Creating a Memorable Brand Story with Kelly Bennett

Crystal Vilkaitis: Today’s episode of Rooted in Retail is an important conversation about your brand’s story. You know your store’s story, but are you effectively communicating it?

Are you really showing online, on social, in your store, through all the channels, what makes you different, who you work with, what niches you really specialize in, how you can really support your customers? I feel like there’s an opportunity for you to maybe tighten up on this, do more, put yourself out there more.

And you’re going to love today’s guest, Kelly Bennett, because she gives you really practical things that you can be doing to tell your store’s story, to really resonate with your customers. And this is so important now more than ever, because there are so many choices online and the faceless brands, the ones that are not really connecting through storytelling. 

Those, I don’t think are really going to stay in business. And so I want our listeners to stay in business. I want them to be storytellers. I want them to connect their messaging with their customers. And Kelly gives us a lot of great ideas today. She gives us four questions to ask and really get clear on.

She also shares a couple of retail examples that I think is going to give you some fun ideas and good ideas on what you could be doing. Maybe things you’re not doing at all or things that you could be doing better. So you might want to take some notes for this one. This is a great episode.

Before we dive in, here’s a little bit more about my guest.

Kelly Bennett is a New York City based brand strategist for emerging brands. Kelly has built award-winning brands for over a decade, founded an emerging brand incubator, and has worked with over a thousand emerging brands in multiple industries from food and beverage, home, lifestyle design and media.

 She’s known for building emerging brands with storytelling, brand differentiators, content, and brand activations. She has landed cool opportunities including, speaking at a Facebook small business conference to be featured on television and magazines weekly.

Kelly interviews people building industry, leading brands on Emerging Brands Podcast with Kelly Bennett. You can also learn more at withkellybennett.com. 

And I think you’re going to want to go check her out, sign up to get her email. Follow her on Instagram and TikTok to get a lot of inspiration. She just is a very creative person who gets it, who really gets storytelling and branding.

So I know you’re going to love this episode. Let’s dive in. 

Welcome to Rooted in Retail, the show that’s dedicated to helping independent retailers thrive in today’s ever evolving retail landscape. I’m your host, Crystal Vilkaitis, and I’m thrilled to have you join me weekly as we explore topics that are vital to the success of your store from marketing to mindset.

Money to merchandising sales to leadership will cover it all. Each episode features interviews with industry experts and accomplished retailers who share their real life insights and actionable advice. Get ready for a great conversation on how to build your dream business with Rooted in Retail.

Kelly Bennett: Thank you so much. I will also say that when I heard you moderate the first panel at New York Now, you did such a stellar job that I was like, okay, I got to really step it up for my moderation. And I took some extra notes and I really got a lot from watching you moderate that really helped me moderate. So right back at you. I thought you did a stellar job. 

Crystal Vilkaitis: Thank you. It was so awesome that we both did that. And again, I loved your panels. I also listened to you on another session and you knocked it out of the park. Okay, we got so much to cover. We’re hoping that we cover all these questions. Let’s do it.

So with over 14 years of ,experience and having aided more than thousands of emerging brands. What first drew you to the world of brand strategy? 

[04:05] What first drew Kelly to the world of brand strategy?

Kelly Bennett: I was always really interested in building brands. My dad, back in the day, ran a manufacturing plant where he would print perfume bottles for L’Oreal and big brands.

And he would have me look over the sheets of the packaging and look if there was any misprints, if color was off. If anything, like the logo looked off, and he would have me check them. And I didn’t even realize this until more recently, how that really impacted me,, as far as looking for branding and understanding the value of branding and packaging, especially for retail.

And then my mom is an entrepreneur. And she had built brands herself and started businesses. So I always knew that I wanted to build brands. I always knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur. And for me, I wanted something where I could be creative and strategic in building brands. And I’ve worn a lot of different hats over the years, but brand strategy seems to be a really nice fit of both,, where I get to work with different publicists, designers, web designers, copywriters, photographers. And then I work with founders and I help put all those pieces together. And so that for me has been a really cool blend of all my passions, and what I think I do best as far as putting all the pieces together for a brand.

