How to Build a Brand That Grows Your Business Without Burnout

Wow. You are not gonna wanna miss this episode. We have Linda Ayawadi, who's an international brand strategist, life and business coach, and founder of the Wow Life in Business Conference. As founder and lead brand strategist of LOI Agency and the Posh Savant, she helps entrepreneurs and organizations build brands that reflect their true vision vision and accelerate growth. Having worked with brands like HBO, McDonald's, Frito Lay, and Title Boxing, Linda blends world class branding expertise with transformational coaching. She empowers leaders to grow impactful businesses without sacrificing family, fulfillment, or balance, inspiring them to think bigger, break limits, and create lasting success in both business Mandy life. Welcome, Linda. Welcome to the Power Up Your Life podcast. I'm Kelly Resendez.

And I'm Mandy McAllister.

And we are joined by just an absolute rock star and somebody that is near and dear to my heart. Linda, how are you?

I am doing great, and thank you for having me on your wonderful show. I feel excited to be here.

Yay. Well, just tell our listeners just a little bit about your background.

Okay. Well, I will say a lot of why I do what I do is for business owners who have the headache of not knowing which way to go when it comes to branding and marketing, not really sure what's right, Feeling overwhelmed with all the things on social media and really wanting to become a household name, but not really knowing how to do it, wanting to look more elevated, but not really knowing where to go Mandy how to make that happen. That's basically why I started my business is to bridge that gap between what you know you are in your mind, that big brand that you see in your mind and actually looking that way and performing that way and doing that for medium to small, medium Life, large business. It doesn't matter what size, but giving that opportunity to everyone versus just a select few. So, yes, I'm the I guess I should say this, owner and founder of LOI Agency and also the Posh Savant, which is poshsavant.com. And both of those businesses, as well as the Brandtastic Voyage. Oh, there's so many. But, all of those entities are all tools that my team and I use to help entrepreneurs look like where they're going so that they can get there faster. So I hope that helps.

I absolutely love that. So being Life an abundant speaker, it's almost, you know, the whole idea that you have to feel as if you are already as successful as your future self. So that's really what you're helping people do is is to portray that image, which I mean, tell tell the listeners, who is that gonna benefit? Like, why would somebody wanna do that? How does it help them improve their business?

Absolutely. One thing that, people who are top level I'm talking about the ones that are working for doing brand strategy for Google or Vogue or, you know, Nike or Apple. What they know is that most of branding is psychologic on every level. It's not just, how you look. It's also the wording, the functionality, how you interact, and, society, social media, all those things. Well, for many, many years, that kind of integrated system has been kept away from your mainstream, I I would say media for small to medium sized business owners. They're more hearing, hey. Get your ads out there. Do Google Ads. Run this. Get your SEO. You know? Get a graphic designer. You know? Anybody who could do the graphics, but start running ads, push ads. But at the end of the day, what a lot of small to medium sized business owners don't know, which I hope I can help to educate your audience today with to make their lives easier is that if you build your brand, you will save money on all those things because it will advertise for you when you're not there. There's a reason why we can say, hey. I wanted to look like, you know, Vogue Your I wanted to look like a Mercedes Benz version of this. You know, you're saying the name. You're integrating it just in speech because there's a brand element that is functioning, you know, psychologically on the background. Anybody's business can have that. We just know the big businesses to have that, and that's the system that we invented. Well, the system that I've talked about in my business is where anybody could have it.

Yes. So it's worth it. Is democratizing branding is what our girl Linda is doing. I love it. So you talked a little bit about how it's it can be really overwhelming because when you are a business owner and Power our most of our listeners are business owners or or, you know, real estate investors, but there's so much stuff to be thinking about, like, you know, fonts and leading and colors and, like, all of the things. Right? Help us clear through that noise. If you are going to talk to someone who is overwhelmed with the idea of branding, what are maybe the first three steps that person or business owner needs to take?

