Personal Brand Story and Overcoming Doubts,
with Reme Mancera and Trudy Simmons

 Hello, welcome to Intersection Chats. I am  Reme Mancera. I am a personal brand story strategist, and I’m here with my guest, Trudy. Hello Trudy. Good morning. Wonderful to be here. Thank you for having me. So. Yeah, we are going to talk about overcoming doubts and personal brand story and how they interact each other and also about all the different things that will came up, uh, will come up with our conversation.

So, uh, please tell us like what you do and what is your business briefly so we have a context about that. I’ve, and my business is the Daisy Chain Group. I’ve had it for 15 years now. Um, I started it in Australia and then bought it over to the uk. The core of everything I do is creating business platforms for business women to be seen and heard.

So the main ways that I do that is in conferences, networking events, online and in person, uh, masterminds for, for them to be able to gain confidence, to be able to be the whole of themselves wherever they wanna be. Okay, so let’s go and start with the main conversation. So in your own experience, how has been the connection between personal and brand story and the work that you do, especially around overcoming that in business?

Yeah, so I started the business 15 years ago, and I had to really sit with who I was, who I’d become, who I wanted to be, and I had to change the way that I was viewing everything because I’d come outta a, a long corporate career. I was burnt out. I was in a toxic environment for quite a long time. And I had lost myself completely.

So in that personal brand of what the Daisy Chain group was, and that’s a different story of start starting that name. I had to unlearn who I was told I was and relearn who I wanted to be. So that was a very interesting process because one of the things that I did was I got a branding photo shoot done.

Okay, easy peasy. You turn up in your black suit. Look at me, I’m so colorful in my black suit. I turned up for my branding photo shoot on a beach in Sydney. Uh, and thought that that’s how, who I needed to be to be able to be seen as professional. And thank goodness the branding photographer had known me for a while through different networking events.

And she said, what are you doing? She said, I’ve bought you a massive bunch of daisies because your business is the daisy chain group. Get rid of the black. So I, I, so immediately those branding photos started taking shape of who I actually was and how people then were able to interact with me as the, the joyful, um, fun.

Side of who I am, because that is my business. Mm-hmm. I am not the turn up suited, booted. Everything is so very structured and it is much more about let’s have fun with our businesses. We, we have our businesses to be who we want to be and, and if you’re around me, you’re gonna have fun. That’s it. So it was very much the personal brand started with having those photos taken and realizing that I could be who I wanted to be.

Hmm. Yeah, that’s, that’s lovely. And what about with your experience with clients? So how is your experience different, let’s say, when someone has clarity in their personal brand story and their storytelling and those who are not, uh, there yet, and how that. In your experience affect like having the clarity or not in general in their messaging in their business?

Yeah, so I see this in just about every client that I have because we quite often turn up clients, turn up. Feeling like they have the story in their head that’s been going around a long time of what they think they want. Mm-hmm. Or what they think they should do. Mm. And what I do in my business mentoring is make sure that they have clarity, direction, and focus in what they want, not what they think they have to do or should do.

Quite often in that it is looking at that personal brand story of who they are and who they want to be known as. Mm-hmm. Which is a really important question to ask, who do I wanna be known as by other people? And in doing that work, we can get absolute clarity on what they want to achieve for the big picture.

When you’ve got the clarity of the vision for the future, then you can create the direction. When you’ve got the direction that you want to go in, you start clearing the path of all the rubbish that you’ve put in your own way of achieving that, and then you know exactly where to focus, what to get. Done next.

And that’s when you can really start looking at the messaging and the other ways of, of how you’re turning up, how you are talking, um, how you are dressing however you want to be, you know, dress for the job that you want. Well, I, I turn up with pompoms and tutu very often, so it is, um, it is really looking at who you want to be known as and making sure that you’re getting that clarity, direction and focus.

And I, that is what I deal with with. Every client that I have deliberately, because I love that story. I love that feeling of when they turn up and they feel stuck and they feel like everything’s going around in their heads, that tornado, I call it, you got the tornado going around in your head of all the thousands ideas and you, you can’t seem to make anything settle.