And so it’s really been through trial and error, testing, tasting, all different facets of brand and business. And that’s how I landed on brand strategy.

Crystal Vilkaitis: It’s so cool. I love that path. And it’s pretty neat how you got started with your dad. I bet you have incredible attention to detail. That is pretty, that’s great experience.

Kelly Bennett: I didn’t realize it until honestly, very recently, that I was like, Oh my gosh, that really impacted me. And that was definitely something, even from a young age, he always had me look at different packaging and products, and what I thought, and what would be my feedback, and who I thought a brand was speaking to. And it was really good training that I’m really grateful for.

Crystal Vilkaitis: No kidding. That’s a cool story. 

[06:23] Why creating a compelling brand narrative is the key to building a long-lasting retail brand.

Crystal Vilkaitis: Okay, so we often hear about brand narrative. Can you dive into what that means, especially for independent retailers listening? 

Kelly Bennett: Absolutely. So brand narrative, I like to think about it as brand storytelling, right?

It’s essentially what is the story your brand is telling. And that is one of the biggest pieces from my experience of building over a thousand emerging brands over the last, like I said, over a decade. If you don’t know what the story is of the brand, it’s really hard to put the pieces together. And in the context of an independent retailer, most likely you’re wearing a lot of different hats while you’re building out your retail brand.

And knowing the story you want your brand to tell is a really impactful piece of the puzzle to square away. The sooner, the better, because every single aspect of building out your brand needs to tell that narrative, needs to tell that story.

From packaging, your website, in- store displays. If you’re in a physical retail space, content, every single aspect of what you’re doing needs to convey that story. And so I would say really spending time and practicing and refining your brand narrative, your brand story, is essential and critical for a long lasting brand. 

Crystal Vilkaitis: And I feel like if there’s anybody listening, this could be a really great time to take inventory is there a consistent story?

Is there consistency? I feel like we can add on stuff over the years and really it starts to get messy and brands and stores evolve. And so have you really, told that story? So some action items for our listeners. 

Kelly Bennett: I would say too, speaking of action items, think about where did your story begin?

What was a shift in your story that really was a turning point? What is the story currently you’re telling and what’s the story your brand is working towards? I would say as far as action items, really drilling down your answers to those four questions will really help you understand and communicate better what your brand story is.

Crystal Vilkaitis: I’m going to do those when we hang up. Those are so good. Yes. 

Kelly Bennett: Good homework.

Crystal Vilkaitis: I got some homework too. Could you share a specific example of a retail brand you’ve worked with? Maybe walk us through the before and after, especially highlighting the tangible success that came from maybe a rebranding.

[09:01] Rebranding Client Success Story – Frankly Good Coffee 

Kelly Bennett: Yes, I have a client, Frankly Good Coffee, and they are in my emerging brand incubator. And funny enough, I had worked with them when I was a creative director of a restaurant that I built from the ground up as far as brand. And they were our coffee partners. So I worked with them, more so from a restaurant perspective that I was always promoting their coffee, creating content around the coffee, different coffee activations.

And then they joined my incubator when I left that restaurant and I started my incubator. And we really worked on their rebrand. They had been around for a while, but it was almost like a reemerging to the market. And so what we did is really take audit of their story, how they started, why they started, what they’re doing differently.

And then I brought in one of my favorite designers, Kate of Folk Founded, and she worked on their new website, packaging redesign, and it’s been such a cool experience to see them grow. Then we launched a coffee club where they select new coffees each month for their subscribers. They just launched actually their first retail activation, which is really great with one of their brand partners, a local bakery that does these really gourmet artisanal Japanese baked goods that are amazing.

And so there are coffees out in that location, and we’re working on some really great different growth stages of the brand. But I would say that was a really great example as far as taking a great product and then repackaging it a bit so that it has more leverage in retail. And so I’m currently working on that.

And honestly, their coffee is amazing. That’s been one of my favorite projects as far as a rebrand in retail.

[10:54] Kelly breaks down what retail activation means and how to use this powerful tool in your store’s marketing.