I would say start with strategy and a vision board. And one thing I do with my clients, I let their imagination run wild. Life, I do not look at budget first. I look at where do you actually wanna go? Think about where you want this business to really be, like, long term. And once they start thinking in that frame, it just that alone helps them to understand what they really actually need, how they need to invest in it. Because if you're not really thinking long term, it's just a side hustle. You know, I wouldn't spend too much money on really getting your brand right. But if you're talking about your brand and letting your imagination go and you're saying, man, I want this thing to be big. I want it to be grand. Start with strategy first. Start with the vision board and start with strategy. And before you dive into anything else, start there. Yeah. But that's what I would say. Mandy, yeah, it's I hope that helps.

But yes. Begin with the end in mind. That's that's fantastic.

Yeah. Absolutely. So speak to the woman that wants to build a business but doesn't like social media or doesn't like to be up there in lights. Like, how how do how would you recommend somebody navigate that challenge? Do you think it do you think it's expected that as a business owner today that you really do do have a thought leadership hat on as well?

That is a wonderful question. And I'm gonna say something that's gonna probably go against the grain of everything you probably see online. Social media in the way it's mainly communicated, like everybody needs it. You have to have it. It's actually not true. I have seen businesses thrive even without it, but you need some way for people to know who you are and a strategy to reach your clients. Can social media be a vehicle? You better believe it, and it's a great one. But it's not the only one. And that's part of the reason why the Brandtastic Voyage that's, that I talked about is a book and a program that we have to help people kind of map out where they actually wanna be Mandy where they are and create that road map to get there. And if social media is a part of it, so be it. But don't just stick it in because someone said, hey. Everybody's on social media. You gotta be on social media because I've seen people with millions of followers who can't sell a toothpick for free. So I just say, don't believe all that hype. You know? Find out what is good for you, what's gonna help you thrive. And that's where strategy, which a lot of people skip and go straight into the look and the website and the SEO and the ads

versus, you know, taking that time to be thorough on the foundation of your brand. Right. It's like building a house. You gotta have the foundation set before you start building up. You know, I I wanna ask a little about you and your entrepreneurial journey here. I heard you name at least three businesses, homegirl, and I have, a motel and a car wash and a portfolio of apartment buildings and leadership and GoBundance. And there is theoretically a real estate thread through all of those things. But if I'm being honest with you, new friend Linda, I can lose my damn mind at any moment because there are so many different things going on. Talk to me about how you manage so many different things going on at once.

Absolutely. And I'm so glad you brought this up. You actually started with the analogy that I was going to pair what you just asked with, which is great. It is much like building a Women. But what ends up happening with most people is that we get furniture before we build the house. Like, you don't even know what fits. You don't even know, like, we're getting the furniture, meaning that the entities, like you mentioned, they have a common thread, which is the number one thing that I tell people. If you're doing multiple businesses, find the synergy point. What synergizes all of them? Because if you can Mandy if you can have a common purpose, which most people do, they do have a common purpose even if the businesses are vastly different. Life you can find that, nine tenths, I will say, of your trouble with starting foundationally at a good point is gone because now you're gonna be able to know what actually matters versus what doesn't. So, like, let's say Your you, you just mentioned you have your real estate, business threading through everything that you do, then all you need to do is make sure that they connect. Each individual source will have its own personality, you know, in and of itself a way that it functions, but it all connects to that central source. After a while, when that's when that, when that system and that's something that we do. Because I will say this, do not attempt this on a deep level without professional. Yes. Or you will lose your mind over time because you're gonna find yourself, you know, in many places at one. I'm not saying this, do this yourself. I'm just saying this is what it looks like when it's done well Mandy Women you have the right Kelly, is that those synergy points are found. And after they're found, it it is a thorough process of finding what map and how they connect in a way that doesn't cause you burnout, that doesn't cause you to lose your mind, but allows for each one of those entities to make money. So I'll give you an example with me. I have a conference. I have a branding agency. I have a coaching program. I have books. I have non a nonprofit that's Life a live TV show. All of those entities all are powered by, first of all, advertising our branding agency because we put branding into everything to really showcase. We become our best example of how branding can work and how our system of seeing the endpoint before you get there can work. We take that same thing, connect it with our purpose of community, helping people look like where they're going, thriving in life and business, that passion, we put it in everything, but now we use that to know what opportunities are real opportunities, what, events to do, what not to do. Because now we know the thread. So for someone like you, if you're doing real estate, you can see, hey. If I do this event over here Your if I work over here, how can I thread that to clients that I'm serving, you know, to showcase maybe some of the homes or the establishments that I'm trying to get people to look at? Like, weaving all of that strategy in will make that business feel more like one than five different things that are just kinda all over the place, and you're feeling like you have to change into different people. I hope that makes sense. I know there was a lot. Yeah. Totally. Yeah. Well, Linda, just going a little deeper on that, like, you know, how do you ensure that you know, I know you're the visionary

