We recently connected with Keiry Suero and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Keiry , thanks for joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
During the pandemic, I was about to lose my job; the company that I used to work for sent an email to all the staff that it was going to be a huge staff cut.
Everyone in my department was worried and stressed because, for many of us back then, that was our only source of income.
Thankfully I was not one of the people that were let go of, but it was a huge realization for me of how valuable it is to have different sources of income.
I decided to take matters into my own hands and take more control over my life. I explored different side hustles. I had different Etsy shops and even got into affiliate marketing, etc.
One day I came across a course to become a virtual assistant. In that course, you can learn different skills such as podcast editing, social media management, content creation, etc.
While I was getting trained in social media management, I fell in love with it, and I just had that inner knowing that was what I was meant to do at that moment.
Months passed by, and I decided to let go of the Etsy shop. I didn’t really have any passion for it, so I decided to follow my heart and just focus on social media management.
As I was working with clients, I could see their passion for their business. I could see the love that they have for their craft, but there was a missing part that I saw time and time again, and that was not having a brand strategy behind their business. They would come to me to manage their social media, and it was so hard for me to create content because there was no core message, voice, or even positioning.
So, I decided to learn branding so that I could help them build a better social media presence, and I quickly fell in love with it the whole process of building a brand strategy.
Then, I made the decision that It was time to shift again and learn all that I needed to learn about brand strategy. I took training, hired coaches, took courses, and submerged myself in the world of branding.
I took a leap of faith, and once again, I rebranded myself as a brand strategist and let go of my social media clients, and I never felt so aligned. I know now that who I am today is who I was meant to become.
But there was also another big gap that I noticed when I started working with clients to develop their brand strategy, and it was how new business owners have a belief that they have to present themself as everyone else does in their industry and that they are supposed to follow an expecific template.
I don’t agree with that belief because building a brand in a specific niche started to become a repetitive template. This type of belief creates a restriction when it comes to expressing the uniqueness of the brand and exploring unknown creative water, which is where legendary brands are born.
Apple didn’t become Apple by following the same branding template that already existed in the market. They decided to go in a whole different direction, and that leap of faith and following their creativity made Apple stand out in their market and become today one of the most influential tech company.
Creativity, authenticity, and self-expression are the pillars of my business because it’s important not only that the target audience falls in love with the brand but also the people who created and represent the company as well.
The idea behind my business was initially born out of a deep desire to take control of my money, but it quickly has become a beautiful journey to empower women to embrace their creativity and the unique essence that they are hiding from the world and convert it into profitable brands.
I know the journey to entrepreneurship can be confusing sometimes, but all you have to do is trust your intuition and don’t be afraid of the dark moment because as you navigate the darkness, you will eventually see the light, and there is beauty in becoming the pink elephant in your niche.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I was born and raised in DR. My mom moved to the US when I was seven, but I didn’t make it to the country until I was 17. I learned English when I was in HS and college. It was extra challenging for me because I didn’t only have to pass the classes, but I also had to learn a new language at the same time.
I went the regular route. I went to college and got a salary job, but I was so unfulfilled, and I was scared to admit that to myself. I was not happy; I didn’t enjoy working at my corporate job.
I asked myself, “Is this it for me?” “ Do I really want to live this type forever?” Working a 9-5 until I become 65, climbing the corporate ladder, it was a full body no for me.
I just had an inner knowing that I was destined for more, but I didn’t know what was back then.
While I had my side hustle as a social media manager, I realized this deep passion for helping women, especially women of color, take space in the online space and build successful online businesses and social media platforms.
As I was working on upscaling my business and personal development, I started to consume that type of content, and I realized I didn’t see a lot of women, especially women who look like me, holding those top positions.
That showed me that representation truly matters because It gives hope and serves as proof that the normal route that society taught us is not the only option for people who look like me or have similar cultural backgrounds.
Every time I help a woman, especially a woman who looks like me, I get all fired up and excited to contribute my grain of salt in their journey to success because that success will heal generational traumas and will open the door to generations to come.
