Introduction: Moving Beyond the Branding Noise

If you're an entrepreneur, coach, thought leader, or small business owner, you’ve been told you need a "strong brand." You’ve likely heard the mantras: "Content is king," "Be authentic," "Find your unique voice." But what does that actually mean? The digital landscape is saturated with generic advice that often leads to more confusion, inconsistency, and wasted marketing efforts.

The truth is, most branding advice puts the cart before the horse. It focuses on logos, color palettes, and social media tactics (which are marketing execution) before establishing the core strategic foundation of who you are and the impact you are meant to make.

In a powerful episode of the Luxury Unplugged podcast, global impact branding expert Rich Kazak unveiled a transformative approach. He argues that authentic branding isn’t a marketing trick; it’s a rigorous, heart-centered process he calls "Impact-Driven Branding." This methodology isn't just about standing out—it's about building a brand with such profound clarity and congruence that it becomes a magnet for the people you are meant to serve.

This blog post will deconstruct Rich Kazak’s decades of experience into an actionable guide. We will explore the four non-negotiable pillars your brand needs to come alive, the common mistakes that hold entrepreneurs back, and the step-by-step process to uncover your authentic brand voice and build a legacy, not just a business.

Why Traditional Branding Advice is Failing You (And What to Do Instead)

Before we dive into the solution, it's crucial to understand why so many businesses struggle with branding. The core issue is a fundamental misunderstanding of the relationship between branding and marketing.

"Your marketing, when it's at its best, is the execution of an excellent branding strategy." - Rich Kazak

Most entrepreneurs start with marketing. They run ads, post on social media, and chase leads without a clear, consistent brand foundation. This leads to:

• Inconsistent Messaging: You describe what you do differently every time, creating confusion.

• Attracting the Wrong Clients: Your message is so generic it appeals to everyone and no one, leading to poor-fit clients and burnout.

• Self-Doubt and Imposter Syndrome: When your external message doesn't align with your internal purpose, it creates a constant state of friction.

• Wasted Resources: You pour money into marketing campaigns that fall flat because the underlying brand strategy is weak or non-existent.

Impact-Driven Branding flips this model. It starts not with your logo, but with your heart. It’s a strategic process that aligns everything your brand says and does with the specific impacts you are designed to make in the world. When you get this foundation right, your marketing becomes a powerful, predictable, and fulfilling engine for growth.

The 4 Pillars of an Unforgettable, Impact-Driven Brand

According to Rich Kazak, for your brand to truly come alive and avoid falling flat, it must be built on four essential pillars. Leave any one out, and your results will be limited.

Pillar 1: Heart Congruence (The Foundation of Authentic Branding)

This is the non-negotiable starting point. Your brand must be an authentic reflection of your core values, your purpose, and the specific impacts you desire to create.

What it is: Heart congruence means there is zero gap between who you are at your core and what your brand represents. People can feel when a brand is disingenuous. Conversely, they are powerfully drawn to the clarity and confidence that comes from genuine alignment.

How to Achieve It: This begins with introspection. You must move beyond what you think you should do and connect with what you feel called to do.

• Ask Your Heart, Not Your Head: Your head will make lists of logical target audiences. Your heart will point you to the specific people you are uniquely equipped to serve. As Rich instructs, ask: "Whom do I clearly see impacting and I really want to impact?" Describe this person in detail—their struggles, their aspirations, their worldview.

• Define Your Impacts: What is the transformation you create? Don't just think in terms of services (e.g., "I do coaching"). Think in terms of life-changing results. Does your client go from feeling overwhelmed to being in control? From being invisible in their industry to becoming a recognized authority? Map out the levels of impact, from the initial mental shift to the ultimate, life-altering outcome.

The Result: When your brand is congruent with your heart, self-doubt evaporates. You operate from a place of confidence and purpose, and this energy is palpable to your ideal clients.

Pillar 2: Unwavering Consistency (The Key to Brand Trust)

Inconsistency is the most common brand killer. It confuses your audience, erodes trust, and makes you seem unprofessional or unreliable.

What it is: Consistency means that every single touchpoint—every message, every visual, every experience—is aligned and reinforces the same core brand identity. It’s what makes a brand feel dependable and professional.

Where to Apply It:

• Messaging: The way you describe what you do, your expertise, and your value proposition should be consistent across your website, social media profiles, pitches, and interviews.

• Visual Identity: While more than just a logo, your visual elements (colors, fonts, imagery style) should be coherent.

• Customer Experience: The way you onboard a client, deliver your service, and follow up should be consistently excellent and reflective of your brand promise.

• Voice and Tone: Your audio brand—how you speak, your pacing, your energy on podcasts or videos—should be recognizably you.

The Result: Consistency builds familiarity, and familiarity builds trust. A consistent brand is a trustworthy brand, and people buy from brands they trust.

Pillar 3: Unique Language That Transfers Energy (Your Magnetic Brand Voice)

This is where most brands fail to capitalize on a massive opportunity. It’s not enough to be consistent; you must be consistently compelling. Your language shouldn't just inform; it should ignite.

What it is: This is the art of crafting a unique brand voice and messaging that does more than describe—it attracts. It’s "unique language that transfers energy," meaning it creates intrigue, excitement, and a desire to know more.

How to Master It:

• Move Beyond the Generic: Instead of "I'm a business coach," you might be "An architect of founder freedom, building businesses that run without you."

