68. What Brand Alignment Is And How It Is An Evolution
In this episode of Pause On the Play, hosts Erica Courdae and India Jackson discuss the topic of brand alignment.
They discuss:
their definitions of brand alignment, since there is no textbook definition
how brand alignment requires clarity around brand values and actions
why it’s important to consider yourself as having a brand even if you’re a solopreneur
why you need to do your own internal work in addition to brand/business work in order to be fully aligned
their own examples of people and brands who are in alignment, and more!
Brand alignment is the discussion theme for the month of August in Pause On the Play: The Community. To get in on the conversation, head over to pauseontheplay.com/community to apply!
Are you ready to listen in? Here’s what’s happening in this episode:
[01:20] There’s a lot of conversation around brand alignment, but it’s not always well understood. Now, with the social justice uprising, people need to be examining their brand alignment.
[03:35] What it comes down to is practicing what you preach. Do your actions match up with what you’re saying you believe in? Are you being truly authentic? You need to be reassessing whether your values and brand are in alignment.
[04:51] You can’t take action and come into alignment if you don’t have clarity around your values.
[07:08] Aligning your brand is more than just speaking. It's, it's what you do. It's what you think. It's how you behave. It's how you make decisions. It's what your culture looks like. It's your colors. It's your overarching messaging.
{09:18] Even if you’re a solopreneur, you need to think of yourself as a brand, and whether your actions are aligned with your brand and your values.
[14:03] Working on your personal, individual values and actions are as important as working on your brand and business.
[15:46] Evaluate what things about “self” are going to show up in your business.
[17:52] Brand alignment means gaining clarity on whether what you’re bringing into your brand and visibility is pertinent and related.
[21:35] Brand alignment means having a compass for your decisions, having a compass for what you say, having a compass for what you're doing, and knowing why every step along the way, and as much as possible being within integrity of those things.
[24:35] Erica shares why Isa Rae is a great example of brand alignment.
[29:10] India shares why Rihanna is an example of a person’s and brand’s evolution towards brand alignment.
[35:03] Like everything in life, brands evolve. And every step and decision you make is a step to or away from brand alignment.
WHAT’S ONE ACTION YOU CAN TAKE AWAY FROM THE DISCUSSION?
“Brand alignment, from my perspective, is taking your branding and assessing whether or not it's aligned with your values, with who you are. You know, are you practicing what you preach? Are you getting high on your own supply? But it really is just reassessing. Are the decisions that you're making, are the things that you're saying, etc, matching what you're doing? And that goes into every area of branding.” – India Jackson
QUOTES
“I think people are reckoning with that reconciliation of what's next. But there is this question of, okay, what is happening? What's going on? Because the movement does not take a vacation. You know, we all have to take care of ourselves. So I'm not saying that you can't take a vacation, but the need for action doesn't take a vacation. ” – Erica Courdae
“It really is just reassessing. Are the decisions that you're making, are the things that you're saying, etc, matching what you're doing? And that goes into every area of branding. So for those of you listening that are not in branding, your brand is more than your colors, your logo, your fonts. It is all of that as well. But it's also your core messaging. It's also who you're associated with, what podcasts you're willing to go on.” – India Jackson
“So this is where I think it's important to acknowledge that – and I guess I want to debunk this myth, because I feel like I've heard this one I don't know how many times over the years – that, oh, it's just me, I'm not a brand. And so people – as solopreneurs and you do the service, and that's kind of it, at least in your head – you tell yourself that there's no brand, because it's just you and there's not other people. And it's not this bigger thing right now. But first of all, that's a yet; you don't know what that might become. But I also think it's worthwhile to acknowledge that there's whole lot of brands that came from one person, and they are still that one person's name.” – Erica Courdae
“I don't care how big the businesses that we're working with together or separately, their brand, in my opinion, starts with the individual people within it. Because as a leader it is impossible to lead a brand that is inclusive, when you as an individual are not being inclusive. You got to start with yourself, you can't give and do things in a bigger scale that you're not doing as an individual. “ – India Jackson
