Beyond the Bio EP 4: Brand Visibility Reframe with Krystal

What if visibility wasn't about performing — but about being? In this refreshing conversation, I sit down with Krystal, a brand storyteller and visibility mentor, to unpack what it truly means to be known, not just seen.
We talk about reframing visibility from perfection to presence, why authenticity builds longevity, and how to show up online without losing your energy.
✨ In this episode:
▫ Presence over performance
▫ Being known vs being seen
▫ Sustainable visibility

Krystal Jugarap is the systems + visibility strategist women entrepreneurs call when they're tired of doing all the things and still feeling stuck in the shadows. She helps you build the behind-the-scenes foundation that gets you seen, booked, and paid—without burning out or second-guessing yourself every step of the way. To Reach her directly hop on to her INSTAGRAM at https://www.instagram.com/iamkrystalj/
Listen now, reflect, and tag us with your biggest reframe moment.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:09

All right. I am so pumped today to have the most amazing person I have met in recent times of my life. Miss Crystal Jugara. Did I say the second name right? You did, you did. Great job. So for the uninitiated, let me introduce Crystal. Crystal is the founder of Empowered by Women, who I am a community, proud community member of, a trail-basing community built for bold, ambitious female entrepreneurs who are ready to lead, grow, and rise together. She's a two-time founder, visibility and brand strategist, systems queen, keynote speaker, and a full-on powerhouse for every room she walks into. And that I agree every word of it. Oh yes, that's that's the goal. Sister, welcome and thank you so much for doing this today. Uh, I truly appreciate it for being on Think Brand Talk Brad, which is the new baby of my company, and we are creating some gems like this with such wonderful people like you.

SPEAKER_00 1:25

Oh my gosh, thank you for having me. I'm super excited to be here. I always love chatting with you, and I am so excited for our conversation today. We already kind of had like a sneak peek of what's happening, so I'm super excited to really dive into it.

SPEAKER_01 1:38

Yes. Um, since I know you, Crystal, from the number one day that I met you, I think there's one thing that I always think about as soon as I talk. Talk to you, talk about you, or think it's visibility. I think the kind of meaning and uh the kind of understanding you've you bring to the table about visibility, it's so fresh, it's so deep that I really wanted to get you here on this podcast today and talk about it. It's an entirety because uh what I feel is that a lot of times uh visibility is misunderstood. Um and I'm also I've also been there, I'm guilty guilty of that too. So I really wanted to bring you in today and talk about visibility. But before we go there, I you know I've asked this to you personally, but I again want you to repeat like tell us what your inspiration has been so far growing up and the reason you are such a trailblazer in the women empowerment circuit in that community. What how did you get here?

SPEAKER_00 2:41

How much time do we have? I feel like I could go on and on about this, but we'll we'll try to keep it quick. So I've always known I was gonna be an entrepreneur since I was in high school. And I didn't have any entrepreneurial role models around me. So it didn't, even though, like for some reason I had that calling, it didn't seem like a feasible path because I didn't know anyone that was actually doing that.

SPEAKER_02 3:05

Right.

SPEAKER_00 3:06

And so I kind of would always take on these jobs that felt like it was giving me some kind of autonomy, some kind of like I would be able to have some creative direction with it. I was a merchandiser at Macy's, that was one of my favorite jobs, by the way. Where I got to merchandise the entire juniors department. I was kind of like in my own little world. I designed closets, I sold jewelry and hosted trunk shows, and I did all these little things where it was kind of itching that entrepreneurial scratch. Fast forward, I became a new mom. And like I said, I had sold jewelry and I had amassed so much of it, and it was taking over my shelf. And I said, okay, you know what? I need to do something about this. I grew up in a very creative household. So, you know, I was trying to find some solutions online, and you know that that story that every entrepreneur has where they try to find a solution, they couldn't find it, so they created one.