And part of that is because something isn’t sitting right in that. Way that you want to be known in that personal brand story of what the future holds for you and the business. And when we get clear on that, everything else falls into place. It’s lovely. Hmm. I I I love that you bring this, um, like framework that you have of clarity, uh, direction and focus.

Yeah. Yeah. Um, and this like, so connected to one of the main models that I repeat my clients is like simplify and focus. Mm-hmm. Is like. This something that have over the years of my business bring is like, it doesn’t matter if you are doing a lot, but if you are not. Sure about what is the direction that you want to do.

It’s like, it’s not the speed that you are going, but also the direction you having, like, okay, where I, I want to try to go even, because sometimes it’s like, okay, I’m just overthinking and not taking action or taking action in a million things and then everything is diluted. So I feel like it’s really important to have clarity, um, especially around.

Yeah, because there are so many things that you can do. So, so a hundred percent. And then in my, in my experience, something else that, uh, happened related specifically to personal brand story is how if you don’t have the clarity, you might be like, warn, wondering if. Who will care about your story? Is my story relevant for my audience, how I’m going to share my story?

All of that. Again, back to the clarity. When you have the clarity, when you have the strategy, you will know, okay, this is the story that I want to highlight because I know that sharing this piece of my journey will help people to understand why this is important to me, why I work with this. Specific group of people or what is my approach?

Because any of us, we have a unique approach. We might be offering a similar service or a similar product, but our approach is different in some way, which is why I invite people to think about, okay, what is your, your unique approach, and then what is the story from your journey? That will help you to bring that, to, to explain that, to, to articulate that.

So, so yeah, it’s like, it’s really, really important, having the clarity and not being just in, in, in this, sometimes you are in there, but it is like how you can try to get clarity from that, um, million things, million ideas or concerns that you might have. It, it’s, it is incredible. In what you’re talking about that, that feeling of getting the personal brand story right for yourself of what you want, that’s when your clients are going to find you.

So if anybody is struggling in their story, struggling in their business, feeling like they’re talking into the void, that that nobody’s listening. What I have done for myself over the 15 years, which I do quite, you have to keep looking at what, yeah. What needs to happen at this point is to create engagement with people.

They’ve got to be able to know, like, and trust you, and to get to know you. You’ve got to be authentically yourself. Because if you are trying to be that, come on, everybody buy from me. This is what I’ve got. And just keep pumping out that kind of feeling. People don’t know how to take that and they shut down.

So it really is looking at how you want to be able to show up so that people can engage with you as the whole of yourself. That’s what creates engagement with people. Yeah, people. Yeah, absolutely. And I, um, I have this framework, I call it the 10 story connector framework, where instead of having one big story, I help people identify 10 meaningful moments in the journey.

And each of them is connected to a specific key factor. And when we are working on that, I always, um, bring that, how when you share your story strategically. How each of those stories will be a point of connection with the, your audience, with new audiences. When you are in front of, uh, them. Let’s say you are in, in a podcast guest opportunity.

You go to networking events, any of that opportunities, it’s like, okay, whenever you are sharing your own story there, one of your stories, it’s going to help to build that connection with the people. Build that trust so important. Yeah. And then provide the context. I feel that, at least for me, for my way of looking for professionals or people to help me, I always love to have a bit of more context about who is this person, why they are doing this specific work, what is different from them.

Hmm. So using your stories for that, I feel is like super powerful for your business. I absolutely love. I’ve run networking events for 15 years. Um, and I absolutely love when people say to me, networking doesn’t work for me. And I say, oh, really? Where have you turned up consistently? Oh, no, I went to one. I didn’t like it.

Because people can’t get to know, like, and trust you on one meeting. Yeah. It is really important in showing up with your story consistently and whether you’ve got 10 different ways to engage with people. People wanna know all of those things. They want to know you. So in. In, in networking events in particular because that’s where I’ve seen a lot of different interactions.

The people that turn up with that old way of doing things in networking of, here’s my business card, move on to the next person. This is what I do. No conversation. It doesn’t work anymore. It doesn’t work, it doesn’t engage, and it doesn’t allow people the, the time to be able to feel like they can engage with that story.

