Are you desiring to elevate your brand and prove your authority? In today’s episode, I have the honor of introducing you to Becca from the Peanut Butter Creative. We are diving deep into a discussion on building authority online, running a blooming business while being a mother, and the power of investing in your brand development.
On Quianna Marie Weekly, we’re chatting about business growing pains, finding genuine connections, and celebrating wins of all sizes through the lens of a photographer at heart. Sprinkled throughout stories and interviews with past clients, photographers and other business owners this podcast is designed to help you step into your purpose and to truly create a life you’re proud of, a life worth photographing and sharing.
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Review The Show Notes:
How To Get Your Business To Stand Out (2:05)
Attracting The Luxury Market (3:54)
Brand Development, Website Creation, And Marketing (6:06)
Peanut Butter Creative (8:43)
Completing A Brand Overhaul (11:22)
Making The Most Of Your Brand Shoot (14:02)
How To Show Authority During A Pivot (17:37)
Reaching Out To Your Audience (20:40)
Creating Your Content From Market Research (25:11)
What Moms Need To Know About Creating A Blooming Business (28:54)
Running A Business As A Mom And Sister (35:00)
Picking The Business Name (37:05)
Key Tip From Becca (38:14)
Connect with Peanut Butter Creative:
Review the Transcript:
Quianna: If you’re a woman owned business looking to grow, genuinely connect with your audience, and elevate your brand in a competitive market, this episode is for you. Today, I have the honor of introducing peanut butter, creative, and interviewing half of their sister duo team, Becca, we’ll be talking about ways to stand out on social media.
While you feel like no one is listening or engagement is low. Becca shares more about positioning yourself in the luxury market instead of scraping by with budget clients, plus the power of investing in brand development, website design, and marketing to truly make your investment pay off and attract your dream clients.
We even chat more about a recent brand overhaul that Becca and Jenna experienced for their own business, and how important investing in a local photographer helps amplify your visions. Join us to chat all about marketing, social media, building authority online, running the business with your sister, and raising young families while chasing big, big goals.
This episode could literally be broken up into three more episodes. It’s packed with education, motivation, and inspiration. I’m grateful to get this party started. Please welcome one half of peanut butter creative Becca Collinson. Welcome to Kiana Marie weekly, a podcast for creatives who love to celebrate wins big or small by dancing in the kitchen.
Photographers who are excited to serve their clients and friends who are ready to chase really, really big dreams. You can find all of the resources mentioned in this episode at kianamarie. com slash podcast. Join me as I share weekly motivation, chat about growing pains, finding genuine connections, and celebrating your wins today.
through the lens of a photographer at heart. Come join me for a dance party. Ready? Let’s go.
Hey, hey, hey, welcome to the party, Becca. I’m so grateful you can be here today.
Becca: Thank you so much. Me too. I’m so glad to be here. Thank you for having me.
Quianna: Of course. Well, let’s dive into these questions. I have so many questions for you. So starting with so many apps, social media platforms, and ads in our faces, literally all day.
How do we get our businesses to stand out?
Becca: Well, I think really what we’re talking about when we want to stand out is we want to reach the people who we love to serve and who we feel we serve best. So it’s not really about standing out in the sense that you need to be different and louder than everybody else.
It’s that you need to be able to connect with your ideal client and your audience that you love to serve. So how can you reach them? We do that in our business. by doing various market research throughout the year, finding out the wording that our clients are using, um, so that we can incorporate that into our messaging.
And this is what we recommend for our clients to do as well, but really communicating with your audience, talking to them, figuring out how they are communicating that. Like I said, the type, the wording that they’re using, that you can use in your messaging, as well. What kind of vibe they are, what kind of styles they like, really get to know them.
So you can put yourself in their shoes and communicate with them in a way that they are going to be then attracted to your brand.
Quianna: Amazing. Oh my gosh. I love that. Cause I’m such a visual person and I’m already thinking. connecting with the loudest, most obnoxious person in the room. We’re making friends with the girl by the snack table, right?
Becca: It’s such an audacious goal to stand out and differentiate and be the one that everybody notices. And I think we can take a step back from that and realize we don’t have to reach everybody. We don’t have to be the most noticed. We have to connect. with the people that we love to serve who will love us right back.
Quianna: Amazing. Oh my gosh. Well, one thing that both you and your sister Jenna are incredible at are truly reaching those luxury clients. And so I would love if we can kind of unpacked, like unpack this idea. What does it really mean to market to a luxury market versus a budget friendly or being the most affordable option?