behind the businesses. You don't you don't wear all the hats within them. But Yes. Yes. What are some of the daily habits that you do either personally or professionally to ensure that you come up with the energy that you need? You know, you've always, Life, whenever we meet, like, you're just this beam of light. You know? Not only do you have the lighting behind you, but you just right? Like, that's the only way I could say it. It's Life, you just bring it. And so how do you take care of yourself, and what daily habits can you share with other leaders out there?

That is a really good question. And if I can be a 100% real with you ladies, number one, I pray, like, a lot. I don't I don't, I don't feel like I'm navigating life alone, and I think, that plays a huge part. I'd just be lying to say that my relationship with God does not play a role. Outside of my relationship with God, I I just love people. Like, I really do. And I've learned that most of our stress is coming from what we're carrying.

The Power Up Your Life podcast is powered by GoBundance Women. I could tell you stuff about it, or you could hear from some of our members. Here you go. GoBundance has connected me with an amazing group of entrepreneurial women

that I can learn from and support and grow together. GoBundance gave me a boardroom of sisters who refused to let me settle. You know, within the first two months of me being a member,

I enrolled someone to help them with their high ticket sales. I got double back my investment within the first, you know, sixty days of being a member. So it was it's incredible. You guys are just amazing, and there's always somebody to look up to in in, in GoBundance, so I love being a member.

That's why you owe it to yourself to check out Women.

A lot of what we're carrying is, oh, somebody didn't look at me in a good way Your they, you know, I didn't like that this person did this Your we have unnecessary particulars, if that makes sense, where we're just Life, I had a I'm sorry. Not to get into this, but this may help someone. I'll never forget to it, girl. I had a woman who was a part of a networking group that I didn't know her. Like, I didn't know who she was. And I had a busy day, and I couldn't get to our meeting on time. And I couldn't find my phone, and I could not leave the camera. So I was trying to text her or send the email. I couldn't get off the screen. It was just one of those awkward situations, so I could not tell her, hey. I'm gonna be behind. I probably was, like, five or seven minutes behind that meeting. And I'm well, I sent a email, and I tried to call her to say, oh, I'm so sorry. And she told me, oh, no. If you're not on time, that just shows your character, and I don't wanna work with anybody that does not respect my I mean, you could tell that Up. I'm I'm like, I could have been in a car wreck, heaven forbid. I mean, something could have happened to my child. But the way she was willing to cut me off and throw away that opportunity for whatever could have happened, let me know, oh my goodness. There is something that she's carrying that has made her take it couldn't just be me because I I know I'm not the first person to be not on time in her life because human beings exist. But for her to carry that and now close the door on a opportunity actually showed me the negative power of when we're carrying too much, especially in things that we can let go. Like, where if we if she were to say, you know what? Life happens. I've noticed people who are more like chill that kinda go with the flow that don't kind of have all these rules that honestly in our world today are unrealistic. Don't get me wrong. Have principles. That's okay. But don't make your principles a prison. I think that has set me free more than anything. I don't take something that I like and make it a prison for myself or others. Even if it's something of good principle or moral value, it should not become a prison. It should allow for more freedom in a good way. So Right. Hope that helps. I know that was a lot.