So it really is important in turning up consistently and, and sharing your story consistently in the way that you want to be able to engage with people in the room or online. Yeah. Yeah. And this is, uh, something that I, I see how I, I love networking. I, I am a, a big fan of networking and I feel like, I remember at the beginning of my business feeling overwhelmed by the idea of networking and trying some, and it’s like, okay, this is not for me.

And then. Giving another try and see that that community or that specific group was not for me. But there, there are others that are, so it’s finding the, the one that you feel comfortable there, that you feel like they are not just throwing business cards at you or data, um, and having a conversation. This is something that I feel like using your stories for, having conversation is.

Something that is so powerful because it’s like, okay, it is a way to connect because. There are some stories that even if I haven’t gone through that, when I am listening to them, it’s like, wow, I feel related to this. There is some emotion, there are some lessons from that moment of that person that I feel related.

I feel connected to. And that brings the opportunity to, for me to have a conversation about that and maybe sharing some of my feelings in a similar situation or just asking them about how was for them. And again, having the opportunity to learn a bit more about the person behind the brand. Mm-hmm. And not just about what are the services because.

There it is. Like when you are looking for, let’s say a web designer or someone to help your business, there are thousands of people that can help you. So I tend to like to learn a bit more about who is behind that, and then I can see, okay, I can trust this person. I am somehow attracted to their messaging that they are having.

I would love to know what are their services and see if they can help me. But this. From the human connection first, and then I can decide in the rest. Um, so yeah, I would love to know your thoughts on that as well. Well, it, it’s, it is incredible having run them for 15 years. One of the questions that I get a lot from people is.

Do you just have one category of person, so one website designer, one business coach? Absolutely not because you could have, as you’ve just said, a hundred different website designers in front of you, but you will get on with that one person because of their story, because of their background, because of the way they’ve interacted with you.

And in the networking events that I run, it is much more about the conversations that you have. Not how much business do you get out of turning up to one network event? It’s not how things happen. It is. I, I facilitate the, the, the network events so that there are questions so that you can go and have conversations outta those conversations, come sharing about your business, sharing about where you are, sharing about who you are, and in doing those conversations, you are going to get to know the person that you want to be able to work with next.

Recommend next Collaborate. I have so many people in the same industries who end up collaborating because they like each other, they know each other, and then they trust each other enough to go and do these big collaborations in in different events and, and. Growing their audience. Networking is all about growing your audience and it isn’t just about the people in the room, it’s about who they know.

And I think that message gets lost a lot. So it isn’t just about you having that conversation with that person, it is saying, or, or knowing for yourself that you are sharing a story that they may go and share. So what do you want them to say about you? What do you want them to share about your business?

I was at a networking event recently, and this brilliant person that I met shared this wonderful story about how they started their business, and it really inspired me. It really made me think. Fantastic. Then they will come back to you when they think about your services in the future. Yeah, a hundred percent.

And I feel like, uh, for a lot of people when um, they ask that, I, I have a conversation with them and it’s about, uh, and I tell them how I am using networking events a lot for, for my own business to grow my network. It’s like, yeah, I am not, I am not sure I have gone, I didn’t get any clients from that.

It’s like, yeah, that’s the point. I don’t go there thinking I need to get. X number of clients there. My objective is just going there, having conversations, learn about the people, see if we have a nice, uh, conversation together. If I feel like I want to have a extra conversation with them, I want to keep the conversation going and then.

I have got clients, yes, but that’s not the only thing. I have got collaborators, I have got guests for my podcast for this, uh, live chats as well. I have got opportunity to go to different, uh, communities as a guest speaker, not from directly from them, as you say. Also, because of them have introduced me to other people.

And there are so many different ways of supporting each other. Yeah. That can, can, uh, can goes as a result of these, uh, interactions in a networking event. But then it’s like how you follow up, what, what else you, you focus on is just about. I need to talk about my next thing. Yeah. I need to make sure. So there is a lot of, uh, how you behave in that.

How, what is your approach and what are your expectations that, uh, have a, an important role in my opinion to how it goes. And it’s also realizing that a lot of people, and I’m included in this, I I’m an introvert. People think I’m this massive extrovert, but I’m not. I’m an introvert, so there is a lot of fear, doubt that that turns up.

