One of the core tenets of Authentic’s company vision is that we believe when executive marketers are supported by a diverse community of like-minded peers, who share common values, experiences, and resources, they become more impactful leaders. Building this type of community requires a lot of collaboration and support along the way.
Finding those who share in the vision of community, conversation, and connection is so incredibly special and important in living a purpose-driven life. Authentic’s founder & CEO, Jennifer Zick, was recently invited to speak at Purpose Driven Coffee, an event for these like-minded people who seek significance, meaning, and a cause bigger than themselves.
She candidly shared her entrepreneurial journey, the hurdles she faced along the way, and the lessons she’s learned in building community, leadership, and entrepreneurial success.
Here are 5 key nuggets Jennifer shared with the group:
- Authentic® started through conversation, connection, and community (and not a sales pitch!). As someone who had been in leadership roles that can feel lonely, much of Jennifer’s early days at Authentic were centered around building a place where people come together to share their wisdom, knowledge, and experiences with each other. Building strong relationships is key in building trust with your eventual customer base.
- Great things happen when people come together to collaborate and serve their local community. Two Or More is a community impact initiative that brings the Authentic team, clients, partners, and friends together to collectively share our time and talents through volunteer initiatives, fundraising, and grassroots projects that benefit our local and global communities. There is something special about serving shoulder-to-shoulder with others who share your values. This is business networking at its most authentic, because it’s not about business at all.
- Your brand is the promise your business makes to the world. Brand is so much more than a logo, a message, or marketing. Your brand is the TRUST you build or lose with the people that matter. Every person and business has a brand. And your brand will either be shaped with intention, or by default. Strong brands have strong trust – through strong relationships. Even the best, most brilliant marketing can’t fabricate trust. It has very little to do with how much money you spend on marketing. It has very much to do with how much you care about people.
- Don’t lose yourself in the pursuit of entrepreneurship. Know your boundaries and protect what is most important to you – after all, life is about so much more than your career. Jennifer shared some of the boundaries she’s intentionally set along the way to ensure that she’s putting her family and relationships first, like not taking meetings before 9am (Purpose Driven Coffee being a great exception 😉) to spend time with her family before her kids are off to school, and setting a “hard stop” to end the workday shortly after 5pm to be home in time for family dinners.
- Find an underserved community and build a solution. In the early days of building Authentic (which runs on EOS – the Entrepreneurial Operating System®), Jennifer served as both the “Visionary” and “Integrator” in the business. After realizing that Visionaries have many peer groups for connection and collaboration but Integrators had none at that time, she created the LIFT Integrator Community for second-in-command leaders. Launched in May of 2020, the online community has grown to over 1,000 Integrators across the globe.
Jennifer values generosity and said, “I believe when you give without expecting anything in return all the best comes back to you. [Our growth is] all because we served and didn’t focus on talking about marketing.”
She closed with…”Show up as your full self! The world is hungry for authentic connection.”
