EP 03: When Should a New Idea/Product be Released to the World? – TOP 3 Brand Advice w/ CASSANDRA LE

EP 03: When Should a New Idea/Product be Released to the World? – TOP 3 BRAND ADVICE W/ CASSANDRA LE

 

TRANSCRIPTION: 

First tip: 0:04:53.0

Second tip: 0:12:42.8

Third tip: 0:24:24.1

 

[0:00:00.0] Cassandra: I mean, I’m happy that I went through that because then, it taught me I need to do some more work before I launch anything like that, and it helped me really lead into what I know I’m good at.

 

[0:00:12.7] Peggy: You’re listening to the Branding Gems podcast, a podcast that’s not just interviews and conversations. It’s to bring you guys the best of the best women in branding and business to answer this question: What are your top three valuable tips and lessons that you learned along the way? And then, we discuss it. To fuel your passion-filled lifestyle business, I promise to bring you the best of the best women in branding and business and together, we can grow and learn from the extracted advice that they provide. I’m Peggy Bree, and let’s get growing!

 

Hey, guys! Before we get started, if you can rate this podcast on Apple or if you’re on Spotify, if you can give it a follow, that would be really appreciated. I really, really want to lift up more voices and women from around the world who are amazing at what they do and help grow each other. That is my ultimate mission and goal, and I would appreciate all the support that you guys can give me. And speaking of, this episode has a lot of funny stories and tips that are tried and true, so you are in for a sweet treat! I’ll talk to you soon.

 

Hey, guys! Thanks for tuning in. I’m so excited to introduce the next guest on our podcast and to share her top three best advice. Today, we have Cassandra Le. Cassandra is a Vietnamese-American, a first-generation daughter of immigrants calling Spain home. She is a brand and visibility strategist and the founder of The Quirky Pineapple Studio, a brand strategy and copywriting studio for mission-driven service-based businesses, helping them use their voice to connect with their communities through story and content. Welcome, Cassandra!

 

[0:02:15.0] Cassandra: Hi! Thanks so much for having me.

 

[0:02:16.5] Peggy: Yeah, I’m so excited to hear the top three tips that you’ve learned in your journey so far, and you’ve grown so much, so congratulations!

 

[0:02:25.0] Cassandra: Thanks! I know, I feel like the first time I met you, it was two years ago when we started chatting, and I feel like just both of our journeys have changed so much in the past two years.

 

[0:02:39.5] Peggy: Yeah, definitely. Even in a week, it changes a lot. [Laughter]

 

[0:02:45.2] Cassandra: Yeah.

 

[0:02:47.0] Peggy: So, Cassandra’s actually one of the contributors for our book, Branding Quickies, which is written by 20 amazing women from around the world who share their stories, tips, advice, and insight, to help entrepreneurs looking for some refresher and insight in their business journey at whatever stage they’re in. And Cassandra’s section really goes into finding her brand’s voice and community and how other brands can do the same, all strategically.

 

[0:03:18.3] Cassandra: Yes. Basically, you summed it up so well. I’m thinking back to it, I’m like, “Yup, that’s pretty much what it was.” And yeah, we shared our top tips and Branding Quickies really for, not your visual brand because that’s not our forte, but really your brand voice and how to get your brand message out there to connect with your community.

 

[0:03:38.2] Peggy: Mm-hmm. Yeah, I know. It was good. I loved your focus on community. It’s just so important to build that around your brand, and there’s just so much value in that.

 

[0:03:48.2] Cassandra: Yeah, for sure. I think now, with everything going on and now that we’re transitioning more to the online space and the events, like in-person events and in-person communities will always be a thing, I believe, but as the internet really takes the world by storm, I think more people just want to be able to connect with people from all over the world or even just across the country because you never really know who you can meet in the online business space, and you also don’t realize how small the online business space actually is until you’re in it.

 

[0:04:24.3] Peggy: Yeah, that’s so true, because some people who are in it are not even active, but if you connect with the folks that are active and you guys are like-minded with what you guys do, there’s so much power to that because you can grow each other and each other’s brands and businesses.

 

[0:04:41.8] Cassandra: Yeah, for sure.

 

[0:04:43.8] Peggy: So, let’s jump right in. What are your top three valuable tips and advice that you have on branding and business? And let’s start with the first one.