Becca: Sure. Well, both are great tracks for your business, you know, and maybe you choose to go one route at the beginning of your business and then you want to elevate and go in a different direction. A lot of people do decide to reach the luxury market or, um, start to market themselves that way because they want to take on fewer projects.
and charge more, spend more time per project, um, spend more time per client. And that’s not always doable, right? When you start your business, a lot of times when we start a business, we’re in more of the quantity phase. How many projects can I get done? How many clients can I work with just to get your name out there to get experience?
And that’s wonderful. Um, but a lot of us reach a point in our businesses where we’re ready to you. Not scale back in any sense other than how many people we work with so that we can spend more time per person and per project. So that’s what we’re talking about when reaching a luxury market. Somebody who wants to pay more because you’re offering more value, more time with them, more expertise.
Quianna: Yes, and it’s all about those results, right? It’s, it’s collaborating with a business owner that is going to help you reach the finish line faster. They’re going to help you feel seen and heard and mostly understood, right? So like, I love that we were talking about your brand messaging in the beginning here, like, it’s not about being the loudest, it’s about Really whispering to the right person.
Becca: Totally. Exactly. And we also really focus on, you know, we work with smart, ambitious women who want an ROI on their investment. They want to see the return. Um, and that’s what a lot of their clients want as well. They want to see that when they invest with you, when people invest with us, that they get something back from that.
So being able to communicate that, you know, you put this time in with me, this energy, this. financial investment. You’re going to get that back multiplied.
Quianna: I love that so much. Well, one thing says I’ve been totally lurking and searching all of the details with your website, with the peanut butter creative.
And I love that you to really create this trifecta. I feel like this is like just, you know, incredible that you offer brand development, website creation and marketing. And I would love for us to chat more about why it’s so important to invest in all three, maybe not all at once, but to truly, truly make an investment for your business with you.
Becca: Yeah. Well, when you are investing in multiple facets of your brand, your doing a brand strategy that then guides your logo and website design, um, your copy, all of those pieces, you’re able to reach a high level of consistency and cohesiveness that then your audience can feel and see.
That can really also help your brand elevate and get you into that luxury tier because luxury level clients, people who are willing to spend more for any particular product or service, they’re looking for you to look and sound professional. That takes an elevated aesthetic that, like I said, is cohesive and consistent. And so when you’re working on all of those pieces at one time, you’re really able to achieve that.
Quianna: I love that. And like in your advice too, like in your best advice, what is something that we can create that feels more luxury?
That’s not just fonts and colors. Like what, what really elevates you as a business or as a human? How does that work? Well,
Becca: it’s, Goes back to that connection piece, knowing what your audience wants, knowing what problems that they have, what pain points that they have and how, not only that you can serve them, but how, how do you solve those problems, communicating that and giving them a sense that you know exactly how to fix whatever issue they have, that you will be there to support them, that you are a good listener, that they have that support and camaraderie in you, that helps you elevate in a sense that people will trust you and feel like you are their person, you’re their go to, um, and that you can help them get to wherever they want to go.
Quianna: Yes. Yes. And this is so important. Just Like as a human in society, right? Like you want totally, yeah, like you want the people that are meeting you at events or while you’re, while you’re actually offering your services, whether that as a photographer or realtor, small business owner, moderately, people want to be able to see you in real life.
And then. Find that in, in your online presence. And I just think that’s incredible. Totally. Yes. Oh my gosh. Well, tell me more about peanut butter creative. I want to learn like, how did your business come to life? Cause I told you I was creeping and I was looking at yourself and your, your images and all of your messaging really looks elevated and it looks fancy and just really beautiful.
But also it has this element and I think this is why I’m excited to chat more about this with the development of your business with your sister is like, yeah, how did it come to be? Like who started first? Like tell me more about it. Sure.
Becca: So we started peanut butter creative in 2016. Um, we just celebrated our eighth anniversary in January.
Um, but we started just as a side hustle. We were both working in corporate marketing and branding. We went to school for business, both Jenna and I. And we have always wanted to start something together since we were little, we’ve always, you know, done babysitting services and random things together. So we always wanted to start something together.
And we just really were seeing a need amongst just friends of ours who needed logos, needed websites. We’re trying to start something themselves as well. And we were like, Hey, you know, we can really help with this. And from a more strategic standpoint, because we have this corporate marketing and branding background, So we wanted to bring that to small business owners and particularly women.
