How to decide which story your business should tell and how to share it.

Jim James: 0:17

Hello, and welcome to this episode of the UnNoticed Entrepreneur. Today, I'm delighted to have Donna Loughlin joining me from San Jose, California. Donna, welcome.

Donna Loughlin: 0:27

Thank you so much for having me on the show. I'm literally in the middle of the Silicon Valley, which is San Jose, used to be called, "Land of Heart's Delight," where we grow Apple computers. But once upon a time, we grew apricots, apples, grapes, and more.

Jim James: 0:40

And you're the center as well, of course, of innovation, which is why you've helped to launch over 500 companies. And on the show today, I'm going to ask you to share with me how entrepreneurs can get noticed. So, Donna, tell us if you're not Steve Jobs, you're not Elon Musk, you don't want to be on the front and upfront, how does an entrepreneur get noticed?

Donna Loughlin: 0:58

You know, it's a really fun process. I'm just fascinated with people and their stories. I always have been since I was a child. And I think the first thing is what I like to do, is I call it a napkin conversation. You and I sit down, and we have a chat. And we go through a discovery process looking for something that's like, might be ordinary, but it really is extraordinary. Such as, maybe you won a science fair when you were ten years old, or you were flying an airplane by the time you were twelve, or you traveled the world and lived in Uganda, and the Philippines, and parts of Asia by the time you were thirteen. All of those incidents or opportunities would influence your lens on the world, your life experience. And so, taking you into a journey, and looking back, and having some retrospect, oftentimes, we'll find something that's a thread that you didn't think about.

Jim James: 1:46

Right? So if you do that discovery and you find someone has something, but what if it's not necessarily directly related to the company they're running now? Because not everybody's past is an accurate reflection of their present or their future.

Donna Loughlin: 1:58

Well, you know, one of the things that I find that is pretty common is curiosity. I mean, what was that curiosity as a child, and oftentimes as an adult? We kind of dismiss it, or we put it in our back pocket. And curiosities around I work with entrepreneurs who are food scientists that have bringing alternative products to market, alternative meat products, alternative dairy products to market. And it's interesting, they had early days or memories in the kitchen with their grandmother or another family member that I know they didn't realize how influential that was to their journey or they were tinkering, or making something, do you know from the local, you know, a hobby store, or in a classroom project, and they love to particular aspect of modeling or building something and also put that. So preening an obvious back-up front is a little bit of, you know, it's a bit of a, I wouldn't say sometimes it can be a little bit of a cathartic experience for some, but I really like to get the entrepreneur to think out of the box. Don't think just about the product or service that you're bringing to market. Think about the experience that you want to bring to the end-user, or to the partner, or to the customer. And think about that why you decided that you wanted to create this, to begin with. What was that kind of it factor that you were chosen to be the one to take the product or service to market and be the agent of change? And that's ultimately what I'm looking for, is why are you bringing this to market? And what personal benefit may it had on the market? So there's a couple of story themes, disruptive technology or innovation. I like the is a common theme. The other is the dramatic transition or turnaround story. I was a school teacher, but now I became an entrepreneur. I was a doctor, and now I actually want to bring a consumer product. So what made that shift happen? And the other one that I see quite often, and it's a fun one is the you know, personality and the individual. We had some big personas in the tech and innovation sector, which I work, in the Steve Jobs and Elon Musk's of the world. Not everybody is going to have that same persona, but one of the ones that I think it's very Americana, and I think it's quite endearing, is Debbie fields, who created Mrs. Fields cookies. It's a very common chocolate chip, American chocolate chip cookie. But the persona and the creation of Mrs. Field's cookies became like the lady who lived down the street, who brought you out a fresh plate of cookies. So if you imagine if you're having your biscuit with your tea, but it's your neighbor down the street that made these biscuits, or grandmother, that's exactly a type of really personal story that she brought into the brand. And I think, you know, that, that's very enduring and when one can't bring that personal experience of a fond memory or you know, incident in you know, in school or college or a relation with a milestone with the family member. I think that's when products become very personable and interesting, and that persona can be built.

