Building a Global Brand: Community, Confidence & Marketing That Actually Connects

hello and welcome back to another episode of the rebecca ady hill show Today, I am joined by the one and only Alexis Fenton, who is the founder of Brand Fluff and a global startup CMO. Today, we are sitting down to have a conversation about all things brand and what it truly takes to build a global business. Welcome to the show. Thank you so much. Very excited to be here. we were just talking off air before and you have had an insane journey and what i mean by that you have been living overseas you have built brands across the uk asia europe the us australia what does it truly take to build a brand on a global scale i think it's that's an interesting question because each market is so different to one another and there are some similarities you know UK Australia similarities there but it takes a real drive to want to learn new things and learn new ways of doing things because you will be thrown into situations where one model that you've done before just doesn't work however creativity transcends all of that so I believe that taking inspiration from brands regardless of where they are and regardless of what niche is the biggest thing what have they done that's innovative and you can transition that into any market but it's just the way that you do it is the key so it has to be very culturally relevant first of all and then really fit the demographic that you're trying to do it with but I think the benefit of us being in this new age since covid is that business is global and it's so much easier to run a global business have networks in different markets work across different time zones pre-covid it was quite difficult i think because yes there was there was opportunity but it wasn't as free-flowing yes got it and i do think it's much easier now and i do think people are more inclined to work across different time zones with different people i've worked in businesses since covet happened where the entire team was remote in all different parts of the world wow that would have never happened prior to that yes and i was like well you get to have the best experts in any market because you are keeping your you know your heart open to those individuals versus they have to be based in this one city which i don't know i feel like be limiting yourself yes very much so so when you say that we need to take into consideration like even from a cultural aspect like being able to go global what is something the brands kind of get wrong when they do want to scale on a you know on a global reach Where do we go wrong in terms of do we not take the cultural aspect into consideration? Do we not meet the market? What do people actually get wrong when trying to scale globally? A few things. One is they don't do their research in terms of physically how much it's going to cost for you to do this exercise. Do your numbers. Yes. Are you actually expanding fully into that market? And A, what does that mean? Or are you testing? Got it. Meeting demand. And do you even have demand in that new market? So do you have an existing clientele or a wait list, whatever that is, or are you going in fully cold? And if that's the case, I always recommend warming up. So doing a pop-up, doing just a test model. You would never expand into a market fully cold if you didn't have the research. Like that's just silly. You're going to burn cash. And also, Pending where you go, you really need to have an on-the-ground team that knows that market well. So you can have a C-suite or a leadership team that is global. I fully believe in that because ideas can transcend, strategies can transcend, but you need to have at least one individual that is heavily embedded in that market. It could be like, for example, I did a contract in Indonesia. People in Indonesia operate in a specific way. They like things a certain way. They consume media in a certain way. When they talk about social, it's done in a specific way. Yes. Like you wouldn't know that unless you were living there. And so it's really beautiful to work with people who are like, we love this idea. This is how we would shape it to fit this. And, you know, we had an incredibly successful launch, but it was catered. based off like local and cultural differences to other markets I've worked in. Yes. The only market that I would say like is very similar is like Australia, UK, like I mentioned. I feel like I can do very similar things. Yes. But even the US to Australia is entirely different. We were talking about that. Yes. Yeah. Like it is alien almost in the ways that they do things. It's not that people don't like the same things, but purchasing power is very different. logic reason you know all the types of things it's it's just a different way of doing it but i think um that's why i believe in having a global team is fantastic but you have to be very mindful of where you're going and how you're going to do that and who to talk to in that market yes because what i'm kind of hearing i feel like it's a bit of a buzzword i want to go global and you know that's sort of everybody's striving towards and i love that ambition but what i'm hearing it's like it's a lot of groundwork to be able to do it it's more than just like having division and then going into new market you need to know your numbers know your people know how they buy and like even are there some core fundamentals even that maybe do carry across in terms of perhaps marketing or um the psychology around buying like what are some of the pillars that actually carry across or what are some patterns that go in any market that will be like here we're safe If you do this in Australia in terms of marketing or messaging or brand, is that the same? What are some pillars that actually do carry across quite well? The overarching strategy and what makes that up, so whether that's influencer marketing, it's all your digital paid side, it's your content marketing, events in real life, all those types of things, they all carry. So they all work in all those markets. It's just... how they work together. Because, for example, in Indonesia, influencer marketing is like the number one. Everyone really resonates with influencers. They call them KOLs or celebrity. That is your biggest driver. So everything else is a buffer. Whereas you'll go to a different market and that may make up 20% of the budget. You know what I mean? It's just looking and leveraging what is the most effective. And sometimes you don't know. That's the other thing. Like you really do have to test the market. But an overarching marketing strategy will work. You just have to basically like jigsaw the segments in a different way. Yes. And I think a really strong brand identity will carry regardless of market. Because I think we're used to these beautiful brands you know that we see online that everyone really resonates with and there's parts of them eg community that you love mm-hmm a community brand is the number one thing to build yes above all else yes because I think people forget that like your community are the ones purchasing your products are your best advocates they're your word of mouth they're the people who are going to take you from zero to a million wow 10 million a billion whatever it is they are your best people and i think if you focus a brand around community and around the why for individuals that's any brand yes that's what they should be focusing on oh yeah and do you think that a lot of brand kind of get it wrong here in terms of building the brand identity do they miss the community aspect or because i like i'm just thinking as a founder like building a brand do you think the most start with like community in mind or is that something that evolved over time because what i'm hearing that's kind of a core part that will be the driver of the success of it yes but is that often an afterthought it depends on why they build the business because if you look at the unicorns they're driven on community yes right truly they are yeah You look at the why they're so sticky is because they have millions, billions of people so obsessed with them and they see themselves in the brand's marketing and they see themselves in the growth of the brand. I mean, I think it's really interesting because some people create brands for money. That's never a good thing because I think personally you should be creating a brand for a reason that is greater than you. So why are you doing this? And it all comes back to the community, regardless of what you're building. People are your, well