The second you’re about to press that join meeting online, or the second you’re about to walk into that door with other people in the room, and that deer in headlights feeling of, oh, crikey, can I even do this? There is a lot of fear that goes into that in. Networking events in the right networking events for you.

’cause everybody’s an individual. Um, what they do, what mine do is help you to grow your confidence, help you, because we all have to be able to introduce our businesses and the confidence levels that we can change. Um. Grow by turning up and just practicing, not feeling. I have people that stand up and read off a piece of paper because they’re practicing their introduction, and you’ll get just as much reaction from reading it as you will standing up and doing it because that practice builds your confidence and in the right environment when you are able to build your confidence in a, an environment that says.

Go for it. We wanna hear from you. It is a lot different than feeling like you’re standing up and nobody’s listening. It doesn’t matter, and you’re shaking and that fear is kicking in. So it, it is finding the right environments for, for building your brand story through practicing, finding the environment that you can practice in.

So yeah, I, I love that. I love that we have that environment that people feel safe in turning up. Practicing their introductions, um, coming back, doing it again and again and again so that it feels like, feels more comfortable to them. Uh, and then seeing what happens, seeing what the audience reaction is so that they can change it accordingly for each audience that they turn up to.

So, yeah. Another important point. Yeah. And is, uh, you bring that and so important, the practicing part, and I ha this is my own experience sharing what I do and how I help people in. I dunno how many networking and how every time I was just. Looking at the pic because I lo, I prefer, tend to prefer online, uh, networking events.

So it’s like looking at the faces and see how do you react if they understand, if they put a weird face that I am not explaining myself correctly, if they have more question what kind of question they are asking. So you get a lot of information to keep. Refining your, your messaging and how you introduce yourself.

And then, uh, of course I would invite people to try to put their son bit of their stories in a way where, again, for, make it more memorable for, for seeing how that’s different. Because when you are in a networking with several people, you might get lost in the sense of there are too many different.

People introducing themselves. So if you bring something that is like a visual element that you can remind or something, it’s like make it a bit easier for them to, to remember. And then of course how you follow up. You, you keep the conversation going one on one. I call it micro networking because it’s what I do after, uh, being in a networking event.

Mm-hmm. I will go and. With my notes because I like to make little notes to remember the person and then I will go, maybe they share something, they talk about something. I have a resource for them. I have a podcast episode that I listen to that might be useful for them. A way to keep the conversation that’s need to be about, here are my services.

It’s just getting to know the person. Yeah. Conversations. Conversations. I say that in, um, that I entertain business women in their businesses because when they turn up to any of my events, they’re gonna have fun. And what the reason that I do that is because firstly, I’m hilarious. And secondly, because when you turn up and you have fun and you, you start laughing at me or with me, I don’t mind, um, you start laughing then that happiness.

Build your confidence. And when we build our confidence, we feel more, um, able to put ourselves out there. We feel we can be more visible. And if the end result is to get more visible in our businesses, then have fun with it. Cri here, Riley, turn up, have a giggle at me with me, and then, um, and then go and do what you wanna do.

That this is the whole core of what I’ve been doing 15 years is. Helping people to see their potential. Everybody has potential. Everybody can do whatever they want to do. It’s just working out what they want as the first port of call. That clarity and then everything else can fall into place. Hmm. Yeah.

And I, and going back to the, starting on the conversation, having that clarity and having, uh, like the. First, the, the, the, the understanding that the, what are your potential, because it’s like sometimes we don’t see our own potential. Right? Uh, and we, um, tend to ent about ourselves. Like, I am not ready, I am not enough for this.

Uh, I need to get more courses and study more before launching this new thing that I want to launch and all that. So it’s like going back to the idea of, okay. How I know for sure I want to have this specific group of people, or I want to cover, um, uh, this topic. In my case, I want more people to see how their story’s relevant.

It’s worth telling. Uh, you don’t need an epic story to, to share it and to be relevant for your audience and for your business. So I, that’s why in the podcast that I have, I, I invite guests to share their own stories so other people can see. Yeah. That story was relevant for their audience. Doesn’t need to be a traumatic one.