“One for me is Isa Rae. And so Isa Rae is on a show that's on HBO called Insecure. It's been like four seasons now. But, I want to say she's like writes, directs, stars. She's done a number of movies recently. She's got tons of projects going on. And it started from years ago as like a YouTube series and it became a book. It was like Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl, and she's consistent. It's been consistent because the show, Insecure, it's the black experience. She is, her dad is, I think Senegalese if I remember correctly. She doesn't hide. She's unapologetically black. Unapologetically black does not mean that you are out here yelling at people power to the people with the fist up in the air. But she's also not going to hide who she's rooting for, and who she's looking to win. Not because nobody else can win, but because they don't win enough. And so, brand alignment, the things I see her doing, the choices I see her make, how she presents herself, how she dresses like, she has her filters in place to make sure that all of these things are aligned. And so in my opinion, Isa Rae is a beautiful example of brand alignment.” – Erica Courdae
“Before her (Rihanna’s) career like became anything even near what it is today, when she was first discovered she was very much branded, like the safe, kind of fun and flirtatious Island girl vibe. Long, brown, flowy hair, bohemian clothes that are very beachy, like what you would – expect emphasis on expect – from somebody from this island. What would be safe and friendly for somebody in that age range from that island. And the music reflects that. I was very pop. And then her second album, it was like, I think it was called Good Girl Gone Bad. And I don't know the whole story behind it, but to me it felt like at the time they were testing how would people respond to this. Gone with the natural shade of brown hair, and now there's this asymmetrical black – like jet black bob. Broke the internet. Everybody had to get that haircut at the time. And the album's called Good Girl Gone Bad. So you can automatically tell where the music is going. And she just went from like, maybe you heard her name, question mark, to everybody heard of Umbrella with Jay Z on it. If you're into that kind of music. It definitely went more r&b. And I think that she's a great example because people think that brand alignment means that you have to have always been this. But I really do believe that aligning In your brand, especially if you're looking at the CEO of the brand, the leaders or the brand, or if you're a solopreneur, and it's just you, it's actually allowing you to become more of yourself. Rihanna was never that way. Girly Island girl with flowy hair and bohemian clothes. She's always been a badass. That's who her record label thought she needed to be to get albums sold. She was being what they thought she needed to be to be marketed.” – India Jackson
“It is the evolution. It does not happen overnight. It's it's usually not a full mic drop. You might see some of those moments, but those moments then end up being supported by repetition. The things that continuously stand up against what it is that your brand is. The things that validate that any of these evolutions are still in line. None of these things are like random, what is this? Where did this come from? They're still there. And I think there's something about being able to have a place to actually consider what brand alignment is and can look like for you. Because where you are is not where you were, and it's not yet where you're going. And honestly, you're going to stay in that place, because of the fact that you're always going to be moving forward. There is no destination. There is no I'm done. It's just always, what is the evolution for today? What is the newest, the newest, most full version of who I am? How am I showing up more authentically today than I did yesterday? What is one more step I can take into my truth in this moment?“ – Erica Courdae
“Evolution is a part of brand alignment, you can't do it overnight. And as long as every single step that you're taking is better and more refining your alignment to the truth of your brand, then you're going to have a great end result.” – India Jackson
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Transcript
Erica Courdae (00:10): Hello, hello and welcome back to Pause On the Play. As always, it is amazing to see you here where you're challenged to examine your beliefs, question your predisposed notions, and consider realities you may have been unfamiliar with in order to understand that they, too, are real. I am your host and conversation emcee for the day, Erica Courdae, here along with my co host, India Jackson to get the dialogue going.
We back! We had a little bit of a break. It was time. There have been over 60 something episodes and there have been no breaks and these past few months have been fast paced.So it's an understatement but it's a thing and from a health standpoint, a capacity standpoint, and just from a place of like, yo, we had to just recoup and come back because we can't show up half-ass. We either gonna show up or we not so we took a break and now we back.