normally, people are your core. Yes. And you want to have that emotional attachment for them to like really see themselves within your business, regardless of what it is. I mean. You can have a restaurant, but if you're making people feel really good when they leave the restaurant, they're going to tell their friends. I really want to go back. The atmosphere was so beautiful. The service was so beautiful. It can be the smallest things. It's like human touch. Yes. Oh, I'm resonating so deeply with this because I'm so big on experience. Yes. It's like how are we making people feel? Yes. And that gets to carry through like. everything that we do in your like the way you are showing up online like us connecting in person now like it's truly how we make people feel and i think an example for me i've got a very nice car sitting at the front a beautiful porsche and i went to a driver day now two three years ago i remember that you remember that yeah i they did not push any purchase on me they create i'm like took them two years and they got me they created such a beautiful experience right where we were just driving around these beautiful cars and dressed up as barbie and then we got taken to this beautiful lunch and then i got invited to another driver day and i went back and did it again they never pushed me into buying anything and then i got invited to a high tea at the langham And it was all about the experience. Every point of contact, I had a wonderful experience. When I had the idea of buying a new car, they owned that piece of real estate in my mind. Which is why I was willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a car when I'm not even a car girl. Like, I could not give a shit. You just want to bottle everything that you've felt over those last three experiences. right and like and i look at that and i and i said i was like gosh that marketing team they need a race because whatever they did over those two years has now made me spend hundreds of thousands of dollars and have no regret and i'm not even a car girl it's always how you make someone feel regardless of what your intention is and how you want to make them feel it's how you send them away from your business for them to go wow I was uplifted or I was really touched or that was so much fun whatever it is marketing can be anything but it's the end goal is how did they feel when they walked away from you and they would then speak about you to someone else that's that's really the key and if you can't have that then so if you're scaling on a on a global scale or even online how do we translate that feeling online it's tricky i think you really need to look like if you're going down the content piece and you're building out that emotional and not everything's emotional right like that's just and it doesn't have to have to be sad emotion like it can be activated it can be inspiring joyful right whatever humorous yeah exactly right so it doesn't have to be like sad emotion it can be any emotions got it i think it's really defining Like who you're specifically talking to is the key. And then what would resonate with that particular audience? So, and I think the biggest thing about brands is they kind of, not everyone, but a mistake is they want to be for everyone. You can never be for everyone. Being for everyone is silly. You know, you'll be wasting money. You need to be for one, maybe two. three if it's like a very diverse brand but you really need to know who you're talking to and i think the content around that needs to support whatever that is whatever they're trying to buy into be very obvious what they're buying into in terms of the feeling behind it got it you know like i watch so many different types of content across every type of emotion but the best ones make you feel either laugh out loud or they make you cry or they do this or they just make you feel inspired and like uplifted or whatever it is and it's the content piece and the beauty of the era that we're in is that you can create amazing content that makes you feel those things yes and it's all like not everything has to be emotional of course not no yeah but i think like one of the hardest jobs i ever did was i had to sell sell the feeling that you would feel inside your body after you've done like a specific exercise class how do you even produce that because it's a personal feeling and how do you translate that into something that people can see and feel and take away from them like it's a really difficult thing and that was probably one of oh yeah my biggest challenges and that really taught me a lot because it's almost the nuances in someone's face when they're doing the task or finishing the task or it's the like the I get goosebumps thinking about it the after effect of how they feel it's really hard to show but if it's sometimes not the obvious it's the little things that all like come together to give you that final moment and it is tricky like marketing can be really tricky because you obviously don't want to like give away all the juice yes you know you just want to like sprinkle them a little something something yeah but i think um like for that particular case it was the the the small changes in someone's face versus before after and during like a micro expressions of yes of the journey almost and i never like selling a result i'm not into a result I get what you're saying. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because I don't want someone to think they're going to have the same experience necessarily. Like I'd like to show, um, what's the word? Like I don't necessarily- The journey or? Yeah. Like I'd like to show how they got there because I feel like that's more important than this is just the end. Amen. Goal. Yes. yes the end goal is so different for everyone and the reason why you do certain things but then they get to the end and then they still want more so it's like it's you know it's like that hit and then they're like oh back to like this yes and i think you need to be a little bit more layered because humans are so layered and i feel like even more of us becoming more and more layered as the world progresses and and marketing is just yeah anyway no i i resonate deeply with this i get what you are saying because i think for me being you know i grew up dancing and i think you know you have a lot of connections to the entertainment world and maybe what we can even speak on here and something that i feel very strongly about that i have my dancing to thank for is spending so many years on a stage being able to tell a story without saying a single word to be able to evoke emotion in someone without saying is a thing through movement so really when you think about it or in my mind what i'm actually hearing you say it's not just about what we say like really when you think about the brand it's like how can we tell a story and how can we evoke an emotion through music through facial expression yes through body language through charisma right through the the lights like the lighting like all right the colors the flavors the taste like there is so much depth and i'm so passionate about this because when i think about like a brand for me whether we think we have a brand or not we have a brand and that can really support you and amplify what you do or it can be the biggest expense of all right yes so and i feel like we have to be quite intentional with how we build our brands which I feel like I want to ask you a couple of questions around this because in my opinion, whether you are like a, if you have a service-based business, whether you coach, mentor, or whether you have a product, where do we draw the line of authenticity versus like having boundaries that would actually protect your brand? I think, okay, let's talk about like an actual brand and not like a solo individual. You need to be really consistent on, like I mentioned before, who you're talking to. If that incorporates individuals and stories behind the brand and things like that, great. But it doesn't always make sense. Yes. And I think it's knowing on a brand level what actually is applicable for you and what's not. So some brands can lean into founder storytelling, EGC. Yes. You know, they can lead into like results-based marketing and things like that, but it's not for everyone. You really have to know your brand entirely. Like trends, not for everyone. On the solo side, I 100% believe everyone should have a personal brand and be working on their personal brand. And yes. sometimes we're lazy and we don't want to do it yeah i know this yeah yeah yeah but