“I tell my clients they have to have the confidence to make their own rules.”
When you’re talking to Kathleen Shannon you understand quickly that she’s a person who thrives on problem-solving. You might say she’s a master at it.
Years ago when she was planning her wedding she saw a business opportunity. She realized that weddings are a stressful time and brides need help. “No matter how cool you are, when you’re getting married, you go crazy,” Shannon says.
Voila! Kathleen launched a business designing wedding invitations.
Fast forward a bit and she found herself remodeling her home. To deal with that challenging project she started a blog. Her “remodeling” blog grew in popularity and she used it as an outlet where she could help people by sharing her experiences on many topics.
Today, Shannon and her sister Tara Street are co-founders of Braid Creative & Consulting, where they help clients solve their problems (they’ve moved far beyond wedding invitations).
“Nobody has the formula for success,” Shannon says. But she and her sister are getting pretty close. Their clients include Good Egg Dining Group and Brené Brown, who they helped overhaul her branding. They primarily work with creative people: photographers, writers, designers.
Shannon has a unique way of approaching branding, design, and digital marketing: she doesn’t pretend to have all the answers and she recognizes that the landscape is constantly shifting.
“I tell my clients they have to have the confidence to make their own rules. Tech is expanding so quickly that the path is changing – at Braid we’re shining the light on the path and I’m holding the flashlight as we guide our clients.”
Located in Oklahoma City, Braid Creative offers services in logo design, personal branding, and business visioning.
What is business visioning? That’s where the “Braid Method” comes in.
The Braid Method is a process developed by the sisters to help their clients (often creative people) achieve their goals. More than simple consulting, it’s a detailed process that leads the client to find their “dream customer.”
For Shannon, authenticity and vision is instrumental in developing a brand. “Who you are and where you want to be, that’s your brand,” she says. “Once we’ve moved through the process with the client, they’ll have the tools and platform to finally outwardly express how they’ve felt on the inside all along.”
Clients shouldn’t be afraid to dream big and succeed, but Shannon often sees creative people limit themselves or place artificial barriers in their way.
“A lot of creatives say ‘I don’t want to make a million dollars’ or make any money at all,” she explains. “But I do. Money is another measurement of success.”
The most rewarding part of helping her clients is that moment when they realize the challenges they face can be overcome.
“Clients feel like they’re the only ones struggling to get this stuff done, and when we come in we show them that they’re not alone — we’ve all been there.”
According to Shannon the Internet is a stage where everyone can earn the spotlight, where every brand, no matter how large or small, can achieve.
“A girl in blonde dreads can make as much as a man in a suit, and who would know?”
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Follow Kathleen Shannon on Twitter.