You know, we’re total girls, girls. We love a girl’s night. Helping women get to the next place in their business. We love helping moms. We’re both moms ourselves. Over the years, our business has really grown to be a support system for other moms and women who are trying to grow businesses and. We just went through a rebrand ourselves, which has been super exciting.
Our clients were definitely asking more of us in that they wanted more support from us. They wanted additional ongoing marketing support. So we added those packages to our services and just rebranded to let people know that we are a complete one stop shop. We can help you from the very beginning of figuring out a strategy for your brand.
Through the whole brand strategy, logo design, website design, copywriting, and then ongoing marketing support. So that’s been really fun for us. We have a team of moms who work for us. Now we have three women who’ve been with us for, um, one for two years and the other two for a year and they are incredible.
So it’s just so fun to be working with people who have become our friends, clients who become our friends and just supporting other women.
Quianna: I love that so much. You’re not only creating these incredible experiences for your clients, but you’re also building this beautiful community. That’s huge. Oh my gosh, Becca.
I love that so much. Well, thank you. Yeah. So I would love to kind of share more. I would love to kind of pick your brain on your rebrand and your future. photoshoot. So I know I can’t wait to hear about this. I mean, I want to know everything. How you sourced your photographer. I want to know how you pick out outfits like, because I do love how I know we haven’t met in person, but I love how I can already see.
Your personality is coming out between you and Jenna, right? You’re a little bit different, but still cohesive. Like tell us how that kind of played out.
Becca: Yeah. Um, so we really wanted to, with our rebrand, we wanted to have photos that really portrayed this kind of elevated luxury, kind of a sultry boss vibe.
We looked for photographers for months. Um, we love the light and airy photos. We’ve done many photo shoots like that, but we wanted something a little bit different to speak to this person. audience that wants, like I said, is asking for a little bit more of us. So we wanted to go a little bit moodier. We wanted to hit that luxury vibe and we wanted to be an authority in our photos.
So we found Mackenzie with blue flame studio. She did our photos for us. We chose her because she had a very, diverse portfolio. So we knew that we could come to her and tell her, you know, this is what we’re thinking. And she’d be totally game for that. She didn’t have, you know, a super specific style that she used for every photo shoot.
And that’s what we were looking for. Somebody who would really kind of adapt to what we wanted to do and what we wanted to portray in our brand photos. We wanted to go all white and black. White and black backdrops, white and black outfits. We switched those, um, just to make it very clean, um, kind of modern, elevated.
And yeah, we did a lot of cool, kind of, um, not smiling, serious photos, but then some fun ones too, and some sisterly ones as well. Um, so yeah, that was just, um, It’s so much fun. We’re so happy with how they turned out. We did some video with McKenzie as well, and that’s been very valuable for us to use.
We’ve been doing a ton of that throughout our website and our social media. So yeah, so fun.
Quianna: It looks incredible. And I love, like I said, I love kind of deep diving and researching new brands and I’m always learning to write. I feel like even though as a photographer and business owner, like I love this.
Like this is what I’ve been doing for years, but it’s so fun learning. And yeah, so I would love to know from a web design background and marketing background and all of your stuff with your websites, what are some images that you like were on your shot list that you thought, okay, we have to get these like, yes, we want to look beautiful.
We want to look like an authority. But what are some maybe surprising images that someone who may not be in this business, um, like what could we learn from that we need to shoot for our own brand shoots? Sure.
Becca: I think some that we’ve, that we find ourselves using over and over again are ones that we can use as background photos that we just, when we were taking photos, you know, we weren’t really thinking like, Oh, this will be a great background on our website.
But the ones that we use most often are ones where we can zoom in and see See really different cool parts of the photo that then we can use that photo in another way and nobody would even know it’s the same photo. Um, so some ha we used kind of, some of them we put, we printed out different projects of ours, hung them on the backdrop.
And then for different backgrounds we’ve zoomed in on different pieces of that. We’ve zoomed in on parts of, like, we did some with us walking. Jenna and I are both blurred, but you can see the background and you can see us. So we’ve zoomed in like on our heels that we were wearing like our, our high heels that we had on that day.
Um, and like I said, we can use those photos in so many different ways. And you won’t even you can’t tell that it’s the same photo. So it’s given us so much variety. And I think, um, just thinking about that, and that yeah. You know, your photos, you can use them in so many different ways. So how, how can you take photos that can be that versatile?
Quianna: Yes. These, these are all so helpful because I feel like sometimes when you’re not familiar with this industry and you think, I just need a quick headshot. I just need, One photo to update my email signature or to update my profile photos. And you and I both know, wait, no, you actually need like 24 more. A whole gallery full of options and something that feels really cohesive is something that you can post.