I thought it'd be important India to have a little bit of a conversation about brand alignment. Because I feel like there's a lot of conversation to be had with it, but I think it's not always understood what it is and why it matters. And I think right now, what's happening is the people that after the social uprising began, that was triggered by the murder of George Floyd but had also been been really stewing, so to speak. It was there with Corona and then it was like, wait, we already pissy and now it's Ahmaud Arbery, Nina Pop, it's Breonna Taylor.Then it was Rayshard Brooks, after George Floyd – it's like, hold up!
And so all hell broke loose to an extent. It needed to happen. But it did. And so a lot of people started to really shift what they were doing. Some people were like, can I still have my business? Can I market? What do I need to do? And for those that are still in it and didn't use it as a vanity license plate that now they're tired of and you're actually still doing your Diversity, Equity and Inclusion work. Okay, so what does it look like to be in alignment? I'm talking about all these things? I say I want to do all these things. But what does that actually mean? So from your point of view, what are your thoughts on what brand alignment means?
India Jackson (02:55): So it's a really big question, and I wish that I could give you like one textbook answer. Unfortunately, through my research, I couldn't find one textbook answer. I don't think it really exists. But brand alignment, from my perspective, is taking your branding and assessing whether or not it's aligned with your values, with who you are. You know, are you practicing what you preach? Are you getting high on your own supply? You know, we can word it a lot of different ways.
But it really is just reassessing. Are the decisions that you're making, are the things that you're saying, etc, matching what you're doing? And that goes into every area of branding. So for those of you listening that are not in branding, your brand is more than your colors, your logo, your fonts. It is all of that as well. But it's also your core messaging. It's also who you're associated with, what podcasts you're willing to go on. What stages – or in this case, what digital stages are you willing to speak on? How would someone else gauge what the world sees versus what reality is behind closed doors? Are you being that overly used word, authentic?
There's a lot of different layers to alignment. So it's a very, very big topic. But I am super, super happy that we're talking about it and that it's something that we're supporting our community members with this month, because when you really start to go down the rabbit hole of weighing out your values, it does kind of give you a foundation to start assessing. Okay, now what's the line and what's not?
Erica Courdae (04:51): So I'm glad that you said that because a lot of times when people are in a place of, I want my brand to be aligned with, I want to take different actions. And there's of like, well, what do I do? And you can't do anything if you don't have clarity on your values. You can't. Because number one, you don't know why you're taking any of the actions. So there's no purpose if you don't have clarity on that. You can't measure it. Because, measure it against what? You have to understand those things.
That would be just like saying that the eco friendly community that is an entire movement, it has values. It has a purpose. It has goals, if they were just like, well, we want to save the planet. Okay, how? I don't know. Okay, I don't know what the fuck that means. What does that mean? You have to you have to have a little bit more than that.
Even if you think about the movement – I don't mean this based on the entity but the movement of Black Lives Matter – black people are like, I want to live, I want to breathe freely, I want to not be stopped by the police and worried about dying. I want equity. And so that's clear. That's clear. And this is where it's like, you have to have values, and then, that's when we're always like, so what does that mean in action? What do you do with that?
Because, you know, these pretty words of, diversity and supporting one another. And to use the example of, rising tide, rising tide lifts all boats, okay. Give me more. I want to know what that means. Because sometimes people get so hooked on the catchy phrasing that they don't actually go any deeper than that. That's all you got? You like the flowery words, don't you?
India Jackson (07:08): Well, I think that what I saw was that some brands were looking to reevaluate their values, even if it was just the one value that black lives matter, and talk about that. But aligning our brand is more than just speaking. It's, it's what you do. It's what you think. It's how you behave. It's how you make decisions. It's what your culture looks like. It's your colors. It's your overarching messaging.
It's so much more than just a one time Black Lives Matter statement. And so when you look at a brand, what comes to mind for me is, how do you assess or align to what? Brand alignment, but alignment to what? I like to look at alignment to your values. But also there's the opportunity to look at alignment to your greater purpose. I'd like to think that most of our listeners have started their brand because they are wanting to do something that has impact, something that is bigger than just necessarily what they sell, or making money.
