Confident by Design: How Brand Clarity Helps You Show Up and Sell WITH TRICIA LANETTE

Dec 17

EPISODE: 26

So many business owners chase the perfect pitch or sales strategy—while quietly avoiding the deeper question:

Why don’t I feel ready to be seen?

In this episode, I’m joined by Tricia Lanette, founder of Electric Paradise Creative and the “Fairy Godmother of Personal Branding.” But this conversation goes beyond visuals. We explore how confidence, clarity, and mindset impact your visibility, your sales, and your ability to truly take up space in your business.

Because when your brand doesn’t feel aligned, you hesitate. You overthink. You hold back.

But when it does? You lead with clarity. You move with ease. You sell from a place of self-trust.

We cover:

The hidden mindset blocks that often look like “sales problems”
Why branding isn’t about looking polished—it’s about feeling like yourself
How confidence and clarity shift your presence in every client interaction
A simple way to get unstuck if your brand no longer reflects who you are
The real reason you might be avoiding visibility (and what to do about it)

LISTEN TO THE EPISODE HERE 👇🏻

Speaker: [00:00:00] You know, a lot of people, they want to speak to everybody, but effectively they're just speaking into the void and they're creating more noise on the internet. Whereas when you show up authentic, like I know it, it seems like overused the word authentic, but it's so true when you, when you are just yourself, your truest self, and yes, an elevated version of you.
You know that you present in your brand, but still authentically yourself With your own quirks and your own opinions and your own values, you become UNC Copyable.
Speaker 2: Welcome to Sales Is Service. The podcast designed to help you change your mind about sales. Literally, I'm gonna help you change the way you think about selling.
I'm Tam Smith, your host Sales Bessie, and pitch partner next door. You're tired of bros with biceps telling you how to crush a million dollars in your sleep or battling imposter syndrome on your own. You've come to the right place. All you need to do is listen, [00:01:00] then take action. No gym membership required.
Let's get started.
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LinkedIn leads and join us. Hey, and welcome back. We just ramped our final sales is service live conversation of the year, permission to sell, dismantling the guilt, perfectionism and overgiving that keep women from consistent revenue. It was. Such a powerful conversation, and I cannot wait for you to hear it when it drops after the new year.
One thing that really stood out to me was just how much our confidence or frankly lack of it shows up in the sales process, because sometimes what looks like a sales problem, whether you're fumbling on a call, overexplaining your offer undercharging, or avoiding sales conversations altogether, it's actually a mindset block in disguise, and that's exactly why I'm excited to bring you today's conversation with Trisha Lynette.
Founder of Electric Paradise Creative, known as the fairy godmother of personal branding. Tricia runs a brand and web design studio that helps women-led businesses align how they look, sound and feel so they can show up with confidence and clarity in [00:03:00] every part of their business. Without that alignment, you hesitate, you overthink, you hold back.
But when your brand feels like you visually, verbally, and energetically, it becomes so much easier to show up, be seen and sell. This isn't just a conversation about design, it's about mindset. It's about self-trust, and it's about finally getting out of your own way and saying yes to yourself. Here's my conversation with Tricia.
Tricia, it's so good to have you here. Thanks for joining us.
Speaker: Well, thanks for having me. I'm so excited. Thanks for inviting me on your show.
Speaker 2: Absolutely. Tell us who do you help and how do you serve?
Speaker: Well, I am the furry godmother of personal branding. I do brand strategy and execution mostly for creatives, also for other service providers.
Mostly people who are struggling to articulate their value and build up their world around them. So I come in. With my magic wand and I bi baity boo, all the things [00:04:00] in their brand presence, like their positioning and their messaging and their copy and their visual brand and their website, and also do brand photography as a big piece of my work.
So I bibby, baity, boo, all the things, and then I send them off to the ball.
Speaker 2: I love it. You talk a lot about brand. Clarity from your perspective, what's the difference between a, like a pretty brand and a powerful brand?
Speaker: I have, I have
Speaker 2: thoughts on this,
Speaker: so I knew you would Well, I want, let me tell you a quick story and then I'll tell, and then I'll answer your question.
Is that okay? Yeah, so I went to the, I recently went to this female, this event for female entrepreneurs. It was a three day retreat and there was a speaker on stage and her name was Patrice Washington. And if you don't know who that is, you should definitely follow her. She is a financial person and she is.
Just [00:05:00] one of those speakers that's completely captivating, funny. You wanna, I don't know, you wanna hang out with this, this woman, she's, she's just seems super cool. And so she got on stage and she's talking about audience. So, you know, in branding and marketing, we often talk about, well, who's the audience?
