45. How Your Core Values can make marketing easier (Part 1)

Jen Vasquez  0:00  

Ever learn about core values that you know, where you circle the words that are supposed to sort of align with your business? Today, my guest is going to blow your mind, because she’s going to be sharing a different perspective, and one I think you will love. It will not only help to make marketing easier, because it’s going to crystallize absolutely everything to do with marketing. So when you go to show up and create content, it’s easy because you know those core values, but also it can help you grow your business. Welcome back if you’re new. Here I am, Jen Vasquez and I help hyper busy female service providers use Pinterest to book more clients and increase their income and impact. And on this podcast, I have the pleasure of speaking with amazing marketing experts to help you take action in your business. So if marketing is something that you want to learn more about, we would love for you to subscribe to our podcast or YouTube channel today, I swear she and I have been talking about getting her on this podcast for months. You might finally made it happen today, I am talking with my friend Dee Greenspun, and I’m very excited, because she is an acclaimed personal branding coach and photographer specializing in serving dynamic female entrepreneurs who are the soul and face of their business. She’s deeply committed to helping women unravel the complexities of online and offline visibility, making it not just manageable but also a thrilling and fun experience to show up authentically passionate about nurturing meaningful connections among female entrepreneurs. Addie serves as a pivotal force in bridging the gap between business success and personal fulfillment. She is all about that with her infectious energy, I swear we’re kind of competing in that area. So when we have a conversation, everyone better, just watch out energy and amazing expertise turns the often overwhelming task of personal branding into an exhilarating journey of self discovery and impact expression. As the visionary and founder of the BU brand Academy, she has created a transformative platform designed to skyrocket women to new heights in their respective fields, a sought after speaker and best selling author, Addy is driven by her profound belief that women who excel in business, they have become catalysts for positive changes on a global scale, not just for their own lives or their business. By empowering women to discover their unique voice, Addie is also not just building brands, but she is igniting revolutions. Welcome. Annie. Oh, my God. Oh

Ati Grinspun  3:02  

my god. You were reading that, and we kind of like, I

Ati Grinspun  3:06  

redid that internet was a little long. I want to say I might actually like, go in there. I let it there. You know what? There is so much of me in that, and what I have been creating through the last five years. Literally, you and I know each other in person, like on you know that? Literally, that’s what I’m all about, right? Like, brings

Jen Vasquez  3:29  

you to life. Yes, that’s why I read the full thing and I didn’t edit anything out, because it truly states, like, who you are.

Ati Grinspun  3:38  

I love it. I love it. It was giving me chills. Isn’t it weird

Jen Vasquez  3:41  

to hear someone else say what you’re talking about your business, but to hear someone else say it, you’re kind of like, Whoa, yeah.

Ati Grinspun  3:52  

Well, one of the things this is kind of like a tip for people too. I actually a lot of the words that I use in there have been taken from what people tell me they experience around me, like, for example, the infectious that’s something I could have never put in there. But I am telling you, I can even tell you how many people tell me like your energy is infectious. Your energy is infectious. And I remember, like, thinking people, yeah, that is what people experience. So I started taking how like people were, like describing me or telling me, and I started putting it on my bio, and that is how we end up with that bio, yes, and

Jen Vasquez  4:37  

it is, it is using words that other people describe you is probably the one of the most effective action items or tips that I mean, I’ve got so much in store for you in this podcast, but it is a great tip that we didn’t even touch on yet in the questions we

Ati Grinspun  4:54  

didn’t even started talking about personal branding or marketing or anything. I. And guys, you can take these already. So

Jen Vasquez  5:02  

let’s dive in. We’ve got a ton to cover. This may be a two parter. Talk to me a little bit about what jobs you had in the past, and kind of like how you got to where you are today. Because I love this story.

