“I feel so inspired”– notes from Kickstart Your Brand workshop

The very first Kickstart your Brand workshop took place earlier this month. It was a brilliant collaboration between Beehive Green and Social Jooce. Everyone had a blast! It seems only right to share a sneak peek behind the scenes...

The idea for the workshop began six months earlier, after I partnered with social media strategist Sarah Parascu to design a new identity for her brand, Social Jooce. Sarah and I had a great connection from day one.

As we got to know each other, we found there were similar struggles our clients have – how to articulate their brand, define their ideal audience and differentiate themselves from their competitors. All things that are essential for us to understand to deliver our best service!

We know just how important it is to get your brand foundations right. It’s the basis of identity design, brand voice, messaging, marketing… the list goes on. 

Our one-on-one clients have the benefit of our insight to guide them through the brand journey when they work with us, but we realised other businesses might not be so fortunate. It got us thinking about how we could help. 

Helping small business owners boost their brand

It’s possible to spend weeks googling to discover all you need to know, but seriously, who has time for that?

As creatives, both Sarah and I have similar values and love empowering small businesses. It would be so much more helpful for us to share our expertise for all things brand related in one place. And a workshop would enable us to do exactly that!

Of course, we wanted to get the content just right. We set out to combine a brand foundation discovery session with our personal areas of expertise – in my case, brand identity, and social media in Sarah’s. Not only would this give our attendees time to really focus on knowing their brand, it would give them the direction to show their brand in its best light and know-how to use social media to grow it.

So we started planning, considering everything small business owners need to know to boost their business with a brand that works hard for them. We discovered just how much our areas of expertise overlap and complement each other. It all clicked together perfectly. Kickstart Your Brand was the result! 

It was important to us that our workshop aligned with the ethos of our own brands; it had to be a special experience. So we chose the gorgeous Tewin Bury Farm Hotel as a venue, and planned every small detail, from delicious pastries and flowers to beautifully printed brand workbooks that would be an incredibly useful reference tool and keepsake.

Simple tips and advice

Our goal was to provide insights that businesses at different stages of their development could take away and act upon. Most of all, we wanted our masterclass to inspire and build confidence, which called for jargon free content. To make everything really clear, we combined simple tips and straightforward advice with interactive hands-on exercises.

Just thinking differently and looking from a new perspective is useful – even if a complete rebrand isn’t on the agenda! Kickstart Your Brand is spot on for any small business looking to up-level their brand. It was designed to benefit startups and those in their early stages, as well as established brands that have evolved and want to evaluate their creative direction.

“I really enjoyed the Kickstart Your Brand workshop session and have taken lots of ideas back to the team. It was good to have the opportunity to focus purely on Courtyard as a brand without other distractions. Watch this space, as there will be some changes to our website and visuals over the next few months as we refine our message and look!”

— Kate Davies, Centre Director, Courtyard Arts

Learning together

We had the best attendees, a complete mix of businesses. A couple were just starting out and brimming with enthusiasm, planning their business launches. One was a charity planning a rebrand to celebrate its 25th anniversary. And another was interested in how social media could enhance her already thriving brand.

As well as to learn, our intention was for the workshop attendees to meet like-minded people and form business friendships. It was amazing to see the group sharing ideas and creating new connections – networking without any pressure. Learning alongside others is a brilliant way to get inspired by other people’s experiences!  

“Kickstart Your Brand gave me a much better understanding of my next steps and how to maximise the outcome of the brand journey as I prepare to launch my business. I feel so inspired. And more confident!”

— Laura Garwood

Time to focus

My favourite thing at the workshop was seeing how passionate the women who joined us were about their businesses. It was so rewarding to help them understand the potential their brands have; to help them stand out and show their value. And fabulous to see them delve into our mood board exercise and get hands-on, cutting and pasting, using the insight they discovered to start communicating their vision. The group told us it was great having the space to focus purely on their brands with none of the other day-to-day distractions of running a business.

Captured on camera

To celebrate our first collaboration, we offered free headshots on the day and invited talented photographer Stephanie Belton along, who captured the mood perfectly in these images. Didn’t she do a fantastic job? 

I wasn’t surprised to learn our guests were nervous at the thought of having headshots, as people often find it daunting. But professional photography doesn’t need to be scary. Stephanie is a pro and put them totally at ease. They now have a great asset to support their brand – and they’ve earned themselves extra brownie points by adding them to their social profiles already!

“Thank you so much for such an engaging and detailed workshop. It has given me lots to think about! I’m really grateful for the knowledge and insights you shared. So many practical tips and a valuable brand introduction.”

— Sarah Biancardi

When it was time for the workshop to finish, we were all still chatting for a good half hour afterward. Surely that’s a sign of a successful event!

The good news is there are more Kickstart Your Brand workshops planned. After getting feedback from our first workshop guests, the next event will be longer so we can go into even greater depth (and have a light lunch – winning!). We’re also taking the workshop to a gorgeous new creative venue – I can’t wait.

If you’re ready to boost your brand, get in touch find all the info on future workshops!

Photography: Stephanie Belton