Nicole Laino
Hello and welcome to the limitless entrepreneur podcast. I am here with a very special guest today I’m here with Miss Maureen Mangie. And she is a brand growth strategist. She’s behind some of America’s most prestigious and beloved brands brands like I’m talking like L’Oreal Chobani. Dove Lay’s, like we’re not talking little tiny brands, boutique brands. We’re talking very big, massive brands. So she’s she’s actually been been working with them for years. She’s the creator of the big brand Academy, the profit, the product profit lab, and start Ward consulting, which is a consulting firm dedicated to teaching product based entrepreneurs, sales and marketing strategies. So Maureen, I’m so excited to have you here. Please tell the listeners what I left out. Like, I know that the formal bio never really paints the picture of who a person really is. So fill in the blanks for people that I left.

Maureen Mwangi
Oh, thank you so much for having me here. And Nicole. So what did you leave, um, a little girl from Kenya, who came over to the US to pursue a higher education got the opportunities to work with a big brands, and now is using that knowledge to inspire transform small and medium sized entrepreneurs so that they can create the big brands that I’ve had the chance to create and also put wealth on their hands, because we’re all creating businesses to build a legacy.

Nicole Laino
And how old were you when you came to America from Kenya?

Maureen Mwangi
I came to America when I was 21. Okay,

Nicole Laino
so not a little girl, young woman. Yeah. And and, and you came over specifically to work here to study here. One thing

Maureen Mwangi
I came over to study here, I came over to pursue my Master’s in Business Analytics. And then soon after I graduated from my master’s degree, I got the opportunity to get into corporate America.

Nicole Laino
Beautiful. And where did you Where did you land when you came to America? What state

Maureen Mwangi
did you landed in the cold Rochester, New York. Oh, from the tropics, landing in a very cold place. Never experienced snow never experienced freezing temperatures. That was my first home.

Nicole Laino
Rochester is a very cold place. I’m from New York as well. I’m not from upstate New York, though it gets plenty cold where I was from on Long Island and I lived in Brooklyn for years. It gets plenty cold there. But nothing quite like when you go up north to where you were.

Maureen Mwangi
But the good thing about upstate New York is I was really close to Niagara Falls just an hour away. And it’s gorgeous. is so beautiful.

Nicole Laino
It is a wonder of the world. It is so so beautiful there. I haven’t been since I was a kid. But I remember it vividly just being there and just this massive falls, you really you can’t understand it until you’re standing in front of it. How majestic it is. So So let’s talk a little bit. I’m very interested in your journey. I’m very interested in how so you were studying Business Analytics. Yeah. And then you end up working with these massive brands talk about talk about that a little bit. Because I’m very interested, I always want to know where people came from and how they ended up where they are. Because I think so many people who and definitely, the person who’s listening to the show probably had a strange route to where they are now. Or they look at where they want to go. And they’re like, Oh, but I don’t I didn’t start here or I didn’t do this thing. Or you really have to march this path to get to where I want to go. And I’m just all about dispelling that myth, because that’s just not true. So so how did you end up working with the big brands?

Maureen Mwangi
So to be honest, my life experiences literally started at my parents dinner table when I was a very, very young girl. So my parents have a large company in Kenya, where they literally supply building and construction materials. So they’ve always been entrepreneurs. And literally every conversation on the dinner table was how to market how to brand so that they can stand out. And this was actually a really big problem for their company. Because at that point in time when their business was scaling, there was a huge influx of the Chinese products into the Kenyan market. And a lot of those products were considered counterfeit. So if you had something original, and you were competing with somebody who’s selling something that’s counterfeit, it just became hard to compete in that market. And my dad would always be like, how do you brand and market? So every time when I was in school, I really wanted to pursue a career in marketing and branding. And that’s what led me to pursuing a Master’s in Business Analytics, which technically should have been called marketing analytics because I did get an opportunity to really understand how data influences the decision making. runs go through. So I graduated with that landed at Nielsen Company, which is a market research agency. And my role was actually to predict and forecast the growth of any new innovation product that any of the brands wanted to achieve, I spent a few years then I was like, You know what actually really want to shift over to the agencies to the client side. And that’s when I really got the opportunity to see how the big brands do branding, from innovation from Prop brand, strategy, brand positioning, marketing, you name it. And I really got to understand that the reason why small and medium sized entrepreneurs don’t make it to where they really want to be is because they don’t have the information and the knowledge. And I was like, because I have been empowered with amazing experiences and amazing life lessons, I really want to bring that back into the community. So I started started consulting as a side hustle, right, you have your full time job, and you have your side hustle. And it just blew up in ways I could never have imagined. And I just took a leap of faith. And that’s why I’m running it right now.

