How Your Core Values Can Make Marketing Easier With Ati Grinspun

Ever learn about “core values” where you circle the words that aline with your core values? Today, my guest is going to be sharing a different perspective and one I think you’ll love!

Links Mentioned:

• Core Values Book: The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time, Is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal by Tony Shwartz
• Rebecca Cafiero’s Weekend @ Pitch Club

Ati’s Gift + Where To Find Her:

• The Profitable Personal Brand Quiz 
• Core Values Worksheet⁠

Where to Find Ati:

• Email
• Website 
• Instagram
• Be you Brand Podcast
• LinkedIn
• Facebook Group
• Be You Brand Event

Transcript:

Jen Vazquez

Ever learn about core values that, you know, where you circle the words that are supposed to sort of align with your business? Today, my guest is going to blow your mind because she’s going to be sharing a different perspective. And one, I think you will love it. It will not only help to make marketing easier because it’s going to crystallize absolutely. Everything to do with marketing. So when you go to show up and create content, it’s easy because you know those core values, but also it can help you grow your business.

Welcome back if you’re new here. I am Jen Vasquez and I help hyper-busy female service providers use Pinterest to book more clients and increase their income and impact. And on this podcast, I have the pleasure of speaking with amazing marketing experts to help you take action in your business. So if marketing is something that you wanna learn more about, we would love [00:01:00] for you to subscribe to our podcast or YouTube channel. Oh, you guys, today, I swear, she and I have been talking about getting her on this podcast for months. We’ve finally made it happen.

Today I am talking with my friend Ti Greenspun, and I’m very excited because she is an acclaimed personal branding coach and photographer specializing in serving dynamic female entrepreneurs who are the soul and face of their business. She’s deeply committed to helping women unravel the complexities of online and offline visibility, making it not just manageable, but also a thrilling and fun experience to show up authentically passionate about nurturing meaningful connections among female entrepreneurs. Ati serves as a pivotal force in bridging the gap between business success and personal fulfillment.

She is All about that with her infectious energy. I swear we’re kind of competing in that area, so when we have a conversation, everyone better just watch out. energy and amazing expertise turn the often overwhelming task of personal branding into an exhilarating journey of self-discovery and impact expression. As the visionary and founder of the Be You Brand Academy, she has created a transformative platform designed to skyrocket women to new heights and their respective fields.

A sought-after speaker and bestselling author, Ati, is driven by her profound belief that women who excel in business. They have become catalysts for positive changes on a global scale, not just for their own lives or their business. By empowering women to discover their unique voice. Ati is also not just building brands, but she is [00:03:00] igniting revolutions.

Welcome, Ati.

Ati Grinspun:

Yes. Oh my God. Oh my God. You were reading that and we kind of like, I redid that intern. It was a little long. I’m gonna say I might have to like go in there, but there, you know what, there is so much of me in that and what I have been creating through the last five years, and you and I know each other in person. Like, and you know that literally, that’s what I’m all about. Right? Like especially the

Jen Vazquez:

brings you to life. Like that’s why I read the full thing and I didn’t edit anything out because it truly states like who you are.

Ati Grinspun:

 I love it. love it. I, it was giving me chills.

Jen Vazquez:

Isn’t it weird to hear someone else say what you’re talking about, your business, but to hear someone else say it, you’re kind of like, wow. Yeah.

Ati Grinspun:

Yeah. Well, one of the things I, this is kind of like a tip for people [00:04:00] too. I actually, a lot of the words that I use in there have been taken from what people tell me they experience around me. Like, for example, the, the, the, the infectious, right? Like, that’s something I would’ve never put in there. But I am telling you, I can even tell you how many people tell me like, your energy’s infectious. Your energy’s infectious. And I remember like thinking, what the fuck are people

Jen Vazquez:

Yeah, know

Ati Grinspun:

But that is what people experience. So I started taking how like people were like describing me or telling me, and I started putting it on my bio. And that is how we end up with that bio.

Jen Vazquez:

Yes. And it is, it is. Using words that other people describe you is probably the one of the most effective action items or tips that, I mean, we’ve so much in star for you in this podcast, but it is a [00:05:00] great tip that we didn’t even touch on yet in the questions.

Ati Grinspun:

We didn’t even, like, we didn’t even talking personal branding or marketing or anything. And guys, you can take these already.

Jen Vazquez:

Yeah, so let’s dive in. We’ve got a ton to cover. This may be a two-parter, talk to me a little bit about what jobs you had in the past and kind of like how you got to where you are today. ’cause I love this story.

Ati Grinspun:

Yes, I was a world-champion Flair bartender, . So for people who don’t know what that is, I was one of the bar bartenders who flip the bottles and then poured them into the cup. And why I say world champion is I used to compete.

So I traveled the world doing flirt competitions and that’s how I met my husband. That’s actually how I ended up in Las Vegas. So I was very like known in that. I always say that little world, because in that moment, that world was everything to me. But once I actually stepped on the side of that, I started realizing how much was out there and how much was available to me as a person, not just as a bartender.

