If You’re Secretly Dying Behind That Smoke Screen of Success, This Might Help
- Brainz Magazine
- 9 hours ago
- 9 min read
Written by LaTricia Morris, Branding Agent
LaTricia Morris is The Brand Revivalist, founder of Ox & Iron. She helps legacy-driven entrepreneurs cut through the clutter and create bold, unforgettable brands. With a focus on purposeful design and strategic messaging, LaTricia crafts brands that connect deeply with their audience and leave a lasting impact.
There’s something jarring about watching a sharply dressed business owner give a flawless pitch at a networking event, only to later confide in me about the sleepless nights, shrinking margins, and pressure they can’t seem to shake. I’ve watched the most fun, outgoing business owners choke up as you could literally see the pressure breaking them down.
This is a really hard thing for anyone in this position to admit. It feels like a massive public failure, like we’re letting our families down, maybe our staff and their families too. It can feel like the business is imploding, and nothing is working to stop it. It can feel virtually hopeless.
While going through this often comes with mounds of shame and guilt, it’s not always about poor performance or bad decisions. Subtle misalignments and subtle adjustments can have huge implications on the bottom line, but seeing those things through the fog of it all is incredibly challenging.
Adding to this noise is the wave of online coaches flaunting borrowed luxury, renting pricey cars, and pitching half-baked strategies as the surefire way to rake in millions, even as they themselves are merely selling regurgitated lessons borrowed from other coaches rather than true experience in building a successful company.
Personally, I am tired of seeing talented entrepreneurs struggling quietly, only to end up being taken advantage of by “experts” who leverage their pain for personal gain instead of actually helping.
I’ve been there.
It’s terrible.
I don’t want you to go through that.
More than image
Looks can absolutely be deceiving. It doesn’t help that the realities of human psychology and our culture demand we play the part. Not appearing successful diminishes consumer trust, especially in service-based industries. Even in retail, business owners need to be incredibly mindful to present their brands appropriately to appeal to their target customers.
Success begets more success, but how do you cross the chasm when you’re not reflecting the success you want to achieve? How do you build consumer confidence in you or your company when you’re desperate for business?
Change your standards
If you’re wondering how this connects to our main point, read on. I assure you, it does.
When I first started my company, I launched it as a side gig doing graphic design work. I didn’t have a huge portfolio, and I was way below market rate on projects.
That was part ignorance and part insecurity. I didn’t really understand the value I was offering, the problems I was really solving, the benefit that was to the people I was serving, or how to communicate that to the professionals I wanted to help.
Not only did this have me in a position of working way too many hours and still not making enough, it also positioned me to work with several pain-in-the-butt clients who would drag their feet getting through projects and then take forever to pay me. What should have taken 4–6 weeks would easily take 6–8 months, with me waiting for photos, revisions, or little things. This was before I'd circle the mountain a dozen times trying to get paid.
Seriously, I hope you never went through this, but I was dumb to a lot of things when I started.
Okay, not so much dumb as lacking the confidence to hold to a framework that was better for all.
As I saw what clients really needed, I shifted into branding, leveled up my education, and changed the standards in how I do business. I changed rates to be in line with the market, and I created strong frameworks for how I do business.
I stacked this with implementing better systems and re-aligning client agreements so they understood that I’m not a Johnny-on-the-spot begging for their business. Instead, it’s a bilateral agreement, a powerhouse collaboration where we both win, or I’m not interested. If they disagree, they can find someone else, and I’m not at all offended.
This has had huge effects on my positioning and client engagement.
Every component of these interactions, every touchpoint in the customer journey, teaches them how to interact with and better appreciate your brand. It has huge effects on your positioning that you simply can’t afford to ignore.
When we talk branding, people are quick to think of the visuals representing the company. While that is a key and incredibly important component of it, branding is more the substance of a company. It is not who you say you are, but who consumers think you are. How you engage with them is a huge influence on what they’ll say.
Remove the doubt to unlock your success
Not that we like to admit it, but “fake it ‘til you make it” can be a real thing. But then, integrity is also incredibly important, and I think too many lines get crossed.
We should never imply we can produce a result we maybe can’t. We should never tout false claims, lie, or create false narratives around our brand. The second that gets exposed, consumer trust is wrecked. The damage can be incalculable.
I personally found a better path to be sharing confidently on what I could honestly, leading with value, leading with honor, and eagerly building my business.
Character has a way of shining through. Before throwing more money at your next campaign, consider whether these things are showing up in your networking, marketing, and engagement:
Proving knowledgeable on your given subject
Not trying to appear knowledgeable where you’re not
Showing up prepared
Polishing your offers
Demonstrating a strong work ethic
Upholding high work product standards
Owning and quickly remedying mistakes
Going a touch extra anywhere you can without setting a precedent of freebies
Developing strong communication skills
Maintaining a reputation for good character
Conducting your business with nobility, respect, and honor to all you engage with
While this list is not exhaustive, each of these factors will have huge implications in establishing rapport with those you encounter. This costs you virtually nothing and can greatly increase your ROI with every other thing you do to promote your business.
