342: Building a Brand That Gets Noticed with Shavonda Gardner – Pt. 1

[00:00:00] Bree: Blending in versus standing out, differentiating your voice, finding your signature style, staying true to yourself. All things that we can all relate to and sometimes struggle as a content creator in this industry where we are pulled to. Be a certain way, perhaps blend in and fit into this mold. This is such an incredible episode that I am really excited for you guys to listen to with my dear friend Shavonda Gardner.

We talk about. Building a brand that gets noticed and how you stand out in a crowded space while staying true to yourself. She is so inspiring and has so much knowledge and goodness that she shares in this episode, and I am so excited for you guys to listen. So let's dive in. Welcome to the Thrive Podcast, where we believe creators deserve more.

More money, more freedom, and even more love for what they do. I'm Bree P, your coach for content creators. And I know the struggle, the long hours, the endless ideas, the feeling that success is just out of reach. But here's the truth. You've got what it takes in this podcast. It's your shortcut to getting there from strategies that actually work to behind the scenes insights.

We are unlocking your potential one episode at a time. So if you're ready to turn your creative hustle into a thriving business, let's get started.

Hello Shavana, thanks for being here. I am thrilled to be speaking with you. How are you?

[00:01:48] Shavonda: Hi. Thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited to be here and excited to chat with you as well. Well. How are you?

[00:01:55] Bree: I'm good. I, I will tell you, I am so wonderful and I'm so excited to talk to you, but I can tell you right now that my husband is not going to be excited that I'm talking to you because I already want to change things in my home and adds some more color.

And he's c he hates painting. He's like, absolutely not, but I love it. Okay. So I'm like, we're just gonna do it.

Such a recognizable brand in the design space. I would love for us to start with, you know, how did you get started on this journey? Can you share that with us? Yeah.

[00:02:34] Shavonda: Well first of all, um, let me just say your husband is not alone. Usually the husband's boyfriend or partners

[00:02:42] Bree: Yes.

[00:02:42] Shavonda: Whoever it is that have stumbled upon my side of the internet don't love me by the end of it, um, I, I tend to have an influence in that way that.

Somehow affects the pocketbook and time Yes. Of, of the partners of people. But yes, thank you for having me. Yes, so I am a Sacramento, California based interior designer and content creator, and I really got my start in this space. Accidentally, if you'll, I mean, it was very intentional, but it was also kind of accidental.

My journey has been a winding road and my background actually, I started out in the military, which you wouldn't think would really have any bearing on what I do now, but it does. Um, my parents were actually both in the army, so I grew up as an army brat. I moved around. A lot growing up, we were never in one place for more than maybe three years or so.

Uh, so I grew up really having a very different kind of understanding of what home was. And what it meant to make a home and what it meant to create a home. And I was also really heavily affected by all of the different places that we lived and seeing how different people live and how different cultures and everyone experiences home.

And so that really had a, a massive effect on me. And I was always decorating my room and always, you know, you have to do it. You know, when you're somewhere for only like two years or three years, you kind of have to like make decisions and have. Specific sense of who you are and wanting to create a space that felt more permanent than it actually was.

And then I myself joined the Air Force, and so then I was in the military as a young adult, and once again, was in a position where I wasn't really in one place for all too long. And at the end of my. Enlistment. I, you know, had to take a look and decide what I wanted to do. Did I wanna stay in or did I wanna get out of the military?

And I was a nine 11 veteran. So my first year in the service, nine 11 happened and it really changed the entire trajectory of my career. It changed the entire trajectory of anyone's military career. I decided to get out. My daughter was very young at the time. And I just was like, okay, well what am I gonna do now?

You know, I never, yeah, I planned to, I planned to retire, you know, I was gonna be an Air Force 20 year plus Air Force veteran, and I just didn't know what I wanted to do. And I had to think like, oh, what are you interested in? You know? And I just came back to like, I've always loved design, so I decided why not be a designer?

Why not be an interior designer? So I used my GI bill to go to, uh, design school. And while I was in the middle of the design school, the recession happened.

[00:05:47] Bree: Of course it did.

[00:05:49] Shavonda: Of course it happened. So I was like, oh, okay. People are losing their homes. They can't keep roof soap in their heads. No one, no one can afford to hire a designer.

This is ridiculous. No, no one can afford a designer right now. This is.