Jim James: 4:43

So I was having a conversation the other day with a consultant about what stage is the founder's story that's important. And at what stage is it the product story that's important. And at what stage is it that the customer story is important? Donna, what's your view on that? Because we hear a lot about the, you know, if people buy. Why? Customers buy. Why? Do you focus on your founder's story? Or do you focus on your product story? Or do you focus on your customer story? What's your view on that?

Donna Loughlin: 5:10

It depends who, who you're having the conversation with. I know with venture capital, investment conversation, they absolutely want to know who the founder is and who the people in the room. That often will dictate whether or not they're going to invest in a company. The product and the product execution oftentimes is secondary with that particular venture group because if they have confidence at the people in the room that are bringing a product to market have been there, done that. They're likely to invest in the fact that they have experience. If the product is, you know, me too versus the challenger versus a disruptive product, I think that's where you really need to get into the enigma of the customer mindset. Focus groups, whether they're you know, paid with the big brands agency, or you accumulate your own focus group and get feedback is invaluable of knowing who your customer is and knowing who you want to talk to target. I think it really comes down to who you're speaking to. And oftentimes, you know, I'll be in early-stage conversations where the founders, the investors, as well as the strategic partners, are all in one room, and you need to make sure that you're adjusting the conversation to the dialogue of who you it is that you're trying to charm. I'm going to use the word "charm," but you're trying to bring into the conversation.

Jim James: 6:22

Okay. So that's really good that because what it's showing is that you need to have multiple messaging. Don't you really is? It's not enough just to have one, you know, who I am I'm the founder, repeated. You need to have a portfolio.

Donna Loughlin: 6:32

And, and I just to have this. So I'll give an example, I've worked with a couple of companies I've been working with for three to seven years, which in an agency environment is a nice length of time, right? But the original story and the launch story that I took them to market with is sizably different than their story today. And so, if you think of it, almost like a closet of clothes, you're going to have clothes that maybe you wear year-round, and you're going to have clothes that you might wear seasonally. If you're, you know, summer attire, but depending on where you live in the world, your summer attire could be your year-round clothes, right? Say, you're living in the Philippines, and you don't need a coa t, but every once in a while, you might travel someplace, you need a coat. And I look at positioning a little bit like a closet, that you need to selectively put on the things that are going to fit. There's not really one size fits all, and you might need to take off and add on accessories, and garments as needed depending on the conversation at your hand.

Jim James: 7:28

So, that's interesting, that idea that you have sort of a, as you say, a wardrobe and depending on the environment that you are in. And also over time, you've helped over 500 companies, Donna, with your PR firm. Have you seen some trends, especially as you're in Silicon Valley with this sort of crossing the chasm. Are there some particular sort of tools or strategies that you've found have been particularly useful for those tech companies that are being crossing the chasm.

Donna Loughlin: 7:51

Yeah. You know, one of the things that I like to do, or fireside chat conversations with the C-suite, with the founders, if they're still with the company, or with the executive team, leadership teams, as the organization gets bigger. At least on a quarterly basis, it's really important to know exactly, how sales are? How was customer engagement? Strategic partners. Any of the good, bad, and the ugly what's happening. The more access, and the more insight that I have to that type of content, the more effective I can be. I don't like to be in crisis scenario. I like to be in preventative and, and not, you know, we all, I'm sure you have experienced as well. Times where something doesn't work as advertised or customers are disgruntled, but you need to be in front of those conversations versus reacting. So I think it's really important. The things that can shift and change in, you know, are everything from supply chain to big box companies taking a lead on things that might be sold online or a consumer awareness, and consumer behavior by channels change. A zoomer and a millennial shop very different than a X and a boomer. Right? And so, in understanding those markets and if the market, I have often had companies where they think their target market is a millennial, and it turns out that it's not, it's actually an X or a boomer, and therefore you have to change and adjust the conversation into those markets. The other part that works really well is bringing in that same founder and leadership team into the narration discovery process. Not out of one time launch, but several times in a year. Looking at the story themes that worked and then recalibrating them, and coming up with new themes that could work better. So story in BBC is very different than writing a story that could potentially appear in a Vanity Fair, or road in track, or Financial Times. Right? One of the publications I particularly read a lot, and I think it's really helpful for entrepreneurs to read, is you know, "Wired" is great for innovation and tech. I love Entrepreneur magazine. But I'm kind of a sponge when it comes to world news, so I look lot at BBC and Financial Times. And looking at the columnist and the entrepreneurial sections, and there's a lot of great resources online, you know, such as your own podcast. Being able to look for things that are going to allow entrepreneurs to constantly be exactly what we're tend to be entrepreneurial. So when I formed my business 20 years ago, I didn't actually create my business to be an entrepreneur. I created my business because I didn't find an agency that I wanted to hire when I was on the corporate side. That was my shift in my career was, "Okay. I'm not finding what I'm looking for, so therefore I'm going to create it." And that is a pretty common theme with entrepreneurs.