Individually for each of you as well as together. Yeah, and a
Becca: variety of, you know, sitting and standing and walking and looking at the camera and looking down and looking out the window. And, you know, we have somewhere we’re on our computer where we’re writing in a journal, where we’re sitting on the floor, um, where we’re like holding hands and very sisterly so that we can use those to talk about our bond.
But then others where we’re, you know, Staring blankly at the camera and, or, you know, to say like, we have all the answers to what you need and we’re serious about it. So just that variety. And like I said, McKenzie really helped us pull that whole vision together in that shoot.
Quianna: Amazing. Oh my gosh. I would love to see that whole gallery.
Like I’m, I don’t need to like, but I was just like, I just love it. I’m just always so interested. Oh my gosh. Well, one thing that really resonated with me was when you mentioned creating these images to prove your authority. Right. And I, I feel like, I feel like a lot of us are experiencing pivots in all businesses, like literally all around, whether we’re growing and You know, we’re growing through some growing pains, expanding for abundance, all these really good things that do feel kind of painful sometimes.
Um, but if you could create a quick action list for anyone experiencing this pivot in their business, or maybe stepping into coaching or creating new offer, what would that be? Where, where should we begin with elevating our online presence? So like this is something that many of us struggle with where we know we know what we’re doing.
We may just be kind of taking a sidestep or trying something new, but to our audiences may feel like, Whoa, this came out of thin air, right? Or Whoa, like I didn’t see this coming. So what advice would you give to someone that is experiencing this pivot, but needs to show up in that authority?
Becca: Yeah. I think.
The biggest piece of advice that we give our clients that are going through these different changes is to stay in communication with your audience. So that may look like doing the market research. Like I talked about a little bit ago. Um, we do that, like I said, several times a year where we’re reaching out to people who we consider to be our ideal client.
And we’re really getting on the phone with them and talking to them very directly about You know, what are you looking for from us? What are you looking for? If you, maybe they hired a different designer. Why did you choose that designer? What did they have that you felt like we didn’t, it’s not, they won’t hurt our feelings at all.
Like this is a, a growing piece of our business that we, we want the real raw, honest answers. So staying in contact and communication with your audience, keeping them up to date on what you’re doing, giving some behind the scenes, showing them, you know, like things are changing for me. I’m considering doing this or I am doing this and I can’t wait for you to meet me there.
Feeling like you don’t have to do everything in secrecy and include your audience in that journey and will only help them feel more connected to you, which then builds that trust factor and will help them, you
Quianna: know, get right on board with you. Yes, I love that. And. I will always pick up behind the scenes.
Anytime I hear behind the scenes, my heart just like starts beating. I get so excited because it’s true. We need to take our audience. Maybe it’s just our mom and our dog, right? Like if they’re just starting and as it continues to grow and bring them along this journey, right? I feel like And this is why I’m also such an advocate for creating a living brand.
So that way, as you continue to share your new offers, as you can continue to grow and maybe different directions, people are going to fall in love with you and just want to see you succeed. So it doesn’t matter. Yeah, it doesn’t matter what you’re actually selling and maybe they have no interest in purchasing from you at this time, but everybody knows somebody that needs you, right?
So, so keeping them connected. I love how you mentioned sharing the journey and not doing this in the dark, like not, you know, Making this a big fat secret, I think, and it also will naturally generate a ton of hype for what’s coming. Yes, absolutely.
Becca: And yeah, like you were saying, everybody knows somebody, the amount of referrals that we get from people just because they’re so invested in our journey that they want to invite people along as well.
Like that has, been amazing for us. So yeah, definitely keeping the line of communication open. I think some things are fun to kind of keep as surprises along the way, but overall communicating with your audience. They are the people who are going to either be buying from you, telling other people about you, um, celebrating you commenting on your posts.
So valuing them enough to share with them and let them in on, you know, what you’re doing. It’s so key. In your growth. Yes.
Quianna: And one thing you mentioned too is actually like maybe pulling your audience or kind of asking them questions along the way. So can you give us some advice for maybe we are stepping into this new arena or we’re kind of expanding our reach with these ideal clients.
What are some things that we can like, or maybe tools that we can reach out and ask? Are we just calling people up? Are we sending them messages? Like what does that look like for your clients? Yeah, so we do it in a couple
Becca: ways. One thing that I really like to do is we, Jenna and I will post on our Instagram about, um, asking for some help.