Right. Uh, in what I did before I got to the top, I’m from a very small town in Argentina. I mean, I’m from Buenos Aires, but I’m from the suburbs and I literally ended up in Las Vegas. It was the mecca of what I did. Right. So I came to work at a bar here in Vegas. I was there for 16 years, but while I was there, I actually went to school for photography here in Vegas.

And I did that because I always knew there was something else for me. I didn’t know what that was. I loved to travel. I travel all over the world, and that was kinda like my hobby. So then I opened, a studio when I got pregnant with my son, I was like, okay, I’m gonna be a photographer. And I did baby photo, . I I learned [00:07:00] so much about business by opening that studio, niching down, creating a brand for myself because, you know, I went through a ton of, you know, at the beginning you do everything Like this is on any career. We can talk about too, right? I was doing everything. So, you know, I was a photographer, like, do you need headshots?

Yes, well I didn’t understand, right? Like the whole concept of nicheing down. And then eventually I did a niche down to babies and that was like the first time that I, I truly built a business and I was doing good. but I ended up going back to bartending somewhere there in the middle. And at the time I thought that it was a failure. Now I look back and I was like, oh, what an amazing blessing.

Ati Grinspun:

There, there was so many lessons on that. from there, I briefly got into network marketing. And when I got into network marketing, what happened was like, that’s actually where I started developing a little bit of like leadership and like my [00:08:00] big vision. That is actually where my big vision came alive. I didn’t have any point of reference to what was out there, not only on making money, but on impact and making a difference on leadership and all the things.

And I saw this lady speaking on stage and there was something that lead up for me. And that line never went off until this day. but that is where it all started, right? but I pivoted into personal branding because I was helping my team. And for those of you listening, I’m kind of quoting here. I started developing a lot of the things around building your brand and pivoting into personal branding, and photography. As I started working with women, I was like amazed at the passion that was behind women building businesses. Once I started working with women that were businesses, not [00:09:00] women in, and by the way, I was literally on network marketing at this point. It looks like it was five minutes.

I think it was like a few years. But like it was a catalyst for growth and really handling rejection and all the things like people, talk about network marketing as like the gateway drug into

Jen Vazquez:

it’s a gateway drug into your entrepreneurship, I think for a lot of people.

Ati Grinspun:

Yeah. And was that for me. So pivotal those are all the jobs I had in my life. Like I was a bartender for most of my life. and that actually, helped me also to understand that. I love people. Like I know a lot of bartenders will never tell you this. They’re like, I fucking hate people. You see the worst of people. But I loved it I always work in clubs, but for me, I was constantly on stage.

Like people are like, whoa, speaking comes so natural to you. I’m like, it’s not necessarily speaking, but yes, it is the discipline of practicing something and the [00:10:00] discipline, because I literally like practice for eight hours a day, flipping glass bottles.

Jen Vazquez:

Wow. In the world of personal branding, authenticity is key. And it’s also something people struggle with a lot. But how can entrepreneurs, especially women in early business years, ensure that their authentic selves shine through in not just to be authentic, right? Because it is, it is literally the 2023 Buzzword. I don’t know you know that, I just, I just heard that two days ago and well, perfect timing for my podcast. how do they truly impact their audience? And potential clients with that authenticity. Of course, we wanna grow our business, but how can they make an impact as well?

Ati Grinspun: 

I absolutely love this question. Okay, so number one, I feel like authenticity is a word that is very bastardized in the online world because everybody talks about authenticity and [00:11:00] I don’t believe that I. People truly know what that means, right? So like I wanna actually go back to the road of self-discovery because I think that authenticity really starts with self-discovery, right?

And allowing ourselves to truly be who we are. But a lot of the times we don’t really know who we are until a few years in, or a few years into really being like, okay, who do I wanna be? Who do I wanna help? How do I wanna show up in the world? you and I have talked about this in the past and is for me, building our personal brand is about living your, your.

Again, I don’t even wanna use the word legacy either. It’s about the mark that you live in the world, right? So when we start talking about what is that mark, that can actually change depending on where you are at. if you are listening, I want you to bear with me for a minute. am working with women. The first thing that we do is [00:12:00] we go into self-discovery, and that road sometimes is very rocky,

Well, because a lot of times we are allowing ourselves to say, I don’t know.

So, for example, a question that I ask people all the time when people talk about your why, this is the first question, right? And your core values, right? But people are literally grabbing like a piece of paper and like picking core values out of a list. I’m like, we do it in a completely different way, your core values, they’re already there. You don’t get to pick them. I mean, you can do priorities.

You can start thinking what’s important to you and add things, who you are at your core, it’s already there. People literally will tell somebody like you and me, yeah, but I just need to make money. Give me, gimme the fast pace to this and I get it. But the thing is, you. [00:13:00] Do not get to share authentically and to share from a place of confidence until you truly know who you are.

