93% of high-performing marketers lead with their values, the beating heart of the organization.

Your brand values are the core beliefs or principles that guide you, the courage behind every decision you make, the reason why your team shows up every day and why your customers buy from you.

Your brand messaging is key to reflecting these values and your actions demonstrate whether or not you are true to them.

More than ever, customers and clients are looking to align their buying decisions with companies who live their values, ethically, socially and environmentally.

In fact, according to research conducted by Salesforce, “66% of customers have stopped buying from companies whose values didn’t align with theirs”.

Creating foundations in your company that are true to your values is critical to your success and sustainability.

Here are 7 steps to help identify your company core values:

1/ Reflect on your Origin Story…Dig Deep into your roots – your company history, its mission, its vision. Consider what distinguishes you from your competitors. There’s power in your origin story.

2/ Bring Everyone into the Arena…This isn’t a solo journey. Every single person in your organization should have a say in defining your brand values. Conduct open conversations, employee focus groups, and surveys. Make sure every voice is heard.

3/ Uncover Shared Treasures…As you converse, you’ll start to find the golden thread, common themes that are shared among your team. These are the building blocks of your brand, your treasures. Authenticity, compassion, creativity, resilience – what are your shared treasures?

4/ Choose Your Treasures Carefully…Select the golden few priorities, the ones that deeply resonate with you and your team, and that you’re committed to living and breathing.

5/ Share Your Golden Few with Your Team…Cultivate buy-in and understanding to ensure the core values are embraced.

6/ Embed Your Values In Your Culture…Integrate them into your daily activities and let them be the guiding values that map your business journey.

7/ Share Your Map with Other Shareholders…Your Clients, Your Funding Sources, etc. Anyone who has a vested interest in your mission.

8/ The Courage to be Seen…Share your journey on Social platforms showing your values in action. Don’t just tell them, show them. Remember this is true leadership…courage to live your values in action. This is what garners trust. Show up fully in alignment with your values and your audience will respond in kind.

Finally, remember that this is an evolution. As you grow, learn and continue to gain experience, your values will evolve. Reflect on the lessons you’ve learned, refine as you go and always be the face and the trusted source that is true to your values.

Quote of the Week:

Your core values are your deeply held beliefs that are the expression of your soul.

~ Noreen Howard

Xo,

Noreen

Founder & CEO

PLUS: Whenever you’re ready…here are a few ways I can help you with YOUR business:

1. FREE Resource to Curate Your Wealth at curatingwealth.com.

2. I host a FREE Marketing Open Mic with other experts where you will have the opportunity to learn secrets to magnetic marketing, address top of mind marketing challenges and bounce ideas off of other like-minded business owners and experts. It’s casual where you can come when you wish and stay as long as you like. Click here to RSVP and get it on your calendar.

3. Join Self-Discovery to Results.

An opportunity to do deep, personal exploration and work that aligns with life and business goals, expansive stretches, and leadership principles to build your freedom, impact and legacy. Click here for more details.

4. Half-Day VIP

Want to tackle a strategic or marketing project, quickly? Book a Half-Day Session with me and together, we’ll execute in 4 hours…Just reply to this message and tell me a little about your business and what you’d like to work on together, and I’ll get you all the details!

Are you a best kept secret?

When you’re a best kept secret in your business, industry or field it’s natural to feel small and not good enough.

The reality is you haven’t given people an opportunity to discover you.

Altering this reality, comes down to forging a path to visibility and influence. Taking those uncomfortable, yet hugely critical measures for people to learn about you.

What I observe, all too often, is that people are embarrassed or self-conscious to self-promote because of the meaning they ascribe to it that it’s pushy, sleezy, and vulnerable. They fear being criticized or rejected. When in actuality, self-promotion is vital to our growth and success when it’s done appropriately.