I kind of walked, you know, I decided to, to pivot and was like, you know, do something that's a lot more guaranteed and stable. So I went into property management actually, and, you know, again, still just being in, in the space of home, in the realm of home, if you will, and, um, helping people, you know, find an apartment and find a place.

To live, live and live. It felt like I was doing something really positive and it still allowed me to kind of help people envision how they can make their apartment their own, if you'll mm-hmm. And I, one day, you know, we had bought our first home and I was trying to figure out how to do something. I don't remember some, some easy like thing I needed to fix.

And I stumbled upon a blog, a home blog, young house. Love. Exactly. Oh yeah. And I. What is a blog? What is this? You know, I just really just, when was this? This was 2011. Okay. 2011. I stumbled upon the world of the home blog. Mm-hmm. And I was like, what is a blog? What are, what is this? People are just like.

Taking pictures and sharing their thoughts of, you know, their home and their space. I was like, it, it felt like a whole new world. It felt, yeah, like a completely different world. And I was like, oh my gosh. You know, maybe this is a way that I could stay connected to the world of design in a way that I never really expected to.

So in January of 2012, I hit very first. Here we are today.

[00:07:54] Bree: Oh, here we are. Everything else just magically fell into place. Yes. Long story short. Yes. Here we're

Oh my gosh. Yeah. I love what an incredible journey though. Like all the pivots along the way that you had to make. Yeah. Um, yes. I know we can all resonate with, you know, feeling, feeling that way of just like, yeah, okay. What do I do now? What's next? Yeah. At what point did you realize that, you know, I.

Starting a blog and that you had something unique to offer in this space?

[00:08:34] Shavonda: Well, I, I felt it kind of right away, so, I mean, even though sure. I said, oh, I clicked my first blog post and then here we are, you know, 13 years later. But really it was quite intentional. Uh, I thought I was researching this world of blogs.

I noticed there was a major gap number one, I. That, like nobody that had my perspective.

So there certainly no black queer. People that were sharing their home space that designed with lots of color and layers and yeah, you know, incorporated a lot of more maximalism in their designs back in 20. Very, very beginning stages of, you know, the home block. It was very kind of monolithic in terms of what we saw.

It was very, like a lot of the modern farmhouse hadn't quite erupted yet. Very, I was gonna say farmhouse at that point. It was very leaning into that. It was very like shabby chic. Very whites, lots of white, lots of neutrals. We talked about

[00:09:46] Bree: my

[00:09:47] Shavonda: yes, poor white walls.

[00:09:49] Bree: Yes, yes.

[00:09:50] Shavonda: Lots of white, lots of neutrals, heavy DIY, but I was just like, wow, I'm not really seeing anything.

Not that I wasn't inspired, but there was nothing that was really resonating with. How I wanted to live in my own home. And I just kind of felt like if I'm looking at this and feeling this way, there probably are other people that are feeling the same way. Mm-hmm. And I just always was someone that believed that you need to be the change that you wanna see.

Right. If you wanna see something, then you should be it and kind of lead that charge. Mm-hmm. And so that's what I did. I just decided. I'm gonna show up as myself authentically. I'm gonna share my perspective. I'm gonna share colorful design. I'm gonna share my family. I'm gonna share how we're living in our home.

And really just share that not home is not one way. It doesn't mean that you have to do everything in the same way that everyone else is doing it. And that was really my why. And it has remained my why in everything that I do and every decision that I make it, it has always been that. And so that's really kind of, and now here we are 13 years later.

That's kind of the,

[00:11:17] Bree: that's kind of the undercurrent of, of it. Yeah. That's the thing that just keeps pulling you along and has stayed true to your brand. And that's what I was wondering, you know, like. Interior design, content creation. We look at these industries and they're highly competitive. Mm-hmm. So with you, how did you differentiate yourself and find your signature style and keep showing up as you with that why and that purpose?

[00:11:45] Shavonda: Well, I think I just always have had a very distinct sense of who I am. And I've never really let anyone, I've never really been affected by what everyone else was doing. I was always just so worried about what I was doing. So that part was always pretty easy in terms of having a very distinct sense of who I was.

And knowing that and being very steadfast in that helped me to make that the foundation and that's, that has helped me to stay on my path. Thousand other people doing neutral spaces and minimalism and modern farmhouse and all of that other stuff, you know? But I just, I didn't want to, first of all, that's not my style, so I, mm-hmm.