Who are you talking to? You know, and she said something so profound and it really changed it. It changed. It changed a lot of things for me, but I'll keep this, this concise. She said, an audience is the only thing an audience is, is a group of onlookers, and that's it. And she says, you don't, you don't pick your audience.
And you know, as me and the crowd, as the marketer, I'm like, oh yeah, you kind of do, you know, Uhhuh. But then she went on to say this, she said, when, when you are born, you are born with an assignment on your life, and you have the people who are called to you are who you are assigned to help. And so [00:06:00] when you get in alignment with your assignment.
There is your audience. And I was like, it was such an epiphany for me because I said, she's right. That is so right. And so the way that that lends to this, you know, to your question, is a pretty brand, is is one where you just pick a. Part of it is one where you just pick your audience. You know, I'm just gonna work for these, you know, I just wanna work with these people, not based on anything other than that's what you wanna do.
And a pretty brand is, is built on an aesthetic, right? It's built on trends. And trends change. And if you build your empire on trends, you're gonna be outta style by Labor Day, right? It's like, like think about it in the eighties, you know, blue eyeshadow. Oh my gosh. That was the hottest thing in the eighties and even the seventies, I think like blue eyeshadow, everybody was wearing it.
It was the hottest thing. But like [00:07:00] now when you look at pictures with blue eyeshadow, it's completely dated. Mm-hmm. It's like timestamped. It's like a times. Mm-hmm. It's like a timestamp. Mm-hmm. That's kind of like you're building your empire on blue eyeshadow. That's how I see a Purdue brand. It's pretty at the time, but it's not lasting because there's no meaning behind it.
Whereas a powerful brand is one that's built around a person. It's built around their uniqueness and their viewpoints and their opinions and their deepest core values and their interests. And so then naturally these things are going to evolve a little bit over time. I mean, usually the core values stay pretty.
Strong and, and true. But interests change. People change. You know, you, you grow and you evolve. You know, like one, you know, there was one point in my life where I had Jet black hair and Betty Page bangs, and then other times in my life where I'm platinum, blah. Like I'm evolving and [00:08:00] I'm growing, but I'm still the same person.
And that's what people love. They don't care about the hair color. Right? And so when you build a brand around the human, that is the brand that. And, and people are attracted to progress, seeing progress, and people are attracted to seeing growth, and they love seeing that in people. And, and so that's why this philosophy of like, like it comes through in, in pop music, right?
Madonna was always reinventing herself. You know, Taylor Swift, her eras, it's the same. She's still Taylor Swift. She was still, you know, she's still Madonna. And so it's kind of the same thing. They're building their brand around themselves and the aesthetic changes. So a pretty brand that's built on aesthetic alone will always, it's gonna fail because soon as it's out of style, then that's it.
That's it. You're, you're done. You're dead in your tracks
Speaker 2: talking about. You know, your like alignment assignment in your audience. [00:09:00] Like, you know, it, thinking about, you know, specifically in sales conversations and business development, you know, backing all the way up. Like the success of those conversations really starts with like confidence, you know, uh, going into those conversations with confidence and I feel like, um.
We talk about, you know, the marketing and branding so much, but it's such a critical part of that 'cause I feel like a powerful brand translates to confident conversations. How do you, how does like, I guess, brand clarity really unlock that confidence? How have you seen that with the clients that you're serving?
Speaker: Well, for, for the work that I'm doing is, is. Every single client that I've worked with has had this big moment right in the beginning, and, and, and the aha moment is, oh my God, is that really me? Like that, that that's me? Because, because, you know, part of my process is I do do a, a deep dive interview where I, I for three [00:10:00] hours, I'm interviewing, I'm, I'm interviewing them and I'm asking them a lot of questions, and I'm getting really deep and personal because I'm telling a story.
And, and so, and then I write up this creative brief and I reflect back to them who, who, the person who I see in front of me. And when they read it, they oftentimes, they cry, you know, because they finally feel. It's like deep, it's deeper than, it's even deeper than just confidence of looking good and sounding good, and my brand looks good.
It's, it's, it's the confidence in, I, I have permission to just be myself in this world and I don't have to show up like people, like I don't have to show up like. I think people want me to be, I, I, I, you know, oftentimes, and I think, and especially as women, we don't give ourselves permission to fully be these amazing beings that we are and we're, we can't just be confined to one box and we're multi-passionate and, and we have different interests and pursuits and passions, and [00:11:00] they aren't all surrounded by the.