Ati Grinspun  5:15  

Yes, I actually was a world champion Fleur bartender. So for people that don’t know what that is, I was one of the bar those bartenders that flip the bottles then pour into the cab. And why I say World Champion is I actually used to compete, so I travel the world doing Fleur competitions, and that’s how I met my husband. That’s actually how I ended up in Las Vegas. So I was very like known in that we say that little world, because in that moment, that world was everything to me. But once I actually stepped on the side of that, I started realizing how much was out there and how much was available to me as a person, not just as a bartender, right? Because in what I did before I got to the top from a very small town in Argentina. I mean, I’m from Buenos Aires, but I’m from the suburbs, and I literally ended up in Las Vegas. We was the mecca of what I did. So I came to work at a bar here in Vegas. I was there for 16 years, but while I was there, I actually went to school for photography here in Vegas. And I did that because I always knew there was something else for me. I didn’t know what that was. I loved to travel. I travel all over the world, and that was kind of like my hobby. So then I opened a studio. When I got pregnant with my son, I was like, Okay, I’m gonna be a photographer, and I did baby for I learned so much about business by opening that studio, niching down, creating a brand for myself. Because, you know, I went through a ton of you know, at the beginning you do everything, yes, right? Like, this is on any career. We can talk about that too, right? I was doing everything. So, you know, I was a photographer, like, do you need her child’s Yes? Well, I didn’t understand, right? Like, the whole concept of niching down, and then eventually I did a niche down to babies, and that was, like, the first time that I truly built the best dress. And I was doing really, really good, but I actually ended up going back to bartending somewhere there in the middle. At the time, I thought that it was a failure. Now I look back and I was like, what an amazing blessing. There was so many lessons on that. From there, I briefly got into Network Marketing. And when I got into Network Marketing, what happened was, like, that’s actually where I started developing a little bit of, like leadership and, like my big vision. That is actually where my big vision came alive. I didn’t have any point of reference to what was out there, not only on making money, but on impact and making a difference, on leadership and all the things. And I saw this lady speaking on stage, and there was something that lit up for me, and that light never went off until this day, but that is where it all started. But I pivot into personal branding because I was helping my team, and for those of you listening, I’m kind of quoting here, I started developing a lot of the things around building your personal brand and pivoting into personal branding photography, because as I started working with women, I was, like, amazed at The passion that was behind women building businesses, yeah. And once I started working with women that were building businesses, not the women in and by the way, I was literally a Network Marketing at this point. It looks like it was five minutes. I think it was, like a few years, yeah, but like it was such a catalyst for growth and really handling reception and all the things, like people talk about network marketing as, like, the gateway drug into gateway

Jen Vasquez  9:07  

drug into your entrepreneurship, I think for a lot, yeah, and

Ati Grinspun  9:11  

definitely was that for me so pivotal. Those are all the jobs I had in my life. Like I was a bartender for most of my life, and that actually helped me also to really understand that I love people. Like, I know a lot of bartenders will never tell you this. They’re like, I fucking hate people. You see the worst of people, but I loved it. I always work in clubs, but for me, I was constantly on stage. Like, people are like, whoa. Speaking comes so natural to you. I’m like, it’s not necessarily speaking, but yes, it is the discipline of practicing something and the discipline because I literally would practice for eight hours a day flipping glass bottles.

Jen Vasquez  9:53  

So in the world of personal branding, authenticity is key. Be, and it’s also something people struggle with a lot. But how can entrepreneurs, especially women in early business years, ensure that their authentic selves shine through, not just to be authentic, right? Because it is. It is literally the 2023, buzzword. I don’t know if you know that, just, I just heard that two days ago. I’m all perfect timing for my podcast. How do they truly impact their audience and potential clients with that authenticity? Of course, we want to grow our business, but how can they make it impact as well?

Ati Grinspun  10:34  

I absolutely love this question. So number one, I feel like authenticity is a word that is very asterisk in the online world, because everybody talks about authenticity, and I don’t believe that people truly know what that means. So like, I want to actually go back to the road of self discovery, because I think that authenticity really starts with self discovery and allowing ourselves to truly be who we are, but a lot of the times, we don’t really know who we are until a few years in, or a few years into, really be like, Okay, who do I want to be? Who do I want to help? How do I want to show up in the world? You and I have talked about this in the past, and is, for me, building a personal brand is about the mark that you live in the world, right? Yes, so when we start talking about what is that mark that can actually change depending on where you’re at, if you’re listening, I want you to bear with me for a minute. And I’m working with women, the first thing that we do is we go into self discovery, and that road sometimes is very rocky and uncomfortable, very uncomfortable. It’s

Jen Vasquez  11:47  

okay. I feel that way well,

Ati Grinspun  11:49  

because a lot of times we are allowing ourselves to say, I don’t know, right? So, for example, a question that I ask people all the time, when people talk about your why? This is the first question, and your core value, but people are literally grabbing, like, a piece of paper, and, like, picking core values out of a list, and, like, we do it in a completely different way, your core values, they’re already there. You don’t get to pick them. I mean, you can do priorities. You can start thinking what’s important to you and add things, but who you are at your core, it’s already there. People literally will tell somebody like you and me, yeah, but I just need to make money. Give me, give me the fast pace to this. And I get it. But the thing is, you do not get to share authentically and to share from a place of confidence until you truly know who you are. I

Jen Vasquez  12:44  

agree, even if you haven’t done it and you’ve been in business for five years, take the time,