• Create Intangible Brand Promises: Use language that paints a picture of the outcome. Rich’s examples are perfect: "Experiencing a younger brain as you age" or "Body intelligent yoga." These phrases create a vivid, desirable future that people are drawn to.

• Master the "Here's What I See For You" Moment: This is a critical energy-transferring phrase. When you can confidently tell a prospective client, "Here's what I see for you," and paint a picture of a future they deeply desire, you create a powerful magnetic pull. This moment must be prepared for in advance with precisely chosen words.

The Result: Unique, energy-transferring language makes your brand unforgettable. It allows you to stand out in a sea of sameness and attract ideal clients who are already primed to work with you.

Pillar 4: Positive Ongoing Recognizability (Beyond the Logo)

This encompasses all the elements that make your brand instantly recognizable, but it goes far deeper than just visuals.

What it is: It’s the sum of all sensory and experiential cues that identify your brand—and they must be positive. It’s not just about being seen; it’s about being felt and remembered in a good way.

What It Includes:

• Visual Branding: Your logo, color palette, and design aesthetics.

• Audio Branding: The tone, pace, and cadence of your voice (highly relevant for podcasters and speakers).

• Behavioral Branding: Your posture on Zoom, how you handle problems, your "look and feel" during public appearances.

• The "Unseen" Vibes: The overall feeling someone gets when they interact with your brand—is it luxurious, empowering, peaceful, or disruptive?

The Result: Positive ongoing recognizability turns casual observers into loyal followers. It builds a brand aura that makes every interaction feel valuable and intentional.

Common Branding Mistakes That Are Hurting Your Business (And How to Fix Them)

Rich Kazak highlights several critical errors that entrepreneurs make, often on the advice of well-meaning but misguided sources.

1. The Inconsistency Trap: Saying what you do differently every time. The Fix: Develop a "Brand Messaging Guide" that documents your core phrases, value proposition, and stories. Train yourself and your team to use it consistently.

2. Chasing Leads Before Defining Your Brand: This is marketing without a strategy. The Fix: Pause all major marketing initiatives. Dedicate time to the introspective work of Pillar 1 (Heart Congruence) before you spend another dollar on ads.

3. Hiring Marketers Without Brand Guidelines: Handing your marketing to a third party without a clear brand blueprint is a recipe for inconsistency. The Fix: Before hiring anyone, have your brand strategy, voice, and key messaging defined. Provide this as a non-negotiable guideline.

4. Misusing AI for Content Creation: Using raw, unedited AI output makes you sound like everyone else. The Fix: Use AI as a brainstorming and drafting tool, but always infuse the output with your unique language, stories, and energy (Pillar 3). Never input your proprietary unique language into public AI models.

Your First Steps: A Practical Exercise to Uncover Your Authentic Brand

Feeling overwhelmed? Rich Kazak provides a simple but profound starting exercise. You'll need a quiet space and a journal.

1. Visualize Thriving: Close your eyes. Ask yourself: "What does it look like when my brand is thriving? When everything I'm doing is working and I'm financially fulfilled, what am I actually doing? Am I speaking, writing, coaching? Who is around me? How are people reacting?" Write down the vivid details.

2. Consult Your Heart: Now, ask your heart—not your analytical mind: "Give me one person I clearly see impacting and I really want to impact." Let the image of this person form. Describe them in detail: their demographics, their deepest struggles, their secret hopes, the things they say to themselves.

3. Map the Impact: Describe this person before they find you. Then, articulate the very first impact you will have on them. Does their thinking shift? Do they feel a new sense of hope? Now, describe the ultimate impact. How is their life or business fundamentally transformed? Go as high as you can imagine.

This exercise alone will give you more clarity than 90% of the entrepreneurs in your space. It is the foundational work of Impact-Driven Branding.

The Role of AI and Content in Modern Branding

In the age of AI, authenticity is more valuable than ever. AI is a powerful tool for speeding up processes like content ideation and first drafts. However, the mistake is using AI outputs verbatim.

The Correct Approach: Use AI to generate ideas and draft frameworks. Then, you must customize, refine, and inject the output with your unique stories, your energy-transferring language, and your hard-won insights. Your content strategy should not be a random collection of posts, but a strategic roadmap designed to build credit for your core categories of expertise over years.

Conclusion: Branding as a Path to a More Fulfilling Life

Ultimately, Impact-Driven Branding, as taught by Rich Kazak, is about more than business growth. It’s about aligning your work with your soul's purpose. It’s the process of uncovering the "umbrella" brand—the highest-level impact that encompasses everything you are and do.

When you build your brand from the heart out, you stop chasing and start attracting. You replace self-doubt with unshakable confidence. You build a business that is not only profitable but also purposeful and profoundly fulfilling.

The journey begins with a single, brave question directed inward: "Whom does my heart want to serve, and what profound impact are we destined to create together?" Answer that, and you have the first, and most important, piece of your iconic brand.

 

Transcript -

Niti: If you have been wondering how to work on your branding, how to do story branding, perhaps for your business. If you want to understand how to do B2B branding for your business and perhaps you're running a low-cost revenue model or an operational model and you want to understand how to go about mastering branding, what is authentic branding really? Then you're going to get all those answers in this podcast episode.