Yeah. I absolutely Life that. I loved the Ray Dalio book Up. It's it's kind of exactly what you're saying. And not so much that I know Ray Dalio's principles, but just this idea to have guidance of what I've decided I want my life to be like and and how I want to move forward in everything I do, but also having the flexibility to to make sure that it it meets with the big stuff. So I I love that idea of staying flexible. So I have a question. This is one of my favorites in, kind of our series that we do here, that everybody as an entrepreneur gets stuck at some point or is lacking clarity. And we it's hard to figure out how to move forward. And I think, especially as high performing women, we sometimes fall under the, you know, kind of perfection rule Yeah. That we might have had as girls. Right? Talk to me about what you have done in the past or do now when you feel stuck or Life you don't have clarity? How do you get unstuck?

One of the biggest things that has helped me is a per perspective shift. I used to look at stuck like, okay. It's a problem. Oh, I failed. Why am I stuck? I'm not smart enough and things like that. But I realized that stuck is actually an opportunity to find a new way. Having that shift changed everything because it's Life almost finding a new route to get somewhere that may be a shortcut or more scenic where you get to see something that you didn't see before. I kind of look at stuck like that. I don't look at it as much as a weakness or, oh my gosh. I'm stuck. Because a lot of being stuck and staying stuck comes from how you view stuck as well. If you don't view it as, oh my goodness, this thing is gonna hurt me or take my, you know, life into a downward spiral where I'll never achieve anything in life. Stuck now becomes the opportunity to find a new way to discover something about yourself to grow. And another thing I will say, another thing that has helped me get unstuck Mandy, honestly, I'm not trying to preach at anybody over here, but there's a there's a scripture that helps me. It says in the multitude of counsel, there is safety. Don't do it alone. I don't know what advertised being an island and a successful business person is the best thing to do. Like, find people around you that know more than you. You know? People talk about don't be the smartest person in a room, but I would say don't do it by yourself too. Self made people don't really exist. But the ones who think that they're self made honestly have the most pressure of any business owner that I've ever seen when you're trying to do it by yourself. It's okay to get help. It's okay to ask questions. You're not weaker because you don't know something no matter where you are. Every to me, the most intelligent people have questions. They have questions, and they're looking for answers.

So but, yeah, hope that helps. Life best answer ever. Like, I absolutely love it. You know, curiosity and and really being able to go out. I I'm I'm definitely a recovering think I, you know, had to do it all on my own, business owner. And now I'm I'm constantly, like, really just trying to to hit my board of advisers, especially within GoBundance Women. So you already tapped into something that's unconventional. You talked a little bit about how social media is not a necessity to business growth. And so I think that will give permission to the women or men out there that, you know, have been told, like, you need to do this. Well, you know, the truth is everybody's marketing something, and that's probably Your social media agency that tells a lot. But what is another unconventional belief or practice or or skill that you have in whether it's personally or professionally that goes against the grain of what, you know, just common beliefs are?

I will say helping people. Not being afraid to Women gatekeeping has been kind of overpropped. Like, people talk about gatekeeping being bad, but we'll also tell people, no. Keep it to yourself because people steal ideas. You know? Get all this stuff. Don't put it out there Mandy all the all these things. I used to think that, okay. Let me be careful. I'm not gonna tell this person this idea Your, oh, maybe I can come this way. Now don't get me wrong. Wisdom, you know, is important. Not everybody, you know, has a clear mind. I get it. But don't do it to the point where Your routing of trying to protect this thing now becomes a roadblock. Now becomes a place that is closing doors to Your. Mandy, also, Mandy I don't know if I'm answering the question well, in this, but I will say that's number one on the personality. And now on the you mentioned with social media, like, how to find a route, I think, to I I know I went down a little bit of a trail there. That's for the people who are helping people. But I will say Your the one that is needing help Mandy trying to navigate okay. Do I need social media? What route should I take? I'm hearing all these things. I tell people. And this this is the hardest question for me to answer because I don't wanna seem like I'm selling myself, but I'll be real.