Jen Vazquez:

I agree, even if you haven’t done it and you’ve been in business for five years, take the time

Ati Grinspun:

but let’s actually put it on practical terms because I think that people tell, you know who you’re your core values, your why, and people are like, okay, great. Now I have all this shit in paper. How do I use it? And that is the biggest problem that we have right now on the online world, right? people like well tell you what to do, but nobody tells you exactly how to use it.

So I’m gonna give you a few examples of this and why I truly believe that authenticity is kind of like a road. So for me, and I’m like back onto my story, there was a lot of, not only self-discovery, but self-acceptance that had to go with me actually sitting down with you today. And I absolutely know that my road and my life as a bartender has. Help me so much to get where I’m at today. But for the longest time,

I actually didn’t wanna tell people that because I was under the impression that if I would tell people I was a bartender, they wouldn’t see me as an authority. They wouldn’t see me as somebody knowledgeable. They would all these things.

Jen Vazquez:

Judgment.

Ati Grinspun:

All of that. Yeah. But the first person that was judging was me.

Jen Vazquez:

Yeah,

Ati Grinspun:

Nobody was

Jen Vazquez:

I mean, let we, I feel like we ourselves so much worse than anyone else is ever going to.

Ati Grinspun:

Well, when I was judging myself, I saw that outside,

That’s all I saw. But the moment I started talking about how me bartending brought me to where I’m at, like I know for sure that of me, being a bartender that like flipped the battles and being on station, all of that, that comes together with my love for speaking now.

That is the same love. It’s a different performance, but it’s the same thing. So when I look back and I’m like, oh my God, every [00:15:00] stage, every battle that I broke, every, every single one of those performances have helped me get to be the speaker that I am today. , right? There is no coincidences. So the reason why I’m bringing all this into this conversation is when you start really knowing who you are and you start doing the internal work that goes self-discovery, on your mindset, working on, okay, how do I really feel about this?

And for me, I process writing like I journal a ton. I didn’t know this. This started with, with actual entrepreneurship. For some people, it’s maybe talking to other people. For some people, this may be hiring a mindset coach for whatever you need to do. But that is the secret when people tell me like, what is the secret sauce?

You are the secret sauce. But this is, is the self-discovery because when you discover who you are, you practice self-acceptance and you [00:16:00] understand that your journey is what people are buying. We always talk about how are you unique, right?

And I think that what people don’t understand is the only thing that will make you unique is the journey that got you here.

Jen Vazquez:

Yes. Yes,

Ati Grinspun:

I mean, you and me, we both talk about marketing, right? But you and me, we have a photography background. You and me, we have so many parallels in our life, but we’re completely different or different.

So I think that people completely underestimate the power. Of their journey, the things that happen to them, who they are at their core. let’s talk about core values, so if you are actually watching on YouTube right now, right at the top in my wall, you can see me watching, I have my core values on my wall.

Okay? And I remember the reason for that is because when you start realizing what your true core values are, it’s not about the work. And I’m gonna read them to you so people can understand how to use them. [00:17:00] I challenge my clients to do is you wanna have the word, but you also wanna define them.

Jen Vazquez:

because everyone can define words totally differently.

Ati Grinspun:

Yes. you gonna laugh about this, my. course. But I remember there were things in my business that for me, like really trigger me, and I didn’t really understand why. me it’s , the power of positivity and a positive outlook on all areas of life are, and most important value from business to health to growth.

Always think, how can I, this has guided me in so many ways in my business because you can say, fuck, I’m not good at social media. Or you can ask yourself, how can I. And the reason why I’m saying this is when I’m sharing on social media, when I am teaching, when something becomes hard, when maybe something is not [00:18:00] coming easy. Because guys, you can be positive, but business is business. There’s gonna be moments that things are gonna happen, right? So for you, this could be, I don’t know, I’m gonna tell you another one.

This is, this came at a surprise to me. Curiosity is actually one of my core values, and I didn’t know this, but what I remember happening, sometimes I would be working with a client and this person would be maybe, uh, a little close off to things and this would trigger me.

And I remember started asking myself, why is this triggering me? Well. Once I realized that curiosity was a core value, this was kind of going against who I was and my core right? Now, this doesn’t mean I cannot work with people that are a little close off, but I had to find ways to ignite that curiosity in them, right?

So I, again, I’m gonna read this for you. Always be [00:19:00] learning, always be open to new ways of doing things. No fear, I ask questions. This is where the coaching part comes in, also this has helped me understand things in my relationship with people, things in my relationship with my husband, right? I always look for mentorship.

Travel, see new things, want to learn about others. Now why am I sharing this with you guys and how you can apply this? Everything I do, I’m sifting so I’m kind of sifting everything in my business through these, core values, how I make decisions, right?

How am I creating content? How am I showing up with a positive attitude, and how am I actually creating that mark in the world, like for whoever like follows me and, and you and me are friends and we met in person. Like literally, I talk about this all the time, and sometimes I’ll hear somebody [00:20:00] say something negative and I will tell them like, how can you turn this around?