We often do this in exchange for a Starbucks gift card so that we’re kind of chatting with them over coffee and it makes it a little more informal and Friendly, but we will outline some specific criteria in the post. So for us, a lot of times that sounds like, you know, you’re hoping to rebrand in the next year or you just recently rebranded, um, you’re looking to grow into the next level.
You have high revenue goals. You’re, you know, you’re looking to double your revenue, something like that, that we have specific criteria of who we want to talk to. Um, we’ll have people comment on the post and then we will personally DM them and ask them if they would get on the phone and chat with us. We do that.
Um, we ask them kind of those questions that I was mentioning earlier, you know, what’s causing them to want to do this and just really listen to what they’re saying, write down specific wording that they use specific, you know, vocabulary so that we can weave those words into our messages. And that way, Connect with people like the person we’re talking to because we consider them to be an ideal client.
We want to connect with more people like that person using the types of wordings that using the type of wording that they’re using Really listening to what they’re asking for what they don’t feel like they need Um and kind of trying to read between the lines and figuring out okay Well, what problem are they really trying to solve here?
You know, do they really want to double their You Revenue or, you know, or do they really want to grow a team or do they want to increase their revenue or, you know, so trying to read between the lines, understand what their problems are, what symptoms they’re experiencing so that we can create content and messaging around those, um, that then they realize, Hey, these, these people are speaking to me.
So. We often do it that way. A lot of times, too, we’ll just be in on our stories and doing polls or questions. And then if people, you know, write in with something, we’ll DM them and ask them more and try to get a little bit more information. So there’s a few ways you can do that. But that market research piece where you are really connecting with your audience, um, and being a really good listener, um, Um, again, helps them feel, you know, included and supported too.
Quianna: Yes. These are all such helpful reminders and great lessons because I feel like sometimes as business owners, we can get tunnel vision and we sometimes think, and I’m only speaking for myself. So if you’re listening, you may be able to relate to this. It’s all of us. But I literally am like, no, I’m the expert.
I know what you need. So just trust me. Okay.
Becca: Like literally, I think you’re, you’re probably right. Most of the time, but communicating. you know, the end result is not necessarily how your ideal client sees the problem. They may only be understanding and seeing their symptoms. So being able to communicate, you know, I hear that you’re, you have these symptoms and this is how I solve it.
And speaking from a problem aware perspective helps them see, Oh, they do know what they do understand what I need. This is the solution for me. But a lot of times, yeah, we, we talk so much about. the solution. And here I am. Here are my packages. What I can do for you. But really, they’re only thinking about the problems that they’re having, the symptoms that they’re experiencing.
And the connection between those two things is not there yet. So that’s the point of market research. And the point of this kind of content that you develop around the research is to bridge that gap, to show people, you know, that you can do it. We understand your problems and this is our solution for them.
Quianna: Oh my gosh. I love this so much because that’s exactly the problem is typically our ideal clients. Don’t even realize that they have that problem. It’s like, they may be struggling and they may not be hitting their income goals or, you know, just like their business goals in general. And if we’re over here just waving our green flag, like, yeah, we’re amazing.
This is why you need us. But they’re, they’re not even conceptualizing that we have to kind of Create that roadmap brick by brick so you can hold their hand through the process. Exactly. Yes. I love that. So once you get that market research and once you are confident, okay, I found these keywords, let’s call them these like, kind of like, you know, hot takes or these kind of buzzwords in the industry, uh, pain points, or even things that they’re looking for.
How are you and Jenna rolling this out in your content? Sure. So we’re
Becca: taking Things that they say and turning them into kind of question based posts where then we can, we ask the question, you know, is business slow for you right now? And then give some solutions. And that is directly something that people are telling us all the time.
Business is slow. I’m not getting enough leads. I’m not converting my leads. So we will use those questions that they’re saying, or those statements that they’re saying. and lead them to, okay, well, this is how we can solve that problem for you. So those pain points, those frustrations that they’re experiencing, we use those as kind of topics of different posts.
And like I said, give some options, some solutions that don’t just include branding other things too, that can help them, um, solve their problems. A lot of times, obviously from our perspective, you know, Elevating their brand in some way is part of the solution. So we will communicate that as well. And that’s how we specifically can help, but we will also give other advice to, um, within those posts, but looking for those problems that they have kind of, like I said, reading between the lines, seeing what their symptoms are, seeing how you can solve them.
And then using those problems as content to explain how you solve the problems is That’s how we address that.
Quianna: Amazing. I love that. And I feel like these are very actionable for any business, right? So whether it’s building out your own web design business or marketing, anything like that, and it’s a real gentle invitation.