Crystal Vilkaitis: How fun. That sounds like a really fun brand to be working with. And will you tell our listeners what a retail activation is? Cause I’m starting to hear more about activations in conferences.

It seems like it’s a newer word we’re using. And so will you break down what that is? Cause I think there’s a lot of opportunities for our retailers to do that. 

Kelly Bennett: Oh, absolutely. So an activation could be a few different things. So for the example, I was saying for the retail activation, essentially, they’re now taking over some of their shelf space and the activation is more so around: Love the coffee here. Take home a bag. Learn more about the coffee. 

So there’s going to be some different customer touch points within that retail display. But I would say overall, a great way to think about an activation is, essentially, bringing your brand to life at a particular day and time. For example, with the restaurant, when I was the creative director and partner of it, a brand activation that I would do with the coffee company is that we had coworking in the mornings. We had a long community table and we did free coffee if you came and co-worked with your breakfast. 

And so that was an activation. It was something that had a very particular day and time to it. Then we had some promos. If you wanted to take home a bag, you could. And there was some different add ons that I was experimenting with that. However, I think that’s a good way of looking at an activation. It has a particular location, day, time. There’s a very specific call to action, and it’s a way to bring your brand to life and have customers engage with it, either to build brand awareness or to drive sales. Activating your brand is just a way to bring it to life.

I think that’s the easiest way to think about it and wrap your head around it. I really love curating brand activations. I think it’s a great tool, especially for independent retailers and emerging brands. There’s so much opportunity to get creative. Yeah, I would say that’s the best way of looking at it.

Crystal Vilkaitis: Beautiful, I love it. I love that example. And I think that I agree. There’s a lot of opportunities for our retailers doing things like that within their store and thinking that way. I like the word activation versus events. It’s different. It is different than events. And so there’s really a lot of opportunities, I think, for independents, especially.

And I feel like we’re going to start seeing that more with the activations for big box. So it’s great for our indies to jump on that. 

Kelly Bennett: Something too to take note, I was just shopping in Soho in New York City where I live, and some of the big box stores are doing activations right now. Get a free ice cream with your purchase, or get a free drink with your purchase, and they have pop ups with working with different food and beverage vendors outside their store to drive attention, drive foot traffic in sales, but there’s a specific product or a call to action around activating that brand. 

So that again, it could be a way for an independent retailer to think about that. 

Crystal Vilkaitis: Totally. And then such a great way, similar to your coffee example of working with another local business and partnering together. There’s just a lot of opportunity there. So that’s so fun. 

[14:22] The most common mistakes Kelly sees independent retailers make when trying to position their brand in the market.

Crystal Vilkaitis: Now, speaking of food and beverage, with your extensive experience across sectors like food and beverage to home and lifestyle, have you noticed any common challenges or mistakes that small businesses make when trying to position their brand in the market?

Kelly Bennett: I think a lot of small businesses and emerging brands struggle with brand positioning because they have not drilled down what makes their brand different. And most times, they want to appeal to as many people as possible because in their mind, more people equate to more sales. So I understand that.

However, I would say, not depending on what sector you’re in, I would say the biggest thing there is to really drill down what makes your brand different so you can position your brand. And again, going back to brand storytelling, you could speak really specifically to one type of person that you’re going to then attract more of that particular person, and in my experience, the more niche you could get, and the more specific you could speak to someone, the more brand loyal they’re going to be, the more likely they’re going to share about your brand to their friends, and you’re going to be able to really build that engagement with a core group of people and build out from there. Having such a wide net and then you’re really not connecting with anyone.

Crystal Vilkaitis: It’s so true. And I think that a lot of independents, we get so busy and caught up in running our store and wearing all the hats, like you were mentioning earlier, that we haven’t done this good job of really showing what does make us different.

And something I say a lot in my presentations is I love helping retailers be memorable in a sea of forgettable because there is a sea of forgettable. There are so many brands producing so much content and you really don’t know if you identify, do I self identify with this brand? Because they’re not showcasing who they really work with and what the niche is and how they’re different.

