DO GOOD X Podcast

Ep. 31 Shift the Face of Your Brand: From Founder to Organizational Impact

• DO GOOD X • Episode 31

Share episode

Welcome to this episode of the DO GOOD X podcast. If you’re a founder ready to step away from being the face of your business and shift the focus to the impact your company is making, this is a must see episode. Whether you’re considering an exit strategy, transitioning your role, or simply no longer want to be the go-to person, especially in public-facing situations, we’ll walk you through the steps to make it happen. We’ll discuss how to build a strong team representing your business, shift your brand focus from you to the collective mission, and empower your team to take on leadership roles. Tune in for key insights on creating a thriving business that doesn’t rely solely on your presence.

THIS EPISODE:

(00:00) Introduction
(01:32) Founders who no longer want to be the face of their business
(03:59) A founder needs to build a strong team if they want to step back from being the face of the business
(06:45) Stephen shares his insights on team building
(07:48) Kimberly discusses building a solid brand that is not founder focused
(11:00) Be willing to relinquish power and delegate to the team you’ve built

TAKEAWAYS: 

  • A business founder must build a strong team that excels in their roles and can represent the company publicly. By empowering them as brand ambassadors and leaders, your team becomes an extension of you, sustaining the business's presence and allowing you to step away.
  • As a founder, if you want to step away from being the face of your business, shift the brand focus from you to the impact your company is making. Your brand is defined by how people perceive your team and the communities you serve, not just your personal story. The mission and the problem you’re solving should resonate with your audience.
  • If you want to step away as the face of your business, you must relinquish responsibilities and share authority with your team. Shifting focus to your team’s impact requires trusting them, delegating power, and empowering decision-making. This gradual transition helps your business thrive independently of your presence while allowing your team to grow into leadership roles.

LINKS: 

DO GOOD X - Website

DO GOOD X- LinkedIn

DO GOOD X - YouTube

DO GOOD X - Spotify

Building a Strong Brand with Demi McCoy


Kimberly R. Daniel catalyzes entrepreneurs and organizations to do good. She is co-founder and project director of DO GOOD X, a community that provides programs and support for faith-driven social entrepreneurs whose businesses focus on positive Change.

Kimberly also helps purpose-driven organizations clarify and design compelling brand and communication strategies. She is committed to producing effective processes and creating authentic, “sticky” brands that are community-centered. She co-authored A Way Out of No Way: An Approach to Christian Innovation (2021).

Stephen Lewis is the president of the Forum for Theological Exploration (FTE) and the creator and co-founder of DO GOOD X. This community provides programs and support for faith-driven social entrepreneurs whose businesses focus on positive change. Stephen co-authors Another Way: Living and Leading Change on Purpose (2020) and A Way Out of No Way: An Approach to Christian Innovation (2021).

DO GOOD X Short Form Episode 31 - Audio Transcript

Narrator: [00:00:00] Welcome to the do good X podcast, a sanctuary from the entrepreneur grind host Kimberly, Danielle, and Steven Lewis advocates for impactful entrepreneurship guide you on the path where purpose meets business. Join us to slow down, reconnect, and explore the challenges of under resourced entrepreneurs, uncovering the unique journey of building businesses that make a difference.

Now you're hosts.

Stephen Lewis: Welcome to the Do Good X podcast. My name is Stephen Lewis, and I'm a catalyst for positive change in communities and businesses. And for over two decades, I have inspired leaders and entrepreneurs to live and work on purpose with intention. Faith. And a commitment to the wellbeing. And I'm joined by my colleague and co host, [00:01:00] Kimberly Danielle.

Kimberly, it's good to see you. 

Kimberly R. Daniel: Good to see you too. And what's going on everyone who is listening in. I am Kimberly Danielle, and I am a community builder, a coach, and a communication strategist who comes from generations of faith driven entrepreneurs and leaders. Who believe that our purpose should drive us to contribute to the common good.

Thank you for being here with us today. We appreciate all of you listeners who are here for the first time and those who are loyal listeners. Thank you so much. So today, Stephen, you know, we're going to talk about founders who are the face of their business. But they don't want to be that anymore. They want because their business is solely relying on them.