How can you ask yourself? How can I, it kind of starts. Leading through your life, but you cannot be authentic if you don’t know this.

Jen Vazquez:

Yeah. take this a step further because I think this is really powerful for everyone who’s listening or watching now, what are a couple tips or maybe a technique that you use with your clients to help them discover these core values to the degree that you just

Ati Grinspun:

Oh my God. I love, okay, I might actually butcher this because I could, like, it would’ve been a really good idea to have this in front of me, but I actually took this out of a psychology book and what happened was like I had several coaches, like you had several coaches and. Literally people would go through their core value from a [00:21:00] list.

And this was highly disturbing to me

Jen Vazquez:

Yeah, because it makes you wanna pick things that you think your clients would want you to have versus what is in you. Yes.

Ati Grinspun:

That was exactly, I was like, uh, I think is it. then I remember, okay, I remember reading this and I remember like putting family, and I’m like, okay, yeah, but most of my family don’t even live here, so I don’t understand what this means to me. Right. So I study, like realizing that I was like asking people to do the same, and I’m like, you don’t get to pick who you are.

You are, and then you can grow from there. You can become better or, or bigger or whatever you want, but you gotta know what your, what your, what the fuck are you working

Jen Vazquez:

What are What do you have Naturally, I do.

Ati Grinspun:

So I remember, uh, and I love psychology and I read a lot of, like, it has to be [00:22:00] easy psychology. I don’t read Freud, right? Like , no. It needs to be like easy, digestible, fun, all this stuff. And I came across these core values exercise and I was like, oh my God.

One was like, okay, what are things that when you encountering others, you actually absolutely hate?

And there was a thing where you put like your, your top five, right? And then you stated what was the opposite of that? And actually this is kind of like a five step

this is literally a module inside of my program. The first thing people do when they come in, and I can’t even tell you how many people tell me, oh my God, I’ve done so many core, core value exercises. Then you can actually sift it as your business is growing, you can kind of be, okay, I’m gonna do this through my business.

I honestly, this is it. The, my personal ones are also my business ones. Because, I mean, even though I have a, [00:23:00] a, a small but mighty team, it’s just me. I am the head of this team, right? So I, I don’t consider myself a solopreneur, but I, whatever my core values are, the core values of my personal brand, my business, everything.

you, you stated those things and you stated what you hated on other people and also what you hated. When these, and, and I believe the exercise I had, like the adjectives on there. They had to be adjectives. That was a thing. is a thing.

And then you actually made them a noun. So there were things that you could hate on other people, like things that, exacerbate you and then you made them a positive.

Jen Vazquez:

So cool.

Ati Grinspun:

And that is just the part of it. I know there were more steps, but I remember this part was the part that I was like, oh,

Jen Vazquez:

It clicked.

Ati Grinspun:

it’s a core value. It for me. what really distilled was, for example, one of the other ones is abundance. That’s a core value for me. [00:24:00] But this came from actually realizing that.

I hated when people had scarcity thoughts around life and business. But also I hated penny painting. While I loved being very smart around my money, which I didn’t consider to be the same.

Jen Vazquez:

Yes. Yes.

Ati Grinspun:

His was so important because as I was defining all of those things, it made me look at stuff.

I’m gonna give you an example of something that I, this actually happened was something that happened with a client of mine. We did kind of like a trade and she showed up to this trade and she wasn’t showing up as her, her best self and what I knew she could absolutely deliver to this trade that we were doing.

And I kind of took it personal. I remember I came home and I started looking at my core values of like two or three weeks went by and I didn’t tell her anything. Now, another one of my core values is [00:25:00] honesty. The way I described it is always strive to be transparent, always do what I say I’m going to do.

My communication style is blunt, and while I take high consideration of people’s feelings, I always say what I think and give my honest opinion. Because the truth is that you cannot coach people if you don’t. And I remember thinking, sitting here looking at that, I mean like, I have to have a conversation with this person.

I sent her a message and I was like, we need to jump on a Zoom call. And I told her. And she told me, this is why I love you.

Jen Vazquez:

Oh, oh,

Ati Grinspun:

I am so thankful because as a mentor, yes, it hurts that you’re telling but I can grow from here.but if I wouldn’t have looked at my core values, I probably would’ve stayed out of alignment. And this was something [00:26:00] that was bothering me. Now, for every single one of you listening, your core values are gonna be different.

Maybe you don’t. Maybe honesty, is defined in a completely different way to you. how crazy it’s that. That’s how it was defined for me, right? And what happens is you start acting. Out of alignment in your business, in your content, how you say things. And now if you wanna bring it to the true how you show up authentically in your business, this is how you show up authentically.

