JuliAnn Stitick: Leveraging the Transparent True You

JuliAnn Stitick is a motivational speaker, brand strategist for global brands who helps entrepreneurs and executives go deep in their own personal growth as the basis for creating authentic magnetic branding. Author of Purpose Crisis: Stop the Inner Struggle, Find Your Life’s Meaning and Reveal the Magnificent You That’s Ready To Be Seen, JuliAnn shares how to beat perfectionism and attract and build a team that leverages your strengths so you can do what you love.

Melinda Wittstock:         JuliAnn, welcome to Wings.

JuliAnn Stitick:                  Well thank you. I’m excited to be here.

Melinda Wittstock:         I am, too. I really want to know what’s inspiring you right now.

JuliAnn Stitick:                  Okay, so I am all about purpose. What inspires me is purpose. Why we are each here on the planet for something bigger than ourselves, and what it is about us that is unique and fascinating and magnetizing to other people is really all about why we have specifically put here and given the gifts and the skillset, and the passion, and the desires, and the personality traits in order to make that happen.

Melinda Wittstock:         This is so true, because when we talk about personal brand, I find that those that really are connected or aligned with a mission tend to resonate so much more deeply, as long as it’s authentic.

JuliAnn Stitick:                  Absolutely, and that’s why purpose-driven personal branding is so powerful, because you really are tapping into the individual when they are firing at all cylinders and doing what it is that they are the most passionate about. That has no choice but to come across as authentic. What’s beautiful about that is that not only are people interested in buying your products and services, but they are also engaged in your mission and become your biggest cheerleader.

Melinda Wittstock:         JuliAnn, you’re so successful. When people look at you from the outside, they might think, “Oh, she doesn’t have any struggles or any kind of challenges,” but we all know as entrepreneurs that we all have them all the time on this journey. What are some of yours?

JuliAnn Stitick:                  Well, how long do you have? Okay, so I would say as a woman in business, as someone who is so passionate about what she does, I’m a creative. I would say my biggest struggles are really honing in and tightening up that creative energy, and getting the right team of people in place so that they are supporting me in a way that brings some structure to all the creativity that I have.

Melinda Wittstock:         Isn’t that one of the hardest things to do, though, is to get that group of people supporting you? Women in particular. I don’t know, we struggle at different stages with just getting out of our own way and asking for help.

JuliAnn Stitick:                  Right. You know, it’s interesting; I love asking for help, but it’s got to be the right person. As someone who’s in personal branding, visuals are big and having things fine-tuned is a big piece of where my gifting lies. At the same time, finding someone who really listens to the details and sees the details, and can take all the creative juices that flow out of me and build a structure around that, it’s really and truly about finding out where it is that I’m firing at all cylinders and then where it is that I need someone to help me as I move forward with everything that I’m executing.

Melinda Wittstock:         Right, and getting those right people in place, give me a sneak peek on what your hiring process is like. How do you find the right people?

JuliAnn Stitick:                  Well, I think a lot of it is word of mouth, is really reaching out to individuals and saying, “Look, this is what I’m looking for and really not being afraid to put it out there: put it out there on social media, talk to friends, just not be afraid to say, ‘Look, I’m looking for someone and this is the type of person I’m looking for.'” I think this is something to really look at. A lot of times, people are hiring for skills. I think it’s more important to hire for personality types and also, looking for people that are as engaged and invested in the overall vision of the organization than it is to say, “Look, I need somebody that’s good with spreadsheets.” A lot of those things can be trained, but I think having a type of person come into play is, for me and my business, more important to me because I think that the skills can be learned.

Melinda Wittstock:         That’s true. So hire on character and teach. We segued beautifully into the advice section of the Minisode. If that wasn’t your number one piece of advice, let’s go through the number one, number two, number three that you would pass on to women in business and female entrepreneurs coming up.

JuliAnn Stitick:                  Okay. Well, I will tell you it’s just take action. Quit waiting for it to be perfect. Put it out there. I’ve written three books, and every time I’ve hit “publish” on that button, I’ve thought, “I know there’s going to be mistakes in these books. I know somebody’s going to come back to me and say, ‘You know, there’s a comma there where there should be a period.'” As many times as you can proofread it, there’s always going to be mistakes, and that’s okay. They can be fixed, but I think that what that does is that freezes women into [play 00:06:08]. They’re overthinking it. They’re asking too many different opinions. You know what? You got to jump, and then you got to figure out how to do it along the way.

Melinda Wittstock:         Right, yeah. It’s sort of like Kara Goldin from Hint Water says-

JuliAnn Stitick:                  Yep.

Melinda Wittstock:         Right? Build the plane as you’re flying it.

JuliAnn Stitick:                  Exactly.

Melinda Wittstock:         You’ve got to be prepared to kind of get out of your own way, and definitely get past perfectionism in order to be able to do that.

JuliAnn Stitick:                  Absolutely, absolutely. Right. I would say that the other thing is, don’t be afraid to ask for help. I think that especially as women become more and more successful, there’s this misnomer that they know it all, right? Especially women that are just starting out in business may think, “Oh, I don’t want it to come across that I don’t know what I’m doing.” You know what, there are so many things that I am not good at, but I just ask for help. I look for people that are smarter than me. I surround myself with people that lift the world around them rather than drag it down, and I don’t want to be the head of the pack. I do not want to be the head of the pack. I want to be there as someone who is being pushed and inspired and challenged by other people that are doing some things on a greater level than I am at that point in time. There’s always room to grow.

Melinda Wittstock:         That is so, so true. They say if you’re the smartest person in the room, you are in the wrong room. JuliAnn, how can people find you and work with you? There’s a lot of women out there and a lot of men who also need their personal brands working on.

JuliAnn Stitick:                  Sure, absolutely. Well they can go to my website at juliannstitick.com. There’s all kinds of information about how to work with me and how to hire me as a speaker for a group. I love connecting with people. I have a boutique-sized organization, which means that people get personalized touch with me. We are very, very particular about wanting to work with purpose-driven, personal brands, and that gives us the opportunity to pay lots of close attention to every client.

Melinda Wittstock:         How wonderful. Of course, people should pick up your book. How can they do that?

JuliAnn Stitick:                  Oh. Well, “Purpose Crisis,” they can go to purposecrisis.com. We have a beautiful free gift, which is the second book I wrote, that they will be able to get access to right then and there, and then they will be able to have access to “Purpose Crisis” as well.

Melinda Wittstock:         Wonderful. JuliAnn, thank you so much for putting on your wings and flying with us.

JuliAnn Stitick:                  It was a pleasure.