The Hidden Cost Of Perfectionism In Business

Perfection isn't always persuasive.

In fact, when everything feels too polished, people can start to question whether it's real. In a world where AI and perfectly curated content are everywhere, authenticity has become one of the strongest ways to build trust.

In this episode of Honest Brew, we explore why perfectionism can quietly hold your business back and why people are often drawn to brands that feel genuinely human.

#BrandStrategy #AuthenticMarketing #BusinessGrowth #EntrepreneurMindset #PersonalBrand #MarketingStrategy #SmallBusinessOwner #Branding #ContentMarketing #BusinessTips

A candid conversation between three seasoned business women who've been in the trenches of entrepreneurship. We bridge the gap between the glamorous just market and sell advice and the reality of what it takes to build a sustainable business. While most business content focuses on marketing, branding, OR operations in isolation, we bring all three worlds together. Because your brand culture needs to live in every system you create, your operations need to support your brand promise, and your marketing needs the infrastructure to deliver on what it sells.

We're here for the solopreneurs ready to grow beyond themselves, the partnership survivors rebuilding stronger, and anyone tired of business advice that treats branding, marketing, and operations as separate planets when they're part of one ecosystem.

HOSTS

Cheale Villa, Visual Caffeine, visualcaffeine.com / Monique Johnson, MoJo Design, ...

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

You've landed on someone's website, their Instagram, their proposal deck, and everything looks designed. And somehow you don't trust them. Their fonts are flawless, copies crisp, and not a hair out of place. Your grud says something is really off. This is Honest Brew Podcasts, where we just have raw conversations about business growth and we really focus on the integration of branding, marketing, and operations. I am Shell from Visual Caffeine. I'm Monique from Mojo Design.

SPEAKER_02 0:41

And I am Sarah from Indigo Elephant.

SPEAKER_00 0:43

And when something smells stinky, when you see a website, it used to be that you'd have the crappy website that looked like it was made in the early 2000s, and you're just like, yeah, I don't trust it. And weirdly, now it's too polished and too perfect. And we don't trust that now, too. That instinct is not irrational, it's actually really important data. And today we are touching on how perfectionism can disrupt your business and your brand. So let's jump into it, ladies. We've got our brew, we've got our brains on. So let's talk about the polished paradox. When everything looks too good, uh, then stop and it stops feeling real. Perfectionism singles effort and it can accidentally single inauthenticity. And all of us love authenticity. We certainly do.

SPEAKER_01 1:39

I think for me, the the example that comes to mind right off the bat is when you're kind of scrolling around, maybe on social media, and you get some ad or something, and it's so polished that it just feels fake. It feels like it was just made by a machine or something. And it makes you feel like, oh, it might be like stock imagery looking and over-designed. And it just makes you think, is this a real company or did some bot put this together and just created this? And it's just a strange feeling. On the opposite end, if you're scrolling through and something catches your attention, um, and usually what catches my attention is something that has like a retro style to it, or something that clearly is human-made or nostalgic in some way. Those are the kinds of things that that catch my eye, especially right now in this day and age. Um that's just kind of an example that comes to mind for me, but I'd love to hear yours.

SPEAKER_02 2:41

It honestly kind of reminds me when I see something that's too perfect, like that person that's too nice to you. Something's a bit sus. It's like, calm down. You're too nice. You're telling me too much of what I want to hear.

SPEAKER_00 2:53

You know, you shouldn't be talking about me like that, Sarah.

SPEAKER_02 2:58

You lock punch me every week. I feel like there's a difference between something that looks too perfect and something that's aesthetic and cohesive. Where it's like, if I see you on Instagram, then I go to your website, then I see everything. Oh, indigo elephant, indigo elephant. But it's when it's like when you're trying too hard, like the copy saying too much, there's too much going on in your design. I feel like a big thing I see in videos is people doing the perfect routine or like having the perfect life. Because I feel love the behind the scenes. We want to see the vlogs, we want to see that stuff. So when I see, I wake up at this time and do this, and I'm like, bitch, no, you don't. I bet you you don't. You do it for this video, but I bet you on a random Tuesday, it's not like that. And I feel like we strive for perfectionism because we think that's what people want to see. When it's more of like, no, I want to see the messiness. I want to see like it took me forever to get out of bed because I had a hard night last night. It's like girls saying, How'd you get out of it?