And that alone, just really getting clear on how you’re different and then making sure that you are communicating that effectively is powerful. I really think that one tip and that common challenge that you’re saying, I really see that being a common mistake and that one thing could be a game changer for a lot of our retailers listening.

Kelly Bennett: Absolutely. And that’s one of the biggest things that I work on when I craft a brand strategy is what is the story? What’s the brand story? What are the brand differentiators? And then how is that being communicated through content and marketing and brand activations as a part of marketing? But I would say that is one of the main cornerstones of building an impactful brand that’s more sustainable, that gets people coming in the door and also coming back through the door. And so I would definitely put that on people’s radar and make sure you know and can communicate clearly what makes your brand different.

Crystal Vilkaitis: Okay, great advice.

[17:24] How can a brand strategy move beyond just visuals to truly resonate with its target audience?

Crystal Vilkaitis: We’ve previously touched upon the importance of visual branding on the show. Episode 25, we were talking about colors, logos, texture. In your approach, how do you ensure that a brand strategy goes beyond the visual to truly resonate with its target audience? 

Kelly Bennett: I would say that again, going back to brand storytelling. And making sure that it feels human. Founder led brands, in my opinion, and now with my podcast, I talk to many different people within the scope of building brands and this has been a common theme. Also, on my podcast is that the more that you can humanize your brand, that’s how you really cut through the noise.

However, I will say that I’ve seen it the reverse. Really great brands with a great product, but their visuals were not there. It really has held them back. So I would say you need both. You need the visuals, you need it to look cool, you need it to really catch people’s eye, and you need to make it human.

And I think once you can do those two things, the sky’s the limit.

Crystal Vilkaitis: I couldn’t agree more. It’s all about humanizing the content, the brand. I couldn’t agree more. Okay, let’s talk about your brand incubator. You mentioned that earlier. This is a space where you work one-on-one with your founders. Can you tell us more about this process and the kind of transformation you aim to bring about these emerging brands?

[18:56] Can you tell us more about this process and the kind of transformation you aim to bring about these emerging brands?

Kelly Bennett: Absolutely. It’s one of my favorite things to talk about. So I have an emerging brand incubator that I launched officially two years ago, but I was iterating on it for over a decade before launching. And I tested many different ways of how I worked with founders over the years. And what I came back to is a four week incubator where again, I work one on one with a founder and I go through each of those cornerstones of a brand strategy that I have found in my experience to be the most impactful.

So one week we focus on brand storytelling. Going through what is interesting about their story, what kind of story they want to convey, what’s the future story that they’re building. Then we work on the brand differentiators, really understanding how they want to position their brand, what makes their brand different, what makes their brand cut through the noise.

And then we go through content and I really help them storytell their brand that, again, resonates with their target market, understanding how to resonate with their audience, how to stay top of mind. Also, to putting in the pieces of their brand identity. What is the look, feel, and voice of their brand to then the marketing strategy, how they want to activate different partnerships, different releases of products or services.

And putting all those pieces together in a really cohesive, fairly simple to follow, because again, I work with founders who are usually wearing all the hats themselves that they can have this as like the holy grail of their brand to then grow with. So it’s been such an impactful experience to see behind the scenes of a founder who comes to me and says, I’ve been doing this thing, but I feel all over the place and I don’t really know where to take it next.

And I think I’m doing this, but I know I need to do that. And then they’re needing to update their website or product photography, their branding, copy. And they’re like, it’s just so many things. How do I put this all into an organized strategy? And so then once they have that strategy, and then I also have a network of different designers, web designers, trademark lawyer, publicists, copywriters, photographers.

Where I then connect the dots and help them to the next step. So they’re not just alone in the next process. So it’s a really cool experience for that founder who wants that support and work with an expert without hiring an in house brand strategist. So that they have that mentorship. They have that strategy.

They have that support and then helping them to connect the dots to the next step of building their brand.

Crystal Vilkaitis: I love that this resource is available for our founders because often branding is not our expertise. Like we want to do the thing that we love doing, and we want to get in front of our customers, and we want to show up, and we just want to do what we love.

