[Top Agency Series] Brand Leadership and Team Development With Stephanie Kochorek

Stephanie Kochorek is Co-founder and Creative Director of Daughter Creative, a company helping businesses connect through various mediums by developing and overseeing communication strategies. Stephanie’s journey is marked by a relentless pursuit of excellence, drawing from her extensive experience working with Fortune 500 brands across Canada and the US. With a global perspective ingrained in their approach to branding, Stephanie and her team craft transformative narratives that resonate on an international scale.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

• [04:02] What is Daughter Creative, and what services do they offer?
• [11:52] How Daughter Creative helps companies rebrand themselves
• [15:06] Stephanie Kochorek explains how her copywriter experience benefited her business
• [19:22] What inspired Stephanie to establish Daughter Creative?
• [23:43] Strategies for effective leadership
• [28:15] Identifying the true passions and interests of your employees
• [30:25] Stephanie’s top business and leadership resources
• [33:03] Methods for developing effective teams
• [40:00] Important client milestones for Daughter Creative

In this episode…

A successful organization is shaped by the intricate interplay between branding, leadership, and team dynamics. As these elements intertwine, they form a tapestry of influence that drives businesses forward. How can these foundational pillars align to sculpt the future of industries worldwide?

Branding entrepreneur Stephanie Kochorek believes in the transformative power of bold branding. She recounts her experience rebranding a business, which breathed new life into the brand, streamlined the hiring process, and ultimately led to the company’s acquisition. Stephanie draws from the insights of Jungian archetypes to craft brand personalities for clients and navigate interpersonal dynamics within her team. By utilizing diverse talents and promoting teamwork, you can create a cohesive and impactful brand narrative that drives connection and engagement.

In this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast, Dr. Jeremy Weisz sits down with Stephanie Kochorek, Co-founder and Creative Director of Daughter Creative, to talk about effective branding and leadership. Stephanie discusses helping companies rebrand, what it takes to be a good leader, and how to create effective teams.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Stephanie Kochorek on LinkedIn
• Daughter Creative

Special Mention(s):

• Second Bite Podcast
• CultureSmith
• Design Thinking Classes
• MasterClass
• Long View

Related episode(s):

• “Driving Success Through Innovative Compensation Plans” with Verne Harnish on the Top Business Leaders Show
• “How to Sell More And Save Time with Robert Hartline of Absolute Wireless” on the Inspired Insider Podcast
• “[Top Agency Series] Most Valuable Advice When Selling Your Agency With Todd Taskey of Potomac Business Capital” on the Inspired Insider Podcast
• “[Top Agency Series] Navigating a Merger and Becoming an End-to-End Digital Partner With Kevin Hourigan of Spinutech” on the Inspired Insider Podcast

Quotable Moments:

• “Identity is a complicated thing, and it’s no different when it comes to brands.”
• “People want that connection to nature, because it’s a company about the environment.”
• “I didn’t need to have a good time. I just want the work to be good.”
• “Everyone needs to feel heard.”
• “Life is too short to continue on in complacency.”

Action Steps:

1. Embrace your brand’s true identity: Reflect on what your brand truly stands for to create a more authentic connection with your audience.
2. Engage in deep listening: Actively listen to stakeholders, clients, and teams to ensure alignment and understanding.
3. Leverage copywriting for strategic communication: Develop strong messaging that emotionally connects with your audience.
4. Prioritize empathy and understanding in leadership: Recognize the diverse motivations and needs of your team to foster a harmonious and effective workplace.
5. Seek out and address discord: Be proactive and confront issues when you sense something is off with a project or relationship.

Episode Transcript

Intro  0:01 

You are listening to Inspired Insider with your host, Dr Jeremy Weisz.

Jeremy Weisz  0:22 

Dr Jeremy Weisz here, founder of inspiredinsider.com, where I talk with inspirational entrepreneurs and leaders today, is no different. I have Stephanie, who is the founder of Daughter Creative, and Stephanie, before I formally introduce you, I always like to point out other episodes people should check out of the podcast. There’s a couple series I’ve done. This is part of the top agency series. So I’ll mention a couple interesting ones from the agency side. But also Stephanie, along with me, are in EO Entrepreneurs’ Organization. And so there was a really good one with Verne Harnish, who started EO. And so that was a really interesting episode.