I can't authentically. Sense of joy and passion around that when I, it's not who I'm, you know, it doesn't speak to me in that way. So it was really easy to be joyful and be, you know, wanna share my perspective and be very just deeply entrenched in it when it's something you love and when it's something believe in, that's really what it is.

And also. A deep passion around representation. Mm-hmm. And, you know, certainly as a black woman, representation is everything. Mm-hmm. And so I really wanted other people to see themselves in me.

[00:13:29] Bree: Yeah.

[00:13:29] Shavonda: Um, I wanted other designers of color and other people who loved home and other people who, you know, wanted to.

Create their own spaces to be like, oh my gosh. Like people don't understand how powerful representation is. You know, when you don't see yourself represented, when you don't see something that you love or that you gravitate toward. When you don't see that, you really feel like it's not possible. Like, oh, they're okay, well I've never seen it, so that means it's not possible.

Yeah, just, just really wanting. A sense of representation has been kind of a core value of mine.

[00:14:11] Bree: I love that. And you're, you, you say these things, so I, I can tell that it is just so true. And so who you are of like, oh, well, I just know exactly who I am and I know exactly what I am going to do. But I am telling you, girl, you could lead a masterclass.

On how to get into that mindset. Yeah. 'cause that is not something that comes easily for everyone. And there's this, you know, struggle that a lot of content creators have with feeling like, oh well so and so is doing it this way. I need to do it that way. And yeah, this feeling of almost like. It's like you want to stand out and be your own brand, but then there's also this like, oh, I need to kind of blend in and do what the crowd is doing.

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Knowing who you are and how strongly you know who you are and what you want, what advice would you give to someone trying to carve out their own space and who is feeling that tug to like, I really need to lean into who I am. Right. Instead of, you know, I think of like, when I am even just creating a reel or creating any type of post mm-hmm.

That sometimes when I'm creating, I can feel a part of me as like, eh, like I'm showing myself, but I'm not showing my full self. Mm-hmm. So for anybody that feels like that, what advice would you give them?

[00:16:21] Shavonda: Well, I think it really depends on what, what you want. What it is that you really, it, it comes down to what you want.

And there are, I think there are two different types of creators. There are creators who truly want to put themselves and immerse themselves in who they actually are and put themselves out there, um, as their brand. And then there are creators. I don't think either one of these are wrong at all. Um, and then there, there's the creator who understands the trends, understands what, you know, social media is wanting and maybe they have, their goal is numbers.

Their goal is growth virality. So they're, they're gonna approach the way that they. Their content in the way that they show up and maybe some of the things that they do and some of the things that they say. They're gonna approach that from a very different perspective as somebody who is more, whose focus is more on genuinely creating and curating a very close knit community who it's more like personal.

[00:17:39] Bree: Mm-hmm.

[00:17:39] Shavonda: I think those are two different things and I think it's okay.

Want to lean into one or the other. Now, I think that there are some people who are really great at doing both, and I think that's, that's a, that's a trickier, um, yeah. Hill to climb because, you know, once you get into the hundreds of thousands, you know, of followers, it's really hard to put so much of yourself to so many people.

I tell right now as creator, we've seen so much. And what it wants, you know, back in 20 13, 14, 15, 16, right. It truly was about building a community in the way of, it was all about, you know, creating incredible captions and the comets and like everyone was engaging with one another and it, and it was really much more about photos.

It just became something completely different.

[00:18:45] Bree: Yeah.

[00:18:45] Shavonda: Um, and so it's really, yeah, you just have to know what you want, what, how much of yourself you wanna give, what of yourself you want people to know and be okay with that. Be okay with, you know, deciding that that's what you want. Yeah,

[00:19:05] Bree: and that's something I think you do really well with is incorporating your voice and some of this like personal storytelling throughout what you're designing or whether you are sharing this reel about going and doing something with friends.

So how important do you think that is in creating a memorable brand, and how do you decide what it is you're going to share and what you're not gonna share?

[00:19:33] Shavonda: I'm more of an open book. There's not a lot that, there's not a ton that I'm not open to sharing. Mm-hmm. Um, that's just me. I will say I am very protective when it comes to my kids, that that part I will not share as much people may have, especially a lot of my older followers saw me share them more when they were younger as they hit that like tween, teenage years.

They kind of really stopped seeing them. I really gave them a lot of their privacy and allowed them to dictate whether or not they wanted to be mentioned or, you know, in a post or, you know, on camera. And now that they're basically young adults, you know, it's, it's a different type of relationship. But I, I, I, I was a lot more apprehensive to share more things as far as my kids are concerned as they were coming into their.