Here are 5 steps to slaying that secret:

1. Craft a Personal Philosophy:

It’s important to cultivate self-awareness and deep alignment with who you are – a few words or a phrase that expresses your beliefs, values and what you stand for.

You can do this by asking yourself a series of questions:

• When I’m at my best, what beliefs are driving my thoughts and actions?
• Who are people that exhibit characteristics and qualities that are in alignment with mine?
• What are those qualities?
• What are your favorite quotes? Your favorite words?

Once you’ve answered these questions, circle the most emotionally resonant words…those that stand out to you. Cross out the rest.

Come up with a phrase, sentence or pledge that reflects exactly who you are and how you want to live your life. Share it with a loved one, ask for input, and fine-tune your philosophy from there. Then commit it to memory and recite it daily.

Your greatness will be determined by the principles that guide you.

2. Beware of The Spotlight Effect:

This is a psychological phenomena that social psychologists refer to as the tendency we have to overestimate how much other people notice about us. In other words, we tend to think there is a spotlight on us at all times, highlighting all of our mistakes or flaws, for all the world to see.

We have an innate tendency to forget that although we are at the center of our own world, we are not at the center of everyone else’s.

Although this phenomena is common, remembering that most of it is nothing more than a creation of our own minds can alleviate our concerns around “putting ourselves out there”.

3. Courage Comes From Your Heart, Confidence Is In Your Pocket:

Elevating your visibility takes Courage and Confidence. Courage emanates from your heart. Confidence comes from your consistent practice.

You exhibit courage because something is important to you. There’s a meaning or purpose that propels you to act. This is what you identified in Step #1.

Confidence comes from consistent execution and acting on those things that are important to you.

From a practical perspective, you have a tool for building confidence right in your pocket, your smart phone. We’re living in an extraordinary time where this technology allows you to reach anyone, anywhere. Being strategically visible on Social Media platforms is a way to expand your reach, be seen, be heard and become part of communities that are valuable to you. So why not utilize this free media and publicity?

Take one small, doable step at a time, consistently, and this will activate your courage and diminish the “spotlight effect” as you go.

4. The #1 Regret of the Dying:

“I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.”

As chronicled by Bronnie Ware, Palliative Care Specialist and the Author of the Internationally Bestselling Memoir The Top Five Regrets of the Dying, this was the most common regret of all to realize that dreams had not been honoured. In the face of death, the choices we had made or didn’t make were now the story of our life and our dreams had gone unfulfilled.

If you have a dream of building a thriving and meaningful business that aligns with your passions, values and purpose, then you owe it to yourself to get over your fears of and learn how to do it appropriately and effectively.

I know for me, the thought of ending in this place is far scarier to me than the thought of doing anything else.

5. Know That You Are Worthy!

Quote of the Week:

Take a stand for what you want, what you love, what you believe in and dare forward.

~ Noreen Howard

Xo,

Noreen

Founder & CEO

PLUS: Whenever you’re ready…here are a few ways I can help you with YOUR business:

1. FREE Resource to Curate Your Wealth at curatingwealth.com.

2. I host a FREE Marketing Open Mic with other experts where you will have the opportunity to learn secrets to magnetic marketing, address top of mind marketing challenges and bounce ideas off of other like-minded business owners and experts. It’s casual where you can come when you wish and stay as long as you like. Click here to RSVP and get it on your calendar.

3. Join Self-Discovery to Results.

An opportunity to do deep, personal exploration and work that aligns with life and business goals, expansive stretches, and leadership principles to build your freedom, impact and legacy. Click here for more details.

4. Half-Day VIP

Want to tackle a strategic or marketing project, quickly? Book a Half-Day Session with me and together, we’ll execute in 4 hours…Just reply to this message and tell me a little about your business and what you’d like to work on together, and I’ll get you all the details!

Expectation is premeditated resentment.

I heard this phrase from a transformational leadership program I attended.

When you think about it, it’s so true.

When we do something with an expectation to receive something in return, it inevitably leads to resentment.

