Have you ever noticed something in your business isn’t working as you planned, or as it once did? Sometimes things that made sense just aren’t a good fit anymore. We spend so much time and energy trying to keep pushing forward that it can be hard to step back and admit when things aren’t working the way we want them to—and decide what to do about it.
Today on Episode 111 of the Real Food Brands Marketing Podcast, Host and Food Brand Strategist Katie Mleziva talks through what to do when something in your business is out of alignment, and what she’s doing about that in her own business to make an adjustment.
1. Check for Alignment
It can take a lot of courage to identify when something no longer serves you the way it once did. We attach so much emotion to what success looks like, and how things “should” be done that it makes it hard to recognize whether something isn’t working any longer…or if it was ever even the right fit for your particular brand and business in the first place. Not only that, but your priorities change as your life changes, and you can find yourself with a different vision than you once had.
And that OK! Go back to what you’ve written for your Vision, Purpose, and Values—or your Brand Strategy Summary 1-pager if you’ve worked with Katie 1:1 or through Brand Strategy Streamlined. Do those high-level strategic foundations still resonate with why you get up to do this every day in terms of your Purpose? With where you’re taking your business with your Vision? With how you’ll guide your business to get there in terms of Values?
As Katie says, “realigning can bring up some unknowns, but you’ll come out better on the other side.” Continuing to push forward and hoping something will fall back into place often leads to inefficient use of resources and ends in discouragement and exhaustion (not to mention still being out of alignment!).
2. Identify Your Knowns and Unknowns
When you’ve decided to pivot and it feels like this decision changes everything, it’s time to take a step back to see what has changed, and what has stayed the same.
An exercise that Katie uses in her 1:1 work when a client makes a pivot is to make two lists: your “knowns” and your “unknowns.” It can feel like suddenly EVERYthing is up in the air when you’re thinking about making a change, so putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) to recognize what is known and where the gaps and uncertainties are can help you realize that the changes you’re looking may be more manageable than you thought – and don’t truly change your entire business.
First, document what does not change – your knowns. This helps you stay grounded in the many decisions and structure you already have in place and do not change with the potential pivot. Next, list out the things you are feeling unsure about – your unknowns. Finally, add a first step you can take to start to learn about each (e.g. industry resources, experts, podcasts, connections, etc.)
Using a simple thought framework like outlining what is not changing (knowns) and putting words to what you have yet to further define (unknowns) can go a long way towards having peace of mind. It puts control back in your hands because you recognize not everything is changing and you’re now actively managing the pieces that are less certain.
3. Find Joy in the Journey
Part of being a driven and passionate entrepreneur is problem solving—the ability to think several steps ahead is likely part of what makes you successful. We often want to know all of the answers to the unknowns today, to reduce risk and feel like we’re accelerating towards our goals. While Katie is action-oriented and loves to learn as well, she has begun to understand the value that comes from being able to create a quiet space to be present in the moment so you can connect the dots and also pick up the breadcrumbs along the way from people and resources that can ultimately accelerate your ideas and action beyond what you could have imagined on your own.
That also means identifying distractions that maybe aren’t serving your goals the way you thought they were. No stale breadcrumbs!
A Hiatus…for Now
For Katie, she’s come to see that there needs to be a realignment of how she spends her time. Between her work with Real Food Brands as a podcaster, coach, consultant, and mentor, her nonprofit work leading Sunbeam Kids, and her kids who are aging at warp speed, she has realized that if you do keep pushing forward when something is out of alignment it can lead to being in constant fight or flight mode, which isn’t a healthy place to live.
So, Katie is saying “not now” to the podcast for the summer and YES to enjoying more time with her family and working with food business owners 1:1 as well as inside of the Brand Strategy Streamlined program.
With 111 episodes out there, there’s plenty of content to catch up on and we have a new Podcast Index by Episode to help guide you to the right episode for what you need right now in your food business. Katie will also be active in the Real Food Brands Round Table community on Facebook and on Instagram and
We encourage you to think about if you need to realign any decisions you’ve made in your business. Katie is always here to connect, whether a casual message or a more formal Brand Strategy Session.
Now, let’s go shake up shopping carts!
Quotes:
“Realigning can bring up some unknowns, but you’ll come out better on the other side.” – Katie Mleziva
“Do you have anything in your business that you keep doing because it is how you’ve always done it, but might be time to revisit?” – Katie Mleziva
“It’s not always easy to see at first, but there is joy in the journey. Just think about how far you’ve come…the great people you’ve met, the knowledge you’ve gained, and what will happen over the coming months and years as you continue to evolve in your business.” – Katie Mleziva
In This Episode:
- Why it can be hard to identify when something is out of alignment with your vision.
- What questions to ask yourself about alignment.
- Why having your brand strategy documented can help you stay aligned.
- How to break down your ‘Knowns and Unknowns’ to make big decisions more manageable.
- Why it’s so important to create space to find joy in the journey.
- What Katie is doing to realign her time for the summer.
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