SPEAKER_02 3:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:55

And because I had this very creative DIY background, I was like, okay, you know what? I'm gonna go ahead and just make one for myself. And it was the middle of the night. I was feeding my second daughter. Um, and that's always that was always my best brainstorming hour. And the more that I thought about what I was gonna create to help store my jewelry, the more I realized there's actually some merit to this design. And it was like the light bulb just went off. Like that was what my life has been leading up to. All of those entrepreneurial itches, I felt like that moment, that idea was kind of checking everything off for me, right? The creative direction. It was tied to fashion. I'd be able to have my own business, I'd be able to do all these things. And so the next morning I hit the ground running. I literally created a prototype out of an old diaper box, an old notebook, some rubber bands. Um, and I showed it to my partner and I was like, isn't this amazing? And he was like, Yeah, I mean, that's cool. Like, doesn't that already exist? And I was like, no, it's gonna be amazing. It's a million-dollar brand. And in making that decision, it just made me think about the community that I had when I was selling jewelry. And I would go to the conferences and all of these other women that were selling the jewelry too, like everyone was just so energized and excited about what they were doing and how they were leading their businesses and supporting each other. And I no longer had that. So I said, how do I recreate that? So Empowered by Women really started out as a very casual extension of my product line book of Bijou. We hosted one market in 2022 and had 20 women vendors, a few women speakers. I got to bring my two girls, and that was even that alone was a surreal experience because, like I said, I didn't have role models like that when I was younger. I didn't see any other option other than society's traditional path of, you know, getting the nine to five and then finding your partner and getting married and buying the house and having kids. And so be able being able to expose them to that was really surreal. But that event really solidified us as an emerging community. And so many of the women that attended were just saying, like, this is what we need. We need more of this. We need this kind of energy, we need these kinds of opportunities, we need this kind of connection. And it kind of just slowly started building and building and naturally progressing until come last year, we were like, okay, there is something here we really need to start building out our foundation because what we're creating with Empowered by Women is so special, it's so beautiful. You've seen it for yourself firsthand, the energy and the people that are in this community. And so now the sky's the limit, and I have so many big visions for it.

SPEAKER_01 6:36

I absolutely know that you will achieve each one of it, and you are going to kill it. And I'm so excited and pumped to be part of this community because as I've told you this before, and I want to repeat that I have tried many, many things. Um, I've been an entrepreneur for now five years, and it's not an easy road. Um, in in all of that, uh, I mean, I'm uh mothering a six-year-old and I'm changing countries and all of that. So I have really tried a lot of things to help me go through this path. But what I have found with empowered my women, I haven't found anywhere else. And that's my reason to every day wake up and be excited about, like, oh, you know, and and the support that we feel for each other. I don't know where it's just so also natural. Like, I know that I can, you know, just maybe text Kate or Terry and then ask something, you know, like this is special, this is something that you don't get all the time, and you know, so I honestly feel that because the entrepreneur's journey is already hard, you you know, you were trying to build something that doesn't exist, or trying to build something that is exists but in a better way. So there's there's already so much happening in an entrepreneur's life, but as soon as visibility, the idea of visibility comes into their head as to how do I use now my channels or communities or platforms to increase that visibility. I think before even starting, there's some fatigue and noise in your head already that my god, this is this is a lot. Um, you know, the always be posting culture, uh, you know, dance to the new latest trend. Uh I don't know, it just feels like a lot for somebody, maybe they are introverts or they haven't done this before, they want to be a business person, but not exactly a content creator or an influencer. So I really want to ask you that uh, what does visibility actually mean to you? And and has this definition changed with your changing experiences of having the product company first and now the community? So, how if you could just, you know, say what you actually uh the way you look at uh visibility?