Ati Grinspun  12:50  

but let’s actually put it on practical terms, because I think that people tell you know who you are, your core values, your why, and people are like, okay, great. Now I have all this shit in paper. How do I use it? And that is the biggest problem that we have right now on the online world, right? Yeah, like people, like, will tell you what to do, but nobody tells you exactly how to use it. So I’m gonna give you a few examples of this and why I truly believe that authenticity is kind of like a road. So for me, and I’m like, back onto my story, there was a lot of not only self discovery, but self acceptance that had to go with me actually sitting down with you today, and I absolutely know that my road and my life as a bartender has helped me so much to get where I’m at today, but for the longest time, I actually didn’t want to tell people that, because I was under the impression that if I would tell people I was a bartender, they wouldn’t see me as an authority. They wouldn’t see me as somebody knowledgeable. They go

Jen Vasquez  13:52  

to all these judgment all of that, yeah, but

Ati Grinspun  13:55  

the first person that was judging was me. Yeah, nobody was judging we. I

Jen Vasquez  14:00  

feel like I judge ourselves so much worse than anyone else is ever going to Well, when I was

Ati Grinspun  14:05  

judging myself, I saw that outside, right? That’s all I saw. But the moment I started talking about how me bartending brought me to where I’m at, like, I know for sure that part of me being a bartender that like, flipped the battles and been on stage, and all of that that comes together with my love for speaking. Now that is the same love is a different performance, but it’s the same thing. So when I look back and I’m like, Oh my God, every stage, every battle that I broke, every single one of those performances have helped me get to be the speaker that I am today, right? There is no coincidences. So the reason why I’m bringing all these into this conversation is when you start really knowing who you are, and you start doing the internal work that goes self discovery, working on your mindset, working on okay. How do I really feel about this? And for me, I process writing like I journal a ton. I didn’t know this. This is starting with with actually entrepreneurship for some people, is maybe talking to other people. For some people, this may be hiring a mindset coach for whatever you need to do, but that is the secret. When people tell me, like, what is the secret sauce? You are the secret sauce. But this is the self discovery. Because when you discover who you are, you practice self acceptance, and you understand that your journey is what people are buying. We always talk about, how are you unique? And I think that what people don’t understand is the only thing that will make you unique is the journey that got you here. Yes, yes. I mean you and me, we both talk about marketing, right? But you and me, we have a photography background. You and me, we have so many parallels in our life, but we’re completely different. I know journeys are different, so I think that people completely underestimate the power of their journey, the things that happen to them, who they are at their core. Let’s talk about core values. So if you’re actually watching on YouTube right now, right at the top in my wall, you can see me watching, I have my core values on my wall, okay? And I remember the reason for that is because when you start realizing what your true core values are, it’s not about the word, and I’m going to read them to you so people can understand how to use them. What I challenge my clients to do is you want to have the word, but you also want to define them,

Jen Vasquez  16:37  

because everyone can define words totally differently. Yes,

Ati Grinspun  16:41  

you’re gonna laugh about this. Yes, my first one is positivity, of course, but I remember there were things in my business that, for me, like really triggered me, and I didn’t really understand why. For me, it’s the power of positivity and a positive outlook on all areas of life are a most important value, from business to health to growth, always think, How can I? This has guided me in so many ways in my business, because you can say, heck, I’m not good at social media, or you can ask yourself, How can I and the reason why I’m saying this is when I’m sharing on social media, when I am teaching what something becomes hard, when maybe something is not coming easy. Because guys, you can be absolutely positive, but business is business. There’s going to be moments that things are going to happen. So for you, this could be, I don’t know, I’m gonna tell you another one. This is, this came at a surprise to me. Curiosity is actually gonna my core value. I like that, and I didn’t know this. But what I remember happening sometimes, I would be working with a client, and this person would be maybe a little close off to things, and this would trigger me. And I remember starting asking myself, why is this triggered me? Well, once I realized that curiosity was a core value, this was kind of going against who I was and my core Now, this doesn’t mean I cannot work with people that are a little close off, but I had to find ways to ignite that curiosity in them, right? So again, I’m gonna read this for you. Always be learning, always be open to new ways of doing things. No fear I ask questions. This is where the coaching part comes in, right? But also this has helped me understand things in my relationship with people, things in my relationship with my husband, I always look for mentorship, travel, see new things, one to learn about others. Now, why am I sharing this with you guys and how you can apply this? Everything I do, I’m sifting. So I’m kind of sifting everything in my business through these core values, how I make decisions? How am I creating content? How am I showing up with a positive attitude, and how am I actually creating that mark in the world? Like, for whoever like follows me, and you and me are friends, and we met in person. Like, literally, I talk about these all the time, and sometimes I’ll hear somebody say something negative, and I will tell them, like, how can you turn this around? How can you ask yourself, How can I it kind of starts leading through your life, but you cannot be authentic if you don’t know this?