But the whole like communicating it, and the look and feel, and the strategies, and the growth plan, and all of those things are often not what we’re good at. And it’s very hard to see the picture when you’re in the frame and you are so that person that’s like standing outside that beautiful picture saying, how are we going to communicate this and sell it? So thank you for having this amazing resource for these founders.

Kelly Bennett: Yes, I absolutely love it. And again, it was through just experience of seeing how many founders got stuck at that point. And I’ve really refined the process and I just love being able to have that available for founders. It’s my favorite thing to do. 

[22:47] Kelly’s tips on how to align your brand positioning in a constantly changing marketplace with the needs of your ideal customers.

Crystal Vilkaitis: It’s so cool. That’s awesome. Okay. So how do you approach the task of aligning a brand’s positioning in the marketplace with its ideal customers, especially when the marketplace is ever evolving? 

Kelly Bennett: I think the most important thing to do first is test. And again, a common answer is content because it’s such a great place to test.

You could do polls, you could do surveys, you can do sneak peeks. You could bring your community in with you so that when you get to that point of launch, you have such a better idea of what people are looking for. And I think again, for many emerging brands, independent brands, that piece seems to be overlooked because again, they’re wearing all the hats, which I totally understand.

But the biggest pushback that I have there or biggest advice, I should say is that it doesn’t have to be perfect. It’s never going to be perfect. Show up with your messy hair and boxes everywhere, whatever the real genuine vibe is, and just be like. “Hey, this is what we’re working on. This is what we’re testing. This is what we’re thinking. We need your feedback. Thank you so much.” 

And people are so generous. People want to see you succeed. And so I think that is one of the biggest pieces, that the brands that are cutting through the noise in this marketplace right now, are really doing a great job at that and doing it at scale and being very consistent with it. 

So I would say getting as much social listening as possible so that when you do make that next step, you have a really good understanding. And also you brought awareness to what you’re building. You drove attention to what you’re building, drove interest and traffic to what you’re building.

And so you’re not coming in cold. And so I think just leveraging content in that way is such a huge advantage.

Crystal Vilkaitis: You brought up an excellent point about your customers and your audience want to give feedback, like they want to be included and involved. And I think retailers in the past I’ve heard, ” Oh, but nobody cares” or, “Oh, they’re not going to engage.”

And when I’ve seen retailers be very authentic and like wall down, “Hey, I really need your advice,” or, “Hey, what do you think about this?” They have this flood of people who really do support them and are excited to support them. So we do, we have to ask those questions. We have to put ourself out there. And I think you might be surprised by what you find.

And then I just want to also echo the point of testing. It’s not the sexiest of things and it’s not like the shortcut, but it’s so critical to really understand what lands, what resonates. And it’s important because it’s going to save you time down the road So I just, I’m loving what you’re giving our listeners here, kelly. 

Kelly Bennett: Absolutely.

[25:50] The key questions Kelly answers to measure the success of a rebrand and get a holistic view of your brand.

Crystal Vilkaitis: With branding and rebranding, how do you measure success? Is it just increased sales or are there other metrics or stories that validate your strategies? 

Kelly Bennett: I think the most important thing for a rebrand is that you are able to check the box of what you wanted to communicate in this next reiteration of your brand and business.

So for me, I always think about, okay, where do we want this to land? What’s the most important objective of this rebrand? Cause rebrand is a lot of work. It’s time. It’s money. It’s resources. It’s all hands on deck. It’s a lot of stress too. I worked on many of rebrands in my day. So I always like to know what is that top of funnel of new brand awareness from possible new customers? What types of other brands are reaching out of possible partnerships? What is the engagement like in the comments section? That social listening is so critical with the rebrand. Has it impacted sales? Do you now have more opportunity for brand extensions?

What does that ecosystem look like that you’re cultivating for your brand? And so those are the main things that I personally look for to give again that holistic view of a rebrand.

Crystal Vilkaitis: Yeah, there’s so much more than just the sales aspect. And I think that we can get caught up in just the sales. We really need to be looking at all aspects, like you mentioned, to get that bigger picture. So thanks for breaking that down for us. It’s very helpful in today’s digital age. 