Welcome to Luxury Unplugged, the podcast that takes you beyond the surface of success, dives into the mindset, values, and inner clarity that creates a truly meaningful life. In today's episode, we are joined by Rich Kazak, a global impact branding expert and founder of Rich Brands. With decades of experience helping entrepreneurs and thought leaders articulate their authentic brand voice, he brings a powerful perspective on aligning purpose with business. And he also has a message on clarity, about amplifying your impact in the world. So today's episode is not just about branding, it's about uncovering the essence of who you really are. Welcome, Rich. Welcome to Luxury Unplugged.

Rich: Well, it's great to be here. And you're right. People are going to hear some things they've never heard. So get a pen or whatever you use to write, and you're going to want to write a few of these things down, and it could very well bless your business and your life. I love what you say about a fulfilling life. That's really where we get to start. Right.

Niti: Beautiful. So Rich, you've been called rocket fuel for people who want their brand to truly impact lives. Now, how did your journey into branding really begin? What inspired you?

Rich: Well, okay, first of all, we do need to deal with that rocket fuel thing. It's because branding is a process. Rocket fuel means you get to go faster, sooner. You get a boost. When you realize there are steps and you do them, your results happen more quickly and more dependably. So, I teach that branding done right is steps. You don't leave any out. And if you do the wrong steps, you'll hurt yourself. But people aren't taught that. They're just taught that they need branding.

So, the question was my journey? Okay. Well, as a branding consultant, the biggest parts of my journey... I spent 17 and a half years as the executive vice president of a, let's call it an integrated marketing communications firm, okay? All B2B, but it was a member of a partnership worldwide. So, I had partners in 21 countries. I sat on global brand teams and we trained on the process of eliciting the brand from the people who founded their brands because they wanted to move from wherever country they were in to other countries and you got to make sure that the brand stays congruent when you do that. So it was an absolute loot. I mean frankly I was addicted to it. I would come... I live in Los Angeles and I work here but the partners are all over the world. So when I was 50 years old, which was 23 years ago, I was doing all-nighters and I would stay at the office forever. Come home, European partners, you know, email and get up early or not even, you know, go to bed because I stayed up all night at the agency. It was ridiculous.

And so a big part of the journey was my choice to say, "Lord, I'm resigning this addictive career to reshape my life. Show me what you want me to do. I'm ready." And begin asking for... for me to hear and pay attention to what God's intentions for me were.

And so a lot of people, because I've done branding for so long... I started when I was in 13, 14, 15. I created companies and named them of my own. And then it's a long story. I got a degree in marketing, international business, but I did play in a rock band for a few years. I worked for a Fortune 50 company for seven years. So I learned what that was all about. Had a great mentor there. So I've been in a whole bunch of different socioeconomic business strata, kind of situations, chunks in my career. Worked for a research firm for a few years, called on research managers. I even, because I was so active in the American Marketing Association here in Southern California, I got elected as president and then I was elected on the national board of the American Marketing Association. So I even spent four years there with some mighty outstanding people in marketing.

So part of the journey is learning that marketing is not branding. Right? Marketing is execution of branding. So if you're listening to this, one of those things you're going to write down right now is: my marketing, when it's at its best, is the execution of an excellent branding strategy. You've got to get that right.

Now, after people started asking me to help them with their individual brands and I agreed to help three, and they kind of all came one month at a time, three months in a row, I had this moment where I realized what I was doing was helping pull the impacts that they clearly saw making when they were going to thrive, and we defined the brand they must become to make those impacts. When you do it that way and use the steps and the process, you don't leave anything out. It's rigorous. It gets done. And everything your brand says and does aligns with those impacts. Niti, when you do that, people feel the clarity. They feel the authenticity because it all came from the desires you had to impact. That's in your heart. My belief is God put that in your heart. So, this is God's work.

So, wait a minute. When does branding become God's work? Well, now there's a good question. So, here we are on your podcast talking about... we all have the opportunity, because we've been made by the same God, to make the most significant impacts we can on the world we touch. We need to get on with it. If we start with fakey stuff or we think that we need to slap a superhero costume on ourselves, we are not thinking straight. We need to look into our heart and run toward those desires and do it in a way that our brands come alive because you have to do it in the right way because your brand needs four things or you're going to fall flat. They're going to fall flat, right? And most brands fall flat. So, but you've got to start with your heart. You've got to start with your heart if you want the most fulfilling life. That's probably the most important thing you'll hear here today, and you started it and I'll just pick it back up.

Niti: When you want to have the most fulfilling life, you start with your heart and you do branding, right? So, it's like what you're saying is that the foundational aspect of any business is your heart. If your heart is in the business, then you're definite to succeed. And then branding helps align that messaging towards your business and bringing it out for your audiences. Is that right?

Rich: It aligns it towards you, towards the impacts that you... and this process aligns the impacts, aligns everything you say and do: your messaging, your positioning, you know, even the names of your products and services or programs or, you know, books or podcasts, with the impacts and everything is congruent and aligned. That's remarkable. And you know, we... you talk when you describe your podcast about people have self-doubt. And look, when you get the clarity baked into the branding done right, there is no self-doubt, right? There's complete confidence and you are who you are and everything you're doing is accessing your authenticity. So that's... yeah, for those self-doubt people, you can just forget about the self-doubt thing. I mean, seriously, I don't mean to deal with that lightly. I realize it's a killer. It's a stopper. It holds people up, but it doesn't need to.