And so are the decisions that you're making, the things that you're saying, the way that you're attracting people through your visuals, etc, supporting that bigger purpose? Is it allowing you to help the world and that kind of way? You know, and if not, then we're not aligned. And then there's also the individual aspect as the leader of your brand, as a leader of your team, are you behaving, speaking, all these other things towards your team and towards your clients in a way that matches your business? Use in your purpose and the impact you want to have? And that's a really big question to ask, that touches everything you can think of when it comes to a brand. Everything you can think of when it comes to the identity of something, not just a person, but also the identity of the business.
Erica Courdae (09:18): So this is where I think it's important to acknowledge that – and I guess I want to debunk this myth, because I feel like I've heard this one I don't know how many times over the years – that, oh, it's just me, I'm not a brand. And so people – as solopreneurs and you do the service, and that's kind of it, at least in your head – you tell yourself that there's no brand, because it's just you and there's not other people. And it's not this bigger thing right now. But first of all, that's a yet; you don't know what that might become. But I also think it's worthwhile to acknowledge that there's whole lot of brands that came from one person, and they are still that one person's name.
India Jackson (10:06): Well, and can I also say that like for me, the way that I define brand, and the way that my team at Flaunt Your Fire defines brand, the way we define brand at Pause On the Play, is very much – Pause On the Play: The Community – is very much rooted in brand-as-reputation. So everybody has a reputation. You can be an employee at a major company at an entry level position, you still have a brand because guess what? Somebody thinks something about you. And if they had to explain something about who you are, what you're about when you're not around – that's our reputation. And everything that you've said, everything that you've done, even down to the clothes that you choose to wear or whether or not you say thank you when somebody opens the door, shapes that reputation. You could be somebody without a job... you could be a stay at home mom. The the mailman still has a perception of you and your who you are and what you stand for? Are you nice? Are you not nice? Are you polite? I don't know. But that's your brand.
Erica Courdae (11:08): And you're right. And this is, again, where I need to remind people to not assume that brand is bigger than self. And yet, your message or goal, being bigger than self, somehow doesn't have the same type of weight. You know what I mean? Like, you look at this, and you're like, I want to do all these things, but it's just me. Wait, what? No.
India Jackson (11:37): So I feel very strongly – and this might be an area that you disagree – but I feel like brand starts with self. I don't care how big the businesses that we're working with together or separately, their brand, in my opinion, starts with the individual people within it. Because as a leader it is impossible to lead a brand that is inclusive, when you as an individual are not being inclusive. You got to start with yourself, you can't give and do things in a bigger scale that you're not doing as an individual. And that's why I really, truly do believe that some of the best brands that I can think of that are very aligned, they're not necessarily started out in this place where they were trying to change the world.
They were more or less being authentically themselves, take it or leave it. And it wasn't necessarily from this give back component or let's know feed all the children. Sometimes it was really just, I want to fault what I've got, or I want to be seen, or I want to be heard, and really owning who they were and staying true to that and making vary aligned decisions based on tha. It allowed them to grow and evolve and see, okay, now how can I help others with this? Or, how can I take this unique strength that I have, and do something bigger than me? But I personally feel like it's really hard to think about your entire corporation as the brand and say, how can this thing be aligned when we don't first look at the leaders within the brand?
Erica Courdae (13:27): I agree. I agree, and I have my own thoughts around some caveats of that. Do I agree that it starts with you because if you're someone that can see maybe where you might want something to grow or or even just where it's possible, but maybe you don't think it's there yet, you inform those things. You're setting that standard. It's not like, oh, I'm gonna do this and then I'm inviting everybody else into the party that I'm changing. No. It's it's you. And it kind of goes from there.
