Truly AUTHENTIC businesses and the story of Make My Lemonade
By: Fernanda Sigilião
Tags: Branding, Entrepreneurship, Branding Strategy, Brand Strategy, Marketing

The hardest and the most obvious one: Invest in self-awareness

Your personality, your story, the way you talk about your business, everything reflects the characteristics that make you unique. So, find the time to reflect on yours goals and values as a company and as a person. Travel with your co-workers and create opportunities to align on a shared vision and purpose. Also, at last but not least, create an ecosystem where the people who are close to you feel comfortable enough to tell you the truth. Following your intuition is key. You can also try free-fall writing before going to bed, it can be a great way to get your thoughts and ideas out without being too judgmental and harsh on yourself. And also find ways to get a better balance between working time and creative idleness moments. Domenico De Masi wrote a great book about it. Unfortunately it means not using instagram when you feel bored, but I think that with practice it can be pretty doable ;)

Nobody is made out of steel: Share your vulnerabilities

We (finally) live in a world that is a bit more open to discuss our weaknesses and the challenges we encounter in our journeys. This makes people relate to you (and your brand) and identify with your story. Being authentic is as much about revealing your flaws as playing to your strengths. In an interview for Encore Magazine, Lisa Gachet openly speaks about how she did a wrong career move on her early days as a stylist. She shared the story about what happened and what she did afterwards to come back on the right track.

Don’t spend too much time looking for what others are doing: Look Inside

Try to constantly maintain your own point of view and your unique perspective and avoid looking for so many references of what is out there. A little inspiration is good of course, but comparison will only lead you to forged authenticity. Self-examination is the real way towards staying ahead of the curve.

It’s not only about yourself: Connections are important

Knowing what you’re good at and what you can not do by yourself is critical for both entrepreneurs and big brands. Connections are great for having bigger and better ideas and also for learning more about yourself. It can even be a great way to gain credibility. Rachel Cohen, co-founder of Snowe, a platform for high-quality home essentials, explained on the Lifestyle Edit Podcast that connecting to the right partners was key to launch her business when she didn’t have any track record and was trying to bring something new to the home essentials market. She explained how important it was to have surrounded herself with experts, early team members and advisors who already had some credibility within her category. These connections may not only open doors, but also help you create a more unique business proposition.

In the end, authenticity should be as easy as dancing with a blind fold. It is closer to the idea of “it feels right”. It is built, it won’t happen 100% of the time and can be developed together. I hope this article inspired you a little bit more towards a more conscious journey of being a more authentic you and I leave you with a quote from the master Yuval Noah Harari on his book HomoDeus.

“People are usually afraid of change because they fear the unknown, but the single greatest constant of history is that everything changes.”