Niti: Right. Right. So, you talk about impact-driven branding and it is kind of different from traditional marketing, traditional branding, right? You and I are talking about authentic storytelling, authentic branding which comes from the heart. So what are the other three aspects of your way of teaching branding?

Rich: Well, a brand needs four things to come alive. And the first is congruence with your heart, right? You know, you're going to fall flat if people smell that it's disingenuous or that you're not really you or they're wondering who you really are. It won't work well for them and it won't work well for you and you'll feel in conflict. So you've got to be congruent with your heart and everything the brand says and does gets to be congruent with that. And that process bakes that in just because it starts with the impacts and everything... the characteristics you get known for that we write down and elicit, what characteristics you must become and get credit for to make those impacts, what categories of expertise you must be known for to make those impacts and in what order so that there's a strategic roadmap... it's all impact-driven. It starts with those impacts you clearly see making and really want to make.

So the other three things that you must have are:

1. Consistency across the board, right? Inconsistency is the most common brand killer and it's the reason people fall flat. They either say things in generic ways so they don't come alive and create interest and intrigue, or they say it one way and then they say it another way and people are confused or misinformed and they just back off. So consistency, but that's across the board. That's what you say. It's how you say it. It's how you're introduced. It's the testimonials that people say about you. It's every first impression, let's call it entry portal, the doorway that people go through to see your brand for the first time: a business card, the homepage above the fold on your website, the way you're introduced when you speak. All of those things get to be aligned and consistent, the way you show up. If you show up looking one way one day and another way another day, it's like people don't know what to expect. And you know, like if you hire a person, they do the work differently every day. You can't trust them because you don't know what to expect. Brands are that way. So consistency across the board is number two.

2. Number three is probably the most challenging for most people because they think it's tricky and it needs to be tricky, and it's unique language that transfers energy. Okay. You can't just have unique language. You know, it has to transfer energy, and transfer energy means people want to know more. People are intrigued by it. People... they've never heard those words together like that before. You know, the man speaking at the "Manage Your Health" conference is an expert at "mindful longevity, experiencing a younger brain as you age." Oh my god, who is that? I need that. What? You never heard those words. It's creating unique language that comes out of the work of the steps that the brand uses to stand apart and get credit for expertise and create an intangible brand promise. "Experiencing a younger brain as you age." I want a younger brain, you know what I mean? It's like, you know, or "body intelligent yoga." Oh my god, I've done yoga for years. What is that? I want that. You know, it's like to create intangible brand promises that are consistent with the brand but that attract and transfer energy. If you don't have unique language, you won't stand apart. If you don't transfer energy with that language, you miss the opportunity to be a magnet.

3. The fourth thing is positive ongoing recognizability. That's all of those visual things. It's not just your brand colors and, you know, what many people think of as their brand—their logo and their... It's not just all of that stuff. It's your voice. Your voice is an audio brand. It's what you... it's how you show up. It's, you know, your posture on Zoom. I mean, it's everything. It's positive ongoing recognizability. Okay. It's not, you know... So, Denise and I, my... I've been married for 49 years and 54 Valentine's Days, and we happened to sit down last night and have dinner when we turned on a Dodgers game. We live in Los Angeles. So, we're watching the... and these commercials come on and they're stupid and they play over and over because that's what advertising does. When your target audience responds, "Oh, there's that stupid, you know, brand again," that's not positive ongoing recognizability. Okay. That's like somebody's trying to be tricky or cute or they just think if they say it a thousand times, you know, you'll love them.

Niti: Exactly. Doesn't work that way.

Rich: So.

Niti: Those are beautiful words and perfect messaging in terms of branding. We will take them one by one for whatever time allows us. First of all, we have already had a little bit of discussion on heart congruency. But about the aspect of transferring energy, this is something which is not talked about in a lot of branding practical conversations, right? So in terms of having that kind of an energy transfer, what would you like to say about that?

Rich: The energy transfer. Yeah, it's vital. Look, if you've lived a while and not under a rock and you've done any kind of self-development stuff, you've heard the phrase "everything is energy." Okay. Unfortunately when you use something like "everything" or "always," it doesn't mean anything, but we're all made of energy. This desk I'm sitting at is made of... you know, it's... everything is energy. When we use that energy on our behalf, it's attractive. It's magnetic. And energy can be... let me give you a good example. Energy can be the way you pace what you say. And I did that on purpose. Martin Luther King did not say, "Hey, I had a dream the other night and, you know..." He said... he listened... it's almost four theater beats. "I had a dream..." and it echoed. The way you pace, the way you speak is huge. If you let things land, that's mastering energy.

The words that a brand uses can create an attraction because of intrigue, because of uniqueness. Right. You started this interview by saying, you've been, you know, accused of putting rocket fuel in people's brain and gas tanks. Let's just use that simple... people aren't walking around saying that about me, but I have been told that. So let's just say you and I met somewhere and you said, "So, you're a branding consultant. What do you do?" And I said to you, if I said to you, "Well, I manage the 31 contiguous steps of the branding continuum." First of all, you'd be asleep. You'd be thinking about something else. It wouldn't land 'cause it sounds crazy. But if I said to you, "Well, people say we put rocket fuel in the branding gas tank." Words have energy. And "people say we put rocket fuel in their branding gas tank" has a lot more energy than "the 31 contiguous whatever I said." It creates images in my head right away and I'm able to say, "Wow, I want this. I want to work with this guy." Right?