Yeah. And in that I is that all those things that get in your way, that, that doubt piece that gets in your way of putting yourself out there. And um, I wrote a book last year, doubtless Do More. Hmm, because, and I wrote the book, I wrote the book in three months, and I published it within those three months because people kept saying to me, you can’t do that.

That’s not possible. I thought, oh, well, uh, let’s see. I want, I want to do it. That’s my deadline. I’ve decided, um, I do what I want. So I wrote a book, doubtless Do More in three Months and published it. But the reason that I wrote the book is because I could see in myself and in other people that that feeling of doubt that we allow to get in our own way and other people’s doubts when they’re put on us.

Yes. And we, we listen to what they’re saying. You can’t do that. You are crazy. I’m always called the crazy daisy. I don’t mind, um, uh, all the, the things that people say. Some people will sit there and let those thoughts come into their minds and take them down, keep them playing small. Whereas, and I only realize this in writing the book when I have a doubt, when I have other people’s doubts, I just think I’m gonna do it anyway, and then I just take the action forward.

I make a quick decision, and I didn’t realize that that was a thing that I did that other people don’t do. So, and I’ve, I’ve got lovely people around me who, who find it really hard to make decisions and if you can’t make a decision, then you sit staying stuck. Mm. So it was really interesting. Doubtless do more, Trudy Simmons.

Um, it was really interesting in writing the book because in the middle of it. There was a chapter on self-worth, self-belief. Mm-hmm. And when I was writing the chapter, somebody said something and all of my self-belief disappeared completely. And I walked away from the book for about two weeks. I couldn’t write anything.

I couldn’t look at it. I felt sick. I felt, you know, those, those knots in your stomach. Everything just completely disappeared. And how I was able to, how I felt, I was able to show up. So I started writing the chapter, and in the middle of the chapter I put mid chapter check-in. I just lost all my self-belief and this is how I built it back up.

So it was, but that feeling of brand story, personal story, um, engagement, uh, authenticity was all encapsulated in that one feeling of I could have just written this book and put it out and said, I never doubt myself. Look at me. It’s not true. Everybody doubts themselves. But it’s just what you do at that point to be able to move yourself forward.

Hmm. Yeah, I love that and I love how that moment for sure. If I reading in the book, it will be my, okay. I just believed you more on what you have saying is honesty. It’s, it is authenticity because it’s like, otherwise you are just showing me the perfect formula, uh, framework to use it. But you are not showing how you are using it yourself.

And it’s, uh, a work in progress and you will get better in knowing the tools, but that doesn’t mean that. You will not need it to use, uh, later on. So yeah, that’s, that’s really valuable in my opinion. We’re all works in progress. Yes. Anybody that says they’ve got all their shit together is fibbing to themselves more than anything.

Um, I, as I said, I’ve had my business 15 years. I still learn all the time at the blockers that I put in my own way of the way that I show up, of the way that I don’t show up. Um, I’m always, always learning about something about myself that is. How I’m keeping myself playing small rather than putting myself out there.

And it’s, it’s worth looking at what you want to achieve and then. Doubt yourself less and do more. Boom. Yeah. And I always say how the building a business is such a self knowledge journey. It is like, wow, this really like learning everything about you and learning about how you show up in life, in business and everything.

And I just said like the mindset blocks that are. You are discovering every time a new one. And as far as as you are evolving, your business is evolving, but you will kept keep finding new things to learn about you and how you react to them and how you want to react to them. Yeah. I’m 50. I’m 50. Actually I’m 51.

I’m 51 years old and still learning. I would, and I love that fact. Yeah, it is. I would love to tell somebody that’s 30 everything that I know, but do you know what? It’s their journey. And some, uh, we, if I hadn’t have gone through all that I’ve gone through in my, in all my years. Then, um, I wouldn’t be the person that I am and I actually quite like who I am.

I love the fact that I can help people and motivate people and help people to feel more enthusiastic about what they’re doing. That if that’s what I do, then I’m really happy with that. Nice. Yeah, I love that. I am, uh, 47, so I, I, I know what you mean about all the knowledge that you get just by the years that you are living.