You know, into their adulthood, their young adulthood. Um, but as far as creating a memorable brand, for me, I think the most memorable brands are those that, you know, this person is weaved all through it. Like you can look at something and say, oh my God, that's so Theresa, or that's so Timothy. Without even knowing.

Without looking at the name. Yeah, without reading the, without knowing. You just know. Mm-hmm. That's them 100%. And I think that comes from, again, having a very strong sense of self, having a strong voice and really sticking with it and leaning into that and just being okay with what else e, what everyone else is doing.

Right. The trend cycle of. Home, fashion, color, everything. It's all a trend cycle, so things are constantly going in and constantly going out. Mm-hmm. If you're somebody who loves deep moody color, trust me, I can tell you, girl, back in, you know, five years ago when nobody was trying to hear anything about a black wall or moodiness or texture or maximalism.

I was on an island by myself, just yes,

[00:21:56] Bree: just sitting in the sun and now it's everywhere. But yeah,

[00:21:59] Shavonda: I was just sitting in the sun on this island by myself minding my business, honey, while everybody else, while the populace was very much into, you know, the modern farmhouse and the, the neutral and the, the white like white, white, white, right?

Mm-hmm. And I just knew that was not me. Right. There was no way that I could form myself. I could create an authentic story of joy and inspire people to go that way if I could. Like I didn't. That's not who I am. So that could tell you other people who are fantastic. If you want somebody that's gonna, that has fantastic content around.

Neutral spaces, minimal spaces, or that type of lifestyle. I can send you to 15 people who do it well and I think you would be wonderfully inspired by, but that's not me. Mm-hmm. And knowing that and being okay with not, you know, being okay with that not being my season. Right. This isn't my season. This isn't, if this is what the trend cycle is and if this is what you know, the people wanna see, and this is what it is, this is not my season.

I'm, I'm okay with sending this one out. Right. But now that the trend cycle's coming back around and it's like moody color and you know, maximalism and vibrancy and. More of that, the cozy factor in smaller spaces and not, not open concept living and all of these things that I have been talking about and sharing about and been passionate about for years and years and years now.

People know like, oh, this is, I shahan. I knew that you were gonna shine now. Now it's like, now I have something to say about it and I can speak on it and it feels authentic because I wasn't trend. I wasn't like, oh, this week my living room is white because that's what's in this. Now my living room is dark and cozy because that's what's in, and in two months from now, you're not gonna see my living room, you know?

Mm-hmm. Something different because that's what's in you. It's really just about understanding who you, and I'm not saying you can't change your mind. That's another thing I'm not saying. You can't evolve and you can't change because maybe at one point in your life you did lean more into that like modern forum, house neutral shiplap.

Maybe that was your vibe at one point and now your style has evolved and your style has grown. I think that's a completely different story, and there's definitely a way to show the evolution of that and show how that changes. Without, without jumping on every single trend as it's happening. Mm-hmm. That, that's a, that's much more confusing.

And that's really, that's what I did. We started out in a larger house. It wasn't until we decided to downsize and move into a small home, and I really became just a small home living warrior. That's really when I started to.

You know, the most finite detail and that's how that happened.

[00:25:15] Bree: You're with saying all of this, and I know you're talking from a design perspective. I can't help but like relate every single thing that you're saying to content creators of every niche. Mm-hmm. And how. You know, we can't fully expect ourselves to be the exact same person we were whenever we first started.

You know? You are com not the same person you were back in 2011. Yeah, right. For sure. And so just that idea as well of like. Things changing and evolving as you go and learning how to carry your audience through it is also something wonderful to like gain inspiration from with just what you said. So if you guys like hit, you know, 30 seconds, rewind a couple times and go listen to that and listen to that.

Also, not just from like a home and a interior design perspective, but also like how you can apply it to your brand and your journey. It was such a wonderful parallel that you just did there.

[00:26:20] Shavonda: I'm deeply in the trenches of that. You know, when I first started back in 2011, my kids were like five and 10 or something.

They were, they were really young. Yeah. And you know, I was young. I was

[00:26:35] Bree: You're in a totally different season life.

[00:26:36] Shavonda: Yes. Now I'm in my forties. My oldest, my daughter is 20, son.