Nicole Laino
So I’m so interested in in this, like, talk to me a little bit about so you worked with the big brands, you go over to the client side, which it’s always better on the client side. But you go over to the client side. And you What do you notice? What do you what do you think big brands, you said that they have the knowledge? And so what knowledge do they have that medium and small sized entrepreneurs don’t?

Maureen Mwangi
The number one thing I know that the big brands do very, very well is being the voice of the customer, they do everything in their power to truly understand their audience. And it’s understanding their audience, at a much deeper level, small businesses, we only focus on the surface level, if at all, we actually focus on understanding our audience. So that’s the number one thing that big brands do very well. The second thing is really they leverage and harness the data that they have to inform the decisions that they make. When it comes to every single thing in that company. Well as small, medium, and small and mid sized entrepreneurs. we shy away from the numbers, we shy away from looking at what’s working, we really want to focus on being creative. And to some extent we put ourselves at a bottleneck we’re able to grow, because we don’t know what’s working. So we’re always trying very many things. And then eventually, either our businesses collapse, or we just get overwhelmed and shut them down.

Nicole Laino
And now, do you think that and just in your experience and your opinion, but do you think that, that that has something to do with when you’re at a big company, nobody’s really emotionally connected to it. And when you’re at a smaller level, there’s such an emotional connection, that it’s personal, the numbers are personal, and it’s almost, if they’re not good. It’s, it’s like an ego bruise and it hurts the heart a little bit too much. That’s true.

Maureen Mwangi
That’s the number one reason why we too, we attach the business and the personal side to become one thing when in reality, we should separate This is business. And this is personal.

Nicole Laino
Yeah, and I think that that’s just an overall lesson that as as you grow, I think it becomes less personal. Because in order to grow, it has to become less personal, you have to detach more from it and, and not look at it from an emotional standpoint that the the data is there to tell you a story. And it’s there to help guide you in what the next part of the journey is, and and not make you feel bad that you failed or that people don’t like you. Absolutely. So you brought up knowing your knowing that big brands know their customer on a deep and personal level. Can you talk to me about what that means? To them? And to you? What what what if you were if you were advising me right now, and I said that I think I know my ideal client? What questions would you ask me to see if I was getting into that deep and personal level?

Maureen Mwangi
I would definitely ask you questions around your, your customers psychographics? What are their behaviors? What are their attitudes, and what are their aspirations? And the reason I would ask you this is because people buy based on emotion. And we really have to make sure that we understand the emotion that’s governing how they’re currently behaving in their life and how they’re making decisions, because that’s the same thinking that they will use to buy your product or your services. And if you don’t understand that you won’t be able to sell to them in a way that would actually convert.

Nicole Laino
And so getting down into that so Can you give me some examples of what a good profile would look like? For someone? If you were working with somebody? You’d want to get them? To? What level of psychographics? Are we going to? Because some people might think like, oh, they want to have more money. They want to have, you know, better skin. What? I’m, to me that’s not deep enough. And I would guess to you, how would you go deeper? And what would be a better example of of going to like the level that you use recommend?

Maureen Mwangi
A can give you an example. So if you’re selling snacks, and you’re selling snacks to a woman, you have to understand why are they buying that those snacks? Is it because they’re busy juggling the corporate life? So they actually don’t have time? Or is it because they’ve been overweight for a very, very long time. So they’ve been unable to manage their weight. So they’re looking for something that’s healthy, so that they can feel confident in themselves? The second thing is, are they a working mom with kids with multiple businesses, so they just don’t have time to sit and embrace the, the little joys of life, that content that messaging has to come out so that when that mom says, marketing like that, that like, she actually gets me, this is me, indulging in very unhealthy snacks. So I’m gaining weight. And so I’m not liking myself. So I need to buy this healthy alternative. And then also, I’m pouring so much into other people, but I’m also not pouring into myself. So making this purchase of a little tiny convenience pack snack is actually a gift to myself. That’s, that’s how deep you need to go.

Nicole Laino
Right? So like the overarching theme there would be. You deserve it. And it would be that the marketing campaign would be about speaking to that inner struggle that she may not even she knows she has, but she’s not paying attention to it. Because she’s so busy. Yes. And she’s so focused on everybody else, that she’s not even thinking about what she should be eating. And is that fair? And so like speaking at that level, that like that starts to, I don’t really have that specific problem. But that started to pull at me a little bit, because I think every mom can, can relate to that. And a lot of women can relate to it because we are givers. So I I’m totally with you there. And I think that everybody can take that kind of feedback away. Like do you know your person to that level? Yeah. And then where do you take it with a brand than when when you’re working with them? So now they know their person? Then how, how else do they stand out from the ever growing crowd online?