The work that we're doing to serve others, but serving others isn't just the work that you're doing. When you're authentically yourself, you give people permission to be authentically themselves also. And so I try to do that in my own brand, you know, just I. I'm my quirky self. You see my, you know, neon in eighties and the, you know, Patrick Gellar and you, you know, I'm just being myself and I, and I don't wanna hide who I am and that's who I am.
Kind of nerd in that way, in that way, but, but it, it allows me to just be free. It allows me to create content so much easier and faster because I'm not worried about what anybody thinks. Look, if you don't like my style, that's cool. I'm not for everybody. Mm-hmm. And, and you know, that's my message to other people.
You are not for everybody also.
Speaker 3: Mm-hmm.
Speaker: You know, a lot of people they wanna. They want to speak to [00:12:00] everybody, but effectively they're just speaking into the void.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker: And they're creating more noise on the internet. Yeah. Whereas when you show up authentic, like I know it's, it seems like overused the word authentic, but it's so true when you, when you are just yourself, your truest self, and yes, an elevated version of you.
You know that you present in your brand, but still authentically yourself with your own quirks and your own opinions and your own values, you become UNC Copyable, and that makes you extremely confident. But when you build a brand that's copying someone else, especially when it's largely based on being pretty or aesthetic.
Speaker 3: Mm-hmm.
Speaker: Your confidence is low because. It's not a strong foundation. It's not the, it's not your, your foundation. You're building on someone else's foundation.
Speaker 2: And what I'm hearing is like, I thought so many people when they hear the word branding come at it, that it's just, [00:13:00] like you said, it's just the colors and the fonts and the, you know, the photographs where that is part of the expression of.
Brand, and that's not the first thing you look at, that, that is crafted around like the, the story of the individual and the, like you said, that their unique message a
Speaker: thousand percent. And, and I, a lot of people are surprised when I tell them, you know, in, in the brand projects that we do now, now a lot of, a lot of people come to me, maybe they already have a logo and they don't need a logo, but sometimes they do need a logo refreshed.
Mm-hmm. Like, I just got done working with a client and she was like, can you just send me the logo? And I, you know, and I do it very intensively where it only takes one to three days of their time, so I'm not like other providers. And I said, no, I can't just send you the logo because actually the logo is the very last thing.
The very last piece of the puzzle. That's where a lot of people get it wrong, especially [00:14:00] when they're DIYing their brand. They go, the first thing I do is I gotta go get a logo so that I look professional. I gotta go pick my colors, 'cause it, you know, and I wanna pick ones I like. And no, when you, when you tell me
Speaker 2: why you, I was gonna say, tell me why you say that.
Speaker: I, I say that because the first thing you have to do is you really have to get to the core of the human and find out what is motivating this person and what, who are they really. Mm-hmm. And, and then you, and so then you build your positioning strategy, which in other business they call it the unique selling point, you know?
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. What makes you so special? Yes. A lot of people do website design, or a lot of people do graphic design, but what makes you different from those people? And it could, that could translate to any, any service. And so then you, you build out that positioning strategy. So you, you pick your position in the market and then you build a messaging strategy [00:15:00] around that position, and then you build out your, your copywriting around that messaging, and then you build out.
And then you do your photographs with the, the con, you know, using the concepts of the messaging in the photographs. These are not just pretty photos that make you look good in a, you know, in a nice outfit, in a pretty backdrop. When you add the, the layers of meaning to your photos, that is layered with your positioning and your messaging, your brand becomes.
Instantly more powerful and more memorable. And then you build your website around. So it's like this journey that you have to take. And then once you have all of those pieces into place and the website is already built and everything, then you choose, you know, then you build a logo, mark that, that. Wraps it all up.
It's like the little bow. Mm-hmm. It's like adding a little [00:16:00] bow on the package that you just wrapped up. And so a lot of people start with the bow first, and that doesn't make any sense because then you end up trying to build a brand around the bow. And that's not, that's not the right way, in my opinion, when you're trying to tell a story.
Speaker 2: Yeah. That's a really, like a really interesting way to think about that, A very different way to think about that and so on point. Rather than it is the cherry on top versus the, that's the first thing most people, like you said, they go to and it's like, wait, what's the story underneath that first to drive with?