SPEAKER_00 3:59

We had that conversation way back about the girl boss era, and that was when the aesthetic of everything was so candy painful. Yeah. And I really, I really love what's being pointed to, which is that it's almost there's a cleanness, a simplicity, and an authenticity to things. Then it's real and you know you're meeting that person or you're meeting that company and it it feels human. I think Monique, you use that word. It's like I notice when I scroll on YouTube. Okay. YouTube is a perfect example. And you mentioned stock photography, but have you seen some of these thumbnails in in YouTube where you're just like, Where what's stock photography? Uh made that one. Like, what? Oh, it's AI. There's just no, there's no photographer, no illustrator that has ever created something that looked like that. You just know it's AI. So it's uh it's I it's almost beyond sacron. I'm gonna say that because it's kind of going on the on the candy thing. And I will say some of my favorite ones to click on are definitely not those. The ones I love to click on are the people I tend to follow on YouTube. They tend to make these little collages of little pictures they cut out on like dropping the background in Canva and you know, a little phrase they've got there, and that's it. As a designer, I look at it and go, okay, as a designer, I wouldn't have done that. But it doesn't matter. With that said, it's interesting how like the news people, the politician, the politics talking people, they tend to have the AI graphics. And if I actually put them on, which I have, they're intense, they're over, they're like what you're talking about, the two nights. They're too much. They're hyperbolic, they're just too much. So it's like, hmm, well, maybe AI is like an AI graphic is authentic for them because this is what I'm getting when I turn on the video. It kind of doesn't surprise me. You know what I mean? So I say all that to say that there is something in branding where you're matching and you're creating a continuity of what your culture is. If it's AI made, if it's homemade, if it's designer made. So then you're being led correctly in a way. Yeah. Right. So I think what that ultimately comes down to is who do we want to authentically connect with? And I know we've had these conversations about the people we want to attract that we want to work with. I think the same thing goes for someone to view our content, just putting that out there.

SPEAKER_01 6:38

I I agree with you wholeheartedly. I think right now, more than ever, we're all desperate. I don't know if desperate, maybe that's a too dramatic of a word, but we are craving human connection in some way or being able to even just relate to other people. And what it what is it? What's the thing that is gonna connect you to the next person? I also think that to your point, if you're speaking, you should be speaking once you know who your audience is, you have to figure out how to connect the dots to them. And that's a huge part of building a brand. If you're not connecting with the people that you want to attract, then what you're putting out there is a disconnect. I'm like nature girl outdoorsy vibe. That's that's my thing. If I put something that was so polished and I'm in a suit sitting at a desk, I don't even know. I don't honestly don't think I would attract anyone because they could peg me for being false.

SPEAKER_00 7:35

I I do want to interject one thing right there. I have a client who I've worked with for years. I started working with her for um before COVID, and she's a coach in yoga and a yoga instructor, and she's gotten into shaking medicine, all that stuff. When she first started her business, she was advised to do these girl boss kind of pictures. It is so off-brand, and it and it just she looks beautiful, but it's not her. Yeah, and then when she had a photographer take pictures of her that were so hard, they were so amazing, and it was just like you knew you were connecting with her. So, yeah. Anyway, I just wanted to insert that.

SPEAKER_01 8:15

The image you paint, and they people can tell if it's authentic or not.