Think about all the times you expected something to occur, whether it was gaining a new client, receiving recognition, getting that new job, being promoted to a new position, receiving a gift from your spouse. When you create an expectation you’re setting yourself up for huge disappointment and resentment if things don’t work out exactly as you planned, in that singular way. You can probably name 1000 potential resentments.

Our role as leaders in our life, in our work and in our business is to come to each situation from a neutral perspective…with integrity, genuine care and concern for others, and an understanding in ourselves that we have the capacity to navigate anything in front of us. Recognizing that we have the wherewithal to give unconditionally, to put our work out in the world, achieve what we desire, champion others and be grateful for the giving, growth and learning that will undoubtedly occur from living our lives this way.

Success and fulfillment are our responsibility. Not the responsibility of others to create for us. When we truly own this reality, miracles appear.

Quote of the Week

“Expectation is premeditated resentment.”

With heart and brilliance,

Noreen

Founder & CEO

The Premise

I had a call from my son today who asked for my opinion. He’s a fledgling professional musician, a creator of gorgeous songs – lyrics and melodies – that with his voice send you to a higher place. He’s really good. Although music has been a constant source of passion and pursuit for him in different ways all of his life, I say fledgling professional because it’s only recently that he made a conscious choice to “go for it” with a hunger and commitment to succeed.

In a matter of 9 months, he wrote, recorded, produced, mixed, and released his debut EP (extended play) available on Spotify and Apple Music. He has performed all over Philadelphia and played for people in Morocco, Japan, Israel, and the Czech Republic, and has even earned money doing it.

Although he is a creator, being a musical artist is being a business owner. It’s up to you to put it all together, to make it work. Everything I observe in him tells me he will not be denied.

But of course without the external evidence of success…fame, fortune, freedom… it’s often hard to stay true to your dream. Even if our societal constructs of success are oftentimes not the driving force behind our dreams.

The Response

That’s where my opinion came in. In his call to me, he told me that Spotify has official playlists where they select a collection of the hottest new songs, essential songs of a genre, and more. He asked me if it was a good goal to aim to be one of those playlists. His concern being that he doesn’t have any control over what songs or which artists they select. Should he instead choose something that he has more direct agency over?

And he has a point. In a world of thousands who are trying to do the same thing, what are the chances he succeeds? A goal to fill a 100-person space with pre-sold tickets, for example, feels more achievable. There is a lot that he can do to sell his tickets, but there isn’t much he can do to have a song of his make a playlist – just make the best music he possibly can and hope that a stranger somewhere likes it enough.

In all honesty, what I was hearing was the start of what some would call dimming our lights, or feeling, why me? There was a doubt in his heart – an unspoken but loudly audible “I’m not sure I’m good enough.”

So I strongly (and loudly) reaffirmed to him that aiming for a Spotify playlist is absolutely a worthwhile goal.

But what my heart was really saying to him was, Luca, Keep Your Light Bright and Why Not You?

Now let’s preface my response with the fact that these goals are not mutually exclusive. He can certainly pursue both as goals and they don’t cancel each other out. But the real question here was whether or not it was a worthwhile goal to dream, to keep that dream alive, and to set his sights on something where he couldn’t control the outcome. Although he’s right that he has no control over the outcome, he absolutely has control over his choices, efforts, and how he chooses to show up every day. It’s his journey to take. It’s his love of the process that’s most important because that is what will keep his passion lit to pave his path to who knows what destination.

And pursuing your dreams with guts, gusto and grit is what makes you Undeniable!

It is a well-known fact in neuroscience that our vision and the emotions we invest in our vision have everything to do with our ability to manifest our dreams. Our energy creates a frequency that draws similar energy to us. If it’s in our hearts, it will one day be in our hands. But if we don’t accept it into our hearts it will end up moving to the next person who wants it more.