It’s I love that you address that in a question, right? You’re like, Hey, is this you too? Like are you experiencing this? And it really does just open the conversation to be, you know, to be that resource for more information. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah,
Becca: exactly. And you know, we see a lot of content about, you know, um, five different things to try or, you know, for photographers, like five different poses or five different things to do to avoid a tantrum or something.
But really, I think the, what, people are looking for are not want their kids to be photos? Well, it’s becaus that one perfect family p it like it is and say, he your perfect family photo five tips, but call out t they’re having first or t
Quianna: I love that so much and I feel like I’m, I’m personally kind of making this shift into more desire. I’m, I’m personally looking for more, more clients that are aware of their problems. They’re aware of their struggles and they know they need help. I know they need coaching or they need photos, but they’re, they’re in that desire meant like they, they want it.
They’re craving it. They’re willing to invest. So I love that there’s. multiple different marketing strategies and they all work in different, different opportunities. I love that.
Becca: Just something to experiment with, with your own brand and try different things and see what your audience responds to.
Marketing is just always an experiment.
Quianna: Yes. Oh my gosh. 1000%. Well, I would love to kind of shift the conversation. I feel like you’ve been sharing so much about marketing and stuff. This is so helpful. And I just love that you and Jenna are both mamas. You both have beautiful children and you’re running them well.
Of course. And you’re running this thriving business and the fact that you’re even employing even more incredible mamas on your team. And I just would love to know Becca, what do you wish more moms knew today about turning their side hustle to make some extra cash to create their own blooming business?
Oh, that’s
Becca: such a great question. Um, honestly, I want moms to know that it’s something that they absolutely can do and something that can set their family up for so much success in a variety of ways. You know, you get to, you can be with your kids more, you can have a flexible schedule, you can support your family financially, you can show your kids that you’re doing something that you love and you’re building something that you love.
You love. Um, but another piece of it is that it is difficult and I think a lot of us, um, you know, go into, I’m just gonna grow my own business because that’s going to be easier than going into an office every day. And it is not easier at all. It’s a different kind of hard, but one that I would choose over and over again because of those other benefits.
So. I think a lot of businesses fail because that expectation isn’t there that, you know, they decide to do this because it will be, you know, an easier route for one reason or another, but it is never an easier choice. And if we set that expectation from the beginning, that this is going to be very challenging.
You’re going to be working at all hours of the day. It’s a 24 seven type of thing. Yeah. But in exchange, you get so much flexibility. So much time with your kids. I get to volunteer in my kindergartners classroom all the time. I’m with my daughter most days of the week. She goes to preschool and I can work, but other days of the week I have her and we can go do fun things.
I’m working at night. I’m working on the weekends, but I get that time with my kids and I get, you know, all of those benefits, but like I said, going into it, it is not easier. It’s a different kind of hard, but, um, set that expectation and you can do it.
Quianna: Oh my gosh. I love your transparency on that. Cause I feel like sometimes we can be in this small business bubble where we’re like, You can do it.
You can do it. You can do it. Right? Like, just go for it. Like, turn in those two weeks notice. Let’s go. Right? Like, girl power. Let’s go, girl. Shania Twain status. And I think, yeah. And I think sometimes we need to have that reminder, like, as your big sister, as your friend, and as your coach, like, okay, you’re going to have to put some skin in the game.
Like, this is going to take a commitment. And, and I even come from a firm believer too. I don’t know if you feel this in the kind of coaching climate, right? Everybody is teaching soft CEO. Everybody is teaching, Oh, don’t work so hard, like outsource, outsource, outsource. And I totally believe in that. I feel like there.
Absolutely. I do too. You really can get there, but you’re also, but I just think it’s so funny and this can be totally polarizing, but I feel like there. You’re, they’re sharing that advice from a business that has been going for 10, 15 years and they put in that time, right? Absolutely. Totally.
Becca: But also even, I feel like even when you do get to that level, your brain still never shuts off.
You’re always thinking about your business. You, at that point, a lot of times you have a team that you’re, you know, feeling indebted to, that you have to make sure you’re taking care of. So I don’t think that you ever get to a level where it’s just completely hands off. You’re not thinking about it anymore.
You can do whatever you want all day and your business just works for you. I think that is totally misleading. That is making a lot of women and moms want to become entre, entrepreneurs and grow their own businesses. which I love, but that’s, it’s from a misleading standpoint. It’s, you’re never going to get to a point where that everything just runs on its own and it’s so easy.
