239: Uncovering Your Brand DNA with Suzanne Tulien

Welcome to another episode of the Startup Junkies Podcast! In this week’s episode, Caleb Talley and Jeff Amerine speak with Suzanne Tulien, the founder of Brand Ascension.  Suzanne is an expert in establishing brand identity, and she talks with Caleb and Jeff about the importance of identifying, defining, and aligning with your brand.  Tune in to hear her help Caleb and Jeff define their personal brands! Shownotes (0:55) Introducing Suzanne Tulien (4:23) Defining your values to establish your brand (9:47) Branding vs. Marketing (16:00) Branding a region (19:16) Advice for startups (25:44) What is success to Suzanne?  (29:14) Creating personal brands for Jeff and Caleb (36:51) Advice for the younger self (38:05) Wrap Up Links Caleb Talley Jeff Amerine Matthew Ward Suzanne Tulien  Brand Ascension    Quotes “I was realizing all the sudden that what I’m doing for you is a disservice – designing a look and feel on a logo, that was just really putting lipstick on the pig so to speak, and not helping you truly clarify and understand who you are as a brand.” (2:37)   “They should have been telling me who they were, as a designer, but instead I found myself telling them who they should be, because they weren’t clear enough.  And so the DNA methodology came out of a desire to create a step-by-step process to help them identify, define, and align to who they’re saying they are – who they’re promising to be – and deliver.” (3:08)   “I have to consciously, strategically, and deliberately align myself to create the standards of performance that you do in business – or my standards of living for a personal brand – that I can actually step into.” (7:14)   “We’re going to start aligning – that’s the third thing – identify, define, and align.  So align is what you have to do in order to deliver on your promise, and how do we make these core values in this style attribute tangible, so that it shows up in my actions and behaviors.” (7:56)   “Marketing might get your clients or prospects in the door, but it’s your brand that keeps them coming back.” (12:03)    “Everybody already has a brand.  They already have a personal brand because a personal brand is just a perception, and you begin formulating giving off things that create perceptions from day one.”  (22:10)