Exactly. Yeah.
Speaker: And then they make a mistake like this. I used to, as I used to kind of focus on working with. Dentist, 'cause that's part of my backstory. But I, I used to have this soapbox, I would say like your tooth, if you have a tooth in your logo, you need to call me because could you be any less creative?
It's so like, that is not how you tell a story. You do not tell a story with an [00:17:00] icon. Now an icon might be part of it. Possibly, but that's the last thing you decide. And then also with the tooth logo, like if you, if you know about dentistry, when you see the picture of the tooth with the roots, the only time you see that.
Is in, in the context. It is. If it's an extracted tooth, if the tooth has been removed from the mouth and you see a single tooth, it's usually laying on a tray. And I know kind of like gross, but it's, it's, it's gross, but I'm making a point. Whenever I see a tooth logo, I'm like, oh, extracted tooth. That's not comforting at all.
Like that's not the story that dent they're trying to tell. That is not the story that you wanna be telling. So, so yeah, I have a thing about, I have a, a. Deep disrespect for too long.
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Check out all the details in the show notes. This deal runs through December 31st for sales as service listeners, and once the calendar flips, it's gone. Does answering the question, what do you do, send you into a downward spiral. Jamie Cox? Yes. The brand and marketing strategist and green haired girly from episode 12 is running her brand Clarity Lab again this January.
[00:19:00] It's a cohort based program that helps service providers stop second guessing their messaging, and finally feel confident talking about what they do, who they help and why it matters. This isn't just another branding course, it's hands-on, strategic and packed with live experts. Feedback. You'll walk away with a solid brand foundation, a sharper message, and a plan for showing up consistently without the marketing overwhelm.
Only 10 spots are available in the next cohort starts January the 12th. You can apply with the link in the show notes and get all the details at jamie cox.com/brand-clarity-lab. Alright, back to the episode. At what stage of business, and it's, maybe it's all over the place, but you, when people come to you, like at what stage of business are they in?
Like, like what prompted the, oh, I need to address this. Like, I need, I need to have a conversation about brand.
Speaker: Yeah, so, so that's a great question. I usually, the people who come to me are already established in business, so they've already gone through the kind of DIY Canva brands. [00:20:00] Scrappy, do it yourself kind of branding, which is, I have nothing against that, you know, that is, that can be an essential part of the story.
And it, and, and as long as you built your business off of that and you're getting, you, you have income and you've got clients and it's working, you know, to an extent. And now what I'm, you know, so, so the place that these clients are coming to me in is all right. I've got a, I've got my logo, I've got my website.
I've even got some nice photos of myself, but something's not clicking. I'm not getting clients or I'm at Attract, like one client I just worked with, she was. Attracting these big giant projects and they were completely draining her of all of her energy and, and like love and desire to do her work. And she was like, I don't want, I don't want projects that big.
But the problem was that, yeah, she. Her brand was okay. Like it wasn't, it was a DIY brand and it was all right. It [00:21:00] wasn't like it was terrible, but it wasn't clear who she was serving, the name of it, you know, it was like, we help this and you, you know, like we help this type of person, you know, do this. And so, but this woman is a solopreneur.
She doesn't have a, we, there is no, we. It was only she uhhuh. And so, you know, that's why she was attracting bigger clients because she was kind of presenting herself as a bigger, bigger than she was. And I've done, I did the same thing in the beginning of my business too. You know, like my, my, my little tagline used to be we build rad websites.
You know, and I, and now I have, you know, I have a keynote and I talk about it and I kind of poke fun at myself. And I said, like, who, who was we? I said, we was me, but you know, we made me feel. More important and bigger than I was and made me feel like I was competing and everybody loved working with we, you know, [00:22:00] but, and so, and so there could be a mismatch there.
So it's, it's, what it really comes down to is that the woman that's standing in front of me who needs my help is often just outgrown that phase. She's, she's. Done the scrappy phase. She's built a business. It's doing pretty well. She wants, she wants to get to this next level and she's not really sure what's not working.
She's not clear on on why, why it's not working, or how to connect with the people that she really wants to connect with it. Stop attracting the ones that she doesn't wanna connect with. And so then working with me, I, I help. Sort all of that out and then build a brand that's meant to attract the people that, that, you know, are in alignment with her assignment.