Oh, and here's one for you if you're listening. Take this and do your best with it. When you say to... you're talking to someone you really, you know, that you clearly see impacting through what your work or your product or your service or your specialty, and you tell them you've been listening to them and you understand what they've been saying and you've heard them, and then you say, "Here's what I see for you." Those words open up a door, and the words after that paint a picture that tell your target audience that you clearly see a future for them that they might not even see. And those words are either magnetic to them, they attract them to you, or you fall flat. That's that moment of clarity. "Here's what I see for you" is one of the most powerful opportunities you'll ever have. You must be prepared for that moment. You must have chosen the words in advance. You must have created the picture and know what the picture is that you see for them because you're who you are. And when you say it with gravitas, with weight, even matter-of-factly from a place of knowingness, they feel it. And that is a transfer of energy that will serve your brand beautifully for a long time.

Niti: Wow. And it's a wonderful... It's one of those moments where it's almost like they feel they're already connected with you.

Rich: This is serious. And this happens every day, or it doesn't. And inconsistency just messes it up. A lot of things mess it up. "Marketing first," or "Well, just get some leads," messes it up. It tends to create inconsistency. You don't get credit for what you're really outstanding at. And those things are hugely important and they are the outcome of branding done right. The outcome of the steps of making sure things are in place.

Niti: Right. Yeah. So in terms of branding done right, now there are some common mistakes that entrepreneurs are making, especially the ones who are starting up businesses. How are those mistakes impacting them? I mean, obviously we know the outcomes that they are facing, but what are these common mistakes that possibly you can help them identify in the beginning?

Rich: I do a 60-minute master class every month called "An Hour of Brand Power," and I do the four things you must... we go into detail about the four things you must have to come alive or you will fall flat, and seven things that brands commonly do that they need to stop because they're hurting themselves. So, I'll just reel them off, but we don't have time here to go into the detail.

1. Inconsistency. The way you say what you do. If you say it one way and say it another way, you're stepping on your own tail. It's okay. Stop it. So, consistently, the way you say what you do, the way you say what you're expert at. You got three opportunities there. One is unique language. Two, it transfers energy. And three, it makes you stand apart for something you're really good at and there's no one like you. Like, wow. But if you don't do that, you miss this huge opportunity.

2. Running for leads before you define and language your brand. "Well, we'll just get the leads. We'll do the branding later." Such a critical mistake. Let's go back to that statement: Your marketing when it's at its best will be the execution of an excellent branding strategy. So there shouldn't be any marketing until your brand has done the work and it's ready to open its mouth, right? So that everything it says and does align with the impacts it clearly sees making and really wants to make. It's a runway. Then it's like, wow, the way people respond.

3. Hiring third-party marketers and not giving them brand guidelines. "I'm not really a marketer, so we're going to have the other... they know what to do. They know the words. They know the magic, blah blah blah." And not giving them brand guidelines. "This is the way we say it. We use this language. This is the unique..." No guidelines. Anything can happen and boom, you're back to inconsistency and confusion maybe. And you think you've done right because you got some leads, but really you went the other way. And it's difficult to make up for that sometimes, particularly if you cross the credibility line. And if what you do feels like you're being disingenuous or making something up, you know, like people say, "Well, research shows," but they don't know what that even means. They don't realize that... like I told you, I work for a research company. So the word "validity" in the world of research is the most important word. If you didn't use a methodology to do that research that is solid and statistically significant, or you don't even know enough to say "we talked to three people," and so it kind of indicates you think that that's research, and you misrepresent. Misrepresenting research is a big, dumb no-no.

4. I think the biggest one today is using the results of AI without customizing them to make sure it speaks uniquely like your brand. Using AI is a blessing. We all are learning that. But using exactly what comes out of it, don't you think other people are doing that too? It just makes it... if you don't make it yours with your unique language that transfers energy, you've made a mistake. It's not a mistake to use AI. It's a mistake to use it without customizing the results so that it's uniquely you. And frankly, look, if you're on a low budget and you're just using some unpaid version, do not put your unique language into it because now everybody has it and it's no longer your unique language. That's just not smart.

So, these are common. It's unbelievably common. You know, they could be done by a junior person who doesn't own the business, or they could be done by the entrepreneur, the owner of the business himself. Just stop it. You know, stop it.

Niti: Right. In terms of a very important thing that you have just pointed out, AI, the impact of AI which is being felt in every business now, in a good way or a bad way, so what do you think? How is it impacting personal branding and authentic storytelling?

Rich: Now, I think it speeds up processes that used to take a long, long time, and it behooves us all to get to possibilities for our marketing communications faster. If we can have things in front of us in 10 seconds, it's like unbelievable. And then we can shape it from there. We just saved hours or maybe days or weeks. I would look... we help publish books, and a book is a stake in the ground that moves your brand forward. It's got to be part of a strategic roadmap. The name of it, the titles and subtitle, the chapters, all of these things are opportunities to use language that transfers energy and to come alive in a unique way. And people, you know, when you hear somebody say, "You can write a bestselling book in a weekend," run the other direction because that is the quintessential example of "anything's okay." And if you want a unique brand that comes alive and attracts your target audiences that you most want to impact—because that's your brand, it's the perception in the mind of your target audiences that you really most want to impact. That's the perception that all your branding is shaping. It's not the perception of everybody or the people 25,000 miles away that love to pet your ass. It's your target audiences that you most care about impacting their lives or their businesses. So you focus on that.

