There are never ending hurdles to overcome as you build a business for yourself, but one of the biggest challenges is learning to truly believe in yourself.

Christine Nelson, the founder and CEO of AnnMann Designs, is the definition of heart and soul in small business. AnnMann Designs is a jewelry brand that creates pieces inspired by natural and architectural elements. Her entrepreneurial journey has been nothing short of incredible and by taking a chance on herself, she was commissioned to create the crown featured in the new series, Bel-Air, now streaming on Peacock. Although there has been many lessons learned, it has been an important reminder of how YOU can create amazing opportunities when you put yourself out there.

“I decided to put it on myself to do things that I hadn’t done before” – Christine Nelson

In this episode, Christine discusses:

• The brand discovery process and how important it is to the business
• Lessons learned from understanding and negotiating contracts with large corporations
• The evolution of new entrepreneur to savvy business owner 

Thought starters: How can I apply this thinking to my business?

• What is the personality of your business?
  How is your brand communicating that personality to your ideal customer? What does your brand say about your business? What does it say about you? How are you reflected in the brand? How is your brand telling a story and inviting people in? Is the audience you're inviting in the right customer fit? Are there things you could be changing to have better residents with your target customer? 
  
  
  
• How are your contracts supporting your business?
  Are they allowing and considering the amount of work that’s going to go into a project? Are they setting the right price and the right expectation for you and the other party within the agreement? Is it time to take a critical look at your contracts or your contract structure to see if anything is missing? Is there something that needs to be enhanced, added, or rephrased in your contract? 
  
  
  
• What inspires you?
  What are you taking from the world and using to influence your next step? If you are a technical executor or developer, what inspired you? What creates that fire? What keeps you going and how do you pursue more of that? How do you infuse that into the work that you’re doing every day? 

Key themes

• Branding
• Business Evolution
• Inspiration 
• Contracts

For extended show notes, resources, and ways to connect, learn more at: mavenminds.com/season-1-trailblazers 

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Podcast Editor and Strategist: @episodeready