We recently connected with Alyssa Burlingame and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Alyssa, 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?
I learned resilience at a young age. My dad was in the Marine Corps for 30 years, and didn’t retire until I was 14. When I was growing up, my dad was gone a lot on deployments—at one point, he had four deployments in three and a half years. Growing up as a military kid was simultaneously the best and hardest part of my childhood. I had to be resilient. I had to bounce back in the face of fear. I had to continue living my life in the midst of the unknown, with half of my parental unit across the globe.
But being a military kid isn’t truly what taught me resilience. I got my resilience from my mom. My mom, Cindy, is the most resilient person I know. She’s faced immeasurable difficulty being a military wife, homeschooling my older brother and I, dealing with chronic pain, getting her master’s degree, caring for my grandmother, and so much more. My mom wakes up every day and serves others. She very rarely complains about her medical issues, her pain, her fears…I got my resilience from her.
I got my resilience from my brother. He grew up with my dad being gone, too, and has grown into one of the most incredible men. He survived in a house with just my mom and I while I was in middle school, taking on the role of being the man of the house. He has watched his wife almost lose her life multiple times, and he never wavers in strength for his two sons. He continues to fight for answers for my sister in law, continues to fiercely love my nephews, and provides for his family. He is my best friend…I got my resilience from him.
I got my resilience from my dad. My dad, Brian, as I said was a Marine for 30 years. While we had to be without him, we had each other and our friends and family at home base…he did it with his marines. While I didn’t get him for every birthday or Christmas or dance recital, he had to deal with the reality of missing them. I’m not a parent yet, but I’ve gotten to see behind the curtain of what it means to love your kids…and I can’t imagine missing so much of my kids’ lives and not having a say in the matter. When my dad retired, he worked day and night to repair any hurt that my brother and I felt from being raised in the military. Throughout my life, throughout his deployments, there are two things I’ve never questioned: my dad’s love for my brother and I, and my dad’s love for my mom. He loves fiercely and will move mountains for our family…I got my resilience form him.
I got my resilience from my sister in law. My sis, Ashley, has spent much of her life facing medical challenges with no answers and often coming up against dead-end doctor visits, all while being the BEST mom to my nephews, being an incredible wife, daughter, and sister. I’ve never doubted her love for our family. I’ve never had to question where she stands. And in the midst of every single medical or life challenge that is thrown her way, she responds with grace. She responds with surrender. She responds with joy…I got my resilience from her.
My family…that’s where my resilience comes from.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
My business is called Daisy & Dahlia Branding Co., and it exists to help businesses connect with their ideal audience in the right place, at the right time, and in the right way!
Something special about Daisy & Dahlia Branding Co. is that it was born out of my desire to tell stories. It was born out of the fact that I saw a gap in the market—business owners and other professionals know logically who they want to market to, but I see them struggle to put that into practice. My heart is to help businesses connect with their people! Not just market to them and sell them a product or service, but to truly connect with them and cultivate that community in the digital space. Knowing your audience is one thing, connecting with that audience is another!
If you want to connect with other business professionals and have fun conversations, pop over to @daisydahliabrandingco on Instagram! Every Tuesday, I have a series called “Let’s Chat” where we talk about a new topic in the comments. Can’t wait to engage with you there!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
1. Just start. This is something I’m still working on…but I tend to get analysis paralysis and it keeps me from making a decision at all. But starting is the hardest part of any journey! So…just START the dang thing!
2. Time blocking. This is my FAVORITE productivity hack. Find yourself a planner with a daily spread that has an hourly breakdown. (My favorite planner is from The Dailee). My most productive days are born out of blocking off chunks of time to work on specific projects. It gives me the space and permission to ONLY focus on that topic for that amount of time, with no interruptions. (If you have any questions about time blocking, give me a shout on Instagram!)
3. Move your environment. If you’re trying to get work done every day sitting in your bed, you’re probably not the most productive. Move to an office, the dining room table, or even a coffee shop (my personal favorite). The change of environment gets your brain moving and tells your body it’s time to work. The occasional work-from-bed day is totally in the cards, but don’t make it a habit.
What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?
The most impactful thing my parents did for me was say yes. They never EVER made me feel like I couldn’t do something. I wanted to dance? They let me dance. I wanted to do musical theater? They found a small high school that let me do that freely. I wanted to only apply to one college? Okay, that was fine. I wanted to study in D.C. for a semester? They celebrated so loudly with me when I got accepted. I wanted to move to Tennessee? My mom drove 3 days with me to do that. I wanted to quit my job and start my own business? They have done nothing but encourage me. The most impactful thing they did was instill a belief in me that I can do whatever I set my mind to, and they gave me the space to do that my entire life.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ddbrandingco.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daisydahliabrandingco/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alyssaburlingame/
Image Credits
Photo credit: 7FootMultiMedia
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