Maureen Mwangi
How they stand out is also now showing them the other side? Now we’ve shown them the inner struggle, let’s now bridge that with the aspiration. What do you what does an ideal life look like? Is it for that man? Is it loving myself much better? Is it having less on my page? Is it getting rid of the things I’m tolerating, show them that aspiration, and then stick to that message for a very long time. Because what happens, we shift our messaging every single now every single time, which makes it impossible to be known for what you stand for. And what you believe in, because branding is why people buy you, and that why is really what helps you stand out in a saturated market.

Nicole Laino
And, and I think that for people who are building a personal brand, that, you know, substitute product for you, what you stand for, what you’re about what your message is, and and knowing your person and how your values reflect your ideal person’s value struggles and aspirations.

Maureen Mwangi
Absolutely. And also being very unapologetic, when it comes to your y and b, when it comes to what you say, right? Because a lot of times as personal brands, we fear being controversial, but if that’s what you believe in, like stand in your power.

Nicole Laino
And that’s the I think the scariest thing for everybody to do is to be unapologetically themselves. And how do you do that on the brand side, so on an on on like a big brand side or on a small brand side? You know, when you’re working with a company? How are you guiding them to be, you know, to lead with their why and to lead with their values and to how are you telling them to stand out?

Maureen Mwangi
It’s, I usually tell them to really look at the convictions what what are their convictions, what do they believe in and why and why is that message deeply rooted inside of them. selves and really put it out there because there is somebody who is willing and ready to embrace that message. For example, one of my deepest convictions is, I don’t believe in overnight success. I don’t believe in running Facebook ads when you start a product based business. And I’ve been putting that message out there, because I do know that product based entrepreneurs can build a multi six figure business organically. But in the market right now, we’re literally being sold to this lie that just run Facebook ads, and you become a millionaire overnight. And so you find new entrepreneurs putting so much money into Facebook ads, doesn’t work for three for three months, and then they shut their business down.

Nicole Laino
Yeah, the Facebook ads thing, it’s, it’s very tough, you really need to be ready for ads, we really need to be, you have to have your message dialed and all of this stuff. Facebook ads are gasoline on a fire, you’ve already lit Exactly. And so if you don’t know your person, if you don’t know what you stand for, if you don’t know why it should matter to people. And the problem you solve, if you don’t have all of those things really dialed in, then you are going to be putting ads out there, and they’ll fall flat and you’ll spend a lot of money, it’s expensive lessons.

Maureen Mwangi
It’s very expensive. And also another one in the product space is people believe that if they have a product, they have a business, no, you have to have a brand first, then you have a business. So what you should spend your time doing is building the brand, sell the product, then you have a business to expend time manufacturing the product when you don’t know who you’re going to sell it to if you have no community, but a lot of people are not talking about this online. So so we spend a lot of money investing into product that we haven’t even tested if it’s actually going to sell.

Nicole Laino
Yeah, it, we get so excited about the thing we want to create, and we get really married to it and super, super excited emotional about it. It’s our baby, this becomes like definitely businesses become babies. And the first thing that we’re thinking of is I want to sell this thing. Some people start with the marketing very few. And, and we all kind of get mad at them because we’re like, influencers. And you know, but they kind of have it right though that they build their audience. They know their people, they give them what they want. And then they’re like, I could sell this to people. And it works. And the rest of us that do it the other way or that are slaving away. We look at that. And we get all angry. Because we feel like they’re not working as hard. And they they just they kind of they got to know their person insanely well. And they’re devoted and now they will buy things from them. Exactly. Yeah, it’s and I think for the service based entrepreneurs, which is what most of the people who are listening to this show are. This is about you know, I always talk we talk about, you hear know, like and trust a lot. Yes. I really focus on the No. And certainly for personal brands. It’s get rid of the Lake Park, because we can get really attached to people liking us. And then that keeps us from being unapologetic. Yes. Because it’s like, well, I want people to really know me. And so he says, I’m gonna say this thing. And then you go oh, wait, but then people might not like that. And I have to know like and trust. But if you if people know you trust will come trust comes with truth. And then and then the like part, the people aligned with you will like you oh yeah, the people who are not? Well not and who cares? And so So I I’m totally jiving with all of this. And I’m curious if we could give everybody like a practical application who wants a brand if you and I’m putting you on the spot, but if you can’t think of one, that’s okay. But if you do, is there a brand that you can think of right now who you think is is really nailing it right now as far as standing for something. And, and putting that out there and can be a big brand, it could be a small brand doesn’t matter. But just an example to give people kind of an idea of what this looks like in reality.

