Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kelli Binnings. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Kelli, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
My life hasn’t been free of hardship, no one’s is free of that, but that’s what makes it so beautiful in my opinion. It’s the hardship that helps you see the positive. Every failure, loss, and change in direction has been an opportunity to face the music and rebuild, refocus, and reframe my life with new information from those challenging experiences. My resilience comes from knowing that the losses I’ve experienced are part of the reason for the person I’m becoming.
Resilience is a decision to choose growth when everything around you is trying to break you. It’s the choice to reframe situations in your favor, to be your own cheerleader, and to rise to the challenge when you’re expected not to. Resilience is the opportunity to see the possibility of the future and not focus on the facts of the past that you simply can not change.
Resilience has taught me that the stories I’ve already lived may be part of who I am but they don’t define me and there’s endless grace in knowing and believing that.
I nurture resilience through my commitment to myself and my daily habits. Focusing on both physical and mental wellness … Fitness helps keep me disciplined and accountable and journalling keeps me sane by giving me a way to express myself and regulate my emotions.
What starts as a choice, becomes a habit, then the next thing you know you’ve built a resilient character that helps you feel like you can tackle anything this unpredictable life throws your way. Choose it or lose it. Both are difficult but only one provides hope and happiness.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
Hi! I’m Kelli, a brand psychology-obsessed, multi-disciplined creative who loves to research, talk, and write about brand, psychology, design, work culture, and leadership. For the past 15+ years, I’ve designed across a variety of industries from Food and Bev to Travel and Hospitality to Fitness and Lifestyle to Skincare and Beauty. I work one-on-one with clients and internal teams to develop and implement brand and creative strategies that build a refined message and a visually strong brand.
As a life-long learner and self-awareness junkie, I thrive on building authentic brand experiences that bring joy and meaning to others, because I truly believe that every company (and person) has the opportunity to create a brand that’s worth experiencing.
Through my company, Build Smart Brands, I help business owners become brand leaders by showing them what’s possible when authenticity, purpose, and meaning align to create trusted, connected, people-minded brands. Through my writing, I aim to educate, entertain, and inspire others to pursue what they love and design the life they want.
In expanding my efforts, I have several items releasing this year including a course on brand leadership and how the SMART Brand Methodology can teach business owners how to create impactful, value-driven brands. Followed by the release of my book early next year, titled The Breakout Creative, written as a self-empowering guide and a much-needed reality check into the internal emotional world of creative careers.
My hope is these tools will help others sharpen their standout skills and unique edge to confidently share their creativity and passion with others through their work and the brands they help create.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Self-development, continued learning, and resilience.
Self-development is committing to being a work in progress, knowing you don’t have all the answers, and being open to learning as you go. Willfully exploring who you are and accepting vulnerability early on helps set you up for success by teaching you how to handle failure and/or changes in direction, gracefully.
Continued learning is simple. Never stop being curious and asking questions. This helps keep you inspired and motivated to pursue your goals. Learning also keeps you flexible, allowing you to pivot as life will undoubtedly throw you curve balls.
Resilience is the result of the above two. When you’re able to openly reflect on who you are while still learning and working towards who you want to be, resilience is born.
Incorporating these into your life early on will challenge and change your perspective on everything.
Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?
I read a lot but two books come to mind for this question …
Designing the Mind by Ryan Bush
This book is an amazingly relatable and visual take on how our brains process events through the three dimensions of our psyche: cognitive, behavior, and emotion. This book helped me internalize my awareness of emotion in a way that empowers me to choose how I react rather than simply being reactionary; it’s a higher level of thinking about the connection between emotion and behavior.
Key takeaways/quotes:
1. Desire for the present to be different than the present incites pain, desire for the future to be different from the present incites action.
2. Live your life, not as if you were trying to hoard a precious treasure, but as if you were crafting your own autobiography with every decision – because you are.
3. Desires are the screams you can’t ignore, but values are the whispers it is often hard to hear.
The Brand Gap by Marty Neumeier
This book fundamentally changed the way I looked at building brands. It masterfully breaks down the foundations of a brand, what it is and what it isn’t, and how successful brands bond with their audiences through trust and understanding.
Key takeaways/quotes:
1. It’s not about liking, it’s about understanding.
2. Let the brand live, breathe, make mistakes, and be human.
3. A brand isn’t what you say it is, it’s what they say it is.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.buildsmartbrands.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buildsmartbrands/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellibinnings/
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/company/buildsmartbrands
Image Credits
@Kate Haus Photography @Sequoia Emmanuelle Photography