Also Robert Hartline, who’s in EO Nashville, talked about how he built up company to nine figures and then ended up selling it, and he has a separate software business as well. So that was interesting, kind of hearing his journey and some of the top agency ones. There’s a really interesting one, Stephanie Todd Taskey, who basically pairs private equity with agencies and helps sell agencies. And he’s got the Second Bite Podcast. So he found sometimes people sell more on the second bite than they do on the first because when they sell the private equity, then private equity sells again. They roll some of that equity into the whole private equity fund. So super interesting on the kind of landscape of the agency world.

Another interesting one was Kevin Hourigan of Spinutech. He started his agency in 1995 so it was interesting to hear the landscape of business, the internet and agency life through all those times. So that was a good one as well. And check out more. Inspiredinsider.com, this episode is brought to you by Rise25. At Rise25 we help businesses give to and connect to their dream relationships and partnerships. And how do we do that? We do that by helping you run your podcast. We’re an easy button for our company to launch and run a podcast. We do the strategy, the accountability and the full execution. So Stephanie would call ourselves, kind of the magic elves that run in the background and make it look easy for the host, so they can create amazing content, create amazing relationships, but focus on running their business.

So for me, the number one thing in my life is relationships, and I’m always looking at ways to give to my best relationships. And I found no better way, over the past decade, to profile the people in companies I most admire and share with the world what they’re working on. So if you thought about podcasting, you should, if you have questions, go to rise25.com or email us at [email protected] and I’m excited to introduce Stephanie Kochorek, and she’s the co-founder and creative director at Daughter, you can find them at daughtercreative.com and they’re one of Calgary’s top creative and design agencies.

Daughter has been widely recognized by a number of publications, strategy magazines, small and design agency of the year awards. Strategy magazine’s 2023 creative report card and the Institute of Canadian agencies. I actually had Scott Knox on the podcast, who’s shared some interesting insight as well. Her global approach to branding and their team’s global approach has been honed through years spent working on Fortune 500 brands for some of the most progressive agencies in Canada and US. They’ve worked with companies like the Alberta Cancer Foundation, Calgary Foundation, own cancer and many, many more. Stephanie, thanks for joining me.

Stephanie Kochorek  3:49 

Thanks for having me.

Jeremy Weisz  3:51 

So just start off and talk about Daughter Creative and what you do. And if you’re listening to the audio, there’s a video portion, and I’m going to pull up their website.

Stephanie Kochorek  4:00 

Yeah, so we’re first and foremost a branding agency, really, where we specialize is in helping companies understand their identity and then communicate that to whoever their customers might be. Identity is a complicated thing, and it’s no different when it comes to brands. We used to talk about consistency, that that used to be the golden rule of branding, that everything had to look the same. It had to be exactly the same.

But now, because we’re so connected to our audiences, what we look for is congruency. People want to feel the energy, the idea they want to know what a brand stands for, and that’s the work we do, is helping those organizations really understand in a concrete way who they are, and then we help them communicate that through often visual identities, a lot of naming and a lot of content creation on their behalf.

Jeremy Weisz  5:03 

So tell me what identity for a second, and at what point do they usually come to you that they need to rebrand?

Stephanie Kochorek  5:12 

Yeah, it’s always different. In the beginning, we worked with a lot of startups, like tech startups, which is a lot more straightforward. It’s harder when you have these legacy companies. We worked with Transalta, a billion dollar business, and they came to us and, they just didn’t feel like their identity was aligned with who they really were. But there’s a lot of work that goes into figuring out, okay, what is the story we’re going to tell. To me, it’s always strategy.

We have deep conversations, interview a lot of stakeholders look at the landscape, but really we’re telling the truth like I know that they’re like, sometimes advertising, branding, it’s like, ah, you guys are a bunch of liars, that customers are so savvy, and I feel like we’re really quick to be like, nah, that doesn’t seem right. So so much of our upfront work is really deep listening, and usually the answers show up there. This is who you are, and this is also going to resonate with your audience, and this is a story that we can help you tell.