I know that this passion is part of my purpose, and this passion inspired me to take another leap of faith to leave my 9-5 work full-time in my business and dive deeper into the world of branding.
This business has transformed my life in so many different ways and taught me to work hard for what I believe in, building a deep trust within myself that I can create anything that my heart desire and I can help others transform their life in a positive in the process.
My current offer right now is mostly coaching woman biz owners to build a soulful brand where I teach them how to find their unique sauce and I teach them how to create a brand that excites them but, most importantly, that excites their soul clients.
This is a 1:1 container, and this container is designed to help women find what makes them unique in their industry, walk away from the noise, and focus on the true essence of who they are as soul-lead business owners and become a magnet for the clients whom they are meant to serve.
What is unique about my approach to branding is that my main focus is not using psychological tricks to manipulate people to buy from you; instead, I teach how to embrace the true authenticity of you as a business owner as well as the business itself as an entity by following my four branding framework to attract aligned community and clients who feel connected to the whole version of your business, your offer and you as an individual.
What makes me so proud about my work is that I don’t teach my clients what works and their industry standards; I help them awaken the unique roadmap of the brand that they are meant for them.
Because what works for someone it might not work for someone else. We come from different backgrounds, we have different visions, and the purpose of the business would not always be the same.
My work serves as a permission slip for my clients to explore their creative gifts and build an online presence that is a full embodiment of their soul purpose.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
For me, instead, strategy is more of a mindset shift, which is honesty and detachment from the outcome. It might sound simple, but it took me a while to fully embrace those two.
When it comes to honesty, it is important during sales conversations to be open about if you truly can help the client. There have been times when I knew the client was not ready yet in their business journey to work with me, so I had to say to them, not yet and explain why, and 9 out of 10, they are grateful for the honesty, and when they are actually ready they came back.
There are also times when a client has a different expectation of what would be the outcome of working with you, so you have to be clear and honest about the offer promise and transformation, put it on the table, and let the client decide if that works for them because when you promise something that you not sure you can’t deliver it adds extra unnecessary pressure in your client and business relationship.
Lastly, one thing that has allowed me to flow more during any sales conversation is removing the attachment of how the sales conversation is going to end.
Detachment is another way to remove pressure during the sale conversations, which will decrease anxieties, especially if the money is a bit challenging in your business.
When money is tight, and you show up in the call with just the purpose of closing the sale, you will not be fully present in the call, and it will rob you of the opportunity to get to know the potential clients genuinely and if it’s a good fit.
And because energy speaks for you even before you open your mouth, people will be able to sense the money-hungry energy.
So when you detach, you are not focusing on the next salesy things to say. You will actually be present in the conversation, and the awkwardness and uncomfortableness will dissipate, and it will feel more like a natural and flowy conversation. Once you make a potential client feel comfortable, they will open up to you, and you will be able to hold space and have a deeper and meaningful conversation, and that, for me, is what closes a sale.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
I used to believe that running a business was only about hard work, but after burning out and going through a period of exhaustion.
My business was not progressing, I was so tired, and I was losing love for my business; showing up became hard, and creating content became so difficult because the creative spark was not there. Needless to say, I was going through it, but giving up was not an option, so I had to figure it out.
After reflecting deeply, I was able to see the story that I was telling myself about business. Yes, I was working hard, but I wasn’t taking care of myself, which is also important to run a business.
I had this deep root belief that for me to build a successful business, I have to grind 24/7, which is not true; and yes, it’s important to take action, and there are days when you will have to work late, but there are going to be moments where you will have to take time off and rest, I know that is a scary word for many entrepreneurs, but it’s essential to take time to recharge your body so new fresh ideas start flowing to you, and you can show up the best version of yourself in your business and for your clients.
Setting boundaries and building a business life balance it’s essential for success. It’s going to be uncomfortable at first, and you will even feel a huge amount of guilt when you start taking time off, but once you are able to stabilize that balance, you will see your business transform.
Contact Info:
- Website: keirysuero.com
- Instagram: @keirysuero
- Other: Tiktok keiry.suero