Niti: In terms of your business, your aspect of your business which is about publishing and helping people publish their book, can you take us through a story of someone whose brand transformed when they aligned with a deeper purpose and they published a book with you or with your support?

Rich: I just... yesterday I received... and this is a little too fresh and I can't name names, but I can... yesterday we had a marvelous coming together. One of my clients, we'll call him Frank, created a book, his first book. We published his first book, I believe, four years ago. And he finished his second book. It's a stake in the ground. There are three books on his strategy roadmap. First was a book about mistakes I've made, don't do these things. And it's more a life guide book than it is had to do with what he does for a living, which happens to be financial services of a specific type, and he is after a specific type of couple that are his people. So that book has been out and it's been very helpful. This second book has a marvelous title. It's called The Power to Live Your Life: Seven Things to Not Interrupt. And it's been picked up by a major publishing house who we work with in New York with global reach. And we hoped to have a foreword written by someone of note. And yesterday we received the foreword from the person we hoped would write it, and it was glowing. "This book should be read by everyone who wants to live their most fulfilling life." And this fellow doesn't exaggerate. He is a global media reshaper. My client's ability to speak and touch people's hearts because of the book will be multiplied by that foreword, by that individual being promoted along with the book being promoted when it comes out. It'll help it get noticed for awards.

And the book is not about what he does for a living. One of the things that it says, you know, seven things to not interrupt, one of them is financial. And so it's one of those things that most people, many people, really just make mistakes, assume somebody else will take care of it, and the book points out that's a slippery slope and it doesn't turn out well, and the blind spot that people use that they don't even see as a blind spot. His ability to reach his target audience will multiply because he can speak about the book and the seven things. He can talk about your mental fitness and your physical fitness; he's lost 80 lbs three times and it's off for good now. So he speaks from his own personal experiences. He, even in the book, we have QR codes where it says, "Hey, you know, here's something I want to tell you in person from my heart." And he'll say, "You read about this in chapter 6, but here's what I want you to hear from my heart." So they now, they're reading his book, but now they get to know him.

That book will propel him to make bigger impacts, touch more lives. It'll be translated into languages around the world because it's about human beings and the things they do mindlessly that interrupt things that are really, really important. I mean, relationships that work, your integrity. He's a financial adviser. Okay. But it's part of a brand strategy plan to get to his third book, which is about his faith. And that's the brand's end goal, is to lift up doing business with a servant's heart and to help people step into their purpose, step into their calling, and make sure they're connected with their creator in the right way.

So he's after his... his umbrella brand. I mean, his business brand is a business and he does certain things for his business and he's really good at them, but his umbrella brand, his highest level impact, is helping people blueprint their lives in a different way, reconnect with their creator. So the brand that we define for him is the umbrella brand. His business brand will thrive because of it.

But the question I'm going to ask you, you're listening, is what's your umbrella? What's your highest level impacts that you could... that we've all been given gifts and skills and unlimited power. What's the highest level impact for what you do that stands for everything you are? It might not be what you do for a living. It might not be your business. There's a higher level. What's the umbrella? That's the thinking that happens during impact-driven branding. It is about business. It's about, you know, let's make it, let's make it bake clarity into it so that it comes alive and people whom you really want to impact are attracted faster. You get the right fit clients. It's all that. But there's more. And you know, if you're listening to this, there are times in your life you think, "Look, I'm not done. There is more. I know there's more. I just don't..." What a blessing that branding done right literally helps to answer the question, "What's the umbrella? What's... how do I get credit and run toward my highest level impacts in my fulfilling life?"

Niti: Beautiful. So, Rich, now, as I'm thinking while you're speaking on these lines, what if someone is feeling overwhelmed by branding? Like they're not ready. They want to step into book business. They want to write their own book. They want to have their business taken to that next level, but branding is somewhere that they're stuck in. So, what is that small step that perhaps they should take to calm themselves down and take that powerful step, the first step?

Rich: Niti, such a great question because you've described many, many people. And I'll answer your question after I say why. Chances are one of the reasons that people who are intimidated by branding, or it stops them instead of propelling them, is because the world doesn't know what branding is and they hear the word usually from marketing service sellers who want to sell you whatever their marketing services are. And I don't know, anything that's executional, from "do a book in a weekend" to "use this email program," like all that stuff is executional. It's all the pieces of "how do we reach our target?" It's that's all marketing. And so those marketing services people, they use the word all the time. "Oh, this will be good for your branding, branding, branding, branding. Oh, what good branding." And they don't have a really clear idea of branding. So it's kind of overwhelming. It's like, "Well, I think I need a guru." Which sets them up to pay a bunch of money for somebody that wants them to think that they need a guru, when you don't need a guru.