Maureen Mwangi
A brand, a product brand that I love is Kendra Scott. Her jewelry line is phenomenal in the sense that it’s simple. But it does the job like she’s able to tap into that lady who’s looking for simplicity at an affordable price. And really her marketing conveys that. And one thing I love about her brand is that she still shows up. Yeah, she’s always on her social pages. She’s always doing Instagrams, really the face of our brand, despite her big size, and it just brings that connective A tea. That’s simplicity. And I just get so attracted and drawn to, to what she’s created.

Nicole Laino
Yeah, I have she I live in Austin. And that’s an it’s an Austin brand. She started here. So it’s a very, it’s a, it’s a big fits. And like every store here in Austin, everybody carries Kendra. Oh, homegrown. But, but yeah, and I love that, like, I think about like, when I think about messaging, like I think about, like, Nike has certainly taken a stand. And whether you, you might never shop with them again, because you don’t agree with the message. Or you might have a totally different perspective and respect for the brand, because of what they did. And they, they, I mean, they’re Nike, they can afford to lose people. But but they took a stand. And what it did was, I do think that the people who I think there are people who are going to be loyal to that brand, because of the stand that they took, and then some people will go the other way Exactly. But they they they made they took the stand, and that became glue for some people and repellent for others. But how devoted were they really, if they are like, I’m never shopping with you again, because of something that you said it’s. So it’s an extreme example, because they came out hard about it, but that that’s the first one that could come to my mind as far as messaging and being polarizing as your message and standing in a conviction. And they’re like, yep, love me or leave me. Like, it’s one or the other. We’re not there’s there’s no middle of the road here as far as we’re concerned. So I like I love that. And I think that that’s the hardest thing for for the service based entrepreneur to do when the brand is you, you know, to come out and be like, I’m not for this thing I am for this thing, am I gonna and the world is touchy right now. There’s on both sides, you could say something where you feel like you are and it’s very easily it’s very easy to be misunderstood as well. Unless you’re doing video where you have real people can get a sense of your tone, your delivery, when you write things in particular. I feel like it’s it can be tough, but but stepping out there. And if it is a true conviction that you stand in, and it’s something that you feel serves others. It’s not an ego driven. Share. I feel like it belongs. Yes. So like, I mean, I come out against like the the limiting belief thing, like I believe in limiting beliefs, but it’s really the emotions underneath your limiting beliefs. So there’s Are there ways that there’s things that we can stand for and say, you know, what, quit doing your affirmations in the morning, like ad nauseam? If you’re not going to do the emotional work, it’s never going to stick? Yes. So take the earbuds out, stop doing the passive work, you’ve got to do the deeper work before that stuff starts to work for you. And those are the things like that people end up coming to me for and reaching out and being like, you know, I thought that was interesting. That’s different. I hadn’t heard that before, or I haven’t heard that from many people or hadn’t heard it like that. And that’s that I think that’s what we’re talking about, about differentiating yourself happy. Yep. What does this mean for you? And having the courage to stand on that? So and I mean, truthfully, if you have a service based business, you should have a stand on something. Oh, yeah. 100%? Do you believe in mission statements or, or kind of guiding principles? Is that anything that you you advise your people to do? Or what is that? What is the start of it for for your clients?

Maureen Mwangi
I believe in mission statements, and the guiding principles to really anchor your company, and to really give me one North Star, but then don’t accept it’s not like the bread and butter or the everything. It’s just internally to use it of communication as you’re thinking about building a team. And also on the days where you feel like you know what, this entrepreneurship journey is hard? Yeah. Yes.

Nicole Laino
And, and how do you feel like when? How do you pass through? Is there a filter that you pass anything through for figuring out if something is on brand or off brand, for a particular company?

Maureen Mwangi
Or big or small?

Nicole Laino
I mean, for the people that you for like a smaller, medium sized business, figuring out if a direction is right there. Are there any questions that you ask yourself or something that you take people through to figure out like Does this belong or doesn’t just belong?

Maureen Mwangi
The first thing is I always ask my clients, is this in alignment with your company and yourself? Because I totally believe that if it’s not in alignment, we’re not going to be able to create any result because there will always be some form of resistance.