It’s not about what you wear and what you say, and it’s your, you start showing up as you are learning about you and you’re like, okay, how would I tell this to somebody if I truly was sitting in front of this person? And, and you show up on camera saying it that way.  You don’t censor yourself. Whatever your core values are for

Jen Vazquez:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Ati Grinspun:

I promise you it will probably be a little hard because you will be challenged to show up as your true [00:27:00] self. But the thing is, everything from the moment you write a post to the moment you decide how you present your offers to the moment.

Like everything is sifted through that.

Jen Vazquez:

Okay. So in terms of core values, I’ve never heard it presented the way that you’re presenting it. It’s so exciting and it’s making me wanna break out a notebook. Okay. That’s how I know when

Ati Grinspun:

So this goes back, okay, so one of the things that people absolutely can take from here, which I think again is giving your ourselves permission. For me, there was a huge self-discovery that went on moving, obviously from bartending to opening a studio. And since we’re diving into it, one of the reasons I actually came back to bartending is I felt really lost.

I like, you know, I had a, a baby business. I had a baby, baby , I had a baby,

Jen Vazquez:

and you were photographing babies

Ati Grinspun:

Yeah. So there was a lot of overwhelm that was happening there. And what happened when I went back to my job is I almost found myself again, and I could grow from that place. Right? But going back to authenticity, I didn’t have the guts in my photography business, really talk about being a bartender and what that meant and all of that, right?

So there was so much self-discovery and now jumping forward, I was a photographer now for several years when I decided to start focusing on personal branding, I was actually reading a ton and things outside of the industry. This is where the tip is for you guys. Allow yourself to find what is truly calling to you, because when I found this exercise on the book.

One of the things that would, that happened was like, whoa, but everybody’s teaching core values in a different way.

Jen Vazquez:

Yes,

Ati Grinspun:

And I was like, who am I [00:29:00] to teach it this way? But I knew

Jen Vazquez:

you were perfect for it. Like

Ati Grinspun:

that’s exactly where the teaching is. Allow yourself to bring you into the equation. And I’m gonna tell you, this is all about self permission and self-acceptance and really learning to trust your gut.

That doesn’t happen overnight. That happens on that self discovery road. When we talk about Fulfillment and business and bringing them together. And you and I are part of like a huge community that thrives on that because I don’t believe that you are gonna stick with your business and you’re gonna grow and you’re gonna make money and you’re gonna do what it takes every single day.

We were talking about this off camera earlier, being tired, like working your business and all of that. You are not gonna push through the shitty stuff if you are not truly connected to these core values. What you wanna create in the world, which in return is your personal brand.

Jen Vazquez:

Exactly. Okay. So for those that are unable to invest yet [00:30:00] in that, but see the value of it, I mean, you, you came up with a great tip and think about things that sort of rile you up in others and try to think about the opposite. Do you have more tips in that area in terms of, not even just coming up with the words, but coming up with the definition.

Because what I noted was that your definitions were so, you just knowing you. Right.

And how how were you able to. Come up with that description.

Ati Grinspun:

I shared earlier, like for me, I never journal in my life until I started entrepreneurship because there was a lot of mindset things that I need to work through. Especially like coming from bartending, being like at the top of my game and not for me.

There was a lid that opened. I was like, oh my God, there is a world out there. I mean, I was like, what? Right. So I [00:31:00] had a lot of like, mindset issues to work through. Like guilt and money felt a little dirty. I don’t know, like all these things, I’m, I’m still working through them. Right? But I think that, that once you sit down and like, let’s say, let’s work with positivity, right?

What actually positivity means to you?

Jen Vazquez:

Yeah. Yeah. And, and for like, for me, my definition of positivity, that’s the one that like got me, that made me realize how important the definition is because for me I literally look at every single thing going on in my life through the lens of the glass is half full. I am already thinking on a positive thing. Even in the most dire of circumstances. My father passed away, like, and I was able to see positives. Parts of it, not in the fact of it, but in parts of it. . [00:32:00] Yes. I took photos with him the month before and how important that photo is today, right? People say you are , like my personal cheerleader. Well, I’m not being a personal cheerleader to everyone. That’s just how I see life.

Ati Grinspun:

Uh, so in that exercise that I was like, okay, when you realize what are these things that like truly like trigger you or like that you absolutely hate on somebody else and you hate them when they show up in you? I think part of the exercise, part of why that is so powerful is because you look at like these traits or things that show up in other people, they bother you, but you absolutely hate them when they show up in you. So you have kind of like that negative

Jen Vazquez:

Mm-Hmm.

Ati Grinspun:

take, but then what is it about it? And I think that when you’re actually writing, well, I hate it when somebody can realize like it’s saying, I can’t do this. That is how I actually came up with that.

Jen Vazquez:

it can  absolutely do this. Like,

Ati Grinspun:

So for you, that would be you thinking like, oh my God, it absolutely triggers me when people are seeing the worst on every situation. Because the truth is that every single one of us has a completely different filter. Again, it’s based on our experiences, on the things that we live, like what we learn, our culture, all of that.