So, here's where you start. Okay. Close your eyes. First of all, close your eyes and ask yourself, "What does it look like when what I want to do, and I clearly see doing it, and I really want... What does it look like when it's thriving? When everything I'm doing is working, what am I doing? Am I writing a book? Am I speaking? Am I coaching one-on-one? Am I speaking to large groups of people? Am I writing things that move people's heart? Am I sharing with people my skill so that my skill is now used by lots of people? Like, what am I doing when my brand is thriving?" Thriving meaning you're thriving financially. Everything is working. You publish a book and people say it changed my life. You schedule a weekend retreat, it's really well attended, and people say, "Oh my gosh," and they invite other people to it. Everything you're doing is working. You have your eyes closed and you picture what that looks like. That's the first thing because it starts with the impacts. You know, those what impacts are you making on people and what does it look like and how are you doing that?

And then ask your heart. Give me one. And I'm your heart. Ask your heart, "Give me a person." A type of a person. Maybe it's a couple. Okay. But it's a type of person. Eventually, it might be a type of business. But it starts with a person. "Give me a person that I clearly see impacting and I really want to impact, and describe what makes them them." You know, she's of this age. She's had this experience. You know, she still feels responsible for her children. Just describe what makes that person the person your heart gave you. Beautiful. And then describe the very first impact you'll make on her. You describe the person before they meet the brand, before they meet you. Right. And then what's the very first impact? Will she reframe how she sees herself? Because impacts come in levels. So often it starts in the head. She sees the world different. She finally understands. She awakens to... just describe each level of impact and go as high as you can imagine. She may become a world changer based on the work that she did with you.

When you do that, and then say, "Give me another one." You don't need a bunch. You could do it with... I have one client who has one, and it's... she's a huge, huge idea client. She puts big, big, big ideas in the world in a marvelous way. She only has one. So I used to have four, I combined one into it, so I have three. That's it. There's no rule. It's just that if there's a, you know, if you see working with a young person and you also see working with people that have decades more, those people think differently. They have different care-abouts in their head. The things they say to themselves with pretty frequency are different. So, they're different target audiences. So, you describe them separately. But do not ask your head. Okay? Because your head, you know, your head makes lists and it'll say like, "You know, you can help a rodeo clown. Hey, you can help the mailman." Don't ask your head. Ask your heart. "Heart, whom do I... give me one. Now, give me another one. Whom do I clearly see impacting and I really want to impact?"

Doing that puts you and the brand you will become on a solid track to build a foundation of clarity into why your brand is your brand. And by going through these steps—and when my book comes out, Impact Driven Branding: Seven Steps to Ensure Your Brand Impacts People's Lives in the World—you'll have the process and the little sheets, you can just sit there and do it yourself, and it will bake clarity into the way your brand shows up. That's... and the clarity will no longer be missing and people will feel it. Even a person that you didn't write down will feel the clarity and be attracted. So you'll attract a lot more than the one or two or three or four that you wrote down. But it is the asking your heart that makes it completely you.

Niti: That's amazing. It's actually a promise fulfilled because you promised that in the beginning of the podcast that this is going to be something which your listeners would not have listened to.

Rich: Nobody tells you this stuff. Okay. And no, I mean, and yeah, so that's why you and I like each other so much. We both understand this, right? But the world doesn't teach it.

Niti: No. And where do you even get the, you know, the window of awareness? Well, thank goodness you're getting it from Niti's podcast right now.

Rich: And what a blessing.

Niti: Thank you so much. But Rich, I mean, what you and I have just spoken about, the example that you just gave... we have read the theoretical aspects of it. Now that YouTube is so prominent, people are seeing the videos on it: "you should target your audience," "you should focus on your personal brand," "you should focus on your personal story," "be authentic." But the way you described it, keeping in the view of heart congruence and actually bringing in that perspective, I think that is what has made it absolutely, absolutely clear. I'm pretty sure for my viewers as well, because now they understand how to literally go in and find that person, that target person who's going to be replicated and seen in so many audiences, right?

Rich: Yeah. You know, you make a great point that the noise that's out there that says everything from, you know, "you need a brand," and it puts you in your head like, "Oh my god." Yeah. Okay. You need a better brand. Oh, you need a... The last thing we need is another book about branding. My book is steps of what to do. It's not about branding. There's no, like, "Well, Microsoft and..." you know, no. It's steps. So we don't need another brand with a branding with a name. So if somebody says to you, "Hey, you know, you need a..." or "You should..." here's what you say: "Thanks for sharing." You know, "You can write a number one book in a weekend?" "Really? Thanks for sharing." It's not strategic. It's not thoughtful. There's no roadmap. There's no roadmap to your purpose.

I literally had a woman call me that says, "My girlfriend told me to call you. I've been texting some scripture once a week. I text one scripture to everybody for three years." And she was told, "Wow, you should write a book." And I know a guy. That was the referral. This woman was an HR person in a school district. She was retired and she called me and she talked to me. She's not made of marketing. She doesn't study marketing. Branding is the furthest thing from her thought process. And she says, "You know, a book." And I said, "Look, you have two choices. I've got a book." And that's as snarky as I can make it. You know, that's the "book in the weekend" people. "I have a book." Yeah, who gives a crap? Like, everybody has a book. Does it matter? You know, why does it matter? Well, you need to peel that onion.

Okay, so two options. "I've got a book" or "Your book is a stake (s-t-a-k-e) in the ground that moves your brand forward in a strategic direction that you know you must go to achieve what you see as possible." It's a strategic stake in the ground. That means its title and subtitle, its titles and subtitles of content, the sub-chunk titles in the... you can... it can be written before the book's even written, and people will look at that and they'll go, "Oh my god, that looks like a great book." That's what we do here.