 

[0:04:53.0] Cassandra: Okay, so the first one, I think, is to really define your core values. And I feel like this can go and be applied for branding and business. Functioning and doing business from your core values definitely helps you, one, not feel burnt out and resentful, and two, it creates more of a fulfilling business, I think, because you’re actually engaging and working with people who have the same values as you do and you can actually really make an impact. And then on the branding side, defining your core values in the beginning can definitely help you create that brand message that is cohesive instead of just pulling from all different things or ideas and inspiration. And now, what you really can do is hone in on what your brand is all about, what your brand really wants to do, the mission it’s on, the vision, and how you really want to help your ideal clients. One thing that I can think about and applying it to real-life, real-world examples, so one of our brand values at The Quirky Pineapple Studio is creating community spaces. And for me, I don’t think I realized that until maybe my second year in business. My first year in business, I knew, “Okay, having awesome relationships with people.” And that’s true, we functioned in that sense with our business and our brand, but then we still always felt like, “Okay, just because we have an awesome relationship with one client, that one client may not have an awesome relationship with somebody else that we introduce them to.” And sometimes, we made decisions that, I don’t think cost us relationships per se, but it kind of didn’t match and that’s where we saw within our community people, not necessarily didn’t like each other, but you could tell that there was friction because maybe on one level, one client connected with me, and another partner collaborator connected with me, and when I wanted to merge the two, because I didn’t have real set values, I just knew, “Cool, I like awesome relationships.” I created this weird friction, I guess is the best word, between the three of us, and that’s when I realized, “Okay, I need to sit down and really think about what are the values that I want to have.” I’ve said it now that it is creating community spaces and now, all the decisions that we make from a marketing standpoint and within our services or our programs really brings that in, and I’ve noticed it time and time again, just all of our clients really believe in community and collaboration and sharing space, instead of before, it was just one-off relationships that were more transactional.

 

[0:08:04.4] Peggy: Mm-hmm. I love that in that experience, it really helped you re-evaluate and refine your brand core value even more. And it’s true, when building a community for your business and brand, you can’t expect everyone to just be friends and friends and get along and mismatch them. But even for them, they can’t expect to be on the same page with each other off the bat. At the end of the day, they have to build that relationship with each other by themselves.

 

[0:08:38.8] Cassandra: Yeah, that’s a really great point that you brought up about trying to push people together and then, even though, like you were saying, they want a relationship, but it doesn’t actually transcend to a community. It’s just, “Okay, if I maintain this, I can get something from it.” Or maybe, “I just like this person, but I don’t really care about the other people.” And really defining that core value on community has helped a lot. 

 

[0:09:05.7] Peggy: Mm-hmm. Yes, so what other core values does your brand studio have, and how does it translate across the entire brand and business?

 

[0:09:16.6] Cassandra: So we have up to six. Crafting community spaces is one of them. Another one is always communicating openly and being transparent. That’s another one, and I think that one is also super important because it’s how we also run our business, not just in the sense of branding and being transparent in our messaging and our marketing, but also within our systems and our processes and how we interact with the client. If we mess up with a client, since our core value is being transparent and open, we have to take responsibility for it, and that means my team also knows that they have to take responsibility and own up to it and just have an open conversation and say, “Hey, I messed up. I’ll do better next time.” Or, “What can you do as a team to make it better next time?” And that has also helped our relationships with our clients because before, I just said “communication.” “What does that mean?” “Communication, like I talk to you, I send emails, I send Slack messages and all of this stuff.” But it was just regular communication and not truly having open conversations that made sense or owned up to, say for example, if we made a mistake.

 

[0:10:38.6] Peggy: Mm-hmm. I love that. I love that it’s not just about the forefront of what your brand looks like, but I love that the core values really, really flourished within the business and the team and inside, and it really makes sense for even your team members to be aligned with those core values and really believe in it and really practice it, and it really transcends through the work that you do and the clients all connect in that core value. I love that.

