We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Emily Paulsen a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Emily thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard.

After 14 years working in corporate brand and marketing, I became pretty familiar with the flaws. Now that I run my own branding business, I completely understand how that broken system was born.

High-quality branding and web design that connects with customers and tells a legacy-worthy story is typically reserved for big companies. The depth required to build a brand that stands out while boosting a business’s longevity requires a lot of time, and time is expensive. Big-name businesses have large teams devoted to copy, design, consistency, storytelling, etc., protecting their brand reputation. Small businesses who don’t have those resources are often forced to piecemeal their branding together, hiring support with one element at a time as money allows.

The problem with that approach? Piecemeal branding is disjointed, and the unique value of your business is often distilled, losing the essence of what makes your business most compelling.

At Electric Collab, we are working hard to change that! By offering comprehensive, high-touch brand support at approachable price points, small business owners and entrepreneurs have access to the in-depth brand building tools large businesses have had forever. This gives those owners a clarity, confidence and a competitive edge that makes a huge difference in converting ideal customers. Every entrepreneur deserves a cohesive, high-converting brand they feel wildly proud of. That’s exactly why Electric Collab exists!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Hi, I’m Emily Paulsen! A Brand Expert and the founder of Electric Collab brand studio. After over a decade working in brand & marketing for big names including Abercrombie & Fitch and Wendy’s, scrappy startups and small businesses, I founded Electric Collab to help female entrepreneurs expand their business potential with a brand that matches the incredible quality of their work. I serve clients as a brand builder and website designer, but also a strategic thought partner and unwavering hype woman. Electric Collab is on a mission to build cohesive, high-converting brand and website experiences you feel wildly proud of.

What makes us different from every other brand business? Strategy and concierge-level service. Everything we build is based in strategy. Logo design, color palette, copy, user experience – all of it is useless without a clear purpose and connection to the business’s core objectives. Our approach to the work is extremely hands-on. No cold questionnaires or lengthy request sheets included! The point of hiring an expert is to get expert-level support. We pride ourselves on building a brand that attracts, connects with and converts ideal clients….while feeling unbelievably YOU.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to unlearn the lesson of always listening to other experts.

One of the best parts of entrepreneurship is the space to carve our own path in an industry we love. That means doing things differently, perhaps with a never-before-seen approach, and we can’t create that innovation by following the steps of those who have gone before us.

When I first started my business, I was compelled to hire coaches, engage with mentors and take the advice of those who were further down the path. I realized quickly that this was a recipe for building another business (and another job) that looked and felt like everyone else. Not the wisest approach from a sales or personal fulfillment perspective.

The lesson: Eventually I realized that trusting my intuition and listening to the market were much better methods to create something NEW. We have a gut instinct about what our industries need. It just a matter of developing the courage and confidence to follow it.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Patience. There is so noise on the internet related to quick wins. Cash injections, 30 day challenges, urgent launches and manifesting 7-figure months. I love results and hate going slow, but I think this rhetoric sets unrealistic expectations. Building a solid, strong, credible brand reputation cannot happen overnight. Our reputation is rooted in the results we generate and the way we make the people we serve FEEL. Those outcomes cannot be rushed.

I’m building a business that will last for decades to come. We only get one brand reputation, and I’m not risking the way my audience will perceive me for the long haul to earn an instant 10k or 20k today. I’ve learned that when we focus on the big picture, success often comes even quicker than we expected anyway! Patience is key.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.electriccollab.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heyemilypaulsen/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-paulsen-b2a03255/

Image Credits
Tova Studios Rachel Ankney