SPEAKER_00 8:49

Absolutely. I love this question because my perception of visibility has changed so much since the beginning. And I don't know if I've ever told you this, Shivani. I've told a couple of people, but when I started Empowered by Women, again, it was something very, very casual. And I was like, oh, we're gonna make one of those really pretty aesthetic Instagrams with all the pretty quotes, and people are just reposting it and there's gonna be like 500,000 followers and it's gonna be amazing, right? Yeah, that was that was how I was starting it. And I very quickly realized like that is not what I want at all. And even though the 500k, if we ever got to that point, people would look at that and be like, wow, this is amazing. They are really visible. Would I have felt seen? Or will I have just created something very, very superficial? And I think, like you said, there is so much noise out there, and there is so much pressure to show up a certain way, to post a certain amount of times. And one of the quotes that I've come across in the past few months that I really, really love, and something that I kind of is just kind of like a regular reminder for myself is to make sure that you are moving out of alignment and not obligation. And I think that's where a lot of people get lost because they do feel like they have to show up a certain way, listen to all these gurus, follow all these courses, and consistency has become this rigid box that they have limited themselves to. And when I talk about showing up consistently, I don't mean keep showing up on Instagram every single day at this certain time and post this and post that and have your whole content scheduled out. When I talk about showing up consistently, it is doing all of these little things, and those things can be completely different, but doing all of these little things that move the needle for your business and for you as a human and your personal development or your professional development. And even if those things are different day to day today, if you are still showing up for yourself every day, that's how you get that 1% better, right? And that's when we shift the conversation from how do we get visible, and we're really just talking about vanity metrics and how many likes and followers you have, to how do we create sustainable visibility where it actually feels good to you because you're showing up and doing the work that matters, not doing the work someone else told you to do and you feel like you should do it.

SPEAKER_01 11:10

Yeah. No, I hear you, and I uh thank you for saying that because I think I have also caught myself, despite knowing as somebody who's worked in the marketing space, and that a lot of the vanity metrics are an outcome or are directly proportional to budgets and the money you spend and to you the money that you allocate for all of these platforms, sometimes a lot of growth is uh proportional to that. But despite knowing that I have always struggled with this idea that if I don't show up, then I'm forgotten. That uh, you know, uh like I don't exist. But as you beautifully said, that doing it out of alignment always then goes back to the place of what actually why you why why are you doing this? You know, your why, um, why are you creating this business? You could have stuck to a nine to five or not worked at all and just been at home and you know, and and and done the wonderful job of being a stay-at-home, stay-at-home mom. So I I really feel that first the moment I started understanding that the visibility I'm creating, the perception I'm creating for myself and my business, it's actually driven now, it's more going more inwards. That's why I want to do this. What is the reason I want to be here? And that is making the job so much more fun, so much more lighter, and so much more wholesome that I just feel like, yeah, I I I don't I want to do it. It doesn't matter whether it got it got any likes or whether it's you know it's trending or not, it's just the fact that this is what I actually feel, and I have a platform to say it. So I think that perception that I want to create, it's not just as you rightly said, just not just about being seen, but it's also about being understood. So I want to ask you that have you ever felt pressure to perform for your brand? Uh, and what helped you to step back into authority? Because I know I've been there that I wanted to, and it's a reminder for me, but I really want to hear it from you because I know you define this so beautifully, like how to step back into your, you know, authentic self.

SPEAKER_00 13:34

I am the type of person that is constantly reflecting, like constantly. I have this internal monologue that just does not stop. And I think that's that's both a great thing, and sometimes it can, you know, it can be a little tough, but I think it's a strength in that it allows me to constantly just re-level and reground myself whenever I am feeling those moments of the pressure that you're speaking about. Right. And the interesting thing with the way that we're building empowered by women is that I have never built it with the intention that I'm on the top, everyone is looking at me at their as their leader, and like you guys are all like my clients. Like, that's not how I look at it. That's never one how I looked at it. But it's interesting because being the founder of the platform, inherently that happens. People look at me as the founder, as the leader, right? And there is almost this expectation, and I don't know if that's something that I created for myself, but it at times there does feel like this expectation that I have to show up for people a certain way. And the more we grow, that's more and more people that I have to show up for. So in those moments, I'm constantly having that conversation for myself of not only who am I, how do I want to show up as a leader? I'm constantly adjusting and refining. How do I want to show up as a leader? What kind of example do I want to give to the women in my community? But also, what is really the foundation of Empowered by Women? What is the big vision for this? As we started growing, I was constantly listening to the women in our community because again, it was just very casual. I was like, I have no business plan. This is not a thing. Like, we're just having fun. What do you guys want? Let's create it. But then the more we started growing, it's I had to start shifting the way that I was listening to all of these things that people were asking of me and wanting from the community, and really being able to discern like and kind of filter through all of those comments and the feedback to what makes sense and what feels good for me and what feels aligned for our community. So this constant, just kind of like constant filtration process, I think is so needed for us as entrepreneurs to filter out the noise, yeah, and to make sure that we're not getting so distracted, we're not letting you know all of those external sounds and opinions and all of those things affect us too deeply that we stray from the course that we wanted to be on to begin with.

