As an entrepreneur, on a mission-driven trajectory, only you can make the decision that you will not be stopped. You can’t accept someone else’s rejection as permanent and only you can decide that you are going to make it! We’re back with another special recap edition of the Influential Personal Brand Podcast, where Rory does a debrief, recap, and summary of the most recent interview with Annie F Downs and provides listeners with three big takeaways. Annie dropped some very insightful nuggets in our interview including how to monetise podcasting, getting help before you can actually afford it, and the importance of having the resolve to not quit along your journey. Tune in now to hear more from Rory in this recap episode.  

If you’ve been listening to the podcast for a while now, you’ll know that your hosts from the Vaden Villa are hard-core, Bible-thumping, Jesus freaks, and one of the questions we’ve been wanting to answer is how you build a bestselling brand in the Christian market. Our guest today is a New York Times bestselling author and speaker that speaks all over the country doing sermons and Christian conferences, along with some business gigs every year. She is a teaching pastor at our church and also the host of an amazing podcast called That Sounds Fun. Annie also founded and co-owns a podcast network called the That Sounds Fun Network. In our conversation with Annie today we hear from her about the journey of her company, Downs Books Inc., and how she worked her way up from the beginning of her career by recognizing the doors that were opened for her and the opportunities that arose. She describes her transition from speaking to young teen girls to speaking to women and provides insight into how she utilized events that she was paid to do, in order to create opportunities that would allow her to do what she wanted to do. We then dive into how you can build your business in a Christian market before she breaks down the different types of things you can do as paid events and how to make money from your podcasts. For all this, and much more, don’t miss out on today’s episode. Tune in now! 

Here at the Influential Brand Podcast, we believe that a personal brand is a formalization of what you want to be known for and who you want to be known by. It is not your visual identity. In this episode, we unpack why people incorrectly confuse their visual identities with their personal brands and get hung up on fonts and colors. We reflect on a past episode with Nadine Hanafi from Digital Brand Kit and break down some of the key tips we learned from her about how to create your visual identity and where to place your focus in the process. Tune in for key tips to consider when creating your visual identity while keeping your eye on the bigger picture of building your personal brand.  

Most people assume that having an expensive-looking brand costs a lot of money. As you’ll discover in today’s episode, that isn’t necessarily the case! Since 2013, Nadine Hanafi has helped everyone from Fortune 100 C-suite executives to bestselling authors to startup entrepreneurs share their brand message through inspired visual storytelling. After founding the award-winning design firm, We Are Visual and crafting eye-catching visuals for some of the most viral TED Talks on the internet, Nadine is now funneling all of her talent and expertise into her latest passion project: Digital Brand Kit. As the world’s first turnkey branding system for personal brands, Digital Brand Kit offers you all the strategic design assets you need to create a beautiful, cohesive, and affordable brand identity that looks and feels like you. Today, you’ll learn how Nadine can help you create your visual identity in just 30 days or less, some of the biggest mistakes that people make when embarking on this process (and how to avoid them,) as well as tips for hiring a designer and so much more. If you’re struggling with crafting your brand’s visual identity, this is an episode you won’t want to miss! 

The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns caused unprecedented disruptions in industries across the world. One of the first sectors to feel the impact was live events. Overnight, companies were being forced to either postpone their events indefinitely or cancel them altogether. In today’s special recap episode, Rory revisits his conversation with Bari Baumgardner, Founder and Chief Strategist at SAGE Event Management, a company that managed to rapidly pivot to virtual live events shortly after the onset of the pandemic. Tuning in you’ll hear Rory recap his top takeaways from their conversation, including a breakdown of the four non-negotiable rules that Bari follows for virtual events, why it’s so effective at emulating the dynamics of an in-person event, and why Bari swears by her three-day event formula. For a brief recap and summary of this hugely informative conversation, make sure you tune in today!