you you are prioritizing other people's brands so yeah exactly we can let that one slide but it's i think as well you have to be really comfortable you have to be comfortable in what you're talking and telling people about and know within your boundaries Like if someone asked you a question, would you be comfortable giving an answer surrounding that topic? If yes, go for it. And listen, we all do need to go outside our comfort zone in a lot of different ways. But I think you don't want to talk about something that visually makes you uncomfortable, regardless if you're a brand or an individual. Because maybe it just doesn't resonate with you in that moment. For sure. And you need to practice talking about that a little bit more. I think and that's like also can lead into things like crisis PR and comms right where like you've been delivered a situation that you really are uncomfortable with and you have to elevate yourself and come out of that and I think it all kind of works together you just have to practice know your brand know who you're talking to and how you're talking to them but I think um it's yeah it is different but I think you need to know what works for you versus others like never follow fully and i like what you say okay that's yeah it's a fine line because i think we get to draw inspiration from other other brands people like i think that's because success leaves clues right so i think like definitely you know that's the beautiful part about being a creative is like we get to look for inspiration and like draw from people or other brands But don't be a follower in this sense. Like you will never lead a market if you simply be a follower. No. Right? So why would you bother? It's so lazy. It's lazy. And also it's, excuse me, but batshit boring. Oh, yeah. Because it is vanilla as anything. Because like you can tell that it's not original. And we have to, and again. it may be correct me if i'm wrong but that also comes with a sense of like vulnerability because you have to be able to travel a path that you don't yet have the evidence for you need to fully back yourself and your opinion and what you believe in and what you stand for and what you don't believe in sure that's scary for me in my experience I often think, what's the point of me sharing this? And it's very basic, like, what's the point of this? Why am I sharing this? Knowing exactly who I'm speaking to, every single conversation, every single question that I'm asking you today, I have asked myself, what's the point in me asking this? Because I'm thinking about my end and your end customer. Yes. Right? So they can sit in receivership of listening to this and be like, thank you, Rebecca, for asking that question. right but where do we draw the line because not everything like i don't share too much of my family when i do the engagement is through the roof but and then they're like i want more of this and i said i know you want more of this but to me it's a boundary that i have that i don't share everything in my life i share a very very tiny snippet Rarely, rarely online because it's sacred to me. That does not mean that it's not authentic. And I think that's what a lot of people go wrong. They feel like they're not being in integrity or even being authentic if they don't share all of the things. In my opinion, and I want to get your take on this, for me that's just a lack of boundaries. I think people feel pressured to share more than maybe what they're... open to sharing only because I think sometimes they, you know, comparison to other people and like, okay, well, they're doing this or this brand's doing this, so I better do this as well. It's not really the way that you need to look at it because I think people, you know, there's brands that only share one thing. It has nothing to do with their actual brand, right? And that is their only way that they share content, for example. Like Red Bull? Yeah. Like it's this. This is what they sell. There's like a hair care brand I found the other day and all they do is talk to the founders about dating. Nothing to do with hair care whatsoever. I love their content. I followed them straight away. See, that's so bossy. That is so different. I was like, you know why? You're two guys. You just, you have normal hair. Like you're not talking anything about your product. Wow. But the conversations you're having are so relatable to your target market. This is the reason why I would follow you. Tell me more about this. This is the juicy stuff. Well, I think, and I think this is why when you look at who you're talking to, and I say this even when like I was a baby in my startup days, I would never look at. This is what I mean about result. I would never look at the end goal. I would be looking at what are they actually talking about other than my product? Where are they shopping? Where do they live? What do their friends do? And I would create content around lifestyle versus what I'm selling. Because the thing is, if it resonates with you, it's going to build into your life regardless. it's like your friendships what are your friends talking about how are you talking about this and that's what i mean about trends or like boundaries for yourself it doesn't always work yes for you yes and nor should it everyone should be different being unique is amazing and if you can try something and it works for you like go for that yes exactly right like there's nothing more boring than seeing people copying and listen i know that that comes from sometimes fear because you're like, I don't know how to do this. So I'm just going to do what everyone else does. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But just like put it this way, like coming from me, like I go into new markets, I have no idea how it's going to land. Yes. I just have to trust fully in my backing, my experience, like what I've built, what I've researched, and we're just going to try this and then we're going to try this. And it's okay to try like different things. But it has to still feel very true to who you are. Yeah. And I think like on an individual side, like you said, you don't really share your family. I also don't share certain things that I'm really passionate about because I don't really want to talk about them in that setting. Yes. But I would talk about them in a very different setting. Yes. Yeah. And that's okay. Yeah. Only because you don't have to speak up about everything. And I think be clear on the things you feel comfortable speaking about, but don't feel pressured into needing to share everything. No, of course not. Like you don't owe it to anyone to do that. No. So what I'm also hearing, it's like, I can get like a great sense of like, almost like curiosity when you're building a brand because you're like, we're going into a market and we're testing this and we're trialling this. You're like, we're not going to know. It's like you're going into a room just like, and this is a blank canvas and you're like. What are we gonna cook? What are we building up here? Do you need to like have a level of dilution with like a level of curiosity and just like, let's fucking go for it. Like what? Is that what I mean? That's the energy I'm getting. You need, honestly, it's like the, you need to back yourself in every single way because When you're going somewhere you've never gone before, you have no idea how it's going to land. It all comes back to you because you're the one who created it. And so not only do you need to have like delusional optimism that this is going to land. Like I fully believe every single time I write a go to market strategy, it's going to work. Yes. Every element that I put in here is going to work. You know why? Because I fully believe in that. what i've created and crafted all flows together beautifully for specific reasons yes you start here you go here you go here this comes in this comes in this comes in and everything i create is so intentional and layered to give the best chance of success and i think um but at the same time all the pressure is on me for it to work because i'm the one that drafted this from and and You can have feedback from team members and founders and things like that, but ultimately you're getting paid to come up with this strategy. Yeah. But I've never not once backed myself. Yes, there's been things I've done that I'm like, oh, it wasn't as great as I thought it would be. Or maybe we could have done more around that or shifted that slightly. But there's... I will not let things fail. And I think that's the key. I definitely know that about