The interesting thing is, I have conversations with clients on a regular basis about the fact of, we can work on your business all day, but we still got to work on you. Because we get all your business stuff straight and you still got your your white supremacy hat on like all day every day and just don't get it. It's not gonna work. So we have work to be done. That is your work. The the caveat that I have around this is the fact that so many people have an easier time digging into this when it's not based around them. When it's based around a brand, something else, something outside of them. They can get it easier, then the minute you say alright, let's look at your shit…
India Jackson (14:52): What shit?
Erica Courdae (14:55): Yeah, yeah. No, no, it's just my business! No, it's not. No, it's not. And that's not to say. Like, who does that? And everybody has it. I don't say this to say that, there's that one person that came and they were terrible, and they just didn't... No. Everybody has their stuff that needs to be worked on. Nobody's above that. But it's so much easier to not put the focus on self. And so what you said is correct, but sometimes people have a harder time having to actually acknowledge oh, so we really gonna look at me? I really got to work on mine and how I show up and how that influences everything else, and how that sets the tone for everything else? Hmm.
India Jackson (15:45): It's so funny because I frequently encountered the other side, which is, I really want to work on myself and I'm like, okay, but these things about self are not showing up in your business. Well, it's like, I see people go on one side or the other.
Erica Courdae (16:05): That's the different pieces and if this is not involved... you can work on it, but does that need to be the thingthat we work on? You know what I mean? If somebody came to me, and they really wanted to work on I don't know. I'm trying to think of an example that's like, completely unrelated. You, you come in and you're like, you know, I'm agoraphobic. I need help. I can't help you with that. Does your brand has anything to do with spiders? I'm pretty sure that spiders and if I'm wrong, just call me out. I used the wrong word.
India Jackson (16:40): I thought it was arachnophobia?
Erica Courdae (16:43): Yes. Arachnophobia. Thank you. See, we all got our shit to work on. I use the wrong words.
India Jackson (16:51): Okay, I'm gonna have to break out the dictionary later.
Erica Courdae (16:53): No, cuz now I'm gonna now Now I'm gonna go look it up. agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder that often develops after one or more panic attacks in crowded places.
So, you know, going back to the orginal one, I'm agoraphobic, I can't help you with that, though. That's not something that I am equipped or trained to help you with. And unless that fear of entering or being in crowded places or leaving your house, or however that shows up for you. If that doesn't show up in your business, I don't know why we're talking about it, and showing up in your business is going to be from a point of view of like, does this align with something? Are you reminding people that it's safe? And even then I still might be like, I think this is above my paygrade. I don't know that I can help you with that.
There is a place where I do think that it's important to be able to really be clear on like, if you're bringing something is this pertinent? Because I think if somebody is coming to you for branding, but they're so focused on these things that are about self but aren't related, it's like, um, I don't know that this has anything to do with it. And I think that's important because it is worth acknowledging that all facets of yourself, don't go in your business. So you can have your stuff and it just doesn't have anything to do with it and that's fine. That's not a lack of brand alignment. That's just simply knowing what goes in and what doesn't. Just because I didn't pull out the cayenne for everything that I cook doesn't mean that I don't like it. It just means that I know where it goes. Pancakes didn't get it. They're not supposed to, like you put it where it belongs. And so I think it's important again, when you talk about brand alignment, like what are we aligning? Why should this be aligned? Does this actually belong in the list of ingredients here? If it doesn't, then don't.
India Jackson (19:09): Well, I mean, that brings me back to understanding what are the values with the intention? You know, what's the purpose? What are we trying to achieve? What's the why? And that really determines what ingredients, you know, as you say, go into the recipe or not. And so when I think about that example that you just gave, it makes me also think about how people will be like, my brand is my baby, or I am my brand and I disagree with that as well. I think your brand is your reputation, and you can shape and hone that reputation if you choose to based on what you're deciding to do with your brand. But that's not necessarily who you are, because then that just means that you're you're 50 million different people, because if you were to ask a million different people about you, they might have a lot of different answers.