 

[0:11:10.8] Cassandra: Yeah, for sure. I think that was a big thing because when it was just me, it was easy to do this and do that, and clients interacted with only me [laughter]. And now that I do have a team and I’m hiring people from different areas and different walks of life, having those core values that we all agree on and embody makes such a difference because then, I can just see, “Okay, does this person fit into our team dynamic or our team synergy? Or is there something off with our client relationship because maybe one of our team members is not truly embodying the core value?” And it really creates a standard for our business and our brand, and people recognize that, because I feel like if we didn’t, then they would be like, “Okay, yeah, she’s sometimes like this,” or “The Quirky Pineapple Studio’s kind of like that, but you never know because you can get them on a good day or you get them on a bad day.” And that’s what you don’t want in branding and business.

 

[0:12:22.7] Peggy: Yeah, it’s so good. You have to be firm with it. That’s the whole point, like it’s consistent, it’s your brand, it’s the core, it’s the value, it’s what remains there. So that makes a lot of sense. I love that.

 

[0:12:35.8] Cassandra: Yeah, so I want to continue and share another of my tips.

 

[0:12:40.8] Peggy: Go for it! Go for the second one.

 

[0:12:42.8] Cassandra: Okay. The second one is to figure out what your brand voice is and really lean into it. I feel like a lot of the times, new business owners or maybe new brands, they have inspiration from different businesses or brands or influencers even or even personal brands, and they’re like, “Cool! I like this person’s voice online,” or “I like this person’s personality or tone.” And what happens is because you’re so inspired, which is awesome, you end up mimicking, and I feel like when that happens, you lose the power of your brand a little bit because now, it sounds too similar to all of the noise that is on the internet. So once you do find your brand voice, really lean into it. Even if you haven’t found your brand voice, one thing to think about is, “How would your brand actually talk? Does it sound really stuffy?” If you don’t want to sound stuffy, then you can be whatever you want to be. If your brand is more playful and very ambitious, then that’s okay. Your brand can definitely talk like that. It’s just coming into it and then continuing forward. I feel like sometimes, at least a lot of our clients, they commit and then they’re like, “Oh, but I really like this person’s caption today on Instagram, so I’m going to try and do something similar.” I’m like, “Wait! Wait! Don’t do that!” Because if you already established your brand voice, there’s no need to go and copy or mimic somebody else’s, even if you don’t think that you’re doing so intentionally.

 

[0:15:46.3] Peggy: Mm-hmm. So with that, how much inspiration should one take? Let’s say they’re seeing someone else do something and it’s working for them and you can see it through results, but how much of an inspiration should one take from that? Or does one even take from that at all?

 

[0:16:07.4] Cassandra: Oh, gosh. I feel like this is the million-dollar question. [Laughter] So I know there’s a book about this, which is called I think Steal Like An Artist. I quote this book, but I’ve never read it [laughter], but the concept of the book is all artists kind of take inspiration from other people, and creative people just find inspiration from everyday things. Nothing is really “original” anymore, but what does make it I guess original or more you is your spin on it. So let’s say, for example, I saw somebody’s TikTok and I’m like, “Oh my gosh, this person got thousands and thousands of views. They are practically viral, and now they’re getting sponsored by Coca-Cola.” And I’m like, “Oh, I want to be sponsored by Coca-Cola, and I want a thousand million views and to go viral at the same time.” So I basically copy the exact same thing that they do in their video, like step by step – music, the same, exactly the same clothes. That, I think, is when you’re not fully being inspired anymore, you’re just flat out copying. And what I view as inspiring is, “Okay, I see this person’s video. It looks super cool and it gives me ideas on how I can do something in my own way with my own spin on it and my own personality, and maybe I won’t get the Coca-Cola deal, but maybe I could get a Pepsi deal. Who knows?” [Laughter] So that’s what I think. I don’t know. Peggy, do you have any other thoughts on copying versus inspiring?

 

[0:17:51.9] Peggy: No, that makes sense, what you said. Let’s say you see someone with that video that is sponsored by Coca-Cola, but then you really have to think of it like, “Is that even part of your brand? Is this something that you even want that makes sense for your brand? Does it make sense for your brand to be associated with Coca-Cola?” You have to really think about these things first. And then yeah, I completely agree. Having your spin on it, at the end of the day, you go back to your core values and your brand. You can take inspiration like, “Oh, they did the TikTok video with a caption after a caption and then followed by a dance,” or something like that. Yeah, that part can be taken inspiration from, but to completely copy the entire idea, it’s obvious, it’s a whole different idea. So I agree with what you said, just having your take on it, but really diving into your own core values and what it means to you in making that video and what the results that you want from it, like do you want to be associated with Coca-Cola, for example? You have to really break it down to the bottom of it. Instead of just seeing it, “Oh, it works!” And then just copying right off of it, that just overall I would never make. It won’t add to your brand growth at all.