Jen Vazquez:

SO good. let’s say we have someone who’s wanting to show up as authentic or wanting to really dive into their brand, their personal brand, it’s obviously super easy if you work with someone like Ati , obviously, right? Let’s just put it out there. But

Ati Grinspun:

Oh, but usually people get to me by the time they, either been trying, right? They, it’s very rare. Somebody’s like, okay, I knew I had to build the personal brand. Here I am. Right? Like usually people, either , they’re star by strap boot in it, [00:34:00] or no

Jen Vazquez:

yeah, yeah, 

Ati Grinspun:

Or they have done some of the work, they’re somewhere over there

and now they’re okay, so now like I’m going to the next level. It’s very rare that somebody will like start their business or their journey by saying, oh, I need a personal brand.

Jen Vazquez:

Are there some exercises or techniques that you can use to pull some of this out of people that they could try to maybe do on their own?

Ati Grinspun:

And, and I think there is, and there is a ton. And one of the things is Pinterest, there is so much on Pinterest that people can actually find. There is so many like checklists and stuff like that. But this is where I think that people can truly shine at trying to start an is number one. Do this work. Take the time to really understand who you are, what you bring to the table, and allow yourself to grow because you are not gonna be the best person on social media, [00:35:00] the best person on video, the best per on day one.

You are not. So allow yourself to get started. Get started. Just do it right. Like whatever, like yes, I know you have fear. Yes, I know you have impostor syndrome because we all have it. It

Jen Vazquez:

you, by the way, if you don’t have it. It means you’re Great. yourself

Ati Grinspun:

to you.

Jen Vazquez:

out of your comfort zone either,

Ati Grinspun:

is true.

Jen Vazquez:

and that’s when business grows. Or at least for me, when I feel that sort of uncomfortable imposter syndrome, it usually tells me at my gut that whatever is making me fearful is that next step I need to take to growth

Ati Grinspun:

I never understood what people say. You have to lean into the heart. I never understood that for the longest time. Well, the heart is literally showing you the edge. It is the edge between where you are comfortable and oh shit, [00:36:00] this is, this is hard. Okay, you have to lean so you actually grow into that.

Whatever it is. Is it a skill? Is it a practice? Is it whatever it is, right? So I think like, okay, so we talked a little bit about the self-discovery. Now the self-discovery is the first step. So you kind of are allowing yourself to show up authentically, and you lean into that and you sift everything through it.

But the next one is really understanding who do you wanna serve? I always say, what do you wanna be known for? And when people tell me, I wanna be known for being honest and a good person, I’m like, listen, bitch, that a given.

Jen Vazquez:

That’s a great,

Ati Grinspun:

I hope.

Jen Vazquez:

I say that’s a great pageant answer, That’s not realistic.

Ati Grinspun:

hope you’re a good person. I hope you’re honest. I hope like yes, that’s a given. I’m gonna, I actually assume you’re a good person. Like, you don’t need to show me that you’re a good person. I wanna assume that you’re a good person because I don’t wanna go around in the world thinking that people are shitty.

Right? Unless you show me different. So now let’s talk about what you really wanna be known for. What is that over, arching theme of your life? Right. So for me it’s personal, running, photography, community, uplifting people like I want, those are the things I wanna be known for. I wanna be known for like walking into a room and people are like, oh my God, she brought the energy.

Right? What, what do you wanna be known for now? See that in that ball of things, There is business, there is personality, there is all of it. Because I think that people get lost when they think about that personal brand and they’re like, well, but people say I can sell anything. Well, yes you can, as long as you are known for that.

Like if all of a sudden tomorrow I start selling, I don’t know, tamales, people are gonna be like, I thought you were from Argentina. Like, right, that doesn’t match. What I’m to fit the theme. So you have to start with the theme of who you are, what you are known for, what is important to you.

Again, we go back to the [00:38:00] core values, right? What is important to you? Now when I talk about what the, the mark that you live in the world, you can do that in so many ways. You can do that through coaching, through speaking, through podcasting. You get to choose that is the, the. Like you can create planners, you can write a book, you can.

Now the thing is people usually start the other way around. They wanna market first. Now they don’t know what they’re marketing, they don’t know what their core values is. They don’t know who they are, they don’t know any of that. They don’t know who they wanna serve. So for me, very early on when I pivoted my business, I knew I wanted to work with women.

Okay. Now

Jen Vazquez:

We’re Now we’re nicheing it Yes.

Ati Grinspun:

Yeah. And when we talk about niching down sometimes, like I don’t, I tell people at the beginning, it’s hard because you don’t truly know,

Like who your people are and, and this can take time to really like figure it out. [00:39:00] But if you start looking at what is the common denominator of the problem that you love, like solving with or for people, what is.

Jen Vazquez:

you wanna help people get.

Ati Grinspun:

Listen to what people are telling you they’re struggling with and what part of that, that, that problem, like that common denominator be your first like trigger of like how you can start narrowing down. So I like talking about narrowing down and not just like, oh, what is your niche? Well, it start narrowing down little by little, by little by little.