Speaker 2: And I think, you know, have spent so much time on this podcast talking about, you know, branding and visual identity and messaging and just kind of reiterate why it's so important. You know, it's. 10, 15 years [00:23:00] ago, you know, the, the sales process was much different. You know, it was, uh, you know, you meet one-to-one.
It's our, you know, however you connect and it's like, oh, send me a brochure. Now, you know, it's the, before some of that first conversation, this like the, the sales conversation is happening without you and it is that, you know, the visual, 'cause someone's gone to your website, they've, you know, read your reviews, they've, you know, they're looking for case studies and social proof.
They've probably shopped three to four of your competitors. And so that visual identity in your digital presence is, and the clarity in that is so important because it is, it is doing a large. Lot of the heavy lifting of that initial sales conversation of someone deciding if they wanna work with you.
Speaker: Oh, absolutely.
Speaker 2: I was gonna ask like, can, how much of the, when you're doing that upfront work and dec deciding like the decisions that you're making, it's largely focused on, you know, the founder and the business and you know, their. Kind of underlying story. How much of that [00:24:00] conversation is focused on, do they, they know at that point the audience they wanna serve?
Are you helping them figure that out? And, and how, how much is like the, the audience that you're trying to attract, you know, uh. Considered in those new, the, the messaging and the visual choices that you're making?
Speaker: Yeah, I do help them identify who, who those people are. Sometimes they're pre, they're very clear, and then, and then I'll give them, sometimes they don't realize there's a primary audience and then there's a secondary audience as well.
So I'll give you two, two examples. One of 'em was a, an interior designer. Who started a staging business and she, she doesn't wanna do interior design anymore, meaning like if there's contractors involved, she doesn't wanna have to deal with it, but she wants to do interior styling and staging. So she knows that real estate people are her primary audience, like her real estate agents and brokers are her primary audience.
[00:25:00] What she wasn't clear on is her secondary audience is, is actually. Escrow people because those people are putting on so many events. They're always looking for people to come and talk. Like, do you, you, you really wanna connect with those people because that's going to get you to talk to your primary audience.
So they kind of feed into each other. And then the second example is a private chef that I work with and she. Wasn't exactly clear on her audience, like who they are, but she just knows. I mean, she's a high-end premium in-home chef and she's, she's got, like, she goes down, she, she goes to the cheese monger and then she goes down to the dock and she has a fisherman that she knows that gets fresh.
Fish from Baja, like, you know, she, she's, she's super premium and high end, so that's a really specific clientele that you've got to speak to. And we're in San Diego here and so I was able to really help her [00:26:00] identify. We have a lot of micro, San Diego is, is a big city and we have a lot of micro microculture around here.
Where, you know, I'm in Oceanside. We have a different microculture than 20 minutes down the road in Carlsbad has a different microculture than Encinitas. And so, and, and Encinitas are really where her people are. And so I was really help, uh, able to help her identify not only the audience of, of who it is that she's serving, but you know what they're like, they're.
Identity, who are they? Where are they working and, and what's their day, what are their days like? Why do they need your service? And so it, she even told me, she's like, actually that the audience part was the most valuable for me because it really got me clear and so that I would stop going to events that maybe, that I know that those people are not gonna be at.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So it really helped her clarify her outreach and her networking. [00:27:00] And because we only have so much time and we can only waste. So much time at networking events that don't yield any clients or work or, or relationships that are beneficial. So it, it really helped her hone in on that and, and manage her own time better.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's kind of the, the ripple effect of, you know, having really clarity on. Your brand and who you are and who you serve is just, you know, even your, your outreach and, you know, marketing, you know, sales efforts. You know, getting really clear on where you're spending and investing that time so you're not, again, all over the place trying to be everything to everyone, which is just not sustainable.
Huh?
Speaker: No, it's not. And, and, and also, I, I wanna say loosely too, and I was just sharing this with, with my, my ma branding mastermind group was like, okay, I went, I, I got invited to go to this networking event and I was under the impression that it was gonna be all women. So that interested me, you know, all female entrepreneurs because that interested me.
That's who I work with. [00:28:00] And so I go there and not only is there only two women there, and every other person attending was a man who was either retired or mansplained something to me in some con, you know, convers. You know, it was just, I, I was mad and I'm not, I'm like the most chill person. It takes so much for me to get mad, but I felt duped and I was like, this is, this is the worst networking meeting I've ever been to.
