Meet Allie Horner

We were lucky to catch up with Allie Horner recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Allie, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

When I founded Brand Bloom, my purpose was to do meaningful work that lights me up while helping others and making a positive impact. Since then, my goals have continued to evolve and expand alongside my business, but this original purpose has stayed at the core, guiding the decisions I’ve made along the way.

Creating Brand Bloom has given me the amazing opportunity to do work I love, being creative and strategic in an environment that challenges me and provides ample space to try new ways of doing things and to continue learning and growing.

More importantly, it has allowed me to help other business owners achieve their goals, too. My first job was working as a barista and this is where I learned the joy of brightening someone else’s day by providing amazing customer service (and also how to make a stellar hazelnut latte). As I entered the marketing world, this is something that has formed a guiding principle throughout my career (the customer service, not the coffee. Okay, maybe also the coffee). It’s important to me to give my clients an amazing experience, to lift them up, and to support them as we work together to accomplish their own business goals. When my clients win, I win, and it makes me proud to be able to give them a thoughtful, personal, customized experience.

As my business has expanded, I’ve also discovered how fulfilling and inspiring it is to build an exceptional team. My team has given me the opportunity to grow as a leader and refine a leadership style that aligns with my values. In turn, I’ve been able to help support my team members as they work toward their own goals, whether they’re building their own business or taking care of their families, which is extraordinarily gratifying.

This year, I’ve been able to instill my overarching purpose into my business by taking on projects with businesses that are giving back to the community through their work, whether they’re funding the arts, creating spaces for business owners to grow, or simply fostering a kind, respectful, inclusive work environment. I’ve also been focused on building community, participating in masterminds and a networking cohort with other business owners where we can offer support and share resources.

In my personal life, I’ve been prioritizing my purpose by creating more balance so that I can spend time and energy on my values, including enjoying time with loved ones and adding more health and creativity to my life.

Overall, it all comes back to working in a way that adds joy to my life through being able to help and support others.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I’m the CEO and Owner of Brand Bloom LLC, a supportive and strategic marketing boutique empowering business owners to grow their communities, sales, and time.

I started Brand Bloom to combine my passion – helping others – with my experience – 10+ years in marketing – and now I’m lucky enough to spend every day uplifting business owners and helping them put their best brand forward.

Brand Bloom serves as a full-service marketing partner specializing in results and relationships-focused marketing. We take marketing off clients’ plates so they can do more – more sales, more connecting, and more good. We’re known for expert, impactful marketing and warm, welcoming, dependable customer service. Our services include marketing strategy, social media management, website design, email marketing, copywriting, and graphic design.

I’m fortunate that Brand Bloom has experienced a lot of positive growth this year, and I’m excited to have expanded my team and added some amazing new clients to my roster. I feel so lucky to work with incredible, inspiring people every day!

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

The three qualities that I feel have been most impactful in my business journey are self-discipline, courage, and kindness.

Self-discipline: When you’re your own boss, the only person holding you accountable is you. It takes a lot of self-discipline to show up every day to give something your all, but it’s worth it.

Courage: Running a business means a lot of putting yourself out there, whether you’re asking someone for their business, taking a risk with a decision, attending a new networking event or publishing your personal thoughts in an article like this one. I have learned a lot about being brave and taking chances.

Kindness: Being a business owner can sometimes be a lonely job, especially in the early stages. It has been so helpful for me to build a community of other business owners that I can lean on. I have always believed that kindness goes a long way, and this philosophy has helped me build relationships that have helped me in my business and life.

Do you think it’s better to go all in on our strengths or to try to be more well-rounded by investing effort on improving areas you aren’t as strong in?

I think it’s so important to have a strong understanding of both one’s strengths and one’s weaknesses. Personally, I love to let my strengths shine but it has really benefited me to invest in improving areas where I’m not as strong so that I can improve all around and offer the best experience to my team and clients.

When you invest in your weaker areas, you can learn to improve to make yourself and your offerings better, or you can learn which tasks should be delegated so that the best person to do a certain job is doing that job, freeing up more time for you to execute your own area of genius.

For example, this year I felt that I was struggling with setting boundaries and not having enough control over my calendar and time. I invested in working with an amazing time management coach who taught me skills for improving these areas. I learned a lot of new strategies and my life and business are better because of it. I also worked on delegating more tasks and now I have been able to take on more projects that align best with my skill set and that I love doing. Improving my weaker areas has ultimately led to being able to do more work that aligns with my passion and strengths.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://brandbloomllc.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brandbloomllc/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allie-horner/

Image Credits

Mariah Rybeck – Lost Art Photography
Chelsea Matson – Chelsea Matson Photography