[27:31] How Kelly sees the relationship between physical retail spaces and digital branding and what independent retailers can do to merge the two effectively.

Crystal Vilkaitis: How do you see the relationship between physical retail spaces and digital branding? Any tips for our independent retailers on how to merge the two effectively?

Kelly Bennett: Oh, I love this question. So I have a client who launched an A.I. brand. She was on your panel at New York Now, Joy Fennell of The Future in Black. And I think she’s doing such a brilliant job working with beauty and fashion brands, of connecting those dots of the digital world and the physical world, and how to do that. She’s using A.I. Everyone should go follow her.

She has great insight on how she’s doing that. I would say from a brand strategy perspective, think about those different consumer touch points of your space. Maybe it’s the front entrance. Maybe it’s a QR code somewhere. Maybe it’s different signage to storytell. Maybe it’s the people in your space who have some sort of presence that can help people feel engaged and warm.

And maybe there’s a call to action that they’re sharing online. Just thinking about how can you honestly break the barrier of physical IRL and online. I had spoken at Facebook small business conference and their biggest question for me was, “How are you building a restaurant online?” And I said, the biggest thing that I focus on is really breaking away that wall, that there’s a difference between the two.

And so I always wanted to make social and digital feel like someone was in the restaurant with me. And so I did different things. We had a chef tasting dinner and I would go live and eat the three course meal, and try the different wines, and I would do it purposely around the time people were coming home from work. And I would go live and be like, hey, I know you’re coming home from work But if you’re hungry, this is what we have today and I would just answer questions.

I would talk about just current events. And people would literally come into the restaurant and be like, oh my gosh. I just saw you’re live. That looks so good, I’m getting a seat, my spouse is meeting me, or my friends are meeting me, or I just came to eat myself, this looked really good. And that blew my mind.

I was like, this is cool. This is really cool. And so I, again, I just always come back to how can you make it feel like one experience versus having this. brick wall, so to speak between the two. 

Crystal Vilkaitis: Excellent. That’s a really good example and how fun to do that, to just be eating the meals like live streaming. I love it. 

Kelly Bennett: Life was hard in those days. I just ate and talked on social media, so yeah, it was a really great time. 

[30:22] This is the first step Kelly would prioritize when it comes to branding.

Crystal Vilkaitis: Yeah. That was, that’s a great gig. I love it. Now, some of our listeners might not have resources to invest heavily in their branding right now. Are there any foundational strategies or steps that they should prioritize?

Kelly Bennett: I think having a good headshot for themselves is really important. Because when you first then get that outreach of press, maybe it’s on a podcast, or someone asks you to do an interview stuff that you can cultivate some brand awareness, essentially for free, you want to feel confident doing that. So I think getting a headshot and it doesn’t have to be expensive, but getting a professional headshot, I think is such a game changer. And also you start seeing yourself in this next chapter versus feeling like you’re dreaming of something and you’re not really living it yet. So I think headshots I’ve found over the years has been such a game changer for founders who maybe are on a super limited budget, but spending a couple of hundred bucks on a good headshot is a game changer.

Crystal Vilkaitis: It really is. And you mentioned humanizing the content. So the more that you are putting yourself out there and the more like you said, if you are getting this press and this attention, you don’t want to send in like a selfie. You want to make sure that you’re really representing yourself. And one of my dearest friends is a portrait photographer.

She’s one of the most like talented people I know. And we talk about just the quality of having a really strong headshot. And also updated. If it’s been a while, then update that headshot. But that’s such an easy thing for our retailers to do. So awesome. Okay. 

[32:03] Kelly’s top piece of advice for crafting a brand that truly stands out and resonates in today’s market.

Crystal Vilkaitis: So before we get into our resilience round, final question here. For all the passionate entrepreneurs listening today, what would be your top piece of advice when it comes to crafting a brand that truly stands out and resonates in the market? 

Kelly Bennett: Feel comfortable. And through practice, you’ll probably feel comfortable sharing, your story online.