 

[0:19:19.3] Cassandra: Yeah. Oh, I love that you said ask yourself first, “Do you even want to be associated with Coca-Cola?” Because I feel like when we’re starting in business, and even now that I’ve been in business for three years, there have been moments where I feel so inspired and I see something happening on Instagram, for example, that somebody’s like, “Cool! I sold this many digital products!” And like, “Cool! I want that.” And they’re saying things like, “I woke today with 20 notifications from PayPal.” And I think to myself, “Ohh! Twenty notifications from PayPal?” And I threw myself into creating digital products in the beginning, I think in my second year of business, and I was like, “All right, about to get these PayPal notifications! I’m going to take a month off for the summer! I’m just going to lay low and have money coming in when I’m laying on the beach.” What happened? I completely tried to copy somebody’s summer school idea because I was so inspired by it. I thought that I tried to put my own spin on it, which I did in a sense because it was still branded The Quirky Pineapple Studio, but I definitely did not do market research to double-check to see if people are actually going to buy it. So I created three to five different digital products with videos, PowerPoints, transcripts, whole PDF guidebook, ebook, whatever, and none of it sold! And then what happened after none of it sold was I got so resentful of my audience and was like, “Y’all suck!” What? I did all this work for you and you didn’t even buy anything. So yeah, what you were saying about just asking yourself, “Does this make sense for me? Is this my goal? What do I want my business or my brand to actually look like?” And if it’s a “No, this doesn’t make sense,” then don’t do it. Don’t just blindly go following trends. I feel like that is the worst.

 

[0:21:20.4] Peggy: Exactly. I mean, it really is hard not to jump into that wave and be involved because there is potential that it could reach more people due to the high visibility and the reach of that particular trend during that time, but it’s definitely so important sometimes to pause and think and, like you said, do that market research because you don’t want to put out content or products that don’t align, first of all, with your brand’s core value, but that it doesn’t even serve your brand’s audience at all.

 

[0:21:55.7] Cassandra: Exactly, [laughter] and don’t sell! That’s the worst. You don’t want to create something without doing the market research, asking yourself, “Hey, do I even want to do this?” And then throw yourself into creating it and then dead, nothing. 

 

[0:22:11.0] Peggy: Exactly, but again, that’s just how entrepreneurship is kind of like. Sometimes, you really have to experiment things like that to learn from it, and it’s such great learnings that you gain from it, right?

 

[0:22:23.7] Cassandra: For sure. I mean, I’m happy that I went through that because then, it taught me I need to do some more work before I launch anything like that, and it helped me really lead into what I know I’m good at, which is programs or community programs or services that have that more high-touch relationship. And it’s not to say that I won’t have digital products in the future, but this is just my journey in business now and eventually, I’ll get to the other side.

 

[0:22:55.6] Peggy: Mm-hmm. It’s great that you learned from it and that it helped you refine what your brand and business is. During those times of mishaps, it ultimately reshaped your brand and business instead of having it be a hurdle to change everything, your core value and such, but to instead use that as an experience to help refine everything, so that’s awesome.

 

[0:23:27.6] Cassandra: Exactly, yeah. Let’s not change core values in one day. [Laughter] Oh, gosh. And don’t change your brand voice in one day either because I think people will get confused. They’ll be like, “Oh my gosh, this brand sounded like this today and then during the evening, they sounded like a whole different person.” And that totally throws off your audience and your clients.

 

[0:23:48.2] Peggy: Exactly, because your audience and your clients are so familiar with a certain tone, and that really brings on to the whole trust idea. Once that tone or something is a little bit off to what the core value was, then there’s a little bit of distrust that can come with it. But even when that happens, you really go back to why that happened and to explain it, that’s always going to be a good thing to do.

 

[0:24:16.3] Cassandra: Yeah, for sure. I totally agree.

 

[0:24:19.6] Peggy: So what is your final, best tip on branding and business?