When people think about the name or the brand, or they see that the, they go immediately to the founder or the founder story. But. If [00:02:00] you're tuning in and you're a founder and you're in this situation and you're wanting to shift that so that it's more so focused on the business and the impact that your business is making versus you and your voice, this episode is for you.

Maybe you're thinking about an exit strategy. Maybe you are thinking about shifting your role. In your business, or maybe you just don't want to be the consistent go to person or to be the sole go to person, especially when it comes to being public facing, so we're going to chat a little bit about this today.

Steven, have you. Talked to founders before or thought about this before where founders want to shift what the strategy is and, and stop being the face of their brand. 

Stephen Lewis: I have, in fact, I just had. I've been having this conversation with one particular found over the last couple of weeks. So it's, it's, [00:03:00] it is a thing that I think people are constantly, uh, wrestling with.

And so, yeah, I'm looking forward to this conversation with you. 

Kimberly R. Daniel: Yeah. So, you know, I just want to get into Some tips we want to get into some tips for how you might think about shifting that if you're in this situation, or maybe the person you've been in conversation with Steven is tuning in, and maybe this could also be instructive to them.

So, you know, there are just a few things we're going to mention. Hopefully it can help you to think more strategically about what your next step might be to word really. Pivoting the narrative or who is the go to person or who are the go to people or where is the place that people go to if they want to know more or engage your, your business more beyond just coming to you.

So Stephen, what's the first thing that comes to mind for you as far as like a tip that could be helpful to founders in this position? 

Stephen Lewis: Well, one [00:04:00] thing I would say is that founders are the greatest asset to the business. And so often what that means is that they are the catalyst for that business, which often means that they are the face of that business.

So the shift that first and foremost, you had to build you a strong team of team members who can actually do their work really well, but also can be. Can share the load in terms of public facing the actual organization. You know, you want people who can not only do well at their job, but who can also represent the business very well publicly, you want to empower them to lean into their own leadership and to be an ambassador, a brand ambassador, a vision ambassador, a mission ambassador, uh, to the organization.

And I think, you know, ultimately your team is. Your business. And so, you know, it's not just you in business for yourself [00:05:00] or your personal brand, even though you are in many ways, but it's also thinking about how do you actually build that team to actually be an extension of you in terms of your business that can.

Represent the business whales in a variety of different settings, but also, um, they can be conversation partners and a sounding board about the ways in which you as a collective team, a collective unit can actually represent your business in the public sphere. 

Kimberly R. Daniel: Yeah, and you know, I would also say that I recognize that building the right team and a strong team to be able to take on that leadership role.

It's not always an easy thing, finding the right people. It can be a process. It can be a journey. So make sure that you are crossing your eyes, Daniel teas, doing your research, you know, making sure that you're picking. As [00:06:00] much as you can beforehand qualified, transparent, authentic, professional leaders who can do the job well and communicate well on behalf of your company, on behalf of your business.

And so. You know, that could be a whole episode in and of itself of talking about building the right people. And I know Steve will have some incredible insights for that, given his role and organization and as alongside of our work with founders as well, but I just want to, just want to share that, you know, build a strong team and.

Take your time to build that strong team to ensure that you have the right people that you're kind of passing the baton to, to speak on behalf of your company. 

Stephen Lewis: And to recognize that building the right kind of team is not an exact science, but it is an art. I mean, even when you look in professional sports, organizations are always trying to put the right People together the right [00:07:00] fit in terms of team members to really build in to build that kind of a sports team so they can go far and whatever athletic endeavors that they are part of.

And it's tough, it really is tough because you can have great people who are like solo contributors. But those solo contributors don't always translate in terms of being a part of a team. And so as Kimberly says, you really have to do your due diligence in trying to find out those people who are like shiny and have like wonderful reputation for what they do, how they actually can work within a group of people, a diverse group of people who have different ideas and be able to kind of congeal as a group and help that group really kind of be what it can be to advance your business.

Kimberly R. Daniel: And going to another tip here, especially given my background in communications and some of the organizations and companies that I've been working with, it also is [00:08:00] about building a strong brand. And we had a previous episode with one of our alums, Demi McCoy, who talked a bit about brand and what that is.