SPEAKER_02 8:19

100%. Because when you guys were talking, what I was thinking about was like, what's the vibe? What do you want to put out there? Because that's never gonna lie. And so for my brand with operations, I do want mine to feel crisp, clean, but more on the sense of Sarah's got my back. I don't have to worry. Like you see their shoulders go away from their ears. That's what I want them to experience. Whereas with this other brand I'm launching, it's more retro, it's more fun, it's more casual. It's like it's a girl's night, but instead of leaving with a wreath, you leave with an SOP or an automation or something for the operational side of your business because operations can be fun, guys. And so I feel like that's when you keep telling me. It's fun. Yes, it's gonna be a new brain cell for you. It's fun. And I see going back to the perfectionism piece. I feel when we try to like, I have to get my graphic perfectly right, this automation has to work perfectly, this pressure, I feel like it's because we're afraid if we're not perfect, we won't be accepted or we won't get the success we need, or we have people being like, no, you have to do it this way to get XYZ. Just because it worked for them does not mean it's gonna work for you. You're two different people, energies, experiences. And so I feel if you're putting this pressure on yourself to I have to do the perfect carousel for Instagram to get conversions, you're probably gonna get no conversions. Whereas if you just take a screenshot of your notes app and post it, you'll probably get people booking calls with you.

SPEAKER_01 9:53

Yeah. I think there's an intimidation factor. When you see something that's overly perfect, you're just like, I have to live up to their standards or something. Um, it's just, yeah, I mean, that's the to me, the girl boss thing, going back to the girl boss thing.

SPEAKER_00 10:06

Yeah, totally totally intimidating.

SPEAKER_01 10:09

It's like, oh, well, you start comparing yourself and you're like, why aren't I like that? Or should I be like that? Or I mean, we've gone beyond that at this point. But yeah, when when things are a new trend, then you start do comparing yourself to am I supposed to be doing this to be successful? So I think there's a huge intimidation piece in that. And when people see a little mistake or they see like a hand lettered note on a on an Instagram post or something, I think that feels like comforting in some way, or it's more realistic than the perfect font and the perfect layout or whatever.

SPEAKER_00 10:47

Yeah, there's the there is a moment of insanity I had several years ago. That's how I'm gonna start this one out. That Tony Robbins was putting out talk to their business coaches. And you could have like a free call or whatever. And so I'm like, okay, I'm just curious what they say. It's funny how these free calls with things you can get, like you would learn a lot just out of that call, and you don't ever have to hire them, right? So I I connected with this guy. He totally reminded me of a finance bro. He was polished and intense, and and his first questions to me told me he's exactly who I should not be working with. I mean, it was so corporate view, it was so creating a $10 million business so you can resell it, kind of thinking, okay. And it was just, it was, it's really interesting. I mean, now, is there a place for them in the world? Of course. Tony Robbins makes a crap ton of money. Do they help people? Of course. There are the people who are just going there because they have this ideal of like, okay, you know that whole theory of hang out with the people you want to be like. Yes. I think there is the desire of that in people that go and spend a ton of money and never make money by working with them. So what what I what the this points to to me is gosh, like how much these things connect us to the right places, to the right people, to not only work with the right people. And what's weird to me is it's not just those, those type of intense, perfect aesthetic, whatever that people go after them because oh, I'm trying to attain something that I want to be by working with them. That happens to me. That happens in in in every business. I've had so many clients that they wanted to work with me because they saw me as an out-of-the-box, very out-of-the-box person. And they like, I'm so not like that. That's why I want to work with you. So I I think that you don't have to put on this facade, or even if the facade is real for you and you're just like that crazy. We mentioned this in another video, that guy who was doing that crazy morning routine, like exercise. Oh my god, don't even get me started. But even if that is real, the thing is, is that all of us, if we are putting out what's uniquely, authentically us, the people we work with, there's something they see in us, what we put out there that they want to attain. That's why they're working with you. So don't think you, I think sometimes we think we have to be like that to them be successful, which you guys already to get clients, whatever, like Sarah was talking about, you could do the the notes app at a shot, and that would probably get you more signups. But that's my whole point is that if you are truly putting out what's really you and you are truly like moving forward in an authentic way and not trying to follow what the Joneses are doing or live up to some plastic aesthetic, you're actually attracting the people who really see that special thing in you that they want to connect with and attain. The only reason the world is interesting at all is because we are different.