SPEAKER_01 16:08

100%. Um I was just thinking about what you just said, and it's sometimes when the pressure of performance, uh as I said, dancing on the latest trend or you know, the TikTok reel that you gotta make uh because it's it's what's hot and everyone's doing it. It sometimes makes me feel that there is a bit of um despite having so much experience in what I do, I think there's a bit of lagging behind. You know, if I don't do it, I am behind. And and there is this feeling of if I am behind, then then why am I here? Like, you know, if this is the this is this is the rule of the game, yeah, uh, you know, that you're playing, then I I better play by that rule. Like, for example, let's take followers as an example, right? Like in a very black and white world, somebody landing up your on your profile, you would just think, oh my god, like you just see 100 followers, like my potential client might feel like I'm a fake or I I don't exist, or you know, this person is uh like not the expert she's claiming to be. So in those moments of questioning yourself, your uh the mode of realization that you question everything, um, how do you come back to your purpose, if I have to put it simply?

SPEAKER_00 17:37

I okay, I really like the direction you took this in. And this is something that was um a very recent conversation, internal, another internal conversation I had with myself because I found myself in a room where I was almost, it almost felt like I was kind of middle ground, where there were so many women that were well above me in terms of how long they've been in business, how much revenue they're bringing in, how many clients they've served, how many followers they have, right? Exactly. But also I was in that same room, there were people that were just getting started. That were there were people that were too afraid to take to take the leap. There are people in that room to feel that motivation. So even though I was kind of being positioned as a speaker amongside all these people that on paper were so much so much more established than me, there was all of the doubt that was start starting to creep in, right? Like, do I even deserve to be here? Do I have to show up as someone that's as successful, quote unquote successful, because success means different things to everyone. Do I have to present myself at their level of success to make sure that I can create create the impact that I'm meant to create? And so that people can see me and be like, oh, okay, well, she hasn't done that much compared to this person, so I'm gonna work with that person. And again, being in this very reflective state that I'm in, and me being committed to leading as transparent as transparently as possible and honoring myself and my journey, it goes back to reframing your perspective, which I think is such a skill that all entrepreneurs need. But instead of looking at it like, oh, I'm the underdog, I'm not qualified to be in this room, like I am nowhere near what these women have created and accomplished and all of that, instead of focusing on that, I shifted my perspective to say, wow, look at the room that I created for myself. Look at the room that I allowed myself to step into because of the work that I've been doing. Because had I not made that choice a couple of years ago to start betting on myself, I wouldn't be anywhere close to this room. Maybe I would be an attendee, and there's nothing wrong with being an attendee. There's so many opportunities to be able to just be an attendee in beautiful rooms. But I get to be in that room and those women and all those things that they've accomplished, I get to be the next person to do that because now I'm surrounding myself in that beautiful company. And I truly believe that how intentional you are with who you're surrounding yourself with, that is what what limitations or lack of limitations you're creating for yourself in terms of expansion, right? So it's not just a comparison, it's not a comparison thing anymore. It's a look into the future, if you will, of what's possible.

SPEAKER_01 20:29

That is amazing insight, Crystal. Only a person who's reflecting constantly can come up with that because I really feel that um there have been times and all of us go through that that phase where we question everything, we question uh the burnout, we question the disconnection, we question why am I not, you know, doing so well as this person or that person. And and in those moments, this kind of a reframe tech, you know, it's a skill, it seriously is a skill to just say that, for example, like I made a mistake, then I'm like, okay, I'm learning. I I made a mistake, but I'm learning, and you know, this helps me get better at whatever I'm so this kind of growth mindset is is so important for entrepreneurs as their journey is not easy, uh, they're always going to be, you know, ups and downs. So for business owners who are really new and maybe they've just made a shift from uh corporate to you know starting a new business, what is something that you want to tell them on visibility so they don't feel behind, they don't feel that uh too late to the party, or like I I have to now start performing. So to these new business owners who are making this shift, is there something that you want them to think of when when move making this move?