This is, this is horrible. And I kept talking to myself, you know, trying to talk myself down from being mad, but I was mad. I was like, I drove 30 minutes to get to this place and like. W And so anyways, I was like, no, I'm gonna have, I'm, I'm changing my mindset about it. I, I have an opportunity to just say my introduction and I nailed it, you know, like I did really good.
And so I was like, and I got a great lunch out of it. It was only an hour and a half of my time. It's fine. Don't get mad is fine. Well, guess [00:29:00] what? One of the two women that were there needed my help and hired me.
Speaker 2: Love it. Love it. And just the reframe, you know.
Speaker: So I was like, okay, well I guess I was supposed to be there and that is another reason why I shouldn't have been, you know, upset.
But initially I was like, man, I put pants on for this. I work from home so I stay comfortable. Yeah. Yes.
Speaker 2: I really appreciate you sharing that story. You know, when you first got to that networking event, okay, it was, time is a luxury and it was, you know, perhaps on the surface not the best investment of your time.
You know, based on the networking opportunities you're looking for. But I love that you kind of. Took a, you know, self assessment, said, okay, great, you know, I'm here and you reframed and you know, got in the right mindset to be open and curious. You like, you're there. Okay, how do I make the most of it? And, you know, and great success story.
You landed a great client from that just, and I would be willing to put money on the fact if you had [00:30:00] not. Changed your mindset, you would've missed that opportunity.
Speaker: Oh, a thousand percent.
Speaker 2: So, so much of the conversation I have is like, I, I feel like curiosity and just an openness and, and a new holding space to, to get to know someone and being open to the possibility is a really competitive edge.
I wanna ask you like spec, you have a. Client story in mind, kind of a before and after of Okay. They came to you with A-A-D-I-Y brand that was, you know, attracting, you know, inconsistent opportunity and then, you know, when they've gone through the transformation of having a fully aligned brand, um, the impact it made on their business.
Speaker: Yeah. I've got a great story. It's actually my mom.
Speaker 2: Oh, I love it.
Speaker: My mom, my favorite client. So my mom is a real estate broker in here in San Diego, and we, we are, I'm a third generation local, so we are [00:31:00] deeply rooted in this community and we are up in the, the nor north coastal part of San Diego. And so if you look at people who are in the real estate.
Especially in the North County coastal area, everybody looks the same. Everybody's got the beachy aesthetic pictures of them on the beach, and I don't know, it's so boring and it's so overdone and it's. So not original at all. I mean, the be, the beach is beautiful. It's a beautiful backdrop for family photos, I guess.
But you know, for brand photos, it's not just about the beach. And so what I was seeing in my mom is that. She was, remember how I was talking about San Diego has microcultures Well, her business was really focused in the Del Mar area, which is there's a lot of people who are interested. Their main interest is status, let's put it that way.
Gotcha. So it's, it's just that kind of general [00:32:00] energy that's, that's it's there, it's, it's about status. It's about how much money you have, it's about how important you are and. You know, my mom was, was nestled in the middle of all of this, and I, I just, let me tell you a story about, let me tell you about my mom.
My mom is like a sentient disco ball. This woman wears. Bell bottoms, wherever she goes. She has been roller skating her whole life. She is. She is very matchy match. She's like an experience. She walks in the door and she's, you know, she's got her bell bottoms and she's got her matching accessories and she is not one of these bougie women.
She is. You know, she is Susie, cute. That's, I mean, that's what her, her, you know, that's her brand, Susie Q real estate. And, and so, and she's just like this whole energy and experience and she just, she brightens every room that she [00:33:00] comes in and she's cheeky and she's funny and she, you know, she even has some corny jokes and stuff like that.
She, she is not that woman. And so, so I did her brand spark for, I said, mom, let me do your brand for you, please, just please. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. And she said, okay, okay. And so I, I did her brand spark for her and I basically reflected back to her mom, you are this amazingly bubbly, beautiful, like, I, I use those words sentient disco ball.
Like you are so alive and, and everyone around you, you know, if you walked into a room of the people that you're really trying to attract mm-hmm. As yourself Yeah. With your, your sequined. Bell bottoms, uh, and roller skates in your truck. Like they would be clutching their pearls because that's not your people.
Right. You know, just show up as yourself. So, so she, you know, she cried and all the family was crying 'cause they were like, [00:34:00] oh my gosh, you need to do this. So I did a photo shoot with her and we captured her spirit, her. In her sequin bell bottoms, her rollerskating on the beach with her for sale signs, and, you know, just her personality, a big fluffy coat and heart-shaped glasses.