Like that is such a lie and it hurts my heart to think that people get into this type of work having that expectation because it just, it’s never, it’s never like that. Things will get easier in one way, but they may be more challenging in another way where then you’re dealing with team. Team dynamics and you know, that sort of stuff.
So it’s, there’s just always something. And even if there’s nothing, even if you’re, you know, you’ve got everything so perfect, you still are thinking about it 24 7. It’s always on your mind. You’re always thinking about new things you can do new products. It’s exciting, you know, it’s something. People who get, who become entrepreneurs do it because they are passionate about the community that they’re serving.
They love what they’re offering. They are, they’re just passionate about those things. And when you’re so passionate about something, you don’t stop thinking about it. You’re always thinking about how can I do this better? How can I serve this need? How can I help these people? It’s a 24 hour thing all the time.
I personally love it. I’m obsessed with it, but it’s not for everybody. And that’s totally fine. But going in with the expectation that one day it’s just going to be, you know, hands off and just money in your bank account. It’s just not realistic.
Quianna: Nope. Nope. Oh, I love this conversation so much. And I feel like this is something Women, especially business owners and creatives, need to hear this.
Like, we support you and we love you and this is just another beautiful reminder that like, you have to do this because you feel this stirring in your heart. You are literally answering a calling. And if you’re doing this for money, like, just stop. Like, like, literally, like, I know that sounds so bad because we go into business because that hobby started making us some extra cash.
Like, it kind of already kind of snowballs into this opportunity. But I love your transparency and your authenticity about sharing. Like this is a hard work, so you have to love it. You have to be passionate about it because the money will come. Like I always say, money always follows passion.
Becca: Like it’s there for the taking, but it’s
Quianna: there, but you have to have that grit and that discipline and that eagerness to show up and help, like literally have a serving heart to help others.
Otherwise, it’s just going to be a headache and it’s just going to be so time consuming. Yeah.
Becca: And you’re going to wish you just were back at a nine to five job that you could actually leave at the end of the day and not think about it again.
Quianna: Yes. Just check out. Yes. Yeah. Oh my gosh. Well, tell me more too.
I would love to know just a little bit more about you and Jenna and your dynamics with like running like the mama world. Do you guys work together? Do you have parents that help out with babysitting? How does that work with your dynamic?
Becca: Yeah, no. So we have always been the nap time, bedtime warriors.
We always work when our kids are sleeping. Since our kids have been pretty little, Jenna has one daughter and I have two. I have a five year old and a three year old and her daughter’s almost two. But since they were about 18 months, we put them in just a very simple kind of preschool daycare situation.
So we have a day or two per week that we can totally be working those days. We have done it where we are working the same days and we work together. We’ve done it where right now we’re working opposite days. Our kids are in preschool opposite days. They all, everything kind of works as long as we just have some time like that.
But really we work during the nap times and at night, and those are just our, our work times and during the day we’re moms. So,
Quianna: I love that and I love that you’re prioritizing that like you said, like you have to choose your heart. So, especially while your babies are so little, you both can be very present moms and sometimes that’s all it takes.
Like, I almost kind of want to revisit, like, I don’t want to scare anybody off with what we just shared about like, this takes hard work and it’s a commitment. But like, you know, like you, like you say, it’s like you have to choose your heart. And if that’s a priority right now, you That’s beautiful. Like that’s a beautiful gift for your family.
Becca: Yeah, absolutely. And yeah, if that’s, if that is what you really want to do is spend that time with your kids, then, then put a hundred percent into your business when you have the time for that and be an entrepreneur that can do that. Um, because that reward of being able to be with your kids and being so flexible and, you know, taking them to the library and the park and the museum and to school drop off and pick up every day, you know, it is something I will never, ever regret the chance.
That I have to do that.
Quianna: Oh, amazing. Oh my gosh. Well, I have two more questions for you. I’m so excited. Uh, can you tell me, how did peanut butter, like, creative come to life? Like, how did you pick your name? I’m just curious.
Becca: Yeah, no, Jenna and I, it’s just kind of a joke in our family about how much both Jenna and I love peanut butter.
So when we decided we were going to start this business and, um, help people with marketing and branding, We were just thinking, you know, we need something fun for our name. And so we were like, okay, well, what did we both love? And really the first thing that we both thought of was, well, peanut butter, of course.
So that’s just, it just stuck. And then we, you know, have all these like jokes about that are like so cheesy, but yeah, peanut butter creative for eight years. And people are, are always like. You know, ask us that question all the time and now we’re like, you know, it’s also a talking point now that people come to us and ask us about it.