SPEAKER_00 21:54

There's so many things I can say, but the one that's really prominently coming to mind is to Not get lost in the noise. And to really start tapping into your own intuition and trusting yourself above anything else. And uh I mean, I don't know if you've experienced this from your end. We can we can talk about it, Shibani. But the way that I like to work with my clients, I'm not coming in and consulting them and this is how you should show up and this is what you should do and this is your marketing campaign. But I always, always ask them, like, how are you feeling? How do you feel about what we just talked about? Like, what where are you? What are you thinking about that? Because if your gut reaction to the visibility plan that we come up with is uh like that doesn't feel good, you're not it's not gonna be sustainable. You're gonna show up, you're gonna maybe post three times and then be like, okay, well, that didn't work because I stopped, because it doesn't feel good, because it's out of obligation and not alignment. So recognize where your strengths are, like what is your why as you mentioned, what is your end goal, have that in mind.

SPEAKER_02 23:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:02

So that every time you're deciding, like, oh, should I be doing this? Like, should I do this 30-day posting challenge? Does that actually contribute to your goal? Or are you doing it because someone said you should be doing it? And then from there, recognizing what makes sense in how you can show up, what is the easiest way? Remove the friction, right? You know, some there are people that like, oh, like I don't like writing copy. Okay, what tools can you use to support you in writing copy? There's ChatGPT, right? Like, oh, I'm not good with graphics. Okay, find some Canva templates. Oh, like I can't batch create. That's fine. Don't batch create. What makes the sense for the way that you operate and you more than anyone else know how you operate? So, how do you take that? How do you leverage the way that you operate, and what tools can you start bringing in to support the way that you want to show up and then you know that you can show up in consistently?

SPEAKER_01 23:57

Wow, that's amazing because only if somebody had directed me when I started when I started as an entrepreneur, or honestly, initially it's just a freelancing ideology that you're following. Um, I wanted to do it all by myself and then eventually land up nowhere because I was trying everything in a go rather than you know, like fail first and then learn quickly. So um I think for budding entrepreneurs, knowing their why, doing the inner work first to understand why they're doing it. Um sometimes maybe it's it's uh it's it's the need of the hour that you have to do it. And sometimes it's really coming from a place of, as you said, alignment and uh something that you've always wanted to do, and now is the opportunity to do it. So um alignment is something that I really feel is key here when it comes to visibility, for visibility to not feel exhausting, for visibility to not feel like performative visibility, and for visibility to feel uh like you're having fun doing it. Like you know, the other day I I'd already whatever I had scheduled for some kind of content on the internet for my social media, it was done. And then the evening I was listening to Taylor Swift has got the new song out, right? So I was like, oh my god, this song is so fun. I just want to, you know, put some clips together and share this. And I did that, and it felt fun that I'm actually using my energy and my space and still very much aligned to what I'm doing, but I'm also having fun with it, no with no pressure. And it's it's really taken some time to get there to be this person who is okay with not meeting all the marks, but at least like you know, just enjoying the process because I feel that in all of this, this this noise of this entrepreneurship, and I'm you know making million dollars, and I'm you know uh having these big retreats for my clients, like in all of this noise, I think we forget to have fun in the process. So, what's your way to bring in that fun for yourself?