So if Luca’s miserable, he’ll draw more misery. If he’s joyful, he’ll receive more joy. And if he’s undeniable, if he dreams of why not me?, there’s nothing that can stop him.

And that is true for you too.

The Rub + The Solution

In my work with women entrepreneurs, I often see that the belief in our limitations is far more powerful than the belief in our dreams. If you have a dream, a business you want to build – either starting new or building further – then I invite you to join me for a FREE Masterclass I’m holding next Thursday at 1 pm Eastern where we’ll work to establish our belief and hold it firmly in front of us, so we too can be undeniable.

Undeniable You MasterClass

Roadmap to Revenue in 60 Days

This masterclass will move you from a dream of something more into actionable steps that take you there. My promise is that you will be equipped with the exact steps that can get you into action around your big idea. Caveat: Boldness, Discomfort, and Obsession are Required.

This is for you if:

• You’re hungry to emerge, grow and expand your business
• You’re ready to play full out & want to drive powerful results
• You want to communicate more effectively and land premium clients
• You want to start building your platform strategically
• You want to learn the secret key to growing sustainably

Click Here to Get Full Details.

Quote of the Week:

It is up to each of us to make the choice that we will not be denied. We will take our rightful place, shine beautifully in our space, and rise to our highest potential.

~ Noreen Howard

I’ve lived for the past 23 years in a house with two very strong minded men, my husband and our son (although he went away for 6 years until the pandemic struck).

Of course, if you know me at all you know that I’m very strong minded as well. I’m proud to have found a man in life who can match me, and passed along my strong mindedness through nature and nurture to our wonderful son.

Being strong minded brings with it some wonderful charismatic qualities, like confidence, determination, passion, and independence.

But it also brings some not so wonderful qualities – stubbornness, a tendency to be controlling, self-righteousness – and when these destructive qualities mix with the good qualities, the result is escalation.

Escalation that can get in the way of smooth communication, healthy debate, and a willingness to compromise for the integrity of a good relationship. It’s never what you want to see in any relationship.

What we as a family have learned is to put aside blame and take full responsibility for ourselves and our actions, and through that, set aside those destructive strong minded qualities.

So what periodically was a situation of getting ready for battle to see who would win out has become, over time and with great insight and hard work, a healthy debate of like minds that seek to understand rather than win.

The work I’m talking about is leadership work. Work that gets us in touch with not only what we’re here to create but even moreso with the person we want to be. Who do we get to become as we step out, communicate, and engage with others. As we grow and succeed.

A turning point in all of this was a time when my son was much younger, where in our embattlements and headstrong resistance it was clear that we were going nowhere. Both of us wanting to control the situation. Both of us wanting to win. In this heated moment, I asked him,

“Do you want to be right, or do you want to have a relationship? If we want to have a relationship, we get to listen to each other and see if there’s a more desirable, constructive and peaceful way to reach a consensus.”

This question became a mantra at the very times these situations would arise. And it led to significant leadership by both of us over the years.

There is certainly a way to communicate with harmony, to listen, engage in a healthy debate of differing points of view and reach a conclusion that has each of us wiser and deeply understanding of each other while staying connected with our overriding love, unified and whole.

It’s a beautiful place to be.

If you’d like to explore your leadership communication, I’m putting together a Communication Mastery group so that you can foster uplifting, harmonious and loving relationships while not giving in to strong, controlling individuals.

Just reply to this email and I’ll get you all the details.

Quote of the Week:

Leadership is about getting it right, not being right.

~ Tony Gambill

Xo,

Noreen

Founder & CEO

PLUS: Whenever you’re ready…here are a few ways I can help you with YOUR business:

1. FREE Resource to Curate Your Wealth at curatingwealth.com.

2. I host a FREE Marketing Open Mic with other experts where you will have the opportunity to learn secrets to magnetic marketing, address top of mind marketing challenges and bounce ideas off of other like-minded business owners and experts. It’s casual where you can come when you wish and stay as long as you like. Click here to RSVP and get it on your calendar.

