Since July, 1985, I’ve assisted over an estimated 100,000 small businesses from over 600 different industries with their branding. 

It’s the only work I’ve been doing my entire adult life, after leaving Detroit (the birthplace of Motown music), earning two degrees with honors (cum laude) from USC (University of Southern California) where I attended the Marshall School of Business … majoring in marketing with deep study in branding … married my college sweetheart (Linda) who I did wrong and regret to this very day:

• All of this is significant because, according to studies, the average person changes jobs 10 to 15 times (with an average of 12 job changes) during his or her career
  
• I’ve never pursued another career or done anything else besides branding in my lifetime!!

Vast, Proven Experience

From manufacturers to service providers, healthcare to non-profits, home-based businesses to companies with numerous employees, my ‘resume’ reflects the privilege of creating a multitude of brands.

The over 600 industries to-date I’ve worked in have included:

• Business consulting, coaching, training, professional speaking, writers, authors (and other transformational leaders or ‘thought leaders’), energy healing, personal growth & development (life coaching, self-help, etc.), non-profits, non-profit consulting
• Accounting, architecture, consulting, dental, engineering, financial services, insurance services, interior design, legal, metaphysical, medical (i.e., physicians and specialists), nutrition, optometry, real estate, weight loss, health & wellness, martial arts, boxing, psychotherapy, property management, commercial & residential real estate (buy & sell), real estate (investing), insurance training, voice coach
• Acupuncture, bookkeeping, bottled water, nutritional beverage, health supplements, energy bars, child care, commercial printing, cosmetics/skincare, custom clothing, fashion design, green products, hair salons, hypnosis, image consulting, jewelry design, inspirational clothing, multi-level marketing, party planning, wedding planning, pet products, piano instruction, shoe wear, specialty food products, educational products, gluten free baked goods, plus-size casting and model management agency
• Automotive repair, carpet cleaning, catering, cleaning services, closet organization, heating & cooling, landscaping, painting contractors, plumbing, pest control, signage, dog training, machine shop, hair extensions, men’s fashion design, hairstylist & image coaching
• Copywriters, graphic designers, IT (information technology), software development, computer repair, security systems, social media marketing, telecommunications, web developers, video production, photography

Gosh, there are 100s more!  Look, I’m no spring chicken (although I have a youthful appearance & spirit … ta-da!).  Yet I pride myself in being capable, knowledgeable, unflappable and naturally gracious enough to big brand pretty much anything or anybody that can provide value to customers.  Heck, I even branded a monk, a sex toy business, and a funeral home!  And let’s not forget the marijuana based BBQ sauce.

A Bit of Perspective

As background, playing in this sandbox over the past 30 years has allowed me to work with multiple products & services … and all kinds of people from different walks of life.  Most clients and students came from the many, many stages, platforms, and rooms where I’ve spoken.

I’ve given plenty of keynote speeches (interviews as well).  My focus has always been to be known for something beyond just ‘great content.’  Whenever I speak to people I’ve wanted my talk to be more about a spirit, a voice, and a cadence that audiences, hopefully, would feel had some magic to it.

I also:

• Taught countless ‘SRO’ workshops, seminars, and college classes (little ones too)
• Was an adjunct professor of branding, marketing, & advertising for 10 straight years at 4 major Southern California Universities (weekday evenings & Saturdays).
• Even led two church ‘entrepreneur’ ministries for a while.

Beating the Odds

All of the above despite coming from a great city (Detroit) whose national reputation (unfairly) is crime, corruption, and cars.  Along with economic hardship, urban decay, and abandoned, blighted neighborhoods.

• There I was placed in a Detroit public school system filled with students who feel like they are 10 steps behind, always trying to catch up (so true for me too despite being born in a well-to-do family … my dad was a dentist and my mom a school teacher who taught me to be refined … someone who was well-bred)
• My high school guidance counselor (Miss Reckinger) told me ‘I wasn’t good enough’ to attend college … that I should get a job at an auto plant, work on an assembly line, and make my way up to become a supervisor one day (my mom went nuts when she heard that)

This punch in the gut of ‘I couldn’t’ planted a seed of self-doubt that took years to overcome (along with some other issues). 🙁

Always Enjoyed the Next Frontier

In spite of it all, after a successful 10 year branding career in Corporate America, I went into business for myself.  To give you some perspective, spanning over two decades:

• Public speaking, training, and teaching was all done ‘live, in person’ (the Internet didn’t exist)
• Audiences, clients, and students galore; I was consistently Johnny-on-the-spot wherever I spoke or trained
• There were several watershed, eureka moments; every talk was an opportunity to learn something

The Way we Were

LOL, when working with private clients as a ‘branding coach,’ my ‘tools of choice’ to communicate back in the day were traditional landline telephones.  Curly-corded, cord-free, rotary or the ones with chunky plastic buttons were always a fixture in my home office. Of course, close by was my trusty PC and FAX machine.