Jeremy Weisz  6:22 

Do you remember, Stephanie; example? People’s perception of themselves may be different from how other people perceive them. An example where you interview the stakeholders, maybe customers, maybe partners, whatever. You came back to the company and you shared some of that deep listening, and maybe they were taken aback. Maybe they’re surprised, I don’t know. Maybe there’s not a time where they’re surprised.

Stephanie Kochorek  6:51 

No, I’ve definitely had a few of those. It’s funny, because what you have on screen right now is a company called Radical, and The Radical, like, is actually the mind of a seed, so it’s how a plant thinks. But also this notion of being radical, when that company came to us, it was a merger between, I’m gonna call it, five different organizations, all with very similar acronyms. So it was like CCSI, CGSI, and it was every, you know, iteration of climate smart group. And they had a really charismatic CEO at the time, obviously a very complicated stakeholder environment, because you have all these people coming together. I work with an amazing strategist named Claudia.

And she does a lot of that work for us, of like the deep listening, and really came back and said, like, people are done now with pessimism, they want optimism. And basically the role of Radical or this merger of organizations is to help companies monetize like, the good things they do for the environment. So they help you sell carbon credits. They’ll also advise you on, you know, these are good ways to do it in a cost effective way. So it was really, is this radical? Right here? Yeah, this is radical.

Jeremy Weisz  8:13 

Okay, so we’re looking at kind of a body of water and then kind of large ears. I don’t know what you talk about them, like, yoga balls, I picture like, huge brown balls, like, So, anyways, keep going.

Stephanie Kochorek  8:26 

Yeah, anyways, so we came back to them, and they wanted us to rename them, you know. And at the time, it’s like, they’re like, climate smart group is where they’re at. And we’re like, your name is going to be Radical. And then we tell them this beautiful story of the mind of a seed, and it’s also, you’re doing something radical. Prior to that, it was like, Oh, we have to choose. We’re either environmentalists or we’re here to make money. And we’re like, no, here’s a radical notion you can do both. Like, both those things are not misaligned. Those things are aligned. Radical will help you get there. And they were, this is radical, right here. This is radical.

And I think they looked at us like we were kind of a little crazy, like that. Just felt like a lot. And different people had different notions. Anyways, the CEO ended up, just like a Wednesday, he’s like, I need to come down to the office, like, I need to look into your eyes. And I was like, okay, yeah, for sure. And came down and he said, like, am I really going to do this? Like, am I going to call my company radical? And I was like, I don’t have a crystal ball. I can’t tell you the future, but this makes sense. It’s true, and it’s brave. And people love bravery. We want to see people stand out, and we want to see brands stand out for good reasons. And he went for it. I really, I was like, you don’t have to, like, I understand it’s a lot. We have some softer, easier names, blah, blah, blah.

And he’s like, no, I’m gonna do it. And they did it. It was massively successful. I think some of the best comments were, like, my kids think I’m cool now, they all of a sudden, like, had credibility with their with their young kids, because this is, it’s not a stuffy brand, like coral was their main brand color. It’s actually, it was disappearing coral. It was Pantone’s color of the year, because it’s a color found in nature that there’s a chance we’re not going to see anymore. So, these were bold decisions, especially for Calgary, corporate Calgary, like, can be quite stiff, but they initially couldn’t quite they’re like, Oh, God, Are we really gonna, are we gonna do this?

And then they did it. They were so proud of themselves, it made hiring easier. They ended up getting acquired. And the power of the brand was actually, you know, something that they cited in the acquisition, because it was a strong brand that told a strong story, and they saw value in that, which was, a really from the sort of look me in the eyes and tell me, this isn’t a horrible decision moment to, the way that whole company just embraced it and felt proud, and there was some pep in the step, because This was true for them. This was real.