Now, if brand's aligned, their answers are kind of similar. That's the goal, but it would still be different answers. And so I don't know, I think that shows up when I see people deciding, okay, my brand needs to be more aligned, it needs to be more cohesive, is a phrase that I get a lot from clients and also see show up in the community as well. And I'm like, cohesive to what? Align to what? And so I can think of some really great examples of that where I've seen brands pick colors because they like those colors, but they don't understand nor do I expect them to understand color psychology. And for me, I only took one class in an entire undergrad degree program on color psychology, but that's a whole, like lots of classes worth the rabbit hole to go down.
And even with that, something that from the outside looking in seems really, really simple. It's colors. I mean, who cares? I like these colors, right? No, these colors attract people, these colors make people feel something. So what is the aligned thing to attract? You know, who are we trying to attract with these colors? How do you want the people you're attracting to feel or to think that your brand can make them feel or support them with feeling? And that's a very different approach to decision making. And when I think of brand enlightenment, I really think of having a compass for your decisions, having a compass for what you say, having a compass for what you're doing, and knowing why every step along the way, and as much as possible being within integrity of those things.
Erica Courdae (21:56): That felt like a lot but it wasn't.
India Jackson (22:02): A good example of colors is actually what is going to be being updated, but Erica Courdae. We chose colors for your brand that are complimentary. And what many people don't know necessarily, if you don't come from a design background or art background, is that complimentary colors are opposites on the color wheel. We can think of black people and white people being opposites on the race spectrum. And so we made that choice on purpose. But there's something about complimentary colors that when you put them side by side, they actually vibrate visually in your brain against each other and are perceived as being more vibrant, more lively than they would ever be on their own.
There's something to be said about that and how that goes back into your value of diversity of diversity, the more variety, the more innovation, the more whole and rich our world becomes. And it's a value you and I both have Erica. And so I share that to say, when we think about brand alignment, and there's all these big decisions of who you're associated with, what are you saying, why you're saying it, that's easy to grasp as big, but even the small things like colors make a huge difference in how things are perceived. And there can be intentional decisions with that, too.
You had like a really great example of some align brands that you feel like are doing this well, because you – I'll say between the two of us, if those of you listening haven't figured out, Erica is definitely more up on current events and watches more things than me. I just kind of live in my nerdy little box. Crawl underneath the rock.
Erica Courdae (24:03): And I need everybody to understand I don't I honestly don't even take in a lot of content. But I like what I like and I do take in what I take in and a fair amount of it tends to stick sometimes.
India Jackson (24:19): I mean this is coming from the person who got rid of their TV years ago and just finally watch Coming to America in the last 10 years.
Erica Courdae (24:35): Sweet Baby Jesus, why?
I'm gonna give one that I think I can support really wel, and then I will give you one that I'm happy to give some support with it. But I have two that I think would be good, but I have one that I know would be really good for you. One for me is Isa Rae. And so Isa Rae is on a show that's on HBO called Insecure. It's been like four seasons now. But, I want to say she's like writes, directs, stars. She's done a number of movies recently. She's got tons of projects going on. And it started from years ago as like a YouTube series and it became a book. It was like Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl, and she's consistent. She's that kind of quirky, slightly awkward, really smart, but you know how to equip in with some, you know, low comments here. Their humor might be slightly dry if you don't know how to catch it, but at the same time, she is funny as hell. And she's been very consistent with her persona. She's been very consistent with how she shows up, whether it was just her in the book or like how she kind of shows up, even on the show or as somebody that is contributing to creating this show. I saw pieces of her being on the red carpet once and somebody was like, who are you rooting for? She was like, I'm rooting for everybody black.
India Jackson (26:15): I remember that. Yeah.
Erica Courdae (26:17): It's been consistent because the show, Insecure, it's the black experience. She is, her dad is, I think Senegalese if I remember correctly. She doesn't hide. She's unapologetically black. Unapologetically black does not mean that you are out here yelling at people power to the people with the fist up in the air. But she's also not going to hide who she's rooting for, and who she's looking to win. Not because nobody else can win, but because they don't win enough. And so, brand alignment, the things I see her doing, the choices I see her make, how she presents herself, how she dresses like, she has her filters in place to make sure that all of these things are aligned. And so in my opinion, Isa Rae is a beautiful example of brand alignment.
