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Welcome to us Brand houseconsulting company where personal brands learn how to “raise the f***”.
These are his wise words Phyllis Williams-Strawder, affectionately known as “The mother of the ghetto country. She is a visionary branding consultant on a mission to transform business branding practices for her “brand babies” everywhere and shared her incredible story and perspective with Restaurant influencer HOST Shawn Walchef e Cali BBQ Media.
In this episode, the psychology marketing specialist and HBIC shares her unusual—and careful—approach to brand building through bookssocial media and Brandma's House Show. “The Ghetto Country Brandmother is a part of me, not all of me,” Williams-Strawder wrote on her website. “She is bold in her approach to showing self-aware solopreneurs how to build a scalable brand without code-switching. GCB is assertive where Phyllis says f***. She cares where Phyllis says it . But what we share is our ability to be empathetic and vulnerable.”
Connected: This chef fled a war-torn country as a child. Now she is helping other refugees rebuild their lives.
Williams-Strawder dedicated herself to helping others become brand leaders after a decade spent running the popular restaurant Bigmista's Barbecue with her husband Neil Strawder, the charismatic “Bigmista” behind the BBQ pit.
But after years, she started “to drown in my husband's dreams”. She knew she had a bigger role in life than being Mrs. Mista and selling barbecue.
“I felt like I was lost. Being Mrs. Mista gave me an identity crisis,” Williams-Strawder recalls of deciding to leave the role of restaurant owner behind in 2018. “I said, 'You know what? This is not “for me.”
With a wealth of experience as a former restaurant owner, she is uniquely suited to help people realize how much bigger their business can be with a better brand.
“Yes, we were a multi-million dollar business. But now I look back and see how many millions we left on the table. And that's a hard lesson,” Williams-Strawder said.
“I see people still doing some of the same things. And while they may be making money, they may be generating revenue…honey…believe and believe you're leaving millions on the table because you're not use your branding and marketing.”
Williams-Strawder understands the critical role that good branding plays in creating lasting connections with customers and fostering loyalty.
She believes that effective brand building goes beyond displaying delicious food and attractive visuals.
“People don't want your recipes. They want something built on goodwill and longevity,” she explained on the show. “That's what people usually buy. And it's actually the biggest asset you have.”
According to Williams-Strawder, brand loyalty is created by rejecting traditional sales tactics and elevator pitches. Instead, she advocates for real conversations and authentic engagement with prospects to create deep connections.
“You don't have to be the one constantly selling or having a pitch in your back pocket,” she said. “I don't believe in pitching anymore. I believe in a conversation.”
In her role as a certified brand strategist and life/business coach, Williams-Strawder urges individuals to “own their madness” as a nod to transparency and authenticity. By owning their unique identity and broadcasting it to the world, business owners can continue to build trust with their audience and create a working balance between personal branding and business.
“To own your crazy is to say, 'You know what? There's some character flaw here,'” Williams-Strawder explains. “That's what you bring to personal branding.”
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