Um, they remember our name. It’s something that, you know, it’s not forgettable. It’s so that’s another plus for it as
Quianna: well. Well, do you prefer chunky peanut butter or smooth? I’m just curious. Oh, I’m,
Becca: I’m smooth all the way.
Quianna: Yes. Yes. Yes. I love that. Oh my gosh. Well, Becca, one question I love to ask every guest, um, I want to know about your key tip.
So do you have a key tip that you’d like to share with entrepreneurs or dreamers, anything you wish you knew sooner?
Becca: I really think that you can build whatever business that you want to build. You can do, you know, people work all kinds of different hours. You don’t have to have a specific type of business that, you know, you’re on from this day.
This time to this time, if you wanna take Fridays off, if you want to work from coffee shops, if you wanna work from home, that’s something about being an entrepreneur that I love. And that was a little bit intimidating to me in the beginning. Coming from a very corporate position, I really felt like, you know, I needed to be available all day.
I needed to. Beyond Monday to Friday, but once I had kids and really had the chance to not even the chance was kind of forced to figure out a different schedule. Um, I started working in the evenings. I started working on weekends and I felt really guilty about that at first because I felt like, um, this was supposed to be my rest time, but reframing that in thinking that.
I can build whatever kind of business that I want. Work whenever I want. Do whatever I want and have my rest time be maybe an hour during the middle of the day after when my kids are napping. Like I can take a little bit of time then I can take time, you know, at different times during the day when other people are working and that I don’t have to build a business that looks like a corporate business.
I can build a business that looks however I needed to fit my life. Um, that was. It was a huge kind of aha moment for me and something that changed the way that I work and mostly changed the way how that I felt about my work. I stopped feeling guilty and that I had to be on at certain times and that I had to do this and had to do that.
It just felt like something that supported my life rather than ran my whole life.
Quianna: Oh, that’s so good. I’m so happy that you shared that because it’s true. Like I relate to that so much because I’m totally not a like block schedule person. Like I’m a very reactive person. So I’m, I’m busy and I stay really productive, but My days are always different.
And so I actually felt for years, like I was failing as an entrepreneur. I wasn’t scaling fast enough because I didn’t have that corporate, almost like school schedule, you know? Yeah. So I love that. You’re basically giving us a green flag and a permission slip to say, wait a second, you’re literally creating this business for me.
for your family, you’re actually doing this, right? Like you’re letting your, your life run your business instead of your business run your life. And I, I love that. I’m so, so on board. Good, good. Yes. Oh my gosh. Well, I love this conversation. I love how many golden nuggets and just words of wisdom that you shared today.
And I just would love to know Becca, how can we connect and learn more from you? Oh,
Becca: thank you so much. So much I’ve loved it as well. We are @peanutbuttercreative on Instagram or Facebook. Um, our website is peanutbuttercreative.com. You can find us there. We’re on Instagram all the time talking to our audience, so we love to chat with everybody.
We hope that you guys will come join us over there and join the conversation.
Quianna: Uh, but yeah. Amazing. Thank you so much. And I can’t wait to connect and just continue learning more from you. I’m always getting fun tidbits and marketing strategies from you girls. So thank you for showing up and making a difference for your family.
Thank you so much.
Becca: Of course. Thank you so much.
Quianna: Have a good day!!
Becca: You too.
Quianna: Be right back. I’m ready to update my website and stop scrolling on social media because I have a new post and creative messaging to share for my business. I love this conversation and I’m so happy you’re here with us to soak up this creamy goodness.
Thank you Becca and Jenna for sharing your business education and inspiration that it’s possible to run a business while raising your family, even though it’s not always smooth. Make sure to follow along with peanut butter creative on social media and take a peek at their offers. If you’re ready for a business facelift or complete rebrand, they’re your girls.
In case no one has told you today, you’re making an impact. We need your voice, your skills, and whatever you’re selling to help make our world a better place. This is your sign to put yourself out there and align yourself with the sweetest customers that value you and your business. Your dream clients are praying for you, babe.
It’s time to show up online and shine. Thanks again for joining today and I cannot wait to chat again next week. Keep on dancing, baby. I love you. Bye. That’s a wrap on another episode of Kiana Marie weekly. Thank you so much for your listenership and support. You can find the resources and show notes for this episode and more at kianamarie.com slash podcast. I’d be honored if you’d show your support by leaving a review and rating on your favorite podcast app until next time, keep on dancing.
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