Episode #020: How to Build a Brand, Not Just a Business with Ashley Mahoney
I didn’t quite understand the power of building a brand over just building a business until I connected with the talented and brilliant Ashley Mahoney of Hello Big Idea! Ashley is the Founder and Creative Director of HBI and she’s the reason that my brand was born a few years back.
Ashley was a former high school business teacher turned self-taught designer and is passionate about helping fellow creative entrepreneurs follow their dreams. Hello Big Idea specializes in branding, web design and social media creating creative content including graphic design, photography, videography and other strategic content for businesses of all sizes.
I hired Ashley and her incredible team once I realized that I was capping my growth potential by running a business instead of breathing life into a BRAND!
TELL US A LITTLE MORE ABOUT WHAT LED YOU HERE…
“I was actually a high school teacher. I went to school for Education, and I was teaching classes such as entrepreneurship and web design and a class called emerging technology. And I loved these things. But I found myself trying to supplement some income by freelancing because I was really enjoying design. I don't have a design degree technically, but I was able to produce a product that people really liked and I felt like I was onto something a little bit, but I didn't fully understand how to translate that into a business quite yet.”
WHAT CAN OTHER PEOPLE DO TO START BUILDING THEIR DREAM
“It doesn't have to be an all or nothing thing from day one. And if people gave themselves permission to just try and see what their interests are and see what their skills are and fail a little bit, then they would take some of that pressure off and they would actually begin the journey versus sitting there for possibly forever. Some people just never get started.”
TELL US ABOUT YOUR MISSION
“Starting with the mission, I would say, again, the original idea is we say we are a company by women for women. So we are great if you are a company owned by a woman or if you are marketing to women. We love to lift up women and what they can do… their businesses, their dream, ideas.... And that's a wonderful space and we've had a lot of success there. And I would say in the end, that's really our mission - to help provide women with jobs that they love, that are creative and wonderful.”
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RUNNING JUST A BUSINESS VERSUS RUNNING A BUSINESS AND A BRAND?
“It's a happy medium of the two where you can put a brand out there, but if you don't have anything to back it up, then what is it? You know, and you can put yourself out there. But if you don't have some legitimacy, legitimacy of a brand, then what does that matter either. I tell people to just get started. I think it's a happy medium. I don't think it's a hard yes on one or a hard no on the other. It's figuring out, and no two people or businesses are going to be the same.”
Listen in to get the rest of the incredible value that Ashley so generously shared with us on today’s episode!
Remember, building a successful brand starts with having a vision, so be sure to check out the Scaling Up episode on how to cast the vision for your brand here!
IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL HEAR ALL ABOUT…
How Ashley shifted gears and went from high school teacher to successful full-time business owner
The difference between building a business and a successful brand
How to scale a personal brand
The value in the journey and the failures along the way
Some key steps in creating or fine-tuning your brand or idea
Great resources to help you grow in business, branding and in life