India Jackson (27:23): I can see that.
Erica Courdae (27:25): I'm gonna give you two to pick from. I'm gonna let you pick from one of the two, but I have a soft spot for both. One is Rihanna, the other is Grace Jones. And for those that don't know, you're gonna get educated today.
India Jackson (27:39): Oh, that's tough. Because given my age, still being in the 30's, I feel like I have more knowledge about Rihanna, where she started to where she is now, than Grace Jones. Grace Jones is the queen.
Erica Courdae (27:59): My gosh. So all right, I'm going to say go with Rihanna. But I actually think I'm gonna say Rihanna because I think that you might be able to actually speak to the trajectory of where she started. And the fact that it was an evolution. It wasn't like I'm this from day one, because Pon de Replay was not the same. Like she came over their hair cut and umbrella that was like wait, you done broke the whole internet with this haircut. And that was not the same person imagery wise, how she was presented.
India Jackson (28:42): Okay, so for those of you that don't know those reference points, Rihanna is r&b singer. Go educate yourself, listen to her music. She's the one that sang Bitch Better Have My Money. You might need that song someday when somebody owes you some money. But she started in her career being a young very young Island girl.
Erica Courdae (29:08): Barbados, if I remember correctly.
India Jackson (29:10): Before her career like became anything even near what it is today, when she was first discovered she was very much branded, like the safe, kind of fun and flirtatious Island girl vibe. Long, brown, flowy hair, bohemian clothes that are very beachy, like what you would – expect emphasis on expect – from somebody from this island. What would be safe and friendly for somebody in that age range from that island. And the music reflects that. I was very pop. In my opinion, it wasn't r&b. I think people categorize it as that because she's black. It was pop.
And then her second album, it was like, I think it was called Good Girl Gone Bad. And I don't know the whole story behind it, but to me it felt like at the time they were testing how would people respond to this. Gone with the natural shade of brown hair, and now there's this asymmetrical black – like jet black bob. Broke the internet. Everybody had to get that haircut at the time. And the album's called Good Girl Gone Bad. So you can automatically tell where the music is going. And she just went from like, maybe you heard her name, question mark, to everybody heard of Umbrella with Jay Z on it. If you're into that kind of music. It definitely went more r&b.
And I think that she's a great example because people think that brand alignment means that you have to have always been this. But I really do believe that aligning In your brand, especially if you're looking at the CEO of the brand, the leaders or the brand, or if you're a solopreneur, and it's just you, it's actually allowing you to become more of yourself. Rihanna was never that way. Girly Island girl with flowy hair and bohemian clothes. She's always been a badass. That's who her record label thought she needed to be to get albums sold. She was being what they thought she needed to be to be marketed.
Erica Courdae (31:32): And it speaks to that place in the beginning where you're trying to see how palatable you are to people and how they're gonna take to you. And you're kind of testing the waters of like, what can the market sustain, so she went from there and it just kept going because by the time you got to Anti, it was completely different.
India Jackson (31:53): From like, If love is what you want – you know, is one of her lyrics – then baby I got what you need, or something like that. I don't remember all the lyrics. But, we went from like that, like very Britney Spears, like early Britney Spears to Bitch Better Have My Money and You Needed Me.
Erica Courdae (32:14): Here's the other side though. This is also where it's worthwhile to acknowledge that that was a part of what she was doing. And even as she expanded, she still kept that edgier piece of her. That didn't go away. And so even though there was the music part, and then it kind of shifted. She became a spokesperson with Dior. She then started Fenty. And then she started Savage Fenty. And so she has gone in a number of different arcs. But that edge didn't go away. Even when she got to the point like, she picked up a few pounds and looked fabulous. But she also acknowledged it in the sense of like, if you want to have a little butt, you gotta have a little gut. And that was a quote.
