The key component needed to build your brand can also help you build more INFLUENCE! Fashion exec/entrepreneur Sandra Campos Episode 192 She Said / She Said

TITLE: The key component needed to build a strong, authentic brand can also help you build more INFLUENCE! Fashion exec/entrepreneur Sandra Campos, Episode 192

 

THIS WEEK’S TOPIC:

Have you ever thought about the link between your brand (both personal and professional), and your ability to directly influence others, or to get buy-in for your idea or product? 

While the term “authenticity” is often overused, at its core the concept is a critical component needed to build a strong brand. 

The more authentically you are able to reflect your brand, and how well you understand how it (or YOU) adds value to others, the better chance you have of connecting with your potential audience, customer or client. Really owning that value is where your INFLUENCE will grow, and where you can truly flourish.  

Today’s guest helps us think about the power of understanding and tapping into our authentic brand. While she comes from the world of fashion, I can’t think of an instance in which her advice isn’t applicable— including as it relates to building a strong personal brand. 

 

THIS WEEK’S GUEST:

Sandra Campos has spent three decades working in the fashion industry, and has pivoted repeatedly from corporate executive to entrepreneur and back again. 

In today’s conversation, Sandra talks not only about her incredible career, but how she’s advised and helped to fine tune or build some of the biggest brands in the fashion world — think DVF, Ralph Lauren, DKNY, Selina Gomez, among others. 

You’ll hear how Sandra went from the daughter of tortilla factory owners in Texas (her first exposure to entrepreneurship) to her first job in New York, how and why she’s embraced so many pivots in her life and career, and why she’s so focused on investing in others. 

Sandra has had an incredible array of career experiences in and around the fashion business. But the part of this conversation that really jumped out at me and that I think will especially resonate with you is how Sandra thinks about building a powerful brand. 

 

KEY TOPICS:

BEING AN OUTSIDER and using that to your advantage. Back in Episode 190, I talk about being underestimated and how you can reframe that experience. I think Sandra’s advice in this episode is a great build on Episode 190. If you missed it, be sure to go back and check it out as well. 

PLAN OR NO PLAN? Sometimes the lack of a plan or a backup plan can create more momentum to push forward. That was certainly true in Sandra’s case!

BEING A STUDENT OF THE CONSUMER: Sandra talks about the importance of really understanding your market and your customer whatever business you are in, and how she has done that for the brands she’s worked with and/or created. 

EMBRACING CAREER AND LIFE PIVOTS: Sandra uses her own advice for really tapping into and understanding her value proposition as she has embraced or reacted to opportunities to pivot — both the ones she’s chosen and the ones that she was forced to react to. 

ON BUILDING THE FIRST TEEN CELEBRITY BRAND with Selena Gomez and why that was one of the most impactful chapters in Sandra’s career thus far. 

WHAT SANDRA LEARNED WORKING AS CEO FOR DIANE VON FURSTENBERG

THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTIONS SANDRA SAYS YOU SHOULD ASK YOURSELF ABOUT YOUR OWN BRAND: What are you here for? What is the point of whatever it is that you are creating? Why do you feel it’s needed? What makes it different, special or unique? 

SANDRA ALSO TALKS ABOUT THE VALUE OF “WHITE SPACE OPPORTUNITIES” and why they can make a big difference in your brand’s potential for success.

ON THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING THE FACE OF YOUR BRAND and how Sandra thinks about this question as a brand evolves over time.

ON USING HER INFLUENCE TO MAKE AND CREATE CHANGE IN T...