3. Join Self-Discovery to Results.

An opportunity to do deep, personal exploration and work that aligns with life and business goals, expansive stretches, and leadership principles to build your freedom, impact and legacy. Click here for more details.

4. Half-Day VIP

Want to tackle a strategic or marketing project, quickly? Book a Half-Day Session with me and together, we’ll execute in 4 hours…Just reply to this message and tell me a little about your business and what you’d like to work on together, and I’ll get you all the details!

One of my favorite TV experiences is the Oscars. The magic of this evening is getting a glimpse into an elegant, coveted world that brings the best of the best in film to be recognized for their exceptional work. The often touching acceptance speeches give us a window into the real person behind the actor…and the inspiration and meaning that crafts their work gives us a window of hope for our own lives.

As this year’s winner for Best Actress, Michelle Yeoh, said, “For all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibilities. This is proof that dreams — dream big, and dreams do come true. And ladies, don’t let anybody tell you, you are ever past your prime. Never give up.”

Her words were so poignant and resonant. In my own work, I seem to be constantly hearing the voice of the inner critic in almost everyone I speak with, including my clients that question and doubt their belief in themselves and their possibilities. It’s as if their dreams have ceased and their fears have stepped in to take control.

Just this week, one client who has achieved so much, who started from scratch and has built an enviable business, said, “I feel I need to reinvent myself, but don’t know how”. The irony being she’s already reinvented herself twice, so she’s perfectly capable of doing it again. 

The message I heard behind her paralysis of self-doubt, is that her previous dream has faded or shifted and now she gets to ignite a new dream…a new dream backed with a belief in herself and an opportunity to take action in the direction she now desires…

• It’s too late for me
• I’m running out of time
• I should have done it years ago
• I’m too old
• I’m not good enough
• I have responsibilities and people at home to care for
• I want a change but who am I kidding
• I’m afraid of failing

Declaration of Deficiency by Women

My client’s declaration of deficiency by women, even successful women, is not uncommon. And it’s often masked and spoken in different ways with thoughts like:

And the list of negative thoughts, words or excuses goes on and on…

All too often women have played small, silenced their voices and held back their growth. Their goal to build a brilliant business or professional life, with the personal freedom and impact they so desire, seems too far out of reach.

They believe it’s an achievement destined only for a rare few.

In the end, the feeling of “being lost” that so many women have is a detriment to everyone and everything. If the condition persists no one and nothing will benefit from their brilliance.

Worse, it is a deeper detriment to their own souls because they’ll never get to fulfill their purpose, expressing their abundant talent and sharing it with the world.

So what tools can we use to shift gears and get back to our dreams and possibilities?

Awareness

It’s important to understand that our inner critic will always be there. It’s actually a natural mechanism that’s in place to protect us from the unknown and the uncertain…protection from things that can create upheaval, pain and turmoil. 

But it’s also the same force that prevents us from achieving our true desires. Convincing us “there’s no way” and stripping us of our courage.

When we hear our inner critic we perceive it as weakness or a lack of confidence to forge the path to our dreams.

In reality, it’s not a personal weakness, but just a function of our minds that we all experience in varying degrees.

In the end, it comes down to how we cope with our inner critic that separates the “lost” or “stuck” from the “successful”.

Self-Talk 

I personally talk to my inner critic. Hear what it’s saying, recognize it for what it is, and then gently command it to step aside. I tell it, “I’m ready, I’m good enough, and I’ve got this”.

This process is powerful because you’re seeing it for what it is and putting it in its place, while you take back control of your life. It serves to diminish its power over you.

Journaling

Another coping method I use to still my inner critic is to journal daily.

My journaling is a stream of consciousness that allows my inner critic to surface when it’s most vocal. I write out its questions and concerns and then respond just as if we were engaged in a conversation sitting across the table from each other.