And I say that because it is an example of what it looks like to still be you. Even as, that was what I don't know, 15 years that she grew in her career and her entrepreneurship and how she was a businesswoman. And so there were these pieces that evolved. But as she was able to actually step forth fully as her and not as how people wanted to market her, and then she evolved on her own, because hell, time you grow, you do evolve. Those pieces still stayed there. So that part of her that like when you see them means, and she got that look like, who you talking to? That's been there. And it's not about her being rude. Because some people be like, oh, that face, it's like, No, she just is not the pretty pretty princess. Period.
India Jackson (34:13): There's something to be said about that. Right? Evolution is a part of brand alignment, you can't do it overnight. And as long as every single step that you're taking is better and more refining your alignment to the truth of your brand, then you're going to have a great end result. Because for those who haven't followed her or some of the other things that we talked about, these are brands that became more and more successful, the truer they were. And there's something about that like not covering up your tattoos, not pretending to be something else. Even though you're in a Dior gown that cost more some people's cars.
Erica Courdae (35:03): And that's where I'm glad that you mentioned that, because it is the evolution. It does not happen overnight. It's it's usually not a full mic drop. You might see some of those moments, but those moments then end up being supported by repetition. The things that continuously stand up against what it is that your brand is. The things that validate that any of these evolutions are still in line. None of these things are like random, what is this? Where did this come from? They're still there. And I think there's something about being able to have a place to actually consider what brand alignment is and can look like for you. Because where you are is not where you were, and it's not yet where you're going. And honestly, you're going to stay in that place, because of the fact that you're always going to be moving forward. There is no destination. There is no I'm done. It's just always, what is the evolution for today? What is the newest, the newest, most full version of who I am? How am I showing up more authentically today than I did yesterday? What is one more step I can take into my truth in this moment?
India Jackson (36:32): Yeah, and I want to say that that's not always the easiest thing to do when you're doing them. But I can guarantee you that when you make the decision to do the hard thing up front, to really ask yourself that extra question: is this aligned? And even have outside accountability with that. Because sometimes our own perspective of things is very different. We have our own areas of ourselves that we don't always fully see. But when you're able to make that hard decision to do a little bit of extra questioning, a little bit of extra effort upfront, in the end, life is so much easier because you continue to attract opportunities, people, energy that all feels amazing for you because it is aligned with where you're going, and not necessarily with where you are.
Erica Courdae (37:23): Well, you said something else. And I think it's important that you don't have to do it alone. It's not meant to be done alone, in my opinion.
India Jackson (37:34): Absolutely not. I mean, I feel like you can't – it's like auditing your own stuff. It just doesn't work. We need outside perspective.
Erica Courdae (37:45): And this is one of the things that I think is so important about doing things in community, or with others that can give you opinions that aren't your own because we live in our heads so much, or in our brand so much. And we can't get a clear view outside of it. And I think it's important to have that. And it is something that we do in Pause On the Play. And like you said, this month, we are talking about brand alignment.
India Jackson (38:16): Yeah. And I think the cool thing is we're doing more than just talking about it, it's actually an action. And so there's space for your fellow community members to keep you accountable with the things that are coming up, and the shifts that you want to make, and provide tangible feedback about what that can look like. If this sounds like something that could support you as you're beginning to align your brand and evolve your brand into the next place that you're headed to, I'm going to encourage you to head on over to pauseontheplay.com/community and get your application in today so that you have some time to get approved and jump in on this conversation. One of the things I'm very excited about is this month we're going to be doing a watch party, as well as a community connection call slash chat where we're diving into brain alignment. And you really get to see some new perspectives on that. As well as with our space being a private space off of Facebook now, which I'm so happy about. You get to openly ask questions at any given point related to you aligning your brand, and really get the feedback and support you need.
Erica Courdae (39:38): If you're ready, come on over to pauseontheplay.com/community. Again, get your application in today and we are waiting for you. So, as always, remember to keep dropping the veil, challenging thoughts, feelings and actions, others as well as your own. We love being here creating the bridge for you to walk over and becoming the change that you want to see. So, join us next time and until then keep the dialogue going. Bye