Jen Vasquez  19:41  

Yeah, take this a step further, because I think this is really powerful for everyone who’s listening or watching now. What are a couple tips, or maybe a technique that you use with your clients to help them discover. These core values to the degree that you just show,

Ati Grinspun  20:03  

oh, my god, I love okay, I might actually butcher this, because I would like, it would have been a really good idea to have this in front of me, but I actually took this out of a psychology book. What happened was, like, I had several coaches, like you had several yeshes, and literally, people would go through their core value from a list. This was highly disturbing, yeah, because

Jen Vasquez  20:26  

if you want to pick things that you think your clients would want you to have versus what is in you. Yes, that

Ati Grinspun  20:34  

was exactly I was like, I think this is sad. But then I remember, okay, I remember reading this. I remember putting family, and I’m like, okay, yeah, but most of my family don’t even live here, so I don’t understand what this means to me, right? So I started like, realizing that I was like, asking people to do the same, and I’m like, you don’t get to pick who you are, you are, and then you can grow. From there. You can become better or bigger or whatever you want, but you gotta know, what the fuck are you working on?

Jen Vasquez  21:09  

What are you still? Yeah, what do you have naturally, dude? So I

Ati Grinspun  21:14  

don’t remember, and I love psychology, and I read a lot of like, it has to be easy psychology. I don’t read Freud right now, it needs to be, like, easy, digestible, fun, all this stuff. And I came across these core values exercise. And I was like, Oh my god. One was like, Okay, what are the things that when you encounter in others you actually absolutely hate? And there was a thing where you put, like, your your top five, and then you stated, what was the opposite of that? And actually, this is kind of like a five step thing. Yeah, this is literally a module inside of my program. The first thing people do when they come in, and I can’t even tell you how many people tell me, Oh, my God, I’ve done so many core value exercises, then you can actually sift it as your business is growing, you can kind of be okay. I’m gonna do this through my business. I honestly this is it that my personal ones are also my business ones. Because, I mean, even though I have a small but mighty team, it’s just me. Yeah, I am the head of this team, right? So I don’t consider myself a solopreneur, but I whatever my core values are, the core values of my personal brand, my business, every you, you stated those things, and you stated what you hated on other people, and also what you hated when these and I believe the excerpts I had, like the adjectives on there, they had to be adjectives. That was a thing. Family is a thing, and then you actually made them a noun. So there were things that you could hate on other people, like things that exacerbate you, and then you made them a positive so cool, and that is just the part of it. I know there were more steps, but I remember this part was the part that I was like, Oh, it clicked. It clicked for me. What really distilled was, for example, one of the other ones is abundance. That’s a core value for me. But this came from actually realizing that I hated when people had scarcity thoughts around life and business, but also I hated penny pinching, while I loved being very smart around my money, which I didn’t consider to be the same. Yeah, so this was so important because as I was defining all of those things, it made me look at stuff. I’m going to give you an example of something that this actually happened. There was something that happened with a client of mine. We did kind of like a trade, and she showed up to this trade, and she wasn’t showing up as her best self. And what I knew she could absolutely deliver to this trade that we were doing. I kind of took it personal. I remember I came home and I started looking at my core values, kind of like two or three weeks went by and I didn’t tell her anything. Now, another one of my core values is honesty, the way I described it, is always strive to be transparent. Always do what I say I’m going to do. My communication style is blunt, and while I take high consideration of people’s feelings, I always say what I think and give my honest opinion, because the truth is that you cannot coach people if you don’t. And I remember thinking sitting here looking at that, I mean, like, I have to have a conversation with this person. Yeah, I sent her a message, and I was like, we need to jump on a zoom call. And I told her, and she told me, This is why I love you. Oh, I am so thankful because as a mentor, yes, it hurt. Words that you’re telling worth and I can grow from here,

Jen Vasquez  25:03  

yes and better for it, but

Ati Grinspun  25:07  

if I wouldn’t have looked at my core values, I probably would have stayed out of alignment, and this was something that was bothering me. Now for every single one of you listening, your core values are going to be different. Maybe honesty is defined in a completely different way to you, yes, but how crazy it is that that’s how it was defined for me. Yeah, right. And what happens is you start acting out of alignment in your business, in your content, how you say things. And now, if you want to bring it to the true how you show up authentically. In your business, this is how you show up authentically. It’s not about what you wear and what you say, and if you’re used to showing up as you’re learning about you and you’re like, Okay, how would I tell this to somebody if I truly was sitting in front of this person and you show up on camera saying it that way? Yeah, you don’t censor yourself. Whatever your core values are you? Yeah, I promise you, it will probably be a little hard, because you will be challenged to show up as your true self. But the thing is, everything from the moment you write a post to the moment you decide how you present your offers to the moment like everything is sifted through that.