 

[0:24:24.1] Cassandra: I think, okay, this one might sound like a life thing, but I think it applies. So I think if you are going to really build out your brand and your business, especially if it’s going to be more of a personal brand around you, then you really need to sit down and do the work to understand who the heck you are. And I feel like most businesses, at least all the things that I see online so far, they don’t talk about that. We’re always talking about, “Okay, you got to learn the ropes of the business operations. You have to learn about systems and, of course, you have to learn about marketing, and you have to take a sales class, and you have to learn about writing copy or maybe designing your own logos,” which I don’t recommend. Hire somebody like Peggy. [Laughter] Or just trying to Google everything, but nobody says, “Hey, before you start a business and before you build out your brand, maybe you need to sit down and really go deep within yourself and understand who are you, what do you love, what do you not love, what do you advocate for, what pisses you off.” Because before then, everybody’s like, “Cool, start your Instagram account. Okay, upload five videos. Don’t forget your Reels.” But nobody says, “Hey, sit down and actually ask yourself, ‘Are you ready to be a business owner?’” Probably not, but that’s okay because I don’t think anybody is. And, “What do you really stand for, and what do you not stand for?” But I think that’s the biggest thing that we skip. And I got into it, I started and I thought I did enough work to really understand “myself”, but going through different years of business ownership and building my brand, I learned that I needed to do way more work to sit down and understand, “Who am I? What is my business? And what do I do within my business? I am not my business, so who am I just as a normal person? Who am I as a business owner? Who am I as an entrepreneur?” And defining all of that has helped a lot. Well, mainly on the personal side, I think. It’s just helped me feel less like, “Oh my gosh, what am I doing?”

 

[0:26:50.3] Peggy: That’s true. It’s like when you dive into something and you’re trying to learn as you go and then you pick up things and then you learn from it, it just keeps moving so fast like, “Will you really sit down and pause and really put in that work and start to reflect on all that you learned, and then apply, and then move again?” That’s just going to be easier overall so that you wouldn’t just be thrown into just moving in this fast way that comes with entrepreneurship, I feel sometimes. And yeah, just so you can pause and rethink about what has happened and reflect on what works. And you need those moments sometimes to really rewind yourself back to what you want to do.

 

[0:27:37.8] Cassandra: Yeah, for sure. I feel like there are two expressions here that I’d love to quote. One is actually something that one of my clients told me. Before we started working together, they were like, “I feel like I am flying the plane and building it at the same time.” And that, I feel, is a perfect example of what you were just saying, Peggy, when you’re learning and doing at the same time, and you don’t have the headspace or even the calmness to just reflect and think to yourself, “Hey! Do I even want to do this?” Back to that question we were talking about before. “Do I even want to have a brand partnership with Coca-Cola? Maybe I don’t.” But you’re just like in it, in it, in it that you are legitimately flying the plane and building it at the same time. And then something one of my business mentors told me was “Sometimes, you need to slow down to,” what was it – build up, go up – oh, I don’t really know the exact expression, but it was basically like “Slow down to scale up.” That’s what it was. You really do, if you want to scale up, it is so much better to slow down, and then you can scale up instead of flying the plane and building it at the same time.

 

[0:28:56.7] Peggy: That is also actually one of my favourite quotes. Yeah, it’s said in a different way. I know that one of my mentors in the past told me, “You have to move slow to move fast.” And yeah, it really astounded me because we obviously live in this fast entrepreneur world where you just have to go right in and then you learn as you go and then you dive right in. It’s the whole idea for even start-ups, right? Just put it in, just experiment it now, and just go for it. But sometimes, what I learned from that quote and from my mentor, when you slow it down and really think about it and plan it a bit more, even just for 30 minutes, it really helps you move faster because you really skip those tiny, little mistakes, and those mistakes will add more time. It’s just so interesting that when you just move a bit slower, it really does help you move faster, in a way. And even though it defeats the whole start-up mythology, it essentially helps you move efficiently.

 

[0:30:03.7] Cassandra: Yeah, I think that’s a great word to highlight – efficiently and also sustainably – because we can’t always be in this go, go, go mentality or work ethic because as this year has proven, it’s been intense, and everybody’s been like pause and the more you go, go, go and push, like you were saying, you make mistakes that, of course you can always learn from, right? Every mistake, you have a lesson. But it really slows you down because you’re really going and doing things and then backtracking because you’ve done it wrong. So now, you’ve already built something but you’re trying to fix it while you still want the machine to be functioning, and that just doesn’t work because a business can’t do that. I mean, it might be able to, but how much more effort and time and work and even money are you putting into it? That’s costing you for the long term.