Jim James: 10:30

Yeah, I'd agree. That's actually why I set up the company in Singapore in 95 because I couldn't find an agency that I needed, from my research from the UK, so that shifted my life to go to Asia. You, you told Donna, as well, about acorns and unicorns, and about, you know, some companies are seeds, and some are so quick. Do you want to share with us what you mean and how can the company go from being an acorn to a unicorn?

Donna Loughlin: 10:52

Yeah, well, you know, there's been a lot of talk, and it's been a lot of books written about the unicorn, the billion-dollar companies, the Googles and the Teslas of the world. But I work with their younger, earlier-stage companies and entrepreneurs. And I thought about really planting seeds and being able to build you know, a foundation. And as if you look at when you plant a seed, and the first thing that happens, you start, you know, building the roots and then you got to water, you got to nurture, you need sunlight, you need in some places would are you're going to need to talk to it. Right. And as the, the tree begins to grow if you plant an acorn, eventually it's going to be a majestic oak. And so I look at the power of the unicorn as being the companies and the entrepreneurs that are actually deeply passionate and deeply rooted into the conviction of who they are and bringing their product or service to market. And guess who hangs out underneath that majestic tree? The magic unicorn. So that's, you know, coming from the, agricultural belt, I do think that Silicon Valley mystique and the way that we look at products and services has the last dies. And I work with clients all over the world. And I think that if I had a visual I would see these unicorn seeds planted all over the world. And harvesting this majestic, you know, oak trees, and from the Oak, you know, there comes new ideas, and new approaches, and new thoughts, and new theories. So I don't know. I just sit underneath the majestic oak tree, and kind of procure, and grow ideas that dispute a galloping unicorn. I don't know. I like working with there, you know, the hungry early-stage companies that really want to make and change difference. And it's sometimes the acorns become unicorns. I've, I've had that pleasure a few times in my career, but I think there's a lot to be said about planning a really strong foundation. And that is with looking at everything we talked about terms for your customer set. Your, your product, your innovation, your engineering, your operations. And people like us are typically curious, anyhow you know, as a former news reporter, I've always asked the question, "Why?" And to the point that, you know, sometimes for every why there is a, "because I was told so". But I think one of the, responsibilities that we have as communicators is to help entrepreneurs become entrepreneurial, because oftentimes they forget why they even set up to start the journey.

Jim James: 13:14

Yeah, that seems to be a challenge as the organization gets bigger. Sometimes the team gets bigger, and then the focus can be diluted, can't it? You mentioned Donna, about what you're doing globally for brands. Any guidance for entrepreneurs that are dealing outside of their home markets? Because with the internet, even, you know, a local company can be global especially if it's maybe selling an internet-based product or a virtual product, any experience or any guidance you can give for those entrepreneurs that are going across markets, across cultures?