So now with her first book, and we created 10 covers because it's little tiny pocket books, and we created a name for her umbrella brand. Her purpose is to... God told her there are people that she needed to touch whose lives she needed to touch, and her purpose is to encourage people to get back into reading the word for their daily life because she knows how powerful it is. And her series is called Just a Pinch of Salt to Flavor Your Life and Your Faith. That's the name of the series of books, and it goes in the Christian aisle but it has food on the cover 'cause it just appeals, so it looks like a cookbook in the Christian aisle. It's a really cool idea. And this woman's last name, unbelievably, is Marilyn Love. And it transformed her ability to think into the future. And hers is a divine purpose.

Hey, imagine if we all had that. You heard my story, that I'm in a choir loft after several... I said I'm not branding anymore, and then people asked me to help them, and I'm singing in the choir church. I must be listening to a message or something. But I get this download: what I'm doing is helping people pull the desires for impact from their own heart. Who put those desires there? Well, I believe God did. We're all made for a reason. And one of the ways we get to our purpose is by following that desire to make impact. So the download was, "It's not your work, Rich. This is God's work." That's when I realized that my whole journey has prepared me to do what I'm doing. What a blessed place to be. I get to do this. I want you to feel that way in what you do. I want, if you're listening to this, I want you to have that feeling that "I get to do this." This feels more like love than work.

Niti: Wow. You know what, Rich? It's... you know, you and I are so much on the same page that it's almost... I'm having goosebumps. I just like to tell you a little bit about what was my background like. So mine was HR, HR transition, worked with global companies, transitioned into my own content marketing business, and then I got into writing a book. I got this epiphany that I should write a book. It's called Live Your Dreams, Be You.

Rich: Oh, I love it.

Niti: And the book became apparently a bestseller in India for three years, which is huge for me being a very new author. And then the journey kind of took on from there. I never looked back. I got into podcasting, I don't know how, and the YouTube channel followed and things like that. It's like I'm still on this journey, still figuring it out, but it's just beautiful.

Rich: I believe your voice is part of your brand. And I... you... I don't know if you've used it that way, but here you have a podcast. So you certainly have the foundation for it. And wow, I love that. How appropriate.

Niti: So yeah, so that's just beautiful in terms of how branding just comes into the picture on its own when we are in the flow of God's word. You know, you mentioned the word "content." May I speak to that word because that bothers people? It's one of those common questions. "Hey, what content do you think our audiences would like?" And again, if you just listen to the noise, it's like any content will do. "Oh, content used to be... content is king. And then it's like content's not king, context is king."

Rich: Look, I've been doing this for 49 years, so I've been living through all the stuff. And so it's like, "Oh yeah, here we go again. Let's talk about content." I want you to imagine a spreadsheet. I know that's like, "Oh god, that's really boring," but okay. And across the top there are three columns. And each of those has a category of expertise that's been crafted to be unique language that transfers energy. That is a category of expertise of you. The first one's probably what you do now and what you're really good at and you get credit for that. And the second is a bridge category that allows you to broaden your reach. And the third is your brand destination strategically.

And the rest of the spreadsheet are titles... and just picture this: titles and subtitles of content that are written in the language of the brand that's been developed up to that point. And the purpose of the content title and subtitle is to pull someone into the content so the brand gets credit for what's at the top of the column. Imagine you had that, and there's 10 to 15 titles and subtitles of content on each of the columns that get you credit for one of those categories of expertise, and you could use that for the next 5 to 10 years. And every one of those titles and subtitles of content is absolutely congruent with the... and it has a hook. You know, "Do this first, here's how," you know, "read this story," as a hook to get people into the content. And everyone has a... and it's been crafted and fun and it works and it's all congruent.

People don't think about that. They think content is a one-off. "Oh, I got a new dog. I'm going to write a... you know, I'm gonna blog about my dog." I've seen it all. I've seen it with big, big companies. I see it with solopreneurs. There are really good ways to make sure that everything your brand says and does moving forward is aligned with the most important impacts that you really want to make. So why not?

Niti: Wow. So this has been an amazing, soulful conversation with you, Rich. I really enjoyed it, from strategic PR positioning to actually brand-aligned messaging to actually understanding God's work through personal branding. So it's been beautiful. Thank you so much.

Rich: This was a special opportunity. And I hope that once the publisher publishes the book, that maybe we'll have another conversation.

Niti: Absolutely. Thank you so much, Priy—I'm sorry, I called you Priy—it's Niti. Sorry, bless your heart.

Rich: And I'm Niti.

Niti: This has been a special opportunity for two like-minded people from two similar but very different backgrounds to connect on something that is really, really important to every individual who's listening to this. So, I'm glad you listened and paid attention. There's a lot here for you.

Rich: Yes.

Niti: And they can reach you on the emails that you were going to provide us right after the podcast. So, they'll be able to reach you, right? So, thank you.

Rich: Right. And we do free master classes every month that you can just hop on. You have to register for them, but they're one 60 minutes and they'll start to set you straight, and then we have a series of things that you can attend, so that when you're ready, you can just move quickly.

Niti: Absolutely. Right. So thank you, Rich. Thank you so much.

Rich: You're welcome. Thank you, Niti.