you. Yeah. Like I, there's just failure is not in my vocabulary. No, it's not. And I know that. Evolution shifting is, and that's totally fine too. But I don't know. It's just like a deep sense of pride within my experience that I'm like, this will be successful and effective because I believe it will be. And now I need you to join me. in in in making this happen yeah and really and it's also a key to who you choose to take on the journey with you because you can't really do it on your own and if you are a solopreneur you have to do it on your own which obviously you really have to be committed to the end goal but when you work with like even a lean team of like three make sure you pick the right people yes the people who fully believe in the vision of the brand and where you want to be eventually and are really and in startup land you have to work really hard like that's just part of it yeah if you don't want to work really hard don't work in startups like that's just it's you know what i mean amen yes absolutely you have to be a type of person and it's not for everyone yeah yeah and i say this all the time when i interview people i'm like do have you ever worked in a startup like i would prefer to hire people that come from startups because they already have that of the sense of urgency and flexibility that you need because flexibility is key you have to be willing to change things at the last minute adjust things add things delete things it's like a beautiful like adaptability to like to the journey but if that's not who you are you'll never be able to yeah like resonate with that environment which is totally fine too um but yeah it's having those individuals along the ride with you but then also that founder team or that leadership team they have to be as equally as invested yes because there's nothing worse than like when you deliver something to someone and they're not as optimistic or curious or they don't have the same drive as you to deliver that because they're kind of not waiting for you to fail but there's that you can just tell right yes i get what you're saying yeah absolutely and i also i think that and often say this to my clients if you are not even excited about what you are doing how can you expect your market to be jumping even higher when you're not even like if you show up online and you speak about your stuff like this and you're like a little bit unsure and like if there is no conviction like Now it comes back to feeling again. I want people to feel it. I want people to feel your excitement. Like even when you like, I can tell you just dropped into flow and you're like, and you're just talking about all of the things and the team and this and this is what we're going to do. And I back myself. When you said that, you meant every single word. You gave yourself goosebumps when you were talking. You gave me goosebumps multiple times already. Because you carry yourself with such conviction. And that is why you are so brilliant. at what you do. And if you don't have that, you're not going to last. You're not going to be that successful because if you, and I say this all the time, if you don't believe in yourself, no one else will. And if you don't believe in yourself and if you don't believe that you have what it takes, you can do one or two things. One, you can go, what does it take and what do I need to do and who do I need to become so that I can fully believe in myself? Or two, if I don't have the skills, how can I hire? someone like yourself to support me because i have the vision but now i can step in and hire someone like yourself to be like help me on that journey like make me feel supported where i am not the strongest yeah and i think that is so brilliant and you speak about this like the lone wolf mentality versus like being able to collaborate and come together with the right people you're quite passionate about that in terms of like scaling and isolation like yeah that's not gonna fly we want to make sure that we are locking arms with the right people because we're not going to be great at everything no that's the truth and i think a lot of us start as the lone wolf which is natural right when you first try new things do i want to be a business owner okay i'm gonna give it a go right but i mean even in positions that i was in house i was the one the only one building amongst a team of many that were doing other things but I was the one building so for me I was like a lone wolf internally and then when I did my own thing and then over time I was like first of all I don't enjoy this I hate being the only one building because I am a collaborative person I love feeding off others energy and I don't love to be the one to give all the energy because it's first of all it's depleting yes you know I I need it back. I can give it to you but I need it back. I'm going to send it right back, sister. But I think as you mature and grow in your career, you really see the need to collect people along the way. Either it's just for conversation or to feed ideas off and just voice things or it's people to physically help you do the work. Like, there's just no point making it harder than it is. Like, it's hard. Business is hard. Yes. It never gets easier because the more you grow, the harder it gets, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But there's ways of making it on your nervous system not as impactful, I suppose. Burning out, all those things. For sure. Definitely happens when you're on your own. Yeah definitely and I think it's very real and I feel like a lot of people have so much and maybe it's partly like ego or pride in like I don't want to ask for help or I don't want but the thing is this and in my experience having worked with a lot of successful entrepreneurs and I've met many many many successful people They don't necessarily invest in support because they are broken or not whole. They just choose to feel supported because they understand in how they can multiply and how they can leverage by getting the right support. So they invest in proximity, they invest in speed, and they choose to feel supported. Not because they have to, because they get to. So I feel like the more higher up people are going, they're like, it's a non-negotiable for them to feel supported and in more areas than just business you know a lot of successful people they go to therapy or they get a pt and then they invest in like in business mentors or just having like another sounding board they have a lot of support around them and i think in my experience it's pivotal especially as you're just building higher and higher and higher and you're moving up towards that penthouse if you don't have a structure around you it's very easy to fall exactly and I think how can you expect to get better in any way on your own like you are only one person you and like you said you need to surround yourself with other people that give you different things that open up doors for you or open up different conversations for you but I do think it's a choice that you need to make like I think you really need to look within yourself and say okay I can't do this anymore. It has nothing to do with my ability. It has everything to do with who I want to be and how I want to get there. And like I made this decision for myself. I literally remember this like it was yesterday. I was in the shower and I was like, why do things keep happening to me? And in that moment I was like, but is it you that allows these things to keep happening to you? Or are you just attracting the wrong? energy over and over and over like is this a lesson that you need to learn and move on from and i was like in the shower and i was like i'm gonna do quantum leaping with the water and i did that whole exercise and my life changed when i tell you this like it changed and everything changed and i said to myself okay i need to get in new rooms with new people how am i going to do this i don't know how i want to become an investor i want to do more speaking i want to do this that and the other and over time these things just changed like i got offered a chance to invest in a business because i met this one person through this person which was very it was definitely meant to be and then that opened this other door of this contract that i've been looking at doing for two years it's just these little threads that all start changing when you make the decision to do something outside your comfort zone and like it's not happening to you You're just letting it happen because you're taking it on and letting it sit within you and not