And it’s something that you can’t really learn it necessarily. I could teach you some helpful tips, but it really comes down to practicing and being awkward and even saying, “Hey, I feel super awkward doing this. But Kelly told me I needed to, so I’m going to do it.” I’ve had so many founders say that.

Which is totally great. And just, again, someone can resonate with that. They’re like, Oh my gosh, we see you. We know it’s hard to do, but the more you could practice showing up on camera, it’s going to make the trajectory of building your brands flow a lot easier because you are able to spend a lot less money on paid versus organic because you feel more comfortable sharing. 

And it’s one of the biggest advantages, again, brands that are cutting through the noise is that their founder or team is really actively sharing their stories behind the scenes. So I would say in even more tangible next step, get comfortable, just popping in stories on Instagram. Practice there.

It’s really low risk. It disappears in 24 hours if you want it to. And that is just a way to build that muscle. And even if you feel awkward and even if you put a little filter on it or whatever the case may be, just getting more comfortable showing up is such a powerful way to build your brand to the next step.

Crystal Vilkaitis: I couldn’t agree more. And you’re so right. You have to just do it and do it again and do it again. You don’t wait till you feel confident. You have the courage to start. I want to share a really quick story. You’ll appreciate because you have your client saying, Kelly told me to do this. So we had an event called Evolve.

It happens every April and we had this hot seats and there was a retailer who was in my hot seat, Maureen. And we were getting to the root of what the issue was for her really showing up for social media and on her social media. And it was that she hadn’t even done a video yet. Like she was just terrified to do a video.

So I said, okay, on the break. You and I are going out in the hall and we’re filming your first video. So we go out there and I film her and I just had her say her name, store, what she sells, and invite people in. So we do the first one. I show it back to her and she’s Oh, I look so nervous.

Like she just like really didn’t want to felt uncomfortable cause she looks so nervous. And I’m like, okay, what if you do it again? And you start by saying, I feel really nervous. This isn’t comfortable for me. And then do it again. Say everything again. She’s okay. So she starts, this isn’t natural for me.

I really feel nervous, but I wanted to introduce you to my store. And just by her saying that the whole energy changed, like the fear dropped. She felt more grounded. She was more fluid in what she was saying. And I showed her the second video and I was like, do you see the difference? She started to cry.

It was a game changer for her. And the whole point is if you can relate to Maureen, speak how you’re feeling, we don’t need to be perfect. We love when people mess up, when we are relatable, when we’re just ourselves. And so you don’t have to act like you’ve got everything together and you’re professional and you can say everything you need to on, fluidly and perfectly.

Just be you and say where you’re at, and your audience is going to show up for you. 

Kelly Bennett: A thousand percent. 

Crystal Vilkaitis: I was crying. She’s crying. I love when we can see the breakthroughs. It’s so cool. 

[36:04] Kelly’s resilience round

Crystal Vilkaitis: Okay, are you ready for the resilience round?

Kelly Bennett: Yes, I am. 

[36:08] Best business book

Crystal Vilkaitis: All right, let’s do it. Best business book.

Kelly Bennett: So I’m going to do a podcast instead. And my favorite podcast to listen to isn’t necessarily directly to business, but there’s such great stories that can inspire creative ideas for your business. And it’s called Design Matters with Debbie Millman. Such a great podcast.

I listen to that while I work and the different people and creative she has on there, you will have endless amounts of inspiration. 

[36:42] Best retail technology

Crystal Vilkaitis: Ooh. Okay, I can’t wait to listen to that. That sounds really good. Best retail technology, like an app or software. 

Kelly Bennett: I think my answer is no surprise, but Instagram. Leverage Instagram.

Instagram has so many tools now that wants to help you sell products and they are really pushing their shop feature. And again, it’s free. So leverage that, get content added to your shop in Instagram, and really leverage it because Instagram wants you to use that, and will help push you out to more potential people.

[37:20] How do you keep up with the ever-changing world of retail?

Crystal Vilkaitis: Perfect. Love it. How do you keep up with the ever changing retail landscape?