And you know, it, I, I watched my mom tra her entire confidence and her entire self-worth. Transformed in a single day because she felt she, she, she finally had permission to just be who she really is. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And not who she thought she was supposed to be as. Mm-hmm. A coastal real estate broker in San Diego, and now she's totally UNC copyable.
Nobody can copy that because you can, I mean, you can go buy sequin bell bottoms if you want to, but you, you will never be Suzy Q
Speaker 2: How did that impact her business?
Speaker: Now she, she definitely has gotten [00:35:00] more business as a result of it. And the reason I think for that is not because she has a beautiful brand per se, it's because she has the confidence to talk about her brand and talk about herself.
It's backed up with super solid confidence that this is who I am, and I, and I believe that that confidence is what? What gets people to buy,
Speaker 2: and I would suspect too, the quality of who she's attracting and the clients that she's interacting with and of are more, again, aligned with who is best fit for her to work with.
Who it's like actually enjoyable work versus it feeling like forced and not, not good fit.
Speaker: Absolutely, because her right people are the ones who are saying, oh my gosh, I love your brand. I, I love how your brand is just you. It's you, it's so you and, and that, you know, there's something to be said for that.
You, I meet so many women, like, [00:36:00] like one of the main bel limiting beliefs that I, me, that I encounter with, with the women that I work with. Which, including my mom, is a disconnect, right? They're this amazing, wonderful, multi-passionate woman standing in front of me, and when you go to their online presence, they're buttoned up and tightlipped and overly professional and there's a disconnect.
But when you align those two things and when you show up as the, the human that you really are, and you put that foot forward in your brand, mm-hmm. It creates. Instant trust. Mm-hmm. Because it is saying to the, to the people who are connecting with you online and meeting you in person, that you really are who you say that you are.
But when there is that disconnect, like yeah, your brand could be. Pretty, or it could be, it could be look great, you could have great beautiful photos and, and a nice website or whatever. But if it's different than the person who is standing in [00:37:00] front of me, there's, there's already a broken trust that's unspoken.
And so the goal is to just align everything with the human.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker: Instead of a lot of people build their, uh, uh, try to build themselves around a brand identity, which is the whole logo first. Concept instead of building their brand around the human.
Speaker 2: That I'm thinking of just my own experience where, you know, you have an expectation based, again, to the point that before you have a conversation with someone, you know, in the, this age that we're in, you know, you've gone to the website, you've gone to the social channels, you know, you've looked at, you know, who are the competitors in their market.
Like you've, our buyers are educated and you have an ex certain expectation of who you think is gonna show up and when it's not. Consistent with how you're representing yourself online. It, it does, it totally breaks the, it starts the relationship off on the wrong foot. If there's, if there's even gonna be a relationship to be had.
Speaker: Oh, totally. And if, and if you think about it, you [00:38:00] know, when you show up as, as authentically as yourself, like. You know, me with my neon and flamingos and, you know, all of the, the quirkiness that I have, or even my, my mom who, you know, the rollerskating disc, you know, the, the rollerskating real estate broker.
You know, you, you become, you not only become unco, you become UNC copyable, and therefore. Competition becomes irrelevant. Really? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Because there's, I don't know, I think there's something like two, 200,000 or 20,000 or some, there's some gross number of real estate agents that are in, in San Diego.
So what you don't, the service that you're offering is not different. So what, what does make you different? And when you get, and when you articulate that really well, you become uncapable and competition becomes irrelevant. You know, I have people send me who, who who your com, you know, who they think their competition [00:39:00] is.
And then I like, a hundred percent of the time I laugh, I'm like, no, this is gonna be so much, you know, better. You know, there, there is no, this is not, this is not competition. And then when you put your, when you put your personality forward, you, you really put yourself ahead of those people.
Speaker 2: This episode is own.
What makes you different? Celebrate what makes you different. And like you said, it will make you UNC Copyable. Yes.
Speaker 3: Let's jump into our fast five. Your I can't live without IT. Software or app?
Speaker: Google Workspace. I lived my life in Google Workspace. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Me and you Both. Best advice you've ever received about sales and business development?
