We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Cindy Chang. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Cindy below.

Hi Cindy, thanks for joining us today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

Have you ever been doing something random – like driving to the grocery store, or daydreaming in the shower – and you see something that inspires you… and before you know it, you have all these creative juices and ideas flowering inside your brain?

Those moments of total ease – when you are just being YOURSELF and letting your mind roam free – those are really moments of magic.

And those moments happen in everyday life, unexpectedly.

But when you actually “go to work” and sit down at the computer to update our website, or email a client, or post on Instagram… do you ever get stuck?

Do you ever feel like you lose that spark? Do you ever have a hard time thinking of what to say, and how to capture your thoughts and put them into words?

Sometimes when we put on our CEO hats, we start to approach things differently. We sprout all these buzzwords and make up things to say that sound pretty – when really, all we need to do is tap back into who we are.

So – helping you bring your fullest self to your brand – that’s what I work on with my clients.

I do things very differently than brand strategists or designers. Unlike strategists and designers, I’m not really creating any deliverables to hand over for you to use in your brand.

Instead – my job is to help you unlock your own voice and learning to use that power.

When I first sit down with you, you won’t feel like we’re talking business or branding. You’ll feel like you’re just getting to ramble about what you love doing and why. And that’s the whole point!

I hold space for you to just be YOURSELF, without thinking about strategy or marketing or how to sell what you do.

I hold space for your to just get back in touch with your passion, your dedication, your excitement, your inspiration.

I help you bring your real, authentic self into all of your brand messaging and marketing… so you can connect with your soulmate clients.

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?

What do you think of when I say the word “brand”?

Is it colors, logo, imagery?

If this is where your mind goes, you are not alone! When I was first starting my business two years ago, I was coming from a place of pure creativity & design. Basically, I loved creating visuals that you could use to represent your business. Think: logo, brand colors, favicon (aka that little icon you see in the top left corner of your browser tab), Instagram story covers, website imagery, etc.

But you know what I realized?

The symbols that represent your business – such as your colors and logo – don’t mean anything if there’s no compelling story behind them.

I was seeing business owners and founders put so much time and intentionality into picking their logo and choosing their business name – but skimming the things that actually matter, like their purpose and positioning in the market.

I was seeing business owners have really beautiful-looking imagery on their Instagram or website – but still struggle with creating really clear and potent messaging that actually RESONATED with their clients. and made people want to invest.

And so over time…. my work has begun to shift away from design.

And instead… I’ve started to empower founders and business owners through deep identity, mission and self discovery work.

Before you open your mouth to speak to clients – do you know what you want to say? Do you know how you want to make them feel? Do you know what they want to hear from YOU?

Getting clear on all of these things is the first step to being able to build a brand that attracts your soulmate clients!

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Here’s something that might surprise you: I never wanted to be a business owner!

For most of my life, I’ve thought of entrepreneurs as Steve-Jobs-type characters who were geniuses and inventors and had radical ideas to change the world and who never really played well with others.

Me?

I worked in corporate for six years and LOVED it. I loved being on a team and having a clearly defined scope and role. I loved having a boss and reporting up to them and helping our team crush goals. I loved being the person who OTHER people wanted to have in their corner. I loved the cushy six figure salary and benefits and predictable hours and staying at hotels for business trips and going to conferences and walking trade shows…

I’ve never wanted to be out own my own, in my OWN corner, leading my OWN team!

The moment when things really changed for me was when the pandemic started.

During this time, my parents decided to move abroad (back to Taiwan, where my family is originally from.)

This decision made me seriously look at my life, and consider whether my cushy six figure salary was enough to support the lifestyle I wanted going forward – which was going to hold a lot more travel, a lot more vacation time, and a lot more flexibility to work on my own hours.

The answer?

I realized that corporate was never going to give me anywhere near the amount of flexibility that I could create for myself, if I had my own company.

And so…

I decided to go for it, and start my own thing.

You may be surprised to know that what motivated me to start my business was not a deep hunger to do something I loved.

(Nah – the truth is, I loved my corporate job.)

Rather – the reason I started my business was to pursue a lifestyle I wanted.

I’m sharing this story because I want to normalize the fact that you don’t need to be a next level artist, creator, or visionary in order to start your own business. You don’t need to have deep, undying love for your craft or an unquenchable thirst to invent something or make art or change the world.

All you need is your own reason. Your own motivation. Something that you want badly enough to take a leap of faith!

You just have to want it badly enough that you can get through both the highs and lows, and keep you moving through both the good and hard times. :)

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

Every person who interacts with your brand in some way… whether they are just a silent lurker online reading your content, or whether they’ve silently purchased without every speaking to you, or whether they’re in your face chatting with you and working directly with you…

EVERY single one of these people has a relationship with you.

So how do you foster brand loyalty?

It’s actually really simple… just think about these people as actual humans.

Humans who know you.

Humans who follow you.

Humans who are interested in what you’re doing and watching you.

How can you help them in some way, even if it doesn’t involve them talking out dollars and paying you?

I always strive to serve my entire audience – not just my paying clients – but helping them build their brands in some way. That’s my job; that’s what I’m here to do. I’m here to help you be fully expressed in your business so you can connect with soulmate clients.

So that’s my biggest tip for fostering brand loyalty: think of your audience as real people. How can you help them?

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thehustlingheart.com
• Instagram: @thehustlingheart

Image Credits
Brooke Walker (Irvington Made Photography)