Kelly Bennett: I love Ad Week. I nerd out on all of their emails. I love different influencers in retail, who are founders of brands in different categories and different industries, to get a pulse of what’s happening in that industry.

From food and beverage, home and lifestyle, design, media, even beauty and fashion. I follow along cause that is also a great way to just understand trends. And really listening to how they’re storytelling and what they’re sharing. And it gives me good insight of what’s happening in that particular industry.

[38:07] Because retail is ever changing, how do you recharge your batteries?

Crystal Vilkaitis: Great resources. So good. Because retail is ever changing, h ow do you recharge your batteries? 

Kelly Bennett: Personally, I’m learning to take off on the weekends, which sounds really simple, but is so challenging. And especially coming from, I’ve worked retail many years, and I had the restaurants, and I was a marketing director of a city block where we did tons of activations and events.

And I really was bad at taking off time in general, but now with my new business set up with the incubator, I’m able to take off on weekends. So that’s something I’m really working on being better at to recharge. 

Crystal Vilkaitis: Good. We have to have the rest and we have to have the break. I can be guilty as entrepreneurs. Sometimes we work every single day and you’ve got to bring the break. 

Kelly Bennett: Yes.

[38:57] What’s a branding foundational best practice to help retailers be stronger and more rooted in success?

Crystal Vilkaitis: To help retailers be stronger, more rooted in success, what’s a branding foundational best practice? 

Kelly Bennett: Keep practicing your brand story and how you’re telling your brand story. I like to practice as if someone was interviewing me, and how I would answer questions, and how I would look at a question, and see what rolls off your tongue.

What feels really natural. What gives you the chills when you say it. What feels a little funky when you say it, what do you need to practice and just say it to yourself. Talk in the shower, walking down the street, whatever the case may be, but just practicing saying your brand story is such a powerful tool.

So when you do get asked and when you are then put on camera or interviewed, it flows so much better and you’ll have a little bit more confidence to say yes to those opportunities. 

[39:56] What do you think the future of independent retail looks like?

Crystal Vilkaitis: So good. Finally, what do you think the future of independent retail looks like? 

Kelly Bennett: I think the future of independent retail looks promising and cool and creative. And I think the brands that are going to stand out are going to do things differently. I’m working on two retail brands right now that are opening up brick and mortar, and that’s part of what we’re looking at of what different partnerships we can incorporate in the stores. How can we engage with customers in a different way? 

And just really looking at things from a new perspective, and just seeing what we can utilize with digital with social, and just seeing how can we niche down and create a really unique brand experience within that retail space that people would want to come back to. I think it’s all about creativity, thinking outside the box, leveraging social, and just really being mindful of the overall brand experience you want to carry for your customers.

Crystal Vilkaitis: Awesome. Kelly, this was so great. Where can people learn more about you?

[40:59] Catch up with Kelly

Kelly Bennett: Absolutely. So withkellybennett.com is my website. People can book a brand strategy call where I help them overlook their whole brand strategy where they’re feeling stuck. What is their next goal? And give them a checklist, which is really popular.

Next step. And then also information on the emerging brand incubator, more for that deep dive. And I have a podcast Emerging Brands Podcast with Kelly Bennett, which I’m excited for you to be on. And you could also sign up for my emails. I send out each week-ish of updates on tips for your brand strategy and follow me on Instagram and TikTok @withkellybennett.

Crystal Vilkaitis: Awesome. We’re going to link to all this, so many great resources for our listeners. Kelly, this was so helpful, impactful. I just so appreciate you sharing with us today. 

Kelly Bennett: Amazing. Thank you so much for having me and I look forward to connecting with everyone listening. 

Crystal Vilkaitis: Awesome. All right, everybody. Remember that I am rooting for your success. Have a wonderful week ahead. Bye. 

Kelly Bennett: Bye. 

Crystal Vilkaitis: Thank you so much for being here. It means the world to me. Don’t forget to join the rise and shine newsletter, which is social media news. You need to know sent via email every Monday morning, go to crystal media, co. com slash rise to join. And don’t miss the newest episode of Rooted in Retail, which drops every Sunday morning.