Ep. 1 Is Your Business Worth Dying For?
In this inaugural episode of the Legacy Branding Podcast, host Laura Beauparlant addresses the profound question, 'Is your business worth dying for?' Laura shares her journey from running a successful but unfulfilling wedding stationery business to founding Lab Creative, a venture aligned with her true purpose.
She offers actionable insights for entrepreneurs at a crossroads, emphasizing the importance of aligning business with personal values and legacy. Laura introduces three key steps to assess business fulfillment, visualize legacy, and ask hard questions to realign one's business with their core values. Tune in for inspiration and guidance in building a meaningful, impactful legacy brand.
Subscribe for more episodes filled with transformative conversations and practical advice for building your legacy brand.
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Laura Beauparlant is the founder of Lab Creative, the author of Brand Chemistry, the creator of Brand Camp and an award-winning international speaker.
An entrepreneur for the past 20 years, Laura is committed to the art of legacy branding – helping entrepreneurs make their mark on the world. Through Lab Creative, she works with ambitious founders around the world to position their business to sell and build a personal brand for their next evolution. She leverages her creativity and experience to inspire and empower everyone she meets – allowing them to reach new levels of impact, influence and success.
As a speaker, Laura has been recognized for the chemistry she creates with her audience as she teaches, inspires and candidly shares insights into her own story of overcoming adversity and finding clarity – in both life and business.
Laura is based in Toronto, Canada, however her influence extends globally as she speaks and works with clients around the world.
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00:00 Is Your Business Worth Dying For?
00:25 The Transition Phase: Finding Your Zone of Genius
02:28 A Personal Journey: From Wedding Stationery to Lab Creative
04:29 Aligning Your Business with Your True Purpose
05:41 Assessing Your Business: Three Key Steps 08:05 Building a Legacy Brand
09:26 Final Thoughts and Next Steps
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Is your business worth dying for? Now, it's a deep and most likely uncomfortable question, but I believe it's one of the most important questions we can ask ourselves as entrepreneurs.
After all, we are trading our time, our lives for whatever we're building and doing every single day. So, is your business truly worthy of that exchange?
Welcome to the Legacy Branding Podcast. I'm your host, Laura Beauparlant, here to guide you through the journey of selling your business and creating value. And building a personal brand that leaves a lasting impact on the show, we'll explore real life founder stories, expert insights, and actionable strategies to help you navigate the transition, post-sale crisis, and create your impact-driven legacy brand. Whether you're thinking of selling, building to sell, or already on the other side, this podcast is your go-to resource for making your next evolution your best one yet.
Let's dive in.
Over the years, I've had countless conversations with founders who are finding themselves in this state of transition, whether they're thinking of selling their business, struggling with what comes next, or simply feeling disconnected from the business they've built. And these conversations really struck a chord with me because I realized that this is actually where I get to help people the most.
This is my zone of genius. This space of transition is my sweet spot. It's really where my zone of genius lies. And that's why I started this podcast to provide guidance, support, actionable insights to founders like you who are navigating this pivotal stage in your business and your career and life.So back to that question I started with, is your business worth dying for? So imagine that this was your last day on earth. Would you look back on your time spent building your business with pride or regret? This is about recognizing the value of each day and really how you choose to spend it.
Because the reality is every day we're all moving a bit closer to the end of our journey. And as morbid as that sounds, it's a powerful motivator to live with intention. So think about it. We spend so much of our lives, our energy, our creativity, our passion building our businesses.
But are we building something that truly fulfills us? Does our business reflect who we are at our core, the legacy we want to leave behind, and the impact we want to make in the world? So these are heavy questions and this idea of, you know, is my business worth dying for is one I had to ask myself.
So for 12 years, I ran a successful wedding stationery and graphic design business. And on paper, everything looked great. I was well-known and respected in my industry and had a fairly steady client base.
But deep down, I knew something was missing. And I realized that I was spending all my time and energy building a business that wasn't really aligned with my true purpose. I'd fallen out of love with my business.
Now, don't get me wrong. I loved that business for many years. But as I got near the end of it, I really had fallen out of love and I knew that I was meant for so much more. And that's when I made a pivotal decision to close that business and start Lab Creative.
It was not as easy as I'm making it sound. It came with an existential crisis and a lot of soul searching to come to this outcome where I am now, over eight, almost nine years ago. I also knew that I wanted my name off the business. My old business was called Laura K Design and I knew that if I ever wanted to sell my business, I had to get my name off of it.