releasing it and learning from it. It's really hard to do and hard to know those feelings, but I try and be very self-aware of how I'm feeling and why I'm feeling as I age. And I think after I started making changes and taking risks in different ways, it's only gotten better like it could have gone the other way but once again i don't let it go the other way well exactly right and i often speak about this as well and i think you know and i have my parents to thank for this because i say you know i come from humble beginnings but they really brought me up to really have my own back to like fully be confident in in who i am as a woman as an individual And regardless of what happens in terms of my external world, I'm always going to be okay. So I feel like if you can do the internal work of like, you know, even just being willing to sit. I often say the moment we have the biggest transformation is when we are willing to look at the things that we keep in the shadow and bring it into the light and just make space for it. Not because we're trying to shame ourselves for it, because we all have stuff that we are navigating and going through. But the more grace and compassion we can meet all the things with, I feel like we have a better chance of succeeding because we're not like feeling like, oh, I need to be perfect to then take action and whatever it is. So you are willing to sit with all parts of yourself. And when you're willing to do that, it builds up a level of resilience and self-confidence that carries so much power when you go to take risk. Right? And just the knowing, the conviction you carry yourself with. When I look at my business and everything, I bought a property last weekend. Yes, congratulations. I knew, thank you, I knew in my body that I was going to buy it when I woke up in the morning. I had that, like I knew it. I can't explain it. i just knew it i knew it was mine and i'd had a dream about and this is again this is self-trust call it woo woo call it self-trust call it whatever you want to call it i just i was so clear on what i wanted and i think that's what you said be so clear on what you actually want otherwise how can we work towards anything if we don't know what we are working towards i knew i wanted that house And when I woke up in the morning, I get this feeling and this full body tingles and I get it like, you know the nervous feeling in your tummy when you're just like, oh my gosh, we're about to go to an auction. Like that, I had that feeling in my tummy. But then I could, like, it was just playing out in my mind. I could see where I was standing, what I was wearing. I could see the celebration at the end, my bidding strategy. Like I saw everything. And I was sitting there having my morning coffee and I said to my husband, And I was like, we're going to buy this house because the whole scenario is playing out in my mind right now. I love that. And we're going to get it. And I think that's kind of what you are explaining. Also, it's like you just know because you have that self-trust and it will happen. But if you don't have that, chances are that it's not going to happen. I think as well. And I mean, this can be woo-woo for people, but... Let's go woo-woo. Believing that you already have these things. You know, the brain doesn't kind of associate with it not having and having, right? Yes. It just, what you tell it over and over, it believes. It's like those people that, I don't know what this is, but they tell themselves things and they're completely irrelevant and completely untrue, but they fully believe it. They fully embody that this is happening to them. It's the same way. If you fully believe in something to the point where there is no other option, like this is the only option, more than likely that is the path you're going to take. But also being very intuitive and really trusting who you are, especially as a woman. I think this is really important. Really listening to your signals, I think is very important. And if something feels wrong. there's a reason that it feels wrong for you or not the right time for you and I think sometimes things disappoint us because they just don't happen in the way that they're going to happen but that doesn't necessarily mean they're not there for you at that particular time and that's honestly how I've lived my life like I believe that everything happens for a reason I believe we get delivered things at a specific point in time hard work is a big part of that but fully trusting your journey and who you meet. And when you meet those people, you just know you were meant to meet those people. Like it feels like soul connect. Like you've just, where have you been? You know, and there's a reason that you've come into my life. And I think that's really important because it also allows you to make way better decisions, take better calculated risk, like as you grow, because you've really started trusting yourself fully. But it takes a long time to get there. Yes, it takes a long time to get there, but you only get there by doing. Yes. Right? And I often say it's like I'm very good at calling in opportunities. Everywhere I go, if we go for coffee, I'll be like, I will be able to like... There will be something down at the coffee shop. I will be owning this coffee shop. I'll be like, oh, the manager just walked in. Or like, I took myself to breakfast on Monday after we bought the house on the weekend just to kind of sit in just the energy of like, oh my gosh, that really happened. And I just like to have a moment to myself and just process that. And then I'm like, chill enough. And funny, I just sparked up a conversation with the owner of the cafe. And, you know, we started talking about investing in all of the things. you know one thing lead to another but you have to be open as a human being and that comes down to um i would say just your energy and your presence when you walk into a place i i can make myself invisible if i choose to like in terms of like if i look down and i go to places and i don't want to be seen we can do that but if you want other people to notice you and if you want to call in opportunities you can make a conscious decision to allow yourself to be seen. And opportunities will come from it. But if you are not open to it, they're not going to happen. But if you are open to it, we could just walk down the street and people feel it. And that is the most, you're laughing because you know the feeling. I know it's true. Because it's the most magnetic energy. And you just know it because you carry yourself with such conviction in trusting that whatever opportunity is about to fall into your lap now is exactly what you've been waiting for it's true it's true and i think but you also know within yourself when you're not in that zone i think like it's very like i know within myself when i'm not projecting right like when I'm just being a version of myself and then I know within myself when I'm fully there like I can feel it and I'm fully there when I'm presenting and delivering because I have every every ounce of me knows that what I've what I'm giving to you will work and I think it's take that and then put into other parts of your life that maybe you haven't fully found yourself in yes Because I think, you know, we all have these beautiful strengths that we have, but we all have other things that we push to the side because, you know, it's too much work or it's different. And I think we need to embody that same feeling because it is really magical what can happen. It really is. It really is. And it's actually so incredibly, like, gratifying when it happens to you because you're kind of like, how did this just happen? This just feels so lucky. Funniest thing is I have been doing this my whole life without realising I've been doing this my whole life. And I look back now and I see these patterns where people used to be like, how are you so lucky? You just like landed this amazing role. Like you just moved to London and you got this head of this luxury group. And I was like, oh, I must have been so lucky. No, because I think back to when I was like a teenager. And I knew where I wanted to live and where I wanted to work. Yes. And even though it didn't necessarily fully correlate, it ended up happening. I knew I wanted to live in New York. I wanted to work at this entertainment PR agency in New York. How I was going to get to New York, no idea. Yeah. Guess what? I won a green card and I got to New York. Yeah, wow. And I ended up getting a job in an entertainment PR company, but in London, it was so