SPEAKER_00 26:17

Everything that you just said, I love so much, and I'm very much in the space of like, okay, we need to bring some fun back. This is actually something that I talked about in my last keynote at last summit, where it was like, when did we stop having fun? Like, when did we start taking ourselves so seriously that we're not allowed to show up a certain way? Right. And so that's kind of how I treat social media now. I'm sure you've seen my personal Instagram where like I had a towel on my head, I had a bird on my head. Listen, the way that I show up, the way that I look, does not diminish the message that I have to share. And that is, I have this very like monotone, dry sense of humor. And I think I'm funny. And I'm like, you know what? I made this decision a couple of years ago that I was gonna start living life my way. And that's part of it, right? I want I don't want to have to have a filter every time I show up. I don't feel like I need to look polished and professional and perfect because perfection isn't real. Yeah. And even if I do do my hair and put on a pretty outfit, that doesn't change the message that I have to share. People trust me and relate to me because of how real I'm showing up. And I think that's the part that so many people miss is that they come up, they show up with a filter. Yeah. Because they say, Oh, like this person said not to do this. This is the format that I'm supposed to be using, this is the hook that I'm supposed to be using, these are the content pillars. I can't stray from that. Do everything with intention 100%, but let having fun be one of those intentions that you allow into your space.

SPEAKER_01 27:56

Oh my gosh, like this is the visibility reframe, the brand visibility reframe that I want to share with the world because this is what I learn from you every day, and it is amazing to see you in all your authenticity, in all your fun element. And and you when and I also feel that when you do it as a you know community, the curator, the one who made this community, it gives others permission to also start, you know, being their true self. Because I really feel that sometimes we're looking for that permission, at least as a person, sometimes I'm looking for that permission. That you know, uh can can it be this real? Can I be this real? Is it allowed? And and then when you see people around you, like you know, being their true authentic self, it just motivates you and it just makes I don't know, makes coming being visible fun and being visible as enjoyable, which is the reframe I want to, you know, really get out there in the you know, in this space, because I do know and I speak to so many people who are so overwhelmed by this entire social media that has entered our life in the last 10 years, you know, because before that it was not this chaotic, but now it's it's all there. So then in this chaos, this is the visibility reframe we must bring with us every time we are trying to create something. And uh I'm just so super thankful that you've come today. Before we go, one last quick tip. Is it over already? I feel like I could talk to you for hours.

unknown 29:33

Me too.

SPEAKER_01 29:35

So, one quick tip for anyone that can do something about their visibility in the next one week.

SPEAKER_00 29:43

Just one tip? Okay. I want you to recognize that visibility is far more than just Instagram or whatever platform that you're on. And this is something that I am constantly sharing with people. Like there are so many times that people are talking about Empowered by Women and the events that we host and the things that we offer without me saying a word and without me posting a thing. And that's because everything that we do, I don't care what industry you're in, everything that you do, Shivani, everything that I do, everything that anyone of you are listening to, we're all in the business of relationship building. And the digital world is one thing, but don't forget the humans that are around you. Because if you could leverage community and leverage word of mouth, leverage referral partners, work with the people in your community and have people bringing you visibility on your behalf without you having to compound the work that you're putting in, that is game changing. So that's gonna be my one tip.

SPEAKER_01 30:45

Oh my gosh. Yes, yes, yes, yes to all of it. And and on that note, I want to say thank you so much, Kristin, for giving us this opportunity to take to get some juices flowing in our brain regarding visibility, which is which is on, I think, top of mind for everyone. So thank you so much for sharing all the wisdom that you have and and and how empowered is blooming and it's it keeps blooming. And also, do you want to talk about the event that's coming up that for November 15th?

SPEAKER_00 31:18

Do I? Absolutely. So we have our second annual summit happening in the Bay Area in Alameda, California, November 15th. It is a one-day high-energy, high impact event for women professionals and entrepreneurs. Shivani will be you're gonna be there, right? Shivani will be there. Okay, you get to hang out with the both of us. We're gonna have speakers, workshops, beautiful activations. You are going to get the opportunity to connect with the most incredible women. And I do not say that lightly. Like our community is amazing. It is really community can be such a buzzword, but it's the heart of everything that we do. And being able to step into the room is so powerful. And I'm constantly telling everyone get into the room. I don't care which room you're in, but definitely November 15th, let it be our room. Get into the room because magic happens when you move with other people.

SPEAKER_01 32:09

100%. And I'm going to be there. And I hope whoever's listening gets excited, gets pumped, and they are there so we can all party together. Yeah, it's gonna be so much fun.

SPEAKER_00 32:20

Thank you, Shibani. You are absolutely amazing. Oh my god, you are amazing.

SPEAKER_01 32:27

Okay, thank you so much. Bye.