Nicole Laino
And, and how does how do you look at alignment?

Maureen Mwangi
It’s more around the emotional resonance. Does it emotionally resonate with you? Are you confident to talk about it? Can you firmly stand for it? And you? Can you back it up? Yeah. Yeah.

Nicole Laino
I love asking that question. Because the word alignment gets thrown around a lot. And it means different things to different people. So and I loved how you how you went to, like, you’re a data driven person, but you still go and you say like, does it does it? How does it affect you? Emotionally? Like, yes, your gut say alignment is always a good thing.

Maureen Mwangi
Yeah, absolutely. Because at the end of the day, you also want to create something that you love, something that you enjoy doing, because that’s how you’ll be able to fight for it and actually make it scale. Because you don’t want to do something that’s being forced take fear, you feel are an entrepreneur, you’re trying to create something that you enjoy, you’re trying to create something that you can do every single day. So make sure that it’s representative of that.

Nicole Laino
Absolutely, like create the smoothest path possible to where you want to go. Exactly. And that’ll make it easier for you to handle when there are bumps in the road. So this has been this has been amazing. And I I love, I did want to kind of just ask you very quickly, because I think this speaks to your values and speaks to your mission. But can you talk a little bit about your foundation, because I think that where you’re at? I’m, I admire it and the fact that your your vision for your company, and for yourself includes giving back? And I’d love to highlight that. Can you talk a little bit about that?

Maureen Mwangi
Yes. So my foundation is called taggi Foundation. And the foundation primarily focuses on sponsoring boys in Kenya, through their high school education, all the way to college. And the reason I do that is because in our culture, the boys are literally the backbone of the society and the backbone of the family. before very long time, they have been neglected, because it’s all become women in parliament. And so when it comes to marriage, and this was really big, when I was getting married, I saw my husband going through a lot of cultural pressures, to actually have money and be successful, because my extended family would always ask, can he be able to sustain you. And I did not want any boy to go through that. And in our culture, the only way you can make something out of yourself or become something bigger is through education.

Nicole Laino
I think that that’s beautiful. And the fact that like, and you’re highlighting something that we do focus on female empowerment, we do focus because girls were left behind for a long time, there is a lot of money, there’s a lot of focus on that. And the culture still exists where it falls on the boys, you have to be the provider to be, you know, to be the backbone of the family. And are they really equipped to do that in a way that’s going to be sustainable for them? Exactly. So Strengthening Families,

Maureen Mwangi
absolutely. Not family is number one for me.

Nicole Laino
I love that. And I love how you how you lead with that and how you’re really, you know, putting your literally put your money where your mouth is. And I just wanted to highlight that here. Because I think that that’s I think that’s what a lot of our listeners aspire to as well is to be in a position where we can give back and do it in a big way. And you’re doing it in such a profound, beautiful way. And I wanted to put that out there for everybody here. So thank you for sharing that with us. And thank you for being here. Is there anything that I know that you have a Facebook group, which is a great way for people to stay in touch with you and get more information from you? Can you tell them a little bit about that where else they can stay in touch with you and if you have anything else to say to the listeners before we wrap up?

Maureen Mwangi
Okay, awesome. So my Facebook group is a community where I share literally every single knowledge and information that I have through weekly trainings, podcast releases, literally live laser coaching session. So if your product based entrepreneur or an entrepreneur is really looking to understand the world of branding, come on over just go to Facebook type product entrepreneurs who scale you’ll be prompted to answer three questions I will accept you and we can get this conversation going. If you’re not on Facebook, you can find me on my website go to WW dot start word consulting sta RT W ard consulting.com And you can check

Nicole Laino
me up before and we will link all of that up in the show notes for you. So you don’t have to worry if you don’t have a pen. If you’re driving, please don’t get in an accident because you want to write all of that down. We’ve got you covered. Just hop on over to the show notes. And we’ll take you over there through all of the links that we’ve gotten. We’ve got wrapped up there for you. So Maureen, is there anything that you wanted to say to the listeners before we before we head out today? Now we’ve set it all we’ve set it all, we’ve set it all? Well, thank you so much for being here. This was i i loved this conversation. And I’m so grateful to you for being here. And to you, listener who is still with us at the end of this conversation. I’m super, super grateful to you as well. Thank you for being here, right through to the end with us. We hope that you got tremendous value from this conversation. And I just want to remind you, that you are only limited by the limitations that you accept. And when you stop accepting those limitations. That is when you become limitless. So go out there and be limitless and I will see you on the next episode. Bye bye