Schooled by a Six-Year-Old!

Lesson on branding from a six-year-old!

This isn’t just some catchy title – it’s the TRUTH! I was, in fact, schooled by a six-year-old. Schooled on branding, and the importance of appearance. His nine-year-old older brother refers to it as representing!

I consider myself self-aware. And up until the moment, I felt I had a pretty good handle on brand awareness. I may have even been a tad bit cocky! After all, with my experience and core values firmly entrenched, how could I go wrong?

My mission, responsibility, and brand represent women, real women who have a story that has somehow at some time held them back from living their best, most delicious, or as we call it – frock-alicious life. I am living proof that no matter what, we can stand on our story, not in it and live the life that’s intended for us.

Sounds great, but how does one represent that? I have always considered myself a tomboy. But don’t get me wrong, I enjoy doing what I call my girl things just as much as holding a reciprocating saw and tearing something down to restore or rebuild something new.

Come to think of it, that whole analogy is somewhat of a metaphor of my life. Having to go deep, tear down, or at the very least take away the pieces that don’t serve anymore – to rebuild and repurpose all the good bits and create something whole again. Yeah, I like that a lot. It’s who I am.

In any event, back to my story. I had arrived on a Sunday to visit my daughter and her family. I couldn’t wait to get off the plane to see them. It felt as though it had been forever since I last squeezed them, even though it had only been two months. In these days of crazy, amazing, moment to moment, day-filling experiences, living a week feels more like a month.

On the third day of my visit, my six-year-old grandson (whom I like to call Little Peep #2) walked in the door with his father, stopped dead in his tracks, and acting as though he had caught a glimpse of something rare and beautiful asked, “Grandma, why are you so fancy today? Even your hair is fancy”. I wasn’t exactly dressed up. My hair was held neatly in place with my regular hair band (sunglasses). His look of shock and awe implied that the past couple days I must have resembled a lady who barely bothered to brush her hair, let alone take care of her appearance.

Hmm…

To put this into perspective, my “fancy” clothes were a simple, but cute black tunic with black leggings and black riding boots. Hardly an evening gown and tiara, yet to him I looked fancy.

At first I laughed and asked him what he meant. I was looking for clarity, and he proceeded to school me further. Apparently, before that day I was dressed rather lackluster in “sloppy clothes”, and today I looked fancy and beautiful.

Sloppy clothes? I don’t have sloppy clothes, or so I thought. But according to him, I do!

So here’s the lesson that apparently I needed to learn again. No matter what the intention, we are being evaluated by others all the time. Even the youngest of society forms an opinion on who we are, and what we represent!

His dad and I had a great laugh. The kind of booming laugh that leaves you with a memory sealed forever in your heart and mind. And the truth is that all great lessons bear repeating!

Truly it wasn’t the clothes or my hair, it was how I stood a little taller and more confident when I took time for self-care. Perhaps that is the best part of all.

So there you have it. I was schooled by my six-year-old grandson whose innocence and response to how I looked, has reminded me to pay attention to how I am showing up in the world.

What about you? Does your brand represent who you are, and who your business serves?