We recently connected with Lori Kendall and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Lori, thanks for joining us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

I think the most important quality you need to have in order to be successful is resilience. The ability to fail, experience hard times, doubt yourself and dare to come back anyway. The truth is that there is not just a high chance of failure when you chase success – there is a 100% chance of failure in one or several areas of your life. Failure and difficulty are necessary stepping stones and you can’t get where you want to go without going through those trying moments first.

My first year as a business owner was terrifying. No matter how many books I read, mentors I reached out to, webinars I watched, or groups I joined, I was still trying something I had never done before and, inevitably, I made mistakes along the way. It was so tempting to take those mistakes and hold them up as proof that I didn’t belong with other business owners. That I didn’t have the talent, capabilities, or knowledge to make it. Each setback, whether self-inflicted or outside of my control, felt like a personal attack telling me that I wasn’t good enough and I didn’t belong here.

Thankfully, during all of my research and searching for answers, I had started to notice a trend. All of the books that I read and the people that I talked to spoke at length about the many, many mistakes that they made – some of them incredibly costly. I found out that the average business owner owns at least three businesses before finding success! Making mistakes wasn’t a sign that I didn’t belong on this path…it was a sign that I not only belong on it, but I was willing to do the hard work to stay on it.

The willingness to fail and make mistakes and learn and try again is essential to anyone chasing greatness – whatever that looks like to you.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

A passionate multi-hyphenate that spent the majority of my career trying to be everything for everyone, I promoted myself as a marketing department of one and did everything from marketing planning to social media marketing, content creation, brand strategy and design, website design, graphic design, and advertising before eventually moving into team leadership. After working my way to the top and achieving my dream of running a team, I realized that the industry that I was in and the niche I’d created for myself heavily conflicted with my values, so when myself and my entire team were let go during the first week of stay-at-home orders for COVID in March of 2020, I knew that it was time to change directions.

Brand + Design + Create officially launched in October of 2020 as a marketing agency designed for small businesses. I used my diverse skill set to provide full-service creative marketing for my clients but quickly realized that my real passion was branding and design. As a stubborn, driven creative it took a bit of time for me to finally let go of the extra services I’d become attached to as part of my renaissance woman identity – but finally Brand + Design + Create became a Creative Agency focused exclusively on branding, website design, and graphic design.

My former life as a marketing unicorn still serves me well – understanding the full marketing life cycle from brand strategy to marketing planning to advertising makes me an invaluable asset on the design side as I pair strategy with visual aesthetics that evoke emotions and UX design that gives each design choice purpose.

I’ve had the good fortune to work with clients in a variety of different industries from tech to life coaches, lawyers to sports brands, PhDs to condo developers. My ability to use strategy and research to drive design allows me the flexibility to dive into any niche designing logos, developing brand books, crafting user-friendly websites, or simply putting together beautiful marketing pieces to send to prospective clients or consumers.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

Growing my network – hands down. Before pivoting to focus exclusively on design, I did a lot of marketing research and planning for service-based businesses. For many of them the breakdown in new lead generation came from 80% network referrals and 20% marketing. Especially as we continue to see oversaturation in digital advertising markets and social media becomes a less effective and affordable option for many small businesses, local advertising and traditional advertising are beginning to see a resurgence and be incredibly effective. Networking, asking for referrals from current clients, referral programs, and effective awareness campaigns are all great ways for service-based businesses to grow their clientele.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

I highly recommend 101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think by Brianna Wiest, Freelance and Business and Stuff by Amy Hood and Jennifer Hood, and Profit First Mike Michalowicz. They’ve helped me change my mindset about life, business, and finances in a way that has been invaluable in my first two years of business.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.branddesigncreate.com
• Instagram: @branddesigncreate
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/branddesigncreate
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/branddesigncreate
• Twitter: @branddesigncr8

Image Credits
Photo Credits for my personal headshots are Paige Vaughn Photo