I never perceive my inner critic as me. Yes, it’s a constant intruder in my life, but I’m very aware not to let it get in my way.

My inner critic does force me to assess my risks and determine my best next move, aware of all the possible outcomes. But I simply choose not to succumb to its drama and demands to play small. 

While its opinions do provide me some value, allowing me to check in on my desires and make more informed decisions, I never pay the high price it wants of me. Self-doubt is just too damn expensive. The cost to my happiness and success is just too much to bear.

Self-Inquiry

When we’re feeling stuck, or less than or unsure, asking ourselves questions is one of the most powerful tools we can use. It’s something that is also a constant in my life. A wonderful question I ask myself is “What is a dream and goal that really feels true and current?”

In the end, we never achieve fulfillment in our business and life when we don’t honor our true purpose and desires.

Acting to attain our dreams amidst the fear, self-doubt of our inner critic is a courageous move. Being all that we are and want to become is the brilliance we earn by quelling our inner critic.

So Ladies, if you think you’re past your prime, I can guarantee you, You’re Not! You get to live your life your way and become all that is in your heart to be. 

.

Quote of the Week:

Ladies, don’t let anybody tell you, you are ever past your prime. Never give up.

~ Michelle Yeoh

How do you make email offers that compel people to take you up on them?

Imagine that every time you send out an email this summer you’re inviting someone over to your beautiful outdoor garden for tea.

During your tea party, you invite them to cut whatever flowers they want in your garden to take home.

Or…

You’ve prearranged some garden cuttings and arranged them in beautiful bouquets for each person to take when they leave.

Now think about it. When bouquets are on offer it’s very easy for people to admire the bouquets and take one.

On the other hand, for them to take a pair of garden shears and go at your flower beds with reckless abandon is likely a less compelling proposition for various reasons…not knowing what’s off limits, not wanting to impose and feel like a taker, not wanting to emotionally deal with scavenging through your garden dreamscape.

Remember you invited them over for a tea party, not a flower cutting party.

So your emails get to consider the same dynamic. Your communications get to take the initiative and share what you’re up to, what may benefit your audience and invite people to work with you. 

And you get to make email offers in a way that compel people to take you up on your offers.

Because it’s unlikely your readers will take the initiative to determine how you can support them and how they can work with you.

In fact, the reality is people won’t usually take the initiative. They don’t want to impose or ask others to go out of their way for them.

Plus by not providing clear direction, you’re making them do all the work.

And it will go nowhere.

So if in your communications you’re priming your readers with education, value and a transformational experience and yet you’re not making irresistible offers, you’re basically setting up your audience to say “yes” to the next expert at hand that does present an offer and way forward.

In other words, you’re laying the groundwork for someone else to step in and seal the deal.

So present your goods and services and invite your audience to take it further with you.

Your offers can be direct in your communications or a postscript in your signature. The latter is very effective because it provides a prompt for them to take action, when they’re ready, and provides clear, compelling ways to engage.

With heart and brilliance,

Noreen

PS: If you’re looking to activate sales and create more cash flow, our weekly Sales Salon is the place you want to be to hone your skills and meet other amazing women entrepreneurs who are building their empires.

Just reply to this email with Sales Salon in the Subject and I’ll get you all the details:)

PLUS: Whenever you’re ready…here are 3 ways I can support you in creating your extraordinary business and life:

1. FREE Resource to Curate Your Wealth at curatingwealth.com.

2. Join Self-Discovery to Results.

An opportunity to do deep, personal exploration and work that aligns with life and business goals, expansive stretches, and leadership principles to build your freedom, impact and legacy…Just reply to this message and put “Self-Discovery” in the subject line.

3. Half-Day VIP

Want to tackle a strategic or marketing project, quickly? Book a Half-Day Session with me and together, we’ll execute in 4 hours…Just reply to this message and tell me a little about your business and what you’d like to work on together, and I’ll get you all the details!