SPEAKER_02 14:03

I will also add on to that that we're saying this like it's easy, but it's not always. I I went through the phase where I'm like, I have to have like perfect carousels. Every reel needs to have a real cover so everything looks perfect. And if it's disrupted, it's like who fucking cares? Like that's something list of rules. Yes, exactly. Like that's where I kind of I had to give myself permission to discover what do I want to listen and see what these people are doing, but then discern what do I like about this? What don't I like about this? How can I make this realistic to how I want to work and how I want to live? And I will say, like, for me, I'll be very proud. I have released two YouTube videos and it took me a long time.

SPEAKER_00 14:54

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02 14:55

I'm scared. And I'm proud. The reason it was hard for me is because my perfectionism came out with my thumbnails. And it was hard for me because I'm like, I don't want to look like a Mr. Beast or a tech bro. I want to be more feminine, more clear, because that's who I want to attract. And I did get to a point where I had to be like, you know what? If this thumbnail is ugly, who cares? I'm putting it out there. I record sitting on my floor in the living room so people can look at my beautiful bookcase because I'd rather talk about books if I'm being honest. Love it. But like, so like that's me being me. And that did not happen overnight. That honestly took me months because I was scared on like, people are telling me I'm supposed to do this, and if I don't do that, I won't be successful. When it's like, girl, they're just giving you steps. You can try out the steps, and if you don't like certain ones, either stop doing them or reinvent them so it is something you like, and it makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 15:53

What you just said about almost like well, I don't practicing like trying things on. And I throw back to last year when I tried to do Facebook ads for the first time. God bless you. And some brilliant person that I know in my life was like, you really should try to do video because that videos are really they're kind of a they're hot right now, and people it's movement and it catches people's eyes. So I did I proceed to do like a hundred takes for these ads, and it was just critiquing myself over and over again. And at some point, I'm like, I am literally wasting my time critiquing myself when the first one was probably completely fine. So it just takes like I think going through that process, like the next time I did a video promo for my business, I just like did it in two takes, and then that was it. So I think some of it is it's not just practicing whatever you're actually doing, but going through the steps multiple times and seeing how it feels to you and what are the things that you liked versus you didn't like.

SPEAKER_00 17:04

I love that you guys brought this because how I was going to close our conversation was what perfectionism really costs you. And look at both your scenarios, like if you would allowed it to keep going, you basically would never put anything out in the first place. Yeah. And I think what's great about our team here is we have to get over that. We have to get over it because it's for other people. But when it's on your own, you could definitely continue to go into that trap. So what ultimately, the what I was gonna say about how what it costs you is it's it's not just a branding problem. It slows down your operations, it slows down your operations, delays launches, keeps you stuck in the almost ready loop.

SPEAKER_01 17:48

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 17:50

Perfectionism has we're gonna go to last sips, but I'm going to throw you a quote to ponder on. If your brand looks too perfect, people stop believing it's real. And if they don't believe it's real, they won't believe you can help them either. Last sips.

SPEAKER_02 18:09

From this conversation, what I hope that you take away from it is that it's really about giving yourself permission. If you find yourself on camera for hours trying to tweak the perfect graphic, you're constantly updating your website. That's just unnecessary pressure. That is you trying to put up a certain facade when the real you behind that is what makes you magnetic. It's what makes people be like, ooh, I want to see what she's doing. What how can she help me? There's an energy to you that draws people to each of us because we're all uniquely different in how we teach, how we show up, how we support people. And again, to think of this pretty much like anything in life, it is a muscle. It's about giving yourself grace. If you feel that voice coming up, if you're feeling that tension, breathe into it. Remind yourself that you're safe to be you and that you being enough is enough for you to be successful.

SPEAKER_00 19:08

Beautiful as always. Chasing perfect isn't protecting your brand, it's hiding it. Businesses that build real trust, the ones people refer, return to, and root for, let their personalities bleed through all messy edges and all. So expose those messy edges, come forward authentically, and whatever you're holding on to right now, launch it. We're rooting for you. Thank you for being here and listening. Bye bye.