• Out in the field were pay phones. Used up lots of coins.  Is that still a thing?
• To get around to LA and other parts of Southern California from where I was based (Laguna Beach, CA; lived there for 29 years) I used a map book called the Thomas Guide
• This was a paperback, spiral-bound atlas featuring detailed street maps (there was no such thing as Google Maps or WAZE).  It was my ‘travel bible.’  Unimaginable for some of you, huh?

During one stretch, when training & teaching, I used overhead projectors to display images onto a screen or a wall (I moved away from chalk-boards).  🙂  Then came the big shift from landlines to wireless – cellphones, smartphones, videoconferencing, and online learning platforms.  Even SKYPE was used now and then.

Spitfire Determination

“What drove me to play and stay in the game all these years,” you might ask, “enabling me to successfully go from startup to self-sustaining?”

• Sometimes it was the thrill of the challenge, or a jolt of ‘Red Bull inspiration’, and that can be infectious
• Other times it stemmed from my passions, curiosities and whims
• Or in some cases it was during an owner’s time of need as I brought some much needed light into the dark

Most times I simply believed in the possibilities of the brand and admired … or just plain liked … the owner.  I always knew who I was here to help.  I’m just a teacher at heart.

Let me break it down this way.  I’ve always felt as if was was created in some sort of branding laboratory.  Like, I was carved out of stone to teach & preach branding … specifically made like David just for this particular endeavor.

Small Business:  It’s All About Relationships

I further believed:  friendships first, business later.  To this day, in the vortex of the branding world I orbit in, I never take on a private client whom I don’t feel can become a friend (male or female).

For I wholeheartedly believe in the sentiment of an old adage:

“Your soul doesn’t live in your body, it lives in your relationships.”  

And not generic relationships.  Individualized bonds!  I have plenty of ‘brothers from another mother’ and ‘sisters from another mister.’ 🙂

Finding the Courage

You see, in the early stages as a brand strategist, speaker, and trainer there were no footsteps for me to follow.  I used credit cards to start my business which I launched from my living room working on a card table in my pajamas or underwear, essentially flat broke.

• Like I said earlier, there was no Internet
• I had no mentor
• I blazed my own trail for about 25 years and was kicking booty every decade despite constantly combating feelings of loneliness

Destiny Awaits

The fact is, I always felt I had a promising company.  So I connected with the people I needed to connect with, making it a point to tap into networks of community we all need to succeed.  I learned the hard way that if you’re gonna doing something:

• Stick with it, do it well, and be your very best self; if you bet on yourself and commit to something with passion then give all your energy and effort into it to pursue your fullest potential; be a ‘hustler,’ don’t sit around and wait for other people to create magic in your life (bring your own magic into the world)
• Also:  With both hands on the wheel, head directly toward what you want.  Make sure what you want is as clear as the full moon peeking over a dark horizon.  Stay in your lane of work, keep working, and don’t venture outside the lines.
• And if you ‘do your job’ with humility, maintain a fundamental core of integrity, and you’re generous of heart … being ‘for real’ & unfailingly authentic … faith, talent, workmanship and a little grit will carry you far down the line … not to mention grace with success (said another way:  don’t get too impressed with or full of yourself … stay humble, never cocky)

Don’t Make a Lunge for that Golden Ticket!

I also learned not to expect ‘instant oatmeal,’ microwave success.”  And to not ‘want off’ any cash-flow-up-and-down roller-coaster rides during the tough times when I felt hunkered down under my own thunderclouds.  This comes with the territory of owning a business.

• I disciplined myself to sit down, keep my hands, arms, legs, etc. inside at all times, & go where the ride takes me until it comes to a complete, full stop
• I learned & am still learning to be okay with discomfort
• Things never stay the same all the time; bad times don’t last

What’s more, over time I embraced the importance of thinking outside of the box:  reimagining the power of my brand, and enhancing my customers’ experience to help generate higher engagement, satisfaction & growth.  REBRANDING:  re-imagining, re-tooling, re-engineering, or re-vamping is perfectly okay!  🙂

Endure the Fire

And as a professional speaker I learned to ‘always be on!’ Stretch that smile, educate & entertain, even in the midst of personal turmoil.

• Over time I discovered how to deal with the valleys, climb over the ‘doesn’t feel good’ stuff – walk through the flames, go through the storms, and build up a tolerance for frustration – to get to the other side where there is hope and often glory
• During this journey I also never took the bait and went down a rabbit hole of “OMG, business is horrible, why can’t I be successful like others in my field, people I know,  or some of my friends! I need to stop, do something else, or go get a real job!”
• I avoided the ‘keep up with the Joneses’ BS many folks fall into, never believing I wasn’t up to par or far enough along; discovering how to define success in more ways than just money and stuff

Stay the Course

You see, like a marathon runner, when the going got tough I knew I had to dig deep, not allow myself to settle for mediocrity, and push through the pains of discomfort.  For I believed on the other side of ‘pain’ was something special for me to experience and/or accomplish.