Also, I knew that keeping my name on the business would keep my business small. Clients would only ever want to work with me, and it would make it harder to hire people to do the work I do. That being said, I was known as Laura K. It was my identity, and I felt like I was really giving up a piece of myself.
And it took time to work through that, and I did, with the support of amazing people in my life from my husband to friends, fellow entrepreneurs, and a business coach. Now, it wasn't an easy choice. Walking away from something I'd invested years into was daunting, but the moment I made that decision and that leap, everything changed.
Lab Creative allowed me to align my unique abilities with my desire to help entrepreneurs build something meaningful, something worth their time and their energy.
And yes, even their lives. So I am building a business deeply aligned with the impact I want to create. Whether I'm working with businesses or personal brands, speaking or writing my next book, I am always focused on helping people build their legacy, while at the same time, building mine.
So, I ask you, does your business align with the impact you want to make in the world? Does it fulfill you and fill you up? And more importantly, does it resonate with the core of who you are and what you stand for?
If you're feeling a disconnection between the business you've built and the life you truly want to live, you're not alone. Many entrepreneurs find themselves in this position, successful on the surface, but feeling unfulfilled deep down.
So how do we bridge this gap? So here are a few things you can do right now to assess whether your business is truly worthy of your time and your energy.
We've got three things I want to share. Number one, evaluate your daily fulfillment. Take a moment to reflect on how you feel at the end of each day. Do you feel a sense of pride or accomplishment? Do you feel drained, wishing you could have spent your time on something else? Or maybe the day flies by and you're like, what did I even do? If you consistently feel unfulfilled, that's a red flag.
Number two, visualize your legacy. Close your eyes and imagine it. What do you want to be remembered for? What is the impact you want to leave on the world? And does your current business contribute to that legacy, or is it taking you further from it? This visualization can be a powerful tool for gaining clarity. And three, ask yourself hard questions like, what are the values that guide your life? And do those same values guide your business? Are you running your business because it's something you're truly passionate about? Or are you doing it out of a sense of obligation? Do you feel trapped by the shoulds?
The idea that you should keep doing what you've always done because it's what people expect of you. It's these hard questions that often, probably always, lead to those breakthrough moments. For me, realizing that I was trading my life for something that wasn't truly fulfilling, or leaving the mark that I desire, led me to make one of the boldest decisions of my career, closing my first business and starting something new. When I started Lab Creative, it wasn't just about creating another business. It was about building something that mattered, something that aligned with who I am and what I wanted to contribute to the world. And I wanted to help other entrepreneurs do the same. And over the years, I've worked with founders who are at a crossroads, unsure of whether their business is truly aligned with their future goals. Through our work, I've seen the power of branding as a tool of transformation and confidence building.
And this is where the concept of legacy branding comes into play. A legacy brand, to me, isn't just a business with a well-known name or a long history. It's a brand built on a strong foundation. It's the promise you make to the world, the impact you want to leave long after you're gone.
At Lab Creative, we've helped countless founders build their legacy brands by weaving together their story, their values, and their vision. In a cohesive and powerful brand identity, and here's the thing, even if you're not planning to sell your business tomorrow, it's never too early to start thinking about the legacy you're building because what you do today compounds over time. So if you're feeling stuck, if your business doesn't feel worthy of the time and energy you're putting into it, here is my challenge to you.
Take one small step today to realign your business with your values, whether that means rethinking your brand messaging, reevaluating your business goals, or even considering a potential exit strategy. Your time is valuable. And you deserve to build something that matters to you.
So thank you for joining me on this very first episode of the Legacy Branding Podcast. Throughout upcoming episodes, I'll be diving deeper into these concepts with a range of amazing guests. And I want to leave you with one last thought and question to ask yourself.
Is my business truly worth dying for? And if not, what steps can I take to build something that is?
Thanks for tuning into the Legacy Branding Podcast. I hope today's episode has inspired and empowered you on your journey to building a brand that truly matters. If you enjoyed today's show, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with other founders who you think would benefit from listening. And if you're ready to take the next step in building your legacy brand, hit the subscribe button. Visit our website, Labcreative.Ca to learn more and book a call.
Don't forget to join us next time for more conversations that will help you navigate your transition and create your legacy. Until then, I'm Laura Beauparlant. ---