And so if you want to know more about that, you can go back to that episode, but I will say a brand is essentially your reputation and what people do. Think, feel, or what their response is to your particular company. And so if people see your brand in any kind of way, and I'm not talking about just the logo I'm talking about, if they see you on social media, I'm talking about if they see something written on your website, or if they even engage with any of your team members, that's a reflection of your brand.

So what is the story that people are telling within your organization or your company? What is the story that you're telling publicly? And is that story. Centered on you as the founder. And if it is, that's when you need to look at shifting that you need to look at shifting the message and the story to focus on the impact [00:09:00] of your business, to focus on the types of people in the communities that you're serving, to focus on the team as the organization, as the company versus just your story.

Now, your story may be very important to why. It started while your business started in the first place, but it's really bigger than your story is. It's around the problem that you wanted to address through your business and your story is just a representation of that. So it is important. But what people will connect with is this larger problem.

That is impacting them or other people that they know in their communities. So what is that story and what are you sharing as a collective team? And so again, really looking at what are you saying in your elevator pitch? What are your team members saying in their elevator pitch? What type of content is being written about your company?

What are you sharing through video, [00:10:00] through written word and social media? Who are you engaging with? There are the only people that you know, as the founder or the relationships that are being built by your team and by your company, and they're not just owned by you. What do you think on your website?

Just so many different avenues. Look at all the avenues in which you are communicating who you are as a company and engaging with your customers or your beneficiaries or The or your key stakeholders and really think about what is the story that you now want to tell and how do you bridge from where you are now to that new story?

That you want to share to shift what people are seeing and who they identify with as the person or the story of your organization. 

Stephen Lewis: I think those are all good points, uh, particularly with regards to the brand. Yeah. Those are, I think, seminal things that people need to consider. So. No, those are [00:11:00] great. And moving on to another tip, what I would say is that understand that people typically identify companies with the team behind them and people want to connect with those people.

So while you don't want to be the primary face of your business, know that your role is important, that you will always be associated with your business in some way. So what's important is to think about shifting your customer or your community's focus from solely thinking about you when it comes to your business and more about your team and their impact, but to do that, you have to be willing to relinquish.

You have to be willing to share power and authority and decision making responsibilities. You have to be able to trust people that you can delegate to, that they are a representation of you, your brand, and your business. And it's not always easy. And so I know a lot of founders who [00:12:00] want to shift, you know, the onus from them to a broader team, but they also have to be really comfortable with also shifting delegation, authority, power, and decision making from themselves.

To a wider team who can help make those decisions and actually move the work forward. And it's not an either or thing. It's not a, you know, I either do this or not, but it's, it's about learning about what it is that you can begin to relinquish. It is about thinking about what you can actually allow somebody else to do versus you.

And it's also being able to give them an opportunity to see how they may. Rise and shine in what you give them, but also keep tabs on what they're doing and give them feedback and coach them and, and help them continue to lean into the actual leadership. But those are just, you know, I think another set of tips that I think important as you think about how do you shift your customer and [00:13:00] your constituents focus from you to a broader team thinking about those things will help you as well.

Kimberly R. Daniel: I know there are other tips that we could share, but that is what we're going to share with you today. And hopefully it has brought. Use some insight or brought up some potential next steps or at least one next step you can take to explore shifting, you know, you being the go to person in the public face of your company.

But remember that. Your role is important, your team's role is important, and the collective is what makes up your organization. And it may not be an easy journey or easy task to shift it, but it will benefit your company for sure in the long run. So, we appreciate you tuning in, and if you're searching for a community to hear more tools, Gain more [00:14:00] resources, uh, connect with other people.

We have a place for you to go. You can go to do good x. org and there you can join our LinkedIn community and you can explore other resources for your journey, but until next time, where you join us again, because we hope you do be well and

Narrator: for listening to the do good X podcast to continue the conversation or access our resources. Visit www. dogoodx. org. Join us again for conversations that will nourish your soul, ignite your dreams, and empower you to build an impactful business, one intentional step at a time until then keep striving, thriving, and doing good.