being a great makeup artist to a great business owner came from a single important lesson- BUSINESS IS A LEARNABLE SKILL.

I threw myself into learning and doing what it would take to make my dream and turn it into reality.

One of the first recommendations

YOU NEED A BRAND

What did that mean?

How did I want my company perceived in the world?

I embarked on an evolving journey to unfold what was necessary to communicate and have my message be heard.

At first I thought branding meant visuals-my logo, my colors, my tagline, my advertising.

All this does mean your brand. It is the means by which you are recognized in the world

But that’s only the external part

At Authentic Beauty we offer a service known as the Image journey. It is a self-discovery makeup lesson. What I believe is that your personal image needs to be a reflection of your authentic self. My clients have homework before they come see me to help them figure out what that is for them.

If 90% of what people believe about you is determined by your appearance than you better responsibly manage it so it communicates who you really are.

In this homework we ask clients to reflect upon images that they are drawn to and inspired by. They create image boards and bring them to their session.

When I embarked on developing my brand I spent countless hours taking the same approach. What images reflected my brand?

I picked through and continue to –thousands of colors, and images of ways that messages communicate that inspire me.

I actually went thru 6000 fonts before I found the one I use for Authentic Beauty!

Some people myself included, recommend hiring a brand manager….HOWEVER….YOU MUST DO YOUR HOMEWORK

THIS IS YOUR BUSINESS.YOUR MESSAGE AND YOU MUST OWN IT

Why I created the image journey process was because I had so many women throughout the years sit in my chair and ask me to do their makeup.. I would look at them, use my expertise and get to work on creating a look for them based on MY PERCEPTION as to what I think they should look like.

In the end if I listened well I would nail it most of the time and give them what they wanted but what I discovered in my many years as a successful artist was that client could articulate her vision for her image there was still this slight incompletion-something was missing even though she looked great.

I was telling her what to do. She became my paperdoll that I was dressing.

It’s the same I found with my brand. You have to know who you are as a company.

What do you stand for?

What are your core values?

What do you want to be known for?

Otherwise your brand is a shell.

Developing an Authentic Brand is like developing an Authentic Image.

It is a Journey.

There is no substance behind an image that is not authored and designed

We all know examples of people we see that look great on the outside and not so great on the inside AND not so great on the outside but GREAT on the inside.

Don’t make people work so hard to discover who you are

BE TRANSPARENT

BE AUTHENTIC

The good news is that it is simple. Not easy but simple. You have to do the work.

People hire me to see what they can’t. They buy my expertise to see into their Authentic Self and give them what they have always wanted on the outside.

Your brand manager should be someone who pulls out of you what your vision is for your company.

They should make recommendations but NEVER tell you what your brand “should be”

You need to be courageous to say NO when you look at your brand and it doesn’t feel right to you-the same way you would run to the bathroom and take off a lipstick you couldn’t stand.

You also have to say yes. Recently I was given recommendations to change my colors and design for Authentic Beauty.

I so completely trust my brand manager I allowed her to put some new colors “on me” I had to be open…sometimes it takes trying on something new and wearing it for a while before you adjust and I hate to say it the older you get the harder it is to change…..

Think of it like a coat. You can take it out of the closet wear it for a while to see if it fits…but you can take it off and put it back

THE #1 PIECE OF ADVICE I CAN GIVE YOU WHEN CHOOSING AN EXPERT:

MAKE SURE YOU 100% GET THAT THEY BELIEVE IN YOUR COMPANY AND IN YOU.

If you don’t get that they do-no one else will either.

The goal is to constantly evolve by unfolding. That takes constant critical attention to your Authentic Self who speaks to you in your quietest moments. Find the time to listen.

Balancing this for both your business and personal image takes practice.

But you wouldn‘t be here if you weren’t already in training. This is coaching for being in the game.

Grow yourself to make it possible.

Having a life you love is about authenticity and being true to yourself.

I believe true beauty comes from expressing your Authentic Self.

You ARE AN AUTHENTIC BEAUTY when you are projecting your Authentic Self.

Your brand is no different. Expressing your passion in the world is communicating your Authentic Voice and when it’s coming from that place deep within your soul and the world hears it your rand has hit its mark.