Donna Loughlin: 13:43

Well, I think one of the key things is to really know... you know, I'm American, I've traveled in multiple places. You need to think, you know, be very localized and really understand the psychographics and the demographics who you're selling to, right. This is common marketing, but I think you really also need to ensure that the language is localized. And I, I used to you know talked about Mrs. Fields, and her cookies. That doesn't mean anything to British kid growing up as biscuits, right? So being able to be localized and to also be empathetic, you know, what, what is happening within a cultural set? So things that millennials, and zoomers are very values driven. A very different approach than X's. I actually think the zoomers are more like boomers, which is interesting, right? Because they're like the couple of generations down. But I think we really need to be thoughtful and considerate in bringing products to market and not say, "Oh, you know, the market will accept it, embrace this," that it needs to be customizable and it needs to be thoughtful.

Jim James: 14:40

And what about for you, Donna? What's working as an entrepreneur, when you've had your business for 20 years, you've got a fantastic client base. How have you been getting noticed?

Donna Loughlin: 14:49

Well, you know, I started to sit down and write a book, and then I got a little stuck, to be honest. And I didn't really want to be isolated and alone in a room because writing a new story it doesn't seem like a lonely journey. But writing a book is a little bit of a lone ranger. I decided to create a podcast called, "Before It Happened," which is really a podcast to brown visionaries in the future that they imagined. And so, a lot of it is tech and innovation but I also have this amazing people that are doing some breakthrough things in different markets and in science, and health, and airspace, and different places. And for me, that was just an opportunity to go back to my journalism roots, and my reporting roots. And create stories that might be said, maybe at a conference that we weren't having, or at the counter, at the diner or a cafe, a bistro where we once were going, but we hadn't been going. So, I went through a whole process of just looking for some amazing entrepreneurial people that I could showcase their stories in the format of a podcast. And that's been you know, a really, a great, I'm going to say a great vehicle for conversations and, and breeding, and companies, and clients to work with in different categories I hadn't thought of. I work a lot in transportation, and robotics, and artificial intelligence. I hadn't done anything in food and beverage, or a science -based foods, or animal plant-based food type thing. So, that's brought in a whole new opportunity. And now, I actually have the brainwaves to sit down and work on the book, which will be focused on how does the entrepreneurial, we bring their authentic story to market. And so, I'm going through a process myself and you're a writer, and you know, writing can be a wall full of post-it notes, or it can be audio or just old fashioned I literally have my word processor and the typewriter in my office to date myself just for inspiration. But the other platform that I think besides podcasts I think is really effective. And I do a lot of podcasts, not just my podcasts, but guests such as your show. I also, mentor and speak at universities and involves in mentoring the next generation, which is exciting. And last but not least, internships, and inspiring the next generation of intern to choose communications, journalism or public relations as a profession, I think is just one of the components of advocacy that I'm really, really you know, proud of.

Jim James: 17:09

Donna, and rightly so, and I've, I've seen you have an amazing podcast, and I'll obviously put a link to that in my show. If you want to find out about you, Donna, how can they do that?

Donna Loughlin: 17:16

A couple of quick places. I love to hang out in LinkedIn. It's Donna Loughlin, L O U G H L I N. And I will say LM GPR, which stands for leadership, momentum, and growth. And then Instagram the, @beforeithappenedshow, is the best place to get the latest information on episodes and upcoming guests.

Jim James: 17:35

Donna Loughlin joining me all the way from San Jose, California. Thank you so much for joining me today on the UnNoticed Entrepreneur Show.

Donna Loughlin: 17:40

Oh, thank you so much. Are you going to do a sing-out and sing the song?

Jim James: 17:44

Did you know the way to San Jose? But I can only do the, "Frankie Goes to Hollywood." Can you do the Deanna Morris?

Donna Loughlin: 17:50

Oh, you know, I don't think that there's much difference, really. Although you'll see it quite glamorous and although Deanna would be quite a glamorous and she would, there's a part, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, yeah. I don't know. I think we better stick to her chorus.

Jim James: 18:03

I think we'll need to see in the lyrics. Donna, thank you so much from San Jose for the UnNoticed Entrepreneur Show. Thank you so much.

Donna Loughlin: 18:08

Great. Thank you so much for having me.