DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STYLE

Just like personal style or interior style, your brand (whether that be a personal brand or your business brand) will have style. That personal style should be just that, personal! In order to have personal style you really have to figure out who you are and what you want to communicate about yourself or in this case, your brand. Your style will be reflective of you and the audience members you are trying to attract. But exactly how do you discover what your style is and how you are presenting this brand to the world? We’re so glad you asked because we have some steps to get you started…

FIRST — Find Your Reason Why

At the core of all we do there should be a reason, a driving force of why we are driven to do something. The same rings true especially with a brand and business, why are you creating this brand? Why are you pouring your time, effort, & heart into this business? Why do you want to this? Why are you helping the people you want to serve? Finding your reason why will then lead you into you discovering your style and laying a solid foundation to build your brand on. Style is extremely personal — it’s a reflection of what you love, admire, long for, find comfort in, and it’s also a protective shield against what you hate, feel uncomfortable with, and don’t align with.

I encourage you to sit with these next few questions and revisit them over the course of a week, really be honest with yourself and try to dig deeper than surface level and get personal. These questions are a snippet from our DBS Signature Questionnaire that we’ve used on nearly 100 clients now to discover the style and why.

why do you do what you do?

what inspires you? What do you look at/read/listen/create/consume that leaves you feeling energized?

can you describe your style with 3 words?

What does style mean to you?

where do you feel a disconnect with your brand’s style or

Based on your answers here you might either discover

SECOND — Start Collecting, Connecting & Visualizing

This phase is all about collecting what inspires you and starting to connect the dots of similarities and editing out what doesn’t. I’ll be honest, this phase is often the hardest and comes with practice and time, or that’s when you call in the big guns (hi, hello it’s me) to help you through this phase, that’s my life’s work and I’d be overjoyed to help you do so!

Sure, you can do this with physical magazine clippings on a board, on trusty ole Pinterest, Canva or whatever other visual platform you are comfortable using, don’t let the process stop you, it doesn’t have to be neat and perfect, it just has to work for you.

Personal style can be taught & trained, I fully believe that. This second part is a gradual practice of getting to understand who you are, unpacking what it is that makes you feel good, what conveys your message, truth and brand ethos and doing that repeatedly again and again.

So, let’s say you are a new skincare brand that is focused on natural beauty, minimal routines, and clean ingredients derived from nature. Your reason for starting this brand is because you yourself have very dry sensitive skin and believe in the power of pure ingredients.

You might be pulling imagery and inspo that are more on the nose of plants, trees, and the sea to reflect nature as apart of your style, but that’s where I push you to think DEEPER, think outside of the box and back to your reason why. I encourage you to revisit this stage throughout your brand’s life at least once a year — if not every week! We are evolving everyday as is the world and digital landscape around us, so it only makes sense that our brand’s style evolves with us.

Take this part seriously, try to be individualistic, not like the rest. What can you do that’s different and uniquely you?

THIRD — Start Experimenting & Creating

At this phase, things can start to feel scary, vulnerable, and of course exciting, but it’s time to start experimenting with your style! No matter what area you are testing this out (whether it be your personal wardrobe, interior style or brand style) be sure to pause and analyze. Ask yourself “how do I feel in this?”, “does this ring true to me?” and really think about those reasons we defined in step one.

Since I was a young girl, I’ve always loved the quote from Cinderella Story “don’t let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game” and it rings true still to this day in my everyday personal and professional life. Don’t let the fear of failing at “style” keep you from trying, just try, I believe it you.

Feeling stuck and need some more help? Reach out to me here on my site or on Instagram I’d love to help you!

xo Alex