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, the world of live events was decimated, and global lockdowns left the industry scrambling to adapt. At the time SAGE event management was one of the first companies to pivot and offer virtual live events at a large scale. And, after rapidly organizing a massive virtual event for one of their top clients (the legendary Tony Robbins) it quickly led to them becoming a front-runner in the virtual industry. SAGE has also been one of Brand Builders Group's most trusted partners and has helped countless clients produce high-ticket offers and grow their platforms through virtual events. Joining us today to give a breakdown of their business, and how they adapted during the height of lockdown, is the wonderful Bari Baumgardner, Founder and Chief Strategist at SAGE event management. Bari unpacks how SAGE helps its clients, what sets them apart from other event production companies, and why they lead with strategy first. You’ll hear a breakdown of the differences between virtual and live events, the technology they developed to facilitate these events, and how their model allows you to cater to both logical and emotional buyers. She also shares her advice on how to get started with virtual events using nothing more than a TV, a computer, and a Zoom account. We cover a lot of ground in this episode, so if you’re interested in learning more about how to host live virtual events for high-ticket offers, then make sure you tune in today! 

We kicked off our conversation with Lori Harder with a simple and powerful reminder: no matter where you are in life, you have a choice! During this episode, we share the highlights of our conversation with the incredibly inspiring guest. You’ll hear an overview of the wisdom Lori shares with us, including taking stock environment and making the necessary changes, tweaking your approach to failure, and remembering that the fundamentals never get old. Listening in, you’ll also get a glimpse of what Lori shared about her journey from having an unknown podcast, to growing into a household name. Find out what is key to moving from an information-based product, to a physical product, and get a taste of the do’s and don’ts behind Lori’s success. You can’t afford to miss this episode! 

How do you make a successful transition from one career, industry, or company to another? Today’s guest is the true epitome of someone who has taken their reputation and all of their success and accomplishments, and turned it into so many different things during the course of their career! Lori Harder has built three seven-figure businesses and recently founded a new product line. She’s the best-selling author of A Tribe Called Bliss and the host of the must-listen Earn Your Happy Podcast, which has over 46 million downloads. She’s also a three-time world champion in the fitness industry, a cover model, and more! Lori has truly seen the ups and downs, and she is here to share hard-earned wisdom from her journey that you can learn from and implement today. If you are a person experiencing any sort of transition, this episode is for you. 

The art of motivation can be tricky. And what drives us can change over time as we grow and our priorities shift. In today’s episode, Rory revisits his conversation with Micheal Burt, founder and leading authority on the Prey Drive principle, Supercoach, and author of the new book Flip the Switch: Activate Your Drive to Achieve a Freakish Level of Success. Tuning in you’ll hear Rory reflect on his conversation with Burt and how the source of his motivational drive has evolved throughout his life and career. He examines the role that family and faith have played in his evolution, and how he has come to be motivated by a sense of service. Rory also takes the time to unpack the misconceptions many of us have about happiness and how living a life of service can provide you with perpetual meaning. There is nothing quite as powerful as helping others. We hope you’ll join us for this powerful rumination on motivation, meaning, and the immense joy of helping others! 

One of the key factors in whether or not you achieve success is your level of motivational drive. But what makes that drive so powerful in some people while others struggle to access it? Our guest today, Micheal Burt, is an expert in the art of motivation and has spent the better part of his career cultivating his unique approach to what he describes as competitive intelligence. His new book Flip the Switch: Activate Your Drive to Achieve a Freakish Level of Success is a comprehensive guide to finding your motivation and unlocking your inner potential. We talk with Micheal about how he got his start coaching basketball and what it taught him about fostering motivation within a team. He goes on to share the story of how he transitioned into becoming a speaker and coach while developing his trademark Prey Drive philosophy. Next, Micheal offers a fascinating breakdown of his Prey Drive philosophy and how anyone can access it by harnessing innate human emotions. He also explains how it can help any of us overcome complacency, one of the biggest obstacles to motivation. When it comes to the art of cultivating motivation, there are few people as knowledgeable as Micheal. If you want to flip the switch and achieve your most aspirational goals in 2023, then make sure you tune in to this episode filled with top-level insights from one of the best in the business!