We recently connected with Mara Meismer and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Mara, thanks for joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

I got my degree in graphic design in 2020. I had to take this marketing class and it honestly made me feel SO icky. It felt like I was learning about all these ways that big businesses were using psychology and the way our brains work to manipulate people into giving them their money. It almost made me leave the industry entirely. Don’t get me wrong, it was interesting information. Knowing how it worked behind the scenes, though, made the world of graphic and brand design feel cold and inauthentic.

It felt so disconnected from my personal values. I don’t want to live in a dog eat dog world. I don’t want to live in a world where money is the central motivator. I want to live in a dog support dog world. I want to live in a world where money is what supports us and allows us to do our most meaningful work. One where businesses are driven by the desire to make the world a kinder place. One where businesses are driven by the desire to create more than we consume. Driven by the desire to give the value of our skills and talents to other people. Driven by the desire for connection.

Eventually I started my business in the online business space. Evolved into an SEO specialist helping inclusive photographers connect with people already looking for them. I had a project that reminded me of my love for design and rekindled that fire. With a stronger understanding of smaller businesses and branding, brand design is now my sole focus.

Somewhere along the way, I realized that sometimes we have to create a world that aligns with what we value. My entire business could be a small kind of rebellion against what made me feel icky about marketing in the first place. I could use the psychology of design for something I believe in instead of manipulating people. I could support smaller business and help them to connect with people that genuinely want what they offer. I can help foster that connection and do it in a way that aligns with what I value. I can create depth in how people perceive them and empower them to own their value.

So, that is my mission. To create more authenticity in marketing with thoughtful design. A business owner’s key to clarity and speaking to the soul. It’s not business, it’s personal. I believe in it because I believe in a world where selling is really about serving. Not from a place of naivety, but from a place of fierce hope. If we can’t hope for better, we will never bring it into existence.

Mara, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Mara and not to be dramatic, but I have been told that I am the embodiment of unconditional love itself (and I have a freckle shaped like a heart on my arm to back that up. So, I was literally born to wear my heart on my sleeve). I am a brand designer and person who enjoys baking sourdough, living a gentle life, reminding everyone to drink some water on my Instagram stories, and watching The Princess Diaries and the 2005 Pride and Prejudice over and over (the scores and cinematography just get me every time).

I have always been creative. I attempted to channel it in a variety of ways—photography, painting, even embroidery. I started college with a major in multimedia—referring to photography, video, audio, and graphic design. After a semester, I knew in my gut it was design for me.

To me, branding is messaging. It can be unbelievably difficult to communicate your own message because on some level it IS… you. I want to make sure every single one of my clients leaves OWNING their message and seeing it clearly,

One thing about me is that I am going to be thoughtful. I am going to do research and think creatively and intentionally put all your pieces together. I’m going to think about it. And then think about it some more. And then, (at times, perhaps, to a fault) think about it some more. I think (see??) what some people tend to miss when building a brand is that it NEEDS that level of thought. I have this philosophy that every brand has a soul. The problem is that the world can’t see it without visuals and messaging that SEES IT and honors it. Every piece of content, every logo, every set of words we string together on behalf of our brand should come from its very soul. At the soul of a brand is a story—not the story of how it came to be, but of the transformation they create for their people. Building visuals for a brand without being clear on that story is a disservice to everyone.

All of my brands get a clearly written story before I illustrate their soul. They get visuals that subconsciously communicate that story. They get colors that psychologically represent that soul. Illustrations and patterns and a logo suite that were forged from that soul. And they get a copy of their soul’s story. Because it is their story, and sometimes we can’t feel the weight of our stories until someone puts it into words. Your brand has a soul and the world deserves to see it. It deserves to be seen.

I carry this intention in all of my services. From the brand extension—a package to add depth or maybe branding for a specific offer to an already existing brand—to “the everything package”—which includes a full brand suite and a website complete with web design, copy, and SEO (because communicating with a brand designer, web designer, copy writer, and an SEO specialist for a single website is so overwhelming the thought makes me want to lie down).

I want to give you the key to your brand’s soul and the permission to share it unapologetically.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

I think anyone who has a brand in any form needs to read Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller. Every entrepreneur needs to be respectfully told that they are not the hero. I also think every human should read The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk, What Happened to You by Bruce D. Perry and Oprah Winfrey, and And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer by Fredrik Backman (and anything else he has ever written). None of those relate to business, but they definitely helped me understand and appreciate humans on a different level. And humans are the core of business.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

My social media presence is by no means large, but I do feel like it has made a big impact on my business—it is really where the action is for my business. I have a group of girlies that loyally like my stories and vote on my polls and chat in the DMs with me and I hope they all wake up every day and the universe surprises them with something good. My audience has grown really slowly over time. For me it has always been about the quality of the people in my audience, how aligned they are rather than how many of them there are. Sharing things even when I was scared was big. Responding to other people’s stories. Just continuing to show up even when it is quiet. Learning how to just be myself was the most important bit. All of my most successful posts or stories were just me being me, usually on a whim. Especially for Instagram stories, I started noticing little things I could share about—the kombucha I like (it is GT’s Lemon Berry every day of the week), the cookies I was baking, the TV show I was obsessed with, my plant that grew a new leaf, that one time I accidentally poisoned myself when painting my house, the outfit I wore for my weekly outing to the coffee shop, gushing about a meaningful client experience, starting my sourdough starter, the time I poured water on my jeans while wearing them to try to stretch them out. One time I choked on a smoothie halfway through talking and laughed at myself and posted it anyway because I didn’t want to start over. People laughed with me and it was a shared joyful moment. I even started a close friends story and shared about a blind date I went on (everyone loved that. I’ve never had more DMs). I would get excited about something and think “oh, I HAVE to share this with the girlies on Instagram”. They would demand updates. I’ve kept it light and fun (and sometimes get real or serious) and people enjoy it AND they enjoy when I talk more directly about my offers because there is trust and a sort of bond there. Even if it isn’t directly effective for making sales, it is HUGE for word of mouth. And creating that kind of opportunity to genuinely connect with other people regardless of if they will buy from me or not is so valuable to me. I think just showing up with that kind of energy is important too.

My best advice for social media:
Remember you are only ever talking to ONE person at a time. Leave out the “Hey guys” and “I had to share this with all of you”‘s. That makes it feel less personal. In fact, don’t address people at all. Just start talking like you would to a friend.

Don’t overthink or put pressure on how often you show up. It’s okay to not be perfect at it. You can post however often works for you. If it isn’t sustainable it doesn’t work. And NEVER apologize for not being present. No one noticed anyway.

It is supposed to be about connection. If it isn’t fun for you, it probably won’t hit.

Share about things that don’t have anything to do with your business. That’s when the juicy stuff happens.

You get what you give. Engage with other people’s content. Create opportunities for people to engage with your content. People need an invite sometimes.

Be real. People can tell when you aren’t and your content will not be impactful.

Just do it. Make the mistakes. Post it even if you don’t think it is perfect. Fear can keep you from posting and.. for what? To save you from embarrassment?? It can feel paralyzing but you do the thing and then… the world keeps spinning. It was never that serious. You can let yourself be talked out of it by the “what if”s, but maybe you should trust that future you will figure it out. You always have before.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://marameismer.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/themarameismer
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marameismer

Image Credits

Always Flourishing Photography