I've taken my audience and my followers and my community on this journey of my life over this last 15 years. They have seen my family grow. They've seen us evolve. They've seen us at our highest, they've seen us at our lowest. And for me that was really important because it shows that the authenticity of the journey of what life is.

Those followers that have. From the beginning, their lives have also ebbed and flowed. And so it's being able to see someone who's also sharing their, their wins as well as their losses, as well as their happiness, their sadness, right alongside what you're doing. And that's really what gives voice to that.

That's what gives kind of, you know, grit to, to the authenticity of it is that being able to see. If I was the exact same person now that I was back in 2011, that would be a problem. Yeah, that would be a problem. Mm-hmm. Because how are you changing? How has life not affected you? How has motherhood not affected you or fatherhood or you know, maybe you got married or maybe you separated from a partner.

All of these things affect. How you show up in the world and all of these things also deeply affect your home and how you create and what that space means to you. We're not living in our home the same way when our kids were younger, as we do now as they're young adults,

[00:28:18] Bree: right?

[00:28:18] Shavonda: We're not living in our home the same way.

When Naomi and I were newlyweds. As we are now, as we're approaching, you know, 14 years of marriage, we're completely different people. Mm-hmm. And, you know, our lives reflect that. Our home reflects that. And even going into this next season of life, which I'm so excited about, I mean, it's, it's bittersweet because, you know, the babies are leaving the nest.

Yeah. But it's also very exciting. It's also very exciting and it's very relevant and. I just have to say something for the creators particularly who are over 35, 40 plus, I think there are so many people that want to get into the space no matter what type of creator you wanna be, and I think there's fear around their age.

You know, how can you be relevant in a world that is so heavily about youth and. You know, excitement around the first maybe couple of years when someone has a baby, as opposed to when their kid is 13 and slamming doors and telling you what they are and aren't gonna do. That's the side of motherhood that people don't see.

Yeah, because it's not romantic. But that is the of parenthood that I think we need to see, and that's why I've. Kind of be that person to show that and to see that. And I think all of us who are now in our forties started out on social media when we were in our twenties, when we were in our young, you know, maybe mid twenties, early thirties.

We have gone through all the different parts of it, and so now we're at this age where we have life and wisdom and all of these things that the 20 year olds. Aspiring to be aging is the goal. Really. It is. You don't wanna just live to be 30. That's, you know what I mean? Nobody wants to just live to be 30.

The goal is to make it to your eighties, nineties, and hundreds, right? Yes. But so we need to see that, and we need to show that, and we need to be sharing what that life looks like and the excitement around it, and the relevance of it, because mm-hmm. What you end up having is just a world full of like 20 something year olds that are hot, that are the eight girls that are doing the thing, and then when they turn 40, they're like, oh my God, I had no idea any of this was coming.

Right. Yeah. Because there was nobody who was 40 that was talking about it on, you know, in the social space the way that they are when they're, you know, when we're 20 and looking for like our perfect, you know, shade of foundation or whatever. Oh yeah. I think if you're, especially if you're an elder millennial like myself, you're in your forties.

It's the time we need you. Your voice is important. Yeah. Your perspective is important. There is absolutely a community and a, you know, an audience out there for you. Um, so just, and don't listen. Here's the other thing. Don't be 40 on the internet trying to be 20, ma'am. Oh, sir. Yes. We're, we're not doing that.

Right. That's not, please don't, please don't. That's not the inspiration we need. That's not the inspiration. No. Okay. We're not doing that. If you're gonna, if, if you're gonna lean into it and wanna create content around it and want to share that, be that. Yeah. Be that. Yeah. Be who you are. Own who you are.

Exactly. Absolutely. It's such an exciting time.

[00:31:57] Bree: That's something you've said across the board in this episode is just, you know, leaning into who you are. Yeah. And just how rewarding that is at the end of the day. Mm-hmm. I'm so glad we went on that little tangent. Sorry. I love it so much. No, you, yeah, thank you.

I'm, I'm, I'm the pivot queen over here, so, you know. I love it. Now friends, it's been a little while since I have had somebody be on the show where the interview just kept going and I, it, I just couldn't, I, it couldn't, we couldn't stop it. We couldn't stop it. And so I. Surprise and an exciting thing for you guys.

There is a part two for this conversation. You can jump back in next week to listen to part two where we talk about strategies that helped her grow her brand while staying true to her unique voice, and she also shares her advice for content creators who feel like you're not getting noticed despite putting in all the hard work.

So be sure to come back for part two next week.

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