It required giving every ounce of energy to
always cross that finish line!

It meant keeping hope alive and my head high.

There May be Snow on the Roof,
But There’s Still Plenty of Fire Down Below!

I share all this to say, “I’ve been running my own marathon for a long time.   I’m in my fourth decade.  What’s really great is that I’m not running out of gas.  There’s no part of me that’s pumping the brakes.  Nor am I winding or slowing down.”

And I embrace the younger generation (especially the so-called millennials) for their technology experience, digital insights, and understanding of digital trends.

• Their take on TECH is light years beyond my understanding and knowledge
• These are gifted, talented, enabling young men and women whom I interact with quite frequently
• From them I grab energy in handfuls

No Signs of a Flat Tire

I’m also gearing up!  I haven’t even hit my branding prime yet.  No way am I considered ‘past it,’ old school, or passe! I’m no dinosaur!  Hardly over-the-hill.  To the contrary, I continue to get better as I get older.

• It’s all an ‘evolution of my game’ (as an athlete might say)
• In some ways I feel like a late bloomer just getting started
• I’m ‘flowering & fuller’ than ever … with the energy and ambition I had 25, 30 years ago!

As the saying goes, “I ain’t done yet!”  My new, better-than-ever big branding work has given me, ‘the best years of my life!’

Pull Towards the Life You Desire

With so much experience under my belt having …

• Ridden the rapids of business ownership for over 3 decades when 85% of small businesses fail in the 1st year; 50% close within five years; and only about one third survive ten years or more.
• Juggled the duty of married life at one time while servicing clients & students (no kids by the way)

… I do what I love.  I love what I do.  I’ve made branding my life’s work!  I’m doing what makes my life worth living.  This is my spiritual calling – the intersection of what I’m good at, love to do, and meant to do.  I continuously get to intentionally and passionately add value to owners to make a difference in their lives.

Best of all, I do it the way I want to do it.  My shot in the arm is that I get to do it every day with enormous gratitude, spark, and zest.  As a brander of the highest expertise both online, offline, and on stage … plus a Motown music aficionado … there are still so many songs within me yet to be sung.

Many Thanks!

All I can say is, ‘how grateful I am.’  I’ve been given an opportunity to do something special … something significant in the world.  I’ve been granted a gift, a canvas, to paint with my talent.  It’s a gift that can give owners hope, or joy, or maybe both.  I’m just so happy that my company started when it did.  And I can look back with pride.

I’ve also come to recognize that the higher you climb, the less you will be liked.  I came to see that as a sign of progress.  To let it be okay with not being liked by everybody; let haters say what they want to say for if everybody is pleased with you, then you are not doing great work.

I invite you to check out what other owners have said about me at Kudos and on my Private page and how I was able to change the trajectory of their business and help reshape many lives for greater things to spring forward.  🙂

It Won’t Be Hard For
ME to Develop YOUR Brand!

Let the record show that I’ve also done a lot of self-help, personal growth, & healing work too (and still do … I’m a work in progress).  This has helped me immensely to overcome my self-doubt issues from childhood & other flaws.

I pride myself in being able to get along with & work with just about anybody, regardless of:

• Age, sex, ethnicity, political idealogy, socioeconomic status, personality type, where you live, etc. (I don’t give a hoot!)

IT’S THE SPIRIT OF MOTOWN MUSIC WITHIN ME!!

Making the Difference I’m Here to Make!

All the ‘work on myself’ has also served me well in other areas.  I really pat myself on the back for my optimism, resilience, and disciplined intellect.  It’s all come together to help leave my mark on this generation and generations to come.

• Also know that while I provided marketing training and services to small business owners as well for many years, strategic branding was always the cornerstone of my work

One of my favorite compliments came from a past private client I ran into at a networking event in the early 2000s where he said, ‘Gerry, you were talking about big branding and helping folks develop their brands 15 years ago or so when nobody else was even talking about branding!”

TOUCHE!

To close this out, what also makes me uniquely qualified to navigate these waters is my brand and product management work in Corporate America for ten years, most notably with The Procter and Gamble Company (P&G – they wrote the book on branding).

Suffice it to say, I am very well versed on the strategic side of big branding.  As long as owners keep having me, I”ll keep working. You can learn even more by clicking Meet Gerry, The Company, Why Big Brand, Gerry’s Branding Philosophy, and 3 Steps.

Thanks for being here!  🙂 🙂