Doing Less Than You’re Capable Of – A Conversation with Jo Espejo on the Branded Impact Podcast

Update: 2025-07-31

Description

Episode 976: Show Notes

What is it that you’re ultimately trying to do? What is the legacy you’re trying to create? Considering these things is so important when building your personal brand. Today’s episode is a little bit different. We are flipping the tables as we rerun an interview I had on the Branded Impact Podcast, hosted by Jo Espejo. The conversation was so good, I feel like we need to have it on the Strategy Hour too!

In this discussion, I explore what it means to do less than you’re capable of, how to know when to quit, the power of personal branding, and how you can build a business that works for you! I really want to hear what you think about this conversation, so please pop me a DM over on Instagram!

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The Power of Branding Early

When I started my business, I looked like I was already an expert in my field because I was branded like I had been in business for a long time. I think that looking like a company from the get-go made a huge difference in the trajectory of how my business has grown. I share with Jo that I think people often avoid developing brand signatures early because they aren’t sure who they are yet, where they’re going, or what their business is going to turn into. While I totally understand feeling this way, I want you to know that picking a direction for now is going to help. You can change and edit those things later – but if you get started, you have a foundation you can grow from.

What Designing Your Business Around Your Bandwidth Truly Means

I explain to Jo that I want to see more people designing businesses that make sense in the context of their real lives. I don’t think infinite scalability is the goal; I think that creating a business that allows you to sustain the life you have and build towards the life you want and secure a financial future is the dream. I want you to reflect on what makes sense for your business today while considering what will make sense in the future. I break down some guardrails that I have put in place to make sure my business fits into my life. I also talk about the importance of defining what you want your life to look like so that you can intentionally start living like that right now! I want you to know that working more isn’t always going to unlock more income.

Doing Less Than You’re Capable Of

We are often creating, showing up, and spending time in a way that’s unsustainable. What if you did less than you could do? What if you intentionally didn’t try to hit 100%? More isn’t better! Having a simple approach that brings you a consistent income and affords you the life that you want is worth striving for! In fact, some of the most common branding mistakes I see are when people try to be like someone else. I explain to Jo why I believe figuring out who you are without influence is imperative. The content that will perform the best is content that is most authentic to who you actually are and isn’t performative. I also think that a lot of people spend too much time following what other people are doing. I want you to be the leader, put yourself out there, and do the new thing first!

How to Know When to Quit

There’s a fine line between showing up consistently and enduring hardship to achieve your goals and holding onto something that isn’t meant to be sustainable for way too long. I talk to Jo about how to determine what you need to let go of vs. what you should persevere through, and at the end of the day, I don’t think there’s a perfect answer. I genuinely think you have to ask yourself why you’re quitting, and if the answer is just because something is hard and you don’t want to do the work, then I wouldn’t recommend quitting. I want you to be more selective with your priorities because if you have your priorities in alignment, how you should be spending your time will become far clearer.

Pivoting Privately Versus Rebranding Publicly

I have rebranded a few times and changed my approach within my business as well. When you decide to rebrand, you need to be incredibly intentional because you don’t want to lose all the hard work you’ve done up to that point. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t pivot without changing how you’re perceived publicly. When I restructured my business internally and went from 10 full-time employees to only having two people on staff, it didn’t affect how my audience experienced the business. Jo and I discuss the power of authenticity in branding and why that needs to be the most important piece in your rebranding. I want you to ask yourself if who you are online matches who you are in person, and if it doesn’t, then it’s time to make some changes slowly so that you don’t shock your audience.