weird. That is crazy. I'll just get goosebumps. Yeah, yeah. But it's always because I... fully believe that anything is possible. Yes. And even when I was in New York and I was like, this is crazy. And I was applying for hundreds of jobs a day. It's just one yes. I just needed one yes. And every day I would get up and be like, today's a day I'm going to get one yes. And then I wouldn't get it, but then something else would happen. And it's just, you have to like trust. trust in your energy and what you're putting out and work for it. You can't just... But it's like being in the arena. We're not going to win if we sit just as a spectator on the side. We're not. We're going to have to be in the arena, on the field, putting ourselves out there every single day. And we're not going to win every game. We're not going to win. And that is a part of the journey. But I think the people that stay, they have the discipline and they have the faith and they, which takes me back to what we spoke about before, they have also fallen in love with the process. Yes. I am so excited about the unfolding of my life, like knowing certain things, but also knowing their becoming of every part excites me so much of not necessarily knowing I have clarity on certain things. And I know that very well, but it excites me about from here to there, that journey is it for me. Not necessarily, because once I get there, I want to go there and then I want to go there and, you know, so on. But that part is like magical. It's because you just don't know how it's going to play out, right? Like that's the how. How? We don't know. Yeah. But if we put into the world what we want, and we work towards that, the how will just end up happening. Just maybe not in a way that we expect. And I think that's the beauty of life. And it's very easy sometimes to be like, oh, this is hard. But I feel like the people who have the strongest calling sometimes get delivered the hardest work because they have it within them to get over that. It just feels really difficult at the time. And I've had some really hard times. Like when I lived in London, i actually when i moved to new york i had 500 that's it to set up my life in new york what was i thinking absolutely stupid in london sometimes we had like five pound a week left over to survive like but guess what it was great and i would do it again and i got through it and those lessons taught me so much more than what i thought at the time but without those lessons i definitely wouldn't have lived the life that i've lived now i probably wouldn't have started a business and then started another one and then wanted to do this that and the other because i probably wouldn't have had it in me to do those things yes oh absolutely yeah yeah yeah it's like it's almost like the the hard times have really given you the qualities that you need today to really build something really successful and working with different personalities and coming from startup land you know there are many narcissists that you work with unfortunately and they teach you the best lesson yes absolutely they teach you how to read people really well you can spot something straight away there's patterns associated there's so many things that you learn and like listen it's not all startups it's just some no yeah of course yeah you know some of the most successful business owners are that trait good on them because look at the beautiful businesses you've created but i think it really goes to show that everything that you learn You can choose to take what you take from that. You can choose to be like, why, why me? Like, it's always so terrible and sad. Or, okay, what can I actually use this for? Things like rejection. Being a student of life. Yes. Yes. And actually taking the lesson and realizing, because you know what they say, how you keep getting delivered the same lesson until you physically realize what it means. And I think that's so true because if I look at similar lessons that I've had over and over again, until I realize what that meant, it never changed. Yes, it's so true. It's so true. And sometimes you're going to be like, oh, shit. Maybe, okay, what's the part in here? What's the common denominator in this? And like, what am I not willing to see? And sometimes we don't want to see it. A hundred percent. And that's the hard part, which is like, let's spring what we keep in the shadow into the light. And I think it's a beautiful part when you actually are comfortable to sit with yourself through all shapes of yourself in whatever comes up. One thing I really admire about you is that you have so many moving parts happening at once. And we've had conversations where I'm like, whoa, girl, you are doing a lot. And you're like, I love a lot. Tell me more about that. What truly fuels you? Because I think there are some people listening to this right now that kind of needs to hear what you have to say on this because they're stuck in one path and maybe either they have guilt or they have fear or thinking they're doing something wrong by doing more than one thing. Tell us about that because I think it's fascinating. I think you We'll always have shame, guilt, fear, ego, whatever it is, attached to changing something or wanting to do something different. I think for me, I know what fuels me and what fuels me is opportunity. And opportunity can mean many things. Opportunity can mean something brand new or it can mean shaping something in a way that's going to fuel me to do better because for me there's nothing worse than the same thing every day like I hate it I want to do something different every day and that's why I love marketing because I feel like I'm helping people in a different way each time yes and pending what and what I'm working on like I'm achieving that goal what I can't deal with is when I don't have that sense of purpose of actually helping people so What I normally, and I think this is true with businesses as well, right? Like a few years ago, I love my business and what it's created, but it doesn't give me the same excitement. And I thought to myself, why do you care if you change your business? It doesn't matter if you shift your business. This is your business. No one cares except for you. And I was like, okay, that's okay. And I had to really take a step. back and think like why does this affect me so much like why am I feeling weird about shifting like what I want and I think it's only because sometimes when you create something you see it as failure or you see it as it didn't work and then I need to shift it but think about it in like a startup landscape any business that you go into I go into businesses and they've set up everything and then I say to them this doesn't work I'm so sorry And that's really emotionally difficult for someone to hear. But let me show you how it can work better because it will make you more excited or make your team more excited. And that's what I think you need to take in your own self. Sometimes you are so in it that you can't see that it's not really working either for you or other people. I try and always take it by the lens of, okay, if this was to excite me, how would I shift it or how would I change it? And if it doesn't serve me anymore, that's okay too. Because I think we all grow and change. And it's the same as like, even if you work in businesses, the businesses that you choose to work in are very different. Because you like different things. That's the same with your own business. You don't have to like it. If you really hate it, change it. But if it's just... Something that you don't love, get rid of it, switch it. And I think it's just a lot of emotional resonance within that. Yeah, I think so too. And it's just like, it's going to be fine. We pivot and evolve and we grow. We just try new things. And it's just like, it's a very free energy. And I love the permission in that. I think you need, yes, to allow yourself to make that decision. Because I think we're very hard on ourselves. I know I'm very hard on myself. And I think you need to say to yourself, you're being ridiculous here. Because if someone said to you that, you'd be like, okay, I understand the reason why. But when you're saying it to yourself, sometimes it feels even more harsh. Yes. Because you've built this or you've created this. But one thing I can say over time is being someone who's highly creative. When I give someone something of myself, that can be anything, that can be a strategy, can be a piece of art, whatever. it's like a part of me and when they hate it it's awful and it doesn't