Bring it.

Thank Your, and thank you for that permission. It breaks my heart what people in my industry do. Mhmm. They sell fear, and they sell somebody what's it called? People missing out, fear of missing out. Mhmm. They yeah. The fear of missing out and just fear in general. These people are gonna go ahead of you. You wanna be number one. You like, all this stuff, like and it has become a means of making people waste money in a time where wasting money is going to cost some people more than it did five or ten years ago. And I'm just I have a passion to not only rescue the business owners that are struggling with actually finding out what is my map, what does it what does success truly look like for me? Like, that system that we invented came from that, but also to teach others in my industry, don't be that way. If your solution is not good for someone, don't make it seem like because in sales, when sales hit create the creative market, it just changed everything. Everyone's just trying to sell people their solution. Your solution is not always good for everybody. That's just the truth. Yeah. Like, I have people come to me all the time, and I'm like, you know what? You probably need more of a business strategist than a brand strategist. But branding a little bit, but more business because you really don't need as much branding. But I could do that because I'm free. Yeah. Sorry. Yeah. Blountsville.

No. No. That'd be great. I totally agree. I spent the bulk of my career in sales, and you gotta first understand the problem before you're gonna try to fix it. Like, my I don't think my solution is perfect for all of the people, and you're you know, you get a chance to not be thirsty in sales if you have that approach. And I'm a attract the right people that I need to be doing business with. Linda, you have said some gems, and I have written down a couple. One was don't make your principles a prison. Oh, girl. I'm gonna cross stitch them on a pillow and send it to you. And then you're not weaker because you don't know something. Gosh. What a gift. Kelly, did you have any favorites?

Yeah. Well, first of all, I didn't know you knew how to cross stitch. So that's Life, I don't remember getting any pillow. I mean, I feel like I say, girl, that's smart. Up all the time, girl.

So I was like, me too. I want a pillow too. Yeah.

So, Linda, a few things that really stuck out. Number one is is, you know, use curiosity in questions. If you're feeling stuck, don't be afraid to ask for help. That's such a big piece of the equation and not believing that you have to do it on your own. And then the last thing that you really tapped into is be generous with giving. And even if it means that you're giving something that isn't gonna result in a sale, you know, giving them the wisdom to know, like, this might be the the not might not be the right fit for you. You know, stepping out of scarcity has been a through line of everything that you've said today, and you really do embody abundance. And that's why I just adore you so much, darling. So thank you so much. You. One thing that we always wanna know is how can we support you? Like, what's a resource or connection, and how can our listeners find you?

Oh, well, thank you for asking that. I will say the number one one would be the Posh Savant, and that's poshsavant.com. That website is literally our newly released program to help entrepreneurs in every level. And that one's Life, it's a dear one to me that we just started. But if someone wants to work with me directly, my, website is iamlindaioade.com. And that's I know my last name. Linda, l I n d a, and then Ioade, a y o a d e.

Amazing. Well, thank you so much for joining us on the Power Up Your Life podcast. Share the episode. Give us a Life. Subscribe, and we look forward to seeing you on the next episode. If you're interested in learning more about GoBundance Women, you can just check out the website at Women, and we'll see you on the next episode. Bye, everyone. Thanks, Linda. You too. Thank you.

Thanks for joining us today on the Power Up Your Life podcast. If you got value from today's episode, make sure that you like and subscribe and send this episode to someone who needs to hear some wins like this. If you need to power up your business, head over to Power Up Your Life Now where you can see all of the resources that our team has to power up your business. We'll see you on the next episode.