The more you narrow down. Like for example, I never, I came all the way to women entrepreneur who are the face of their business. They’re service providers. I don’t do product, right? But I never went even smaller than that because I love it here.

Jen Vazquez:

You have that gut instinct that that’s exactly where you need to be.

Ati Grinspun:

But I have a colleague who is a personal branding coach and she narrow, narrow, narrow, [00:40:00] narrow, narrow. She’s only working with real estate agents now.

Jen Vazquez:

Yeah, which is, is amazing. Like that is the glory of owning your own business is that you can decide what you’re gonna do.

Ati Grinspun:

Not only that, went as far as to like, not, she only does personal branding for real estate on Instagram. I’m like, that’s fucking great. Great for you. But for me, I wanna work with women that like, want to have like massive impact that they wanna like, ripple effect. Right? So that wouldn’t work for me.

Jen Vazquez:

Yes, exactly. Oh my gosh. This has been insanely cool. So let me ask you one final question and then we’re gonna go

on to what you’re gifting everyone, which I think will also be a nice help for everyone. What are three things that really helped you grow your business? Anything, tools, advice, whatever.

Ati Grinspun:

Number one was putting myself in rooms. Thi this is [00:41:00] literally number one where I was absolutely uncomfortable.

Jen Vazquez:

where you’re like, I even belong here?

Ati Grinspun:

no, like literally thinking I fucking don’t belong here.

So now I’m gonna give you the disclaimer. You actually have to be able to start understanding when you truly don’t belong there and that’s not your room and these are not your people or are you uncomfortable because there is so much edge there as so much growth for you to do.

So that was number one, because when I put myself in those rooms, . I started seeing what I wanted to achieve. I started looking at what other people had that I wanted, and being, if she can do it, I can chew.

That was number one. Number two, actually, why I am so passionate about personal branding, it was because at the beginning I kept going around and around and around and I couldn’t figure it out. Even though I did the whole photography and I niched down and all of that. When I went into network [00:42:00] marketing, I felt very, very lost. what actually made me successful there was my personal brand, right? Who I was to my network, how I was showing up for those people. And this repeats over and over and over. So I think like . To some, what that means is like literally working on your mindset, working on who you are being as opposed to like, what are you doing?

Because what you are doing, it’s absolutely affected by who you are being. So working on my mindset, and if I would have to say one tool, you probably have people talking about this, is Think and Grow Rich. it’s such a heavy book. But there is so much learning there and that actually made me then seek out help for. my mindset and all of that. So that is the actual tool, the actual tool that helped me there.

And if I would have to say the third tool, and this is probably not what people are, are thinking that, I was going to say, but for me, growing my business was really understanding that social media is the glue that puts it all together. But that triangle of like building relationships, really finding my people again, putting myself in rooms that are very uncomfortable, finding my people and then using social media to actually exponentially how many times somebody can see me.

meet somebody in person then that you actually are gonna have to follow up with that person a million times and that person might think like, okay, you’re kind of weird, but now. You get to see me and see me and see me and see me and see me and see me. Like literally, I probably know so much about your life from social media, not because we talk so many times.

Jen Vazquez:

Exactly, exactly.

Ati Grinspun:

I remember I asked you like, girl, you’re a grandma. I that on social media. You tell me so, I think that once I started leveraging all that stuff and going back to authenticity, when you actually are doing things in person, you can’t hide and now you start showing a more authentical line and that is freeing you guys. That is so freeing.

Jen Vazquez:

Yes. And I think too, after Covid shut us all in our own little houses, there is a big sort of global collective need to be with people in person again. So I feel like, and in-person events is something that’s gonna really grow on the horizon. If we’re looking forward to 2024, I think making sure that you go to at least one event, if you’re a business owner in person,

Ati Grinspun:

Minimum.

Jen Vazquez:

at minimum is really necessary. Like I. Didn’t do hardly any of it before the pitch club, which is where we met. And now I can’t imagine not having at that as part of my business. And like you were saying, you, you, you’re showing up live with people.

Ati Grinspun:

I think for me, well, but at the beginning, it was [00:45:00] also just going to networking events, right? And finding other women that were on the same path. So back in 2019, I actually went to a live event. This was pre-COVID, and that event was the event that changed my life.

I saw a speaker there and I was like, what? and I think that people underestimate the connection and the, the vibration and the frequency and like we can add all yes heart, like you are touching your heart, I’m touching my heart, which is meeting people in person that literally not only will talk about you, but they will feel your life with purpose. And you will, you will not only meet clients, but you will meet peers, you will meet friends, you will meet people that, when.

You reach out to them because you actually, either you need something or you wanna, whatever it is. It, it doesn’t need to be a need. It could be a need that is actually, Hey, I need to talk to somebody about this. it’s not necessarily [00:46:00] asking for business. This person will be willing to be there because there is actually a relationship and that cannot still till this day be done online.