Couple this with showcasing honest results when and where you can, and you're likely to find that people will forget to question things you may still be building, like your books, completed projects, or years in the game.
I cannot underscore enough that this cannot come through deceit. One of my core objectives when I started was building out my portfolio, sometimes with lesser-paid projects, to showcase the caliber of work I’m capable of producing. I still uphold a strong commitment to learning and continually improving what I offer clients, as it truly benefits both me and my clients.
This is key: you don’t fight to persuade them. Let it be evident in all that you do.
My clients know I’m not in it just to look good. I’m in it to serve them well, and my track record backs that up.
Do people feel this as they engage with your business?
All of this goes back to this point: remove the doubt. Carefully watch how you’re showing up in the market to ensure each interaction underscores their confidence in your ability to help them well. You know you bring something amazing. You now have a duty to help them by bringing your value with confidence.
Authenticity, backed by clear messaging, consistently wins out over staged success.
Think long-game
I know this is hard when the bottom line demands immediate attention, but you must position for the long game.
What kind of business are you building?
What kind of clients/customers do you want to serve 10–20 years from now?
What kind of revenue do you want to be generating, and is it possible to get there with your current offers and business models?
These may seem like Business 101 questions, but an overwhelming majority of the business owners I meet with have not accounted for any of these things in their brand strategy.
Often, that first meeting comes because they’re asking me for a logo, website, or help with their marketing. As we go into that initial interview, we usually see that much of the processing is pivoting around the immediate need.
I get it. Survival is a real thing. How can we talk 10 years from now if we don’t make it through this quarter?
That noted and appreciated, even short-run strategies need to be done in light of long-term goals, or cycles will only perpetuate.
I remember hitting that place of realizing that if my company was going to grow, I had to stop taking low-ticket clients that didn’t really appreciate my work and were only draining the energy I had to bring my best work. I needed to focus on aligning with entrepreneurs doing business at a higher level and who simply operate at a higher frequency.
This was hard for me because I love people and want to help them anywhere I can. The shift happened as I realized that in order for me to help people at my highest capacity and get them the best results, I needed to safeguard my time, energy, and resources, learning to allocate them more wisely.
The result? I went through a couple of months of rewiring my own hardwiring that was prone to stress, worrying where my next lead would come from. I shifted into a posture of faith. I purposed to make moves from a place of confidence, not just hoping things would work out, but building out my company as though success would be inevitable on the other side of me being faithful with what I yet have in hand.
This meant revisiting my own branding, messaging, and offerings to bring it all into alignment with where my company is going, then remapping the SOPs, the backend systems, and the communications with my team to ensure we’re capable of handling the increase well.
What has happened?
With ZERO ad spend, our company continues to grow. Leads reach out, warm referrals get handed off, and few proposals go unsigned. I don’t beg for clients, and our revenue continues growing.
While we still have bigger goals ahead of us we’re yet working toward, all indicators suggest we’re on a great track, ever growing, ever improving, and all of that without those sleepless nights or fear choking me at my desk.
When you plan for the long game and start to accompany that with a winning strategy, things have a way of coming together, and consumers will learn to meet you at that higher level.
Know when you just need help
Sometimes, you're just too close to it. You’ve been staring at the same messaging, same numbers, same problems for so long that it’s impossible to see the real issue, let alone the way forward.
Being bombarded by constant ads for products, programs, and online “experts” doesn’t exactly help.
I’m a huge believer in ongoing education, smart coaching, and learning from people who’ve gone where you want to grow. Choose it wisely. It’s easy to fall prey to feeling overwhelmed with all the things you’re not doing and struggle to see what you should and shouldn’t be giving your focus.
I have personally been hugely blessed by Fueled by Fire, led by Staci Wallace and her team. They’ve helped scale numerous multimillion-dollar businesses, not just in revenue, but in peace, profits, and purpose. I don’t get paid a dime to say that. I just know solid leadership when I see it and share this out of sincerely wanting to help.
Whoever you go with, be sure to look past the flash and the hype, along with the compulsion to just throw money at impulse buys prompted by well-crafted ads striking at your deep-seated fears or desperation.
Be strategic in alignments, shut out the noise, and get recentered on how to get your brand where it needs to go.
Moving forward with a brand that matches your growth
If you’re exhausted with dying behind the façade, this is your cue to stop.
Stop forcing strategies that don’t fit.
Stop chasing visibility when what you really need is alignment.
You don’t need more chaos. You need clarity that commands attention and a brand that finally stands out and sells like it should. That’s a conversation I’m certainly happy to have.
If you’re curious about what that journey may look like, you’re welcome to reach me here.
P.S. I’d love to hear what hit home for you. What stood out? Where do you feel stuck or ready to rise? Let me know.
Read more from LaTricia Morris
LaTricia Morris, Branding Agent
LaTricia Morris is The Brand Revivalist, founder of Ox & Iron. At the core of her work is the belief in seeing the greatness in others and helping them communicate their true value to the people who need it most. LaTricia specializes in creating brands that are authentic, purpose-driven, and designed to resonate deeply. By aligning identity with strategy, she empowers businesses to stand out and build lasting connections with their audience.
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