Speaker: Understanding the loss cost fallacy where? Just because you've invested so much time and so much energy and so much money. Into one direction. As soon as you realize that it's not the right direction. You don't keep going in that direction, you immediately pivot. Mm-hmm. Where it needs to be, no [00:40:00] matter how much money or how much time you've invested in it.
So that, that really applies to brands. You know, people are like, oh, I just, you know, spent this money on a website and I just got all of this done, so I don't need it right now. Okay. Well as long as it's working. Yeah, if it's not working, then it doesn't matter how much money you spent and how it doesn't matter if, if it was a month ago, if it's not working, it's not working, and you need to readjust your course.
Morning routine, must have a coffee date with the Lord
Speaker 2: Like that. Thank you. Your walk on song, the one song that always pumps you up.
Speaker: I wanna dance with somebody by Whitney Houston.
Speaker 2: Love me some, Whitney. And if you only had one hour a day for business growth, how would you spend it?
Speaker: Relationship building.
If I had one hour a day, I would have two 30 minute coffee chats with my warm network because that's, if you don't have your. Relate. If you don't have relationships and they aren't strong, people are never gonna [00:41:00] remember you. And I always wanna be top of mind. So I, I love reaching out and having 30 minute coffee conversations with my warm network, not to sell them anything, just to find out what are you up to in business?
Tell me who you are looking for. And I don't know, I just wanna know more about them. The more I ask questions, the clearer I get so that if I meet somebody that could use those services. I, they're easily top of mind. It's hard to do that in a network meeting when you have a stack of business cards.
Relationship building is the short answer.
Speaker 2: Where, where can folks find you online to build
Speaker: relationship with you? Yes, you can find me. I am very active on Instagram and just starting to get active on LinkedIn. I've avoided it for long enough, so Tricia Lynette. At, you know, at both of those places and, and my website is e paradise creative.com and you can book a chat, a 15 minute chat with me.
My calendar is right there. If you wanna have a [00:42:00] conversation with me, I'd love to connect and chat with you.
Speaker 2: Awesome. Thanks so much. You've given like really unique perspective on branding and showing up again as your authentic, unapologetic self. Uh, so thanks for being here.
Speaker: Yes, thanks for having me. I'm, I'm, I'm grateful and grateful to connect with you.
Speaker 2: Thanks again to my guest, Trisha Lynette, and if you've been feeling stuck or inconsistent in how you're showing up in your business and brand. I hope this conversation encouraged you to get curious about where that friction is really coming from. Because sales isn't just about what you say on the discovery call or in the pitch.
It's shaped by how you feel and how your prospects experience you before you ever say a word, and if your brand doesn't feel like you, it's gonna be a lot harder to show up, be seen, and invite the right that clients to work with you. So let's make it real with this week's sales of service challenge.
Your challenge this week is to pick one client facing touchpoint. That could be your LinkedIn bio website, homepage, even your email signature. And give it a quick gut check. Ask yourself, does this still reflect who I [00:43:00] am and how I wanna show up? If the answer is no, or even a hesitant, kind of choose one small update you can make today to bring it into better alignment.
It doesn't need to be a full rebrand, it just needs to feel a little more like you. And if that brings up resistance or perfectionism. Know that's part of the process. Start where you are. Start before you're ready, because right behind mindset, taking imperfect action that drives the biggest growth and momentum.
Then it's just a matter of practicing reps. As always, thanks for listening, and until next time, remember, sales is an act of service. It's about what you give, not what you get, and when you serve well. The ROI always follows. See you next week.
You've just listened to the Sales As Service Podcast, the podcast to help you shift your mindset around selling. If you liked what you heard, be sure to hit subscribe and share it with a friend, because we're all about more sales. Awesome and less sales awkward. See you next [00:44:00] episode.

✦ YOUR SALES AS SERVICE CHALLENGE

Pick one client-facing touchpoint—your LinkedIn bio, website homepage, or email signature—and give it a gut check.

Ask yourself:
Does this still reflect who I am and how I want to show up?

If the answer is no—or even a hesitant “kind of”—choose one small update to bring it into better alignment. No full rebrand required. Just one small move that feels more like you.

If that stirs up resistance or perfectionism? That’s part of the work. Start anyway.

RESOURCES & LINKS

Learn more about Electric Paradise Creative
Connect with Tricia on LinkedIn and Instagram
Apply to join Jamie Cox inside the Brand Clarity Lab
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Join the Sales as Service LIVE Office Hours – get your invite for the next session
LinkedIn Lead Generator – daily actions that lead to real conversations
Grab your 5-Minute Sales Audit – a quick scan to see what’s working, what’s not, and what to improve

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