Jen Vazquez:

No, no. You can nurture a relationship with online, you

Ati Grinspun:

Oh yeah. I mean, you and we, yeah, we nurture the relationship online. Uh, but, but the thing is though, there’s something magical that happens in person and, and just like, just to like, like be absolutely like transparent here before it’s, I have my own live event, but before that I started by hosting networking events here in Vegas. And, but most of my clients are not in Vegas. My photography clients are, but my coaching clients, they’re rarely in Vegas.

Jen Vazquez:

Yeah. Well, before we get to the gift that you’re offering to share with our audience, tell everybody about the services that you provide, because I know there’s gonna be multiple people out there. They’re like, I need her in my life. Like I need,[00:47:00]

Ati Grinspun:

So there is two ways, literally, I make it super easy for people. There is two ways people can work with me. Either I help you build your personal brand and I’m gonna break it down, or I help you with the photography part. Now they’re intertwined because the photography part, I truly believe, I actually made a post about this this morning.

I believe that in the last five years that I’ve been coaching my photography skills have a skyrocket, but it’s not the lighting, it’s not the posing. It’s because I understand personal branding strategy. So because I understand personal branding strategy, when I come into literally how do we create those visuals?

I go into your story, who you are, your personality, your core values, what’s important, what do you wanna show your processes, like the list goes, goes on and on and on. Right. So the two ways people can work with me is I have a program that is called the Be Brand Academy. This is a one year program.

You guys, it’s a transformation from Zero to Hero. We work on your, personal brand, we work on your offers. We work on selling consultations, social media. All of it, how you can be more visible because we go literally from you kind of like hiding to like really showing up as a true personal brand. And that takes time. the other way is for the people that are more advanced.

I do VIP weekends and the VIP weekends. Usually we work on something very specific. So I have a, one of my clients is coming like at the in December, for a weekend. And we are, she’s going more corporate. She’s like, she’s like a breath work coach, leadership coach. But she’s like, I feel like, you know, I’ve been doing Instagram and that is not attracting the people.

I’m like, yeah, no. So the way I do personal brand is we go to the core of the strategy. We’re not necessarily working just Instagram, just LinkedIn, just Facebook. We actually build your strategy and then the second day we do all the visuals, we do [00:49:00] video, all of that. So that’s personal running.

And if not, if you are in Vegas or you wanna come from another place, which I actually have ton of clients that come from other places. also through photography. I still offer photography. This is like, but it’s kind of like my fun part in my business to still shoot. I am not ready to let that go. So I’m still offering it.

Yeah. And I love it. so yeah, that’s how you can work with me. Plus my event. that is actually a, a fun way to jump into my world. But building your own community, meeting other people, and growing your business.

So I have the Be You brand live, the event is September 26th, 27th, 28th. 2024. Here in Vegas. so if you go to my Instagram, like we already have the dates. We already selling tickets for that. because the thing is I knew a minute into my event this year that I was gonna do it again.

Jen Vazquez:

Yeah. you knew in the planning stages, let’s be honest, because you already,

Ati Grinspun:

Well, I didn’t know because I was like, is this gonna be as amazing as I think it’s gonna

Jen Vazquez:

It was insane. I’ve heard from multiple people about how insane it was. Tell everyone what your freebie is and how it can help our audience.

Ati Grinspun:

Okay, so I have a profitable personal brand quiz. now this is not like just every quiz that you take out there, like literally this will ask you seven questions 60 seconds. But the seven questions are based on the seven. Core pillars that we use to build your personal brand. So, and then once you get your percentage, it will tell you like if you are a beginner, if you’re an intermediate, or if you’re advanced, and it will actually give you, a step for you to take to start moving your personal brand forward.

Because I think one of the things that I hear from people the most is, I don’t know how to get started, or when they’re intermediate [00:51:00] now they are starting to get on this self-doubt kind of like place. they are advanced, they have been doing it for a long time, they’re like, okay, what is the next step? Which is usually I’m gonna spoil it a little bit, visibility.

Which a lot of people don’t understand the difference between content, visibility, all of that. So, so we took that under consideration and you are literally gonna get an email with all your responses, and each person or each stage gets a different response and, uh, different things based on your, on

Jen Vazquez:

and you’ll love being on her email list. Such good juicy information, applicable, actionable information, and I always leave reading it going, yeah, yeah.

Ati Grinspun:

I try. I try because people tell me that I don’t sell enough. Like, so I’ve been like being more, like, I don’t sell enough in my emails, but sometimes I’ll just write a letter to my people

Yeah. just love that.

Jen Vazquez:

And we’ll have, you know, Instagram, we’ll have, all the links down below in the show notes. Thank you so much for your valuable advice and your time today, and everyone listening or watching, if you found some ideas and tips that you can implement in your business, we’d love for you to leave a review. It’s the lifeblood of our podcast.

Now go out there and do something good for your business, like taking that quiz so that you can find out where you are and take action. Meaning go put it on your calendar so that you actually get it done, and you grow your business at least 1% better every single week. Thank you.

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