Um, but then, yeah, you need to go through certain things to get the lessons and then process them. Through your own point of view, uh, and all that. So yeah, and that’s something I really appreciate about working with people in their stories because sometimes I work a lot with people that they are somehow navigating a transition in their business.

So they are expanding their expertise or changing their niche or, or. Introducing new offers and something that I see how if they have done a big pivot is like they feel like they need to start talking about the new thing and kind of not talking or hiding the past, that they were doing what they were doing before and then through this work together.

I can see how they get to realize, okay, there is a threat here about the point that I are now that this past work experience or life experience is so important. It’s actually so meaningful about. Who I am now, what I am doing now, why I am doing this work with this specific group of people. So it is about telling your story to others, but it’s also about understanding your own story.

And I feel that when you have that clarity, that’s also helping with the doubt. Because it’s like, yeah, I, I get more confidence. You have clarity, you have a strategy, then you will have more confident. For sure. That’s natural. So that’s something I really enjoy to see the process of, uh, working with someone and see that process of like somehow making part peace in life.

Okay. Yeah, this makes sense. And it’s not just that I am accepting that it’s that I am using, that I am creating new examples. I am bringing. Past experience that will help me to be more memorable because other people doesn’t have this past life because no one else has. Um, so yeah, I really appreciate being in, in like a witness and, and somehow helping people in that process.

Well, an age is expertise and wisdom. So if that is what we bring to the party is, uh, is expertise and wisdom in our chosen areas, then you can have qualifications that back, things up you can share with people. The, the, the things that you may have learned on courses and other things, but your experience, your expertise, a lot of the time comes from your life experience.

And that’s what we wanna be able to share. That’s what we wanna be able to, to connect with. Yeah. And just one last thing I want to mention, because I think that’s also related to the doubts, is how, for some people they get concerned about. Sharing their private life. Mm-hmm. And not be like respectful of their privacy.

And I always want to highlight is like personal and private is not the same. Mm-hmm. You can be sharing your personal brand, talking about your personal story and still keep your privacy and you are the one. That is in control of what are the boundaries that they want to set? What are the things that they want, I don’t want to share, and it’s totally okay.

Still value. You will still, uh, share valuable, uh, stories and that are connected and relevant to your audience and to your offer. You are the one deciding the level of privacy. So that’s something that I get for people about the, relating to the doubts in business and how I interact with them. It’s your choice.

Yeah. Be who you wanna be. Yeah. Tell them what, what you wanna be known as. It’s your choice. Yeah. Okay. So before we wrap up, um, there is some, um, something else like we haven’t touched, but maybe it’s some message that is important to you and you want to share with, uh, the people listening. I think that right back at the beginning talking about the personal branding photo, photo shoot that I did.

The thing that I would say more than anything is be yourself. That is the only way to show up, because if you try and be somebody else, it’s going to make you feel icky somewhere in your business or somewhere where you’re showing up. Just be yourself and be proud of that. Hmm, a hundred percent. You don’t need to pretend to be someone else.

Actually, the opposite. Be you. Yep. Yeah. So to uh, at the end, I always like to ask, uh, the guests, um, and myself, what would be like 1, 2, 3 words to summarize the connection between personal brand story and overcoming doubts in business. You ready? Yeah, you, you can go first and then I, I’ll go. Yeah. Clarity, direction and focus.

I think that ties everything together in what we, what we’ve been talking about today. It’s how you get through the doubts. It’s the, the success formula that I have used, right, right from the beginning, because it works. Once you’re clear, you can create the direction and you know what to focus on. That’s what, that’s what business is.

Spot on. Uh, for me, I would say strategic confidence. Because when you have the clarity, when you have the strategy, you will have the confidence and you will know how to use in your business. So yeah. So thank you so much for, for coming, for sharing your insights and your knowledge and your expertise. This was a lovely conversation to have a great conversation and thank you so much.

Yeah. And thank you everyone that, that has, uh, joined us or those who are watching the replay, just, um, they will have the, our links and our information in the description. Um, feel free to reach out, uh, go and check if you want to learn more about what we do and how we can help you. And if you have any question or any comments through what we have said in this conversation, feel free to reach out.

Thank you so much and see you next time.