Your Currency Is Connection: Making Your Brand Better Not Bigger with Julie M. Gile

Kat’s Podcast – Episode no. 24

Questions for you: What’s your validation? How do you define success?

Today I’m having Julie Gile on my show: She is a photographer from Wisconsin in the US and it’s her mission to fuel personal connection between business owners and their clients.

We talk about the value of connection, and why making your brand better, instead of bigger might be a big win for your business, life & happiness. 

We talk about building a brand and a business based on You: your own personal story, your passion or purpose. Julie fills us in on how she approaches capturing the people behind the brands in an authentic way. For her, one of the key questions is: what makes your brand different to others and how can we transport that visually?

We also look at success and productivity in a new light. Julie clearly states that there are many forms of success and questions growth as the online factor of success. 

I’m very happy to bring out this conversation, because this is what we need: 

We need a new form of business, where we nurture the relationships with our clients and we focus on our own brand values and passions. We gotta step back from the bigger, faster, always more mentality. It’s what we need to really bring about change in this world. 

A new approach to business as outlined by Julie has also the potential to help us better deal with the economic challenges around current crisis.

Needless to say this episode is for anyone building up or owning a small business, having a business built on their own story and experience. It’s for solopreneurs and those of you who’ve struggled with advice from coaches and business books.

This is not your average brand story talk. Julie is diving deep into her own story and sharing more than most of us will ever share. She is a woman of courage and a true believer in connection – both values we direly need these days. 

I am very honored more to have her on my show. Tune in. Listen closely. And continue to build deeper connections.

We talk about: 

• Julie’s passion & work as a brand photographer & why she claims: “Be better, not bigger!”
• How she works to create authentic personal brand images 
• The personal stories that build the foundation for brands: “When you’re getting involved with peoples personal brands […] that personal fuel sometimes comes from a dark place, a place of hurt.”
• Vulnerabilty in personal brand stories
• Deep-dive into Julie’s own touching personal story & what made her pick up the camera for the first time 
• “I ran away from my story for a very long time. […] When I started embracing it, so many things fell into place.”
• How our own story connects with others
• Internal struggles: Which parts of our stories to share and which not? How do we define our limits?
• Why Julie left her corporate job after an earth-shattering happening 
• Why human connection is so important to her
• Creativity and why you don’t neccessarily have to follow a certain structure and ideal of growth
• It’s possible to create a brand based on who you really are
• Playing “small” & focusing on the things that matter
• Productivity & success re-evaluated: Success has many forms
• Questioning growth as only factor of success
• Your story as key to connection & sales during lockdown and online-only times
• The importance of white space
• Tips for nurturing your business & building longterm connections 
• Building a business based on YOU and not on hustle

Episode resources:

• Julie’s website: https://juliemgilephotography.com/    
• Julie’s instagram 
• Her post on ‘Playing Small’ 
• Book tip no. 1: ‘The culture of fear’ by Barry Glassner
• Book tip no. 2: ‘The company of one’ by Paul Jarvis
• related podcast episode: ‘7 Powerful Questions to Ask Yourself Right Now’
• My email if you like to reach out & give feedback 
• My newsletter
• My Instagram if you wanna follow along
• music (Intro/Outro): Thanks to Analog By Nature. Credits: cdk – Sunday by Analog By Nature (c) copyright 2016 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.

Thanks so much for listening!

Did you like this show? What helped or inspired you most? Let us know by sending an email to hello @kathrinhecht.com or commenting on instagram. And if you’re listening on Apple/iTunes: I’m super thankful for a 5-star-rating and a review so we can inspire more people out there!