 

[0:31:10.0] Peggy: Mmm. I love what you said about backtracking because it’s so true. When you put forth something and it is wrong, and then you keep putting that work forward as you go because time just moves so fast in that way, but it will catch up to you, and when it does catch up to you, good, you’ll learn from it and it will be a big lesson in itself, but yeah, not have so much of those backtracks because it is something to overcome as you go there, but it’s better to just avoid that, in a sense.

 

[0:31:49.7] Cassandra: Yeah, I agree completely. I feel like it causes less heartache. We all know, as a business owner and just building a brand, there are lots of ups and downs. And when you’re backtracking, I feel like it just dampens your confidence in yourself because you’re like, “Gosh! Oh, no! Now, I have to fix this and I have to fix that.” And this is where the going slow plays a part because yeah, it’s slower but you have a more sturdy base, I think, and a better foundation as you do grow, so then you don’t have to run back and be like, “Oh my gosh! How am I going to fix this? I don’t have time because I have 10 million other things to do.” But if you take the time, then it just builds that sustainability.

 

[0:32:43.0] Peggy: Mm-hmm. I love that. All these tips were so good! I love them. Thank you so much for being a guest. 

 

[0:32:51.0] Cassandra: Of course. Thanks for having me. I enjoyed our conversation.

 

[0:32:54.6] Peggy: Same. So what’s next for you? What’s happening at The Quirky Pineapple Studio or even just Cassandra?

 

[0:33:01.3] Cassandra: So for me, I am currently location-independent for reals, for reals, but my partner and I, now that The Quirky Pineapple is sustainable and stable. Yeah, it took us three years to get here and we still have our ups and downs, but way more than before. It allowed my partner to quit his job and now, he is pursuing his own business online. So we’re location-independent. We moved from Madrid and now we are in Malaga, Spain as I’m recording this. Where will we be next? I don’t know, I hope in the islands of Spain and on the beach actually. And for The Quirky Pineapple Studio, what we really want to do for the future is to continue building out our community even further and really creating a hub for international business owners who speak multiple languages and are interested in really doing business in a different way, in a more ethical way, and also in a more sustainable way so that we don’t get burnt out. And our business really supports the lifestyle that we want to live, besides just trying to squeeze our lifestyle into the business side. I feel like that’s the opposite of what you’re supposed to do. But yeah, that’s our goal for the next year.

 

[0:34:21.3] Peggy: Amazing! So where can people find you?

 

[0:34:24.1] Cassandra: So if you want to connect with The Quirky Pineapple Studio, you can find us on our website www.thequirkypineapple.com and then on Instagram where we hang out the most, which is @thequirkypineapplestudio, and then if you want to connect with me on a more personal level and check out all of my happenings, on location-independence, being a business owner, living abroad, then you can follow me, @cassandratle, on Instagram.

 

[0:34:53.1] Peggy: Amazing! Well, thanks so much for coming on to guest and for sharing your top three advice. They were so good. I’m sure people will be able to implement the advice and really learn from your story and any mistakes that you talked about in our podcast.

 

[0:35:09.4] Cassandra: Yeah, of course. I hope it helps and if you all have any questions, then you know where to find me on Instagram.

 

[0:35:16.1] Peggy: Amazing. So thank you so much, Cassandra, and we’ll talk to you really soon!

 

[0:35:22.0] Cassandra: Bye!

 

[0:35:25.9] Peggy: Last note: If you guys loved this episode and enjoyed the gems that were dropped here, make sure to share this on your Instagram story, screenshot this and tag me. Tag me @peggybree, tag me @blankroomdesign, and I’ll be sure to reshare you and connect with you. Bye guys!

JOIN THE DISCUSSION:

• • INSTAGRAM/FACEBOOK: @blankroomdesign
    WEB: brandinggems.com
  • GUEST:  Cassandra Le
    Web – The Quirky Pineapple Studio
    Instagram – The Quirky Pineapple Studio
    Personal – @Cassandratle
  • HOST: Peggy Bree
    Instagram – @peggybree
    Clubhouse: @peggybree