happen that often but it does happen and you have to be like it's okay that people don't like this yes or that it didn't land or this or that and the other let's recreate it and reshape it i think it's just emotional maturity of learning different things about yourself and how you operate and what needs to change to make you happy because life is long business you know business shifts like relationships shift like all these things happen and if we stick to one thing like for me it won't work but I like to have multiple things happening to tick different boxes yes and also that I get to work with cool people Yes. You know, that like really uplift me and feel good. Or even if I don't work with them, I'm like, I just need to see you because you give me good energy and it makes me want to do that thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yes. Yes, absolutely. I've got one final question for you. If someone is just like sitting right on the edge of like starting a brand or maybe they even need to make a pivot in the existing brand that they have, but say they want to go into a new... e-com brand or whatever whatever they want to start where do they start what are like three things that they need to do to start building that brand because i think correct me if i'm wrong but i feel like it has to be a bit of an on-ramp like start building the brand now even though you don't have the product kind of thing what are what are three things that they should be doing almost like immediately to start that brand i think first and foremost i mean product market fit is can be hard to know you know, at the time when you're coming up with something. But ultimately, it has to be a brand. In 10 years time, would you still be happy working in this brand? In five years time, would you still be happy talking or working within this framework? Because I think sometimes things get created in the moment. And it's not necessarily something that you can see yourself doing long term, right? Like, okay, your end goal might be that you want to sell it. That's great. but can you give it love for that much time can you give it energy for that much time if the answer is no it's not right for you i've created businesses and i'm like i hate this after six months and i just get rid of it and that's fine because i i felt it when i first created it that i wasn't in love with it yeah you have to dream about it and love it and wanna and you don't love every part of your business no don't get me wrong yeah but it's the framework of what you created do you love it enough so that's like the long-term vision yes or being able to be willing to be in it for like five ten years yeah yeah no short term no and like things may change within that five to ten years but you know within yourself that yes you fully believe in this so other people can believe with you the second thing would be I think if you know what you want to build regardless of if it's a service or a product is start a conversation and the content doesn't necessarily need to be about your product or your service but start having creating content around that identity of who you're trying to talk to and this is very true like I've worked with So many brands that we haven't actually released what we're launching until three days before or one week before. Wow. But which is, I mean, crazy in a way because you're like, oh, waitlist, you know, all that type of thing. And how long is that build up? Six months, three months. Like it can be like all different. Like can we just take a moment for that? Like even the six months, because I feel like a lot of people be like, can I prime my audience for two days and then hoping they're going to buy? And I was like. The work that you're doing today, you will see a result in an outcome in like 6 to 12 months, right? I love that you are just thinking so long term and I think it's a conversation, an important conversation to be had around what it truly takes to build a brand, right? That it's not just like tomorrow you will earn the trust of the market. No. Next week. So, yeah, sorry, continue, but I think it's such a good point you shared. No, but it's true because it's... you need to warm them up enough that they regardless if you're not actually selling them something they all fit who you then want to sell into yeah so even if it's creating conversations around the same thing and the beauty of our world right now is that content is so easy to create it doesn't have to be perfect it can be lo-fi and people still love it as much as beautiful cinematic content like whatever you want to create but you need to prime the audience on different things, whether that's gamification and you create something that's really fun that suits your market or it's storytelling or it's, I don't know, like stitching other content creators work so that you can create opinion, whatever it is, whatever it is. You need to start building out a potential community that could then translate into your product or service or whatever it is. Got it. sometimes this is weird for founders to hear because they're like I don't get it there's no end goal we're not really like like why would we invest in that and the thing is the more primed audience you have the better chance of success anyway like if you wanted to bring your waitlist forward do you know what I mean you have more opportunity to but I think people Spend so much time scrolling now and watching things and learning about things. You can even work with creators early on, by the way, but in like a roundabout way. Like not end goal, buy this or do this or product placement, but they can start creating the conversation around your brand or what you're creating so that when you do land, it feels right for that creator and that audience. But it is long. And it does feel weird, but this is kind of the new way. And then also I work with a lot of brands that have multiple accounts that don't mean anything with their brand. They just talk about other lifestyle aspects of that brand that they then draw people into. So it can be very multifaceted. Yes, yeah. It does depend on the audience you're talking to as well. But it's consistency as well. You can't just like... post once and then hope for the best or post twice like louder you need to have a plan a plan that fits like a brand i'm working on at the moment we have like i'm doing three months three months pre-launch nothing about end goal wow everything about what we're trying to build wow and nothing about building either which also is a if you can show the build process do it it's so beautiful and so powerful and people love watching you build they want to see you win like human spirit really wants to see you win yes they really want to see an underdog win and it's like those people that go to restaurants who are struggling you know i don't know if you've seen this i know i have oh my god i die every time yeah i know and he's like i'm going to a struggling restaurant and then it helps them and they cry and like that's human spirit you know helping other people So if you can show your build story and your founder story, go for it. But not everyone has the capability to do that, which is fine. So find another way to create an emotional connection in any emotional way in that leader. That is incredible. And I love this so much. And I often say what makes selling really effortless is marketing, right? It's like they are actually not separate. you know they're really by the time and people go like how can you sell fifty thousand dollars worth of coaching in these dms also because they've already bought by the time they come to me in dms right and then it's just like a few little details back and forth the trust is already built they've been watching they've been following along we have a connection and that has been built over years like when it comes to my own brand that has been years of repetition and consistency and showing up and sharing what i believe in so strongly I can't decide when people are going to be ready, but I know what I can control in the process that will potentially support their influence in their buying decision. And that goes the same with any brand. It's like being so consistent to the point where you take up that piece of real estate in their mind. So when it comes to buying, it's already done. But I think the lesson here where you are sharing, and I just want to say it loud and clear for the people in the back. it takes time it's not an it's not an overnight thing it takes time and be willing to do it for a long period of