Jeremy Weisz  11:22 

I’m sure, with rebrands, I mean, it takes some type of leap, right? Because it’s not going to be quite similar always as what they have. So it’s going to be uncomfortable, I imagine. How do you okay now you have the brand? How does that translate into the content, like we’re looking here. How did you come up with we’re looking at a body of water here. There’s balls floating over it. Talk about how the brand translated to this what we’re looking at.

Stephanie Kochorek  11:52 

Yeah, so this video actually has a voiceover that, really, we call it a rallying cry video. It’s the emotional touchstone for the brand. So  it’s really like emotion drives behavior, right? Not our rational minds. It’s, it’s our system, one thinking, it’s our gut brain, it’s intuition, like, that’s how we make choices. We know that, that’s just science. That’s Pulitzer Prize winning science. So we know that that’s what we’re dealing with. And minds work in metaphor, right? Like there’s this wonderful study that I love so much. If someone hands you a cold drink, you’re going to rate their personality as cold. If somebody hands you a warm drink, you’re going to rate their personality as warm.

So those intangible effects apply to color, to shape, to sound to imagery, like, if I have soft shapes, I think it’s soft. If I have sharp shapes, I think it’s sharp. So when we’re crafting the radical brand, you can see the logo. There’s that exclamation mark in the middle, but it’s also a bit of a fulcrum. So we’re talking about balance, we look at the what’s the voice of that typeface? Well, it’s all uppercase like that has a perspective that if that was like, an all lowercase, Serifed Font, like it might feel pretty friendly and approachable. This is going to tell you what’s up. It’s clean, it’s to the point like it’s not verbose, and all over the place. And then in terms of, like, these big spheres in nature, it’s really like, this sounds strange, but it’s like mood and vibe, like, what is the right vibe of this?

We want that connection to nature, because this really is, it’s a company about the environment. It’s how, ultimately, that’s what we’re trying to do. But then these shapes are super progressive. You don’t see them anywhere. Those were rendered by a treaty artist. And then placed in these like almost precarious balance points, right? Like that ball is trying to stay there. So it’s this merger of this, the esoteric, the technology. Because radical is a technology company, first and foremost. But then they’re, why are they doing it? What’s the point? Well, it’s the natural world. That’s what we’re trying to protect. So, it’s like art, like it has to tell the right story. You have to be able to unpack those elements, and it feels right on a very intuitive level.

Jeremy Weisz  14:25 

No. Stephanie, thanks for sharing that, because there’s a lot that goes behind the thought process, which is interesting. And how does being a copywriter help you in your career? As a copywriter, because, like all the copiers are direct response. People I interview, they talk, they really whatever it is to copy with images. It’s all about invoking an emotion, right to deep seated emotion, not even the emotion that people think they have. But it’s like. That’s deep-seated; so talk about how being a copywriter has helped you.

Stephanie Kochorek  15:06 

Yeah, I think it is one of our most as an agency. It’s one of our most powerful tools. Like my team will laugh because our clients cry all the time, like, it’s a pretty regular thing we’ll present, like I said, a rallying cry video to them. And like, more times than not, like somebody’s feeling a little misty eyed. To me, what’s actually happening in that moment is they feel seen because they’re coming to us, and they’re like, what’s my identity? Like, who am I? I kind of understand, but I don’t really know.

Jeremy Weisz  15:42 

Maybe you should do this for teenagers.

Stephanie Kochorek  15:44 

Honestly, give me some teenagers. Yeah, they maybe do need a rebrand. And I think it’s this feeling of being seen. It’s like, oh, like you finally see me now. There’s deep relief when people feel like we actually, when I feel like somebody really gets me, I’m like, oh, you get what I’m doing in the world, and you’ve made it clear for me. Now I can tell other people. And I think writing is a really powerful way into that. And usually, if we can agree on that component of, we’ll always lead with the rallying cry, which is us saying, like, here’s in words, who we think you are.

This is the verbal identity. This is how you speak, this is what you believe in. And then the second component of that is your visual identity, like, how do you look? And how do those things merge together to create a fulsome identity? So I think, being a writer, yeah, like copywriters are strategists. I mean, you also have to be conceptual, and you have to understand how those things weave together, the visual and the verbal. So it was a great background for me.

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