Raise your hand if you love Rachel Hollis! Even if you don’t, you can’t deny she’s built one heck of an empire. And while it might be easy to assume her success comes from luck or connections, I think it’s a mix of hard-work, resilience and leveraging the power of the BrandStory Blueprint to scale her business.

So how’d she do it?

I wish I could just call her up and ask but sadly, we’re not BFFs…yet.

So instead, I’m breaking down how she does business from a brand storytelling point-of-view.

Read on if you want to follow in Rachel’s footsteps!

Rachel Hollis: Using the power of story to her advantage

In all honesty, I wasn’t expecting to like Rachel Hollis. 

With that peppy attitude and a blog that makes having your sh*t together look so easy, I just assumed her life was a million lightyears away from mine. 

But I wanted to like her, so a few months back I ordered the Kindle version of Girl, Wash Your Face and got to reading.

And you know what? I freakin’ fell in love!

I love her sassy, tell-it-like-it-is attitude. I also love her outlook on life. That doesn’t mean I agree with her on all the things but I can appreciate her opinion (even if it differs from mine).

Being the natural researcher that I am, what interested me most wasn’t her upbringing or her make-it-happen attitude; it was how she grew her business to what it is today.

Here she is, coming from nothing, and rising up through her own tenacity to build a few (not one, not two, but three!) businesses along the way. And not just any businesses, but successful ones at that!

So I did some digging and here’s what I found.

Rachel Hollis Knows (and Lives) Her Brand Values

Rachel (you like how I’m just using first names like I know her?) has had one heck of a life. From being raised in a super-religious home with not a lot of money to her early days in Hollywood, sans college degree, to now rockin’ stages left and right cheering women and men on…she’s really seen a lot!

(FYI so have you I bet)

But what strikes me most is that she subscribes to very specific values that she lives, both personally and professionally, and that guide her to the best version of herself in this moment. 

When a business or brand has a strong foundation rooted in their core values, they are better at:

• Making big, growth-based decisions
• Hiring talented, aligned employees or contractors
• Communicating why their special in an over-saturated niche
• Attracting more of their ideal customers or clients
• Giving back to the causes they care about
• And of course, making more money!

When it comes to uncovering your brand values, I recommend you limit them to three when starting out. The more concise, the better!

Rachel Hollis Ruffles Some Feathers

Girl does not hold back! 

Does she receive criticism? Yup.

Does she get negativity thrown her way? You betcha. 

Do people either love or hate her? Totally.

And for Rachel that’s just part of her success strategy. 

Conflict is the central component to a successful business. 

Without conflict, there is nothing propelling your customer or client into action! 

Without conflict, you’re painting them a rosie after picture but not addressing their messy, very real current reality.

You must address the problem in order to be seen as the best solution.

And while I’m not recommending you create a Dooms Day manifesto, a quick acknowledgment of the problem will suffice before you launch into why anyone should buy what you have to offer.

Rachel Hollis Is Not the Hero

Rachel Hollis is a pro at offering up real-life talk on what’s not working and ways to fix it.

She doesn’t hold back in sharing her day-to-day moments with fans around the world via Instagram, Facebook, speaking events, her books, and her sold-out RISE events.

And what she knows when she shares these stories is that, while they are most often about her, they are mostly for us.

Rachel doesn’t make herself the hero, she positions herself as the guide.

By doing that, she’s seen as the go-to person for women struggling with self-confidence, speaking their truth or starting a business.

As more women turn to her for advice, she and her team build products, services and events that meet the needs of those ideal customers.

By positioning yourself as the guide, everyone wins.

The Rachel Hollis Method for Upleveling Your Marketing

I’m going to dub this the Rachel Hollis Method because…why not? Here’s how you can take a page for Rachel’s own story marketing plan:

• You never know who’s gonna need what you have to share, so stop holding yourself back and start telling your stories today
• Remember, you’re NOT the hero but a guide with a valuable solution
• To become the go-to person your client’s seek, don’t be afraid to call out a problem they currently have
• Define your three core brand values and base every decision, social post or piece of content by them

And if you want to work through your very own BrandStory Blueprint, don’t forget to download your free copy below! In just a few minutes you’ll gain clarity and confidence in writing your own brand story.

Until next time…