time because i think if you master the muscle of consistency you are probably going to outrun a lot of people that that haven't quite mastered that the funniest thing is i say this to people all the time If you're not trying because you're too scared of trying, your competitor who's shit will be trying and they'll be getting your sales. And we don't want that. It's just the truth. Yes, right? You know what I mean? Like I see and there's so much bad marketing out there. But guess what? They're consistent. And so they have more voice. Yeah. Like you need to be consistent in who you are and really true to who you are and be creative and be fun and all those things. But actually just give it a crack. Yes. And have a plan. Like don't. It's okay to like fly from the, what's that saying? Fly from the seat of your pants or whatever it is. I don't know. That sounds good to me. It's okay to do that at times, but like your overarching plan has to be true. Yes. You can't win without a strategy of any kind, especially in marketing, because things change so frequently. Like look at AI, right? And how we can use AI in our businesses. And being like ignorant or unwilling to try is just not an answer. Yes. You have to be willing, regardless of how you use it. And it's not saying you need to create content with AI. That's just not for everyone. But there are other ways to benefit you. But this is the same in any marketing. It's like a new social media channel pops up. Exactly right. TikTok took so long in Australia for brands to get on. I used to be like, what are you doing? Get on TikTok with global brands. No, I'm too scared. Too scared, too scared, too scared. Why? And now they would have wished they would have jumped on it. Yeah. And they literally, remember how easy it was to grow on TikTok? I mean, I was like. Well, I have the biggest regret. I know. Don't talk to me, Rebecca. Yeah. I got on and I got like 145,000 followers in like 20 days. And then I was like, oh, this is so easy. And I gave up. Imagine I didn't give up. I could have had millions of followers or whatever. That's what I mean. Yeah, whatever. But that's what I mean about being consistent. Someone like me learnt my own lesson, I would have been consistent. But for brands, it's a completely different story. Like I've had amazing brand success. You just have to be willing to try. Like what's the harm? And I think that goes across anything. That goes across pre-launch, launch, expansion, longevity of a brand. You need to be true to who you're talking to. You can pivot, of course, but... You need to have an overarching goal. Yes Now I feel like a lot of people as we're rounding this up They're gonna be like when can I hire? How can I hire and when can I hire Alexis? They're gonna be all coming to your DMs so buckle up. They're gonna be like, okay, we need help. At what stage Do you help founders? Is it like from idea or just as they're about to go to market or post like all of the above like when can people hire you i think the best time for me is once you have defined who you are as a brand so you may have a really strong brand identity already created with a branding agency for example and then i can come to you with a really great solution and strategy for how to get you there like how can i physically get you into market and year one for example and get you to those goals or you can be an existing startup that may have been trading for one to two years but you're not really hitting where you need to hit and then i normally come in and you know it's a harder conversation yes because you've already built but i help you recreate where you need to go Beautiful. And how to do it. Or thirdly, I want to go somewhere else. I want to go to a different country. I want to go to a different market. Like, let's do it. I don't know how to do it. I don't have the connects. Because that's your zone, really. Yes. And I think it's very scary. Like, don't get me wrong, moving into a new market can be very financially scary. But this is where you need to... work with people who already have networks in those markets because it's not just me, right? I allow you and help you to get there, but I work with amazing individuals that already can support you in that capacity. So it's a team of people, but I've done it with people so you don't feel alone and you don't waste money. because burning cash is just awful with expansion into markets and i've seen people just spend so much money and it just hasn't worked and it's just because potentially the research piece wasn't there or you worked with the wrong partner like there's a lot of different things that can play but it is probably better than ever the time to do that especially if there's any uk us brands australia and asia the growth yes of coming into these markets is so huge yes for sure i feel like your work is so important to any any brand like product base like so i can just see so much potential and i feel like there's a lot of people that are listening to this they can't even fully maybe they believe they have a strong brand identity but they can't fully express it They're like, I can't put my finger on what I'm trying to say or how I want it to look. But once they see it, they're like, that's it. I feel like when you step in, you extract that. And then you put that into motion and you put that into the reality, which means that the results will follow. Yeah. And to be honest, it's like a brain fusion. Like I take everything that you love from your brain or your team's brain or your ideation. And then I... think of it like physically how can I put this together and is it going to work that way or do we need to add this change this and sometimes it's a long process right because you're taking knowledge and ideas from years or they're conflicting and they don't necessarily go together and it's my job to be like this is how the most effective way of getting you what you want and also by the way you don't have to have crazy budgets can I just mention that as well because I've worked on a thousand dollars a month in terms of like the physical hard spend and I've worked on hundreds of thousand dollars a month. Wow. Oh, I love that. You can work across multi layers, but it just depends on like how you want to grow. That's the end goal. Boom. I think this, I know that this episode is going to blow up. You have shared so much value. Like, thank you for your generosity of just sharing. just your wisdom, your thoughts, and not just like from a brand perspective, but like truly as a founder, as a woman in business, leading with intuition, having grit. I feel like there are so many layers to you that, and I just love them all. I wish I could just put them in a jar and then we could, we sell that jar. You are truly, truly so magical. And thank you for sharing this conversation with me. You have blown my mind. Oh, thank you. This has been fantastic. And thank you for being such an amazing person to reflect with and talk about all these things with. I am going to leave all of Alexis details in the show notes. Make sure that you send her a DM, get in touch so we can actually blow up your brand. Thank you for tuning in to another episode and we will see you back next week for another show. Oh my gosh, girl. I hope that was good. That was fucking amazing. Okay, thank you.

In this episode of The Rebecca Adehill Show, Rebecca sits down with Alexis Fenton, founder of BrandFluff and global startup CMO, to explore what it really takes to build a powerful brand in today’s market.


Alexis shares her experience building brands across Australia, the UK, Europe, Asia, and the US, and breaks down why successful brand growth is about more than just strategy. From understanding cultural differences and testing new markets, to creating community, building emotional connection, and developing content that resonates, this conversation is packed with practical insights for founders, entrepreneurs, creatives, and business owners.


Rebecca and Alexis also discuss personal branding, authenticity, boundaries, confidence, consistency, startup marketing, global expansion, and why the best brands are built around how people feel — not just what they buy.


If you are building a business, launching a brand, growing your personal brand, or learning how to market with more purpose and conviction, this episode will help you think bigger, move smarter, and create a brand people genuinely connect with.


Connect with Rebecca:
https://www.instagram.com/rebecca_adehill/ 


Connect with Alexis: 
https://www.instagram.com/alexis_bree/