The Magic of Punching Up
Get the work you’re not entitled to.
It’s the audacity for me.
There is no one I am rooting for with more fervor than brave souls pitching to people they have no business doing business with. If you’re a David-type, come sit by me. I’d wager that if we put our heads together we could make Goliath absolutely irrelevant. I’d love nothing more than to stop raising the bar and start reinventing it.
I am your compassionate conspirator that delivers the deliberate disruption that makes people question everything they thought they knew about how we do things ‘round here.
If you’re a scrappy team of software geniuses that know how to integrate innovation to optimize AI and you want to arrive on the scene turning eyeballs; if you’re a CEO-turned-thought leader and no one has heard of you yet; if you’re a presentation designer and you want to eradicate the world of bullet points and death-by-meeting and they’re 👽 e v e r y w h e r e…use your words.
TL;DR If you want to reinvent yourself or the world, talk about it in a way no one else is.
Decolonize yourself from “should” and flip the script.
Got gravitas? No? No problem. Stop worrying about what you think is expected—testimonials, case studies, social proof—and start creating the unexpected. Boring and predictable do not surprise and delight. If you’re missing the street cred to make big asks, lead with your provocative product / program / position.
Be at the center of your own genius.
When you’re punching above your weight, ground yourself in what makes you special, different, or The One. You are the one-of-a-kind amalgamation of your learned and lived experiences. Now add your values and vision and it’s obvious: You (and yours) are the one-and-only perfect solution.
Repellant is righteous.
Shock and awe are yours for the taking. Unignorable brands / businesses / badasses are curators of the record scratch. The more you folks turn off with your audacity, the more you turn on. No one ever magnetized a niche and/or enjoyed the freedom to roam about the business arena, unrestricted by the old guard, by being a sound-the-same.
Stop people pleasing and start people delighting.
It’s unconscious, really, the urge to do things the way we’re all conditioned to think we’re supposed to. The customer is always right. Right? Right?!?! The moment you quit being a waitress in your own business or role and reject the conventional wisdom about “paying your dues” and “building your reputation one client/job at a time” is the moment you become invincible to timetables, the corporate ladder, and impossible-to-get meetings.
Be equipped to talk effectively.
Short or long form, formal or informal, pitch or potential partner, meetings or media, communication is clutch. Be radically intentional about internalizing how to talk about your irreplicable POV. Practice until the words pour out of your lips (and onto webspages, emails, and elevator pitches): These are my people; this is what they need; this is us; here’s how we help; and this is why it matters.
There’s magic in your mission.
Nothing is sexier than being the change you want to see in the world. Who wants to do business or start a trust relationship with someone without an ax to grind, a soapbox to stand on, or a hill they’re willing to die on? We’ve had it, as a society, with single-bottom-line thinking. Wanna play with the big b0is? Walk the walk.
Be | Bold & Branded
Everybody and their mister-sisters has a definition of brand and here’s mine: Brand is your reputation brought to life in words, actions, and images. Notice I didn’t say a damn thing about resume, market position, business stage? Define it. What are the universal things that make your special sauce something no one could replicate, even if they have a recipe? Now, make sure that is the way other people talk about you when you’re not in the room.
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If you’re the kind of person that does not care to take no for an answer or dare not play it by the script you’ve been given, I implore you to use your voice and amplify your message.
Life is too short to ‘get what you get and not get upset.’ When you’re done with status quos and told-you-sos, I got your back.
You said it sister! Thanks for this shot of encouragement...today and always!