I’m not nosy. Curiosity is my superpower.
Whenever I’ve moved (16 times, if you’re curious) all my books have come with me. Yes, all of them. I’ve never counted them, but it always takes twice the amount of boxes I think it will.
There’s a Japanese word, tsundoku, that describes the practice of acquiring more books than you could ever possibly read. Some people think this is ridiculous. Some see it as a kind of celebration, keeping those of us with this slightly-silly-but-comfortingly-common tendency humble about all we don’t know. It inspires us to stay curious.
Curious. There’s that word again.
I’m sure you can guess which opinion I hold about tsundoku, but I’m sure you also realise that that’s not the point. Curiosity is.
I deeply believe that if we were all more curious about the way others think, feel and see the world, that it would solve an awful lot of problems.
But what in the world does this have to do with your business?
When you’re great at what you do, you know the world of your work so well that it’s hard to remember what it was like when you didn’t.*
That’s great for your results. Less great for explaining it to people who aren’t experts at it. Like the people you want to help.
You need someone who’s genuinely curious about your work to see it with fresh eyes, and capture that. And who can look from the perspective of the people you want to work with, and capture that. And then find where those overlap with what you want to say about the way you work.
And that’s it really.
Easier said than done, yes. And of course there’s more work to do to build out your brand system into something you use every day.
But this is what it all comes back to. Anyone who tells you otherwise is making it more complicated than it needs to be.
*This cognitive bias is called The Curse of Knowledge. Hop down one of these rabbit holes if you’re curious.
I’M LAURIE KOZAN
a brand and marketing strategist
To be good at PR (which I was) you also have to be good at strategic messaging, smart targeting, solution-finding, idea-mining and powerful writing. At spotting connections among what’s going on in the world, what people think about it, and what you’re trying to say. At knowing how to communicate what’s true to you, in a way that resonates with the people you want to reach.
These days, when we’re all effectively independent publishers, that matters more than ever. Of course we can post or publish whatever and whenever we like — but is it really designed to have the impact you want it to have?
I help founders, experts and independent consultants attract more of the people they really want to work with. If you’re good at what you do, but need a better way to share that with others, you’re in the right place.
My career has been a series of stepping stones leading me to this place — a marketing degree, intuitive coaching, design, copywriting and more.
Early in my career, I was a PR specialist at a busy NYC agency, working with large US and global brands you’ve probably shopped with — Target, eBay, Avon, AT&T and others.
Before the urban jungle of New York (and before that, Washington DC), I grew up in the rural-ish Northeast of the US and went to university in the South. I spent several years living in Istanbul and am now a long-time Londoner.
As a mother of 3, I’m even more of an empathetic, persuasive, efficient priority-tamer and chaos-calmer than I ever was in the “before times”. If you can appreciate what’s required to motivate a toddler or a teen, shepherd an active household in the pre-dawn hours, or do the time-Jenga that is a busy family schedule, you’ll know why this is relevant for you, even if it means too much coffee for me.
All that is to say that I understand firsthand how to navigate nuance and communicate clearly across very varied contexts: cultural, personal, and professional.
Success in my work means that other business owners are successful too — particularly those who want to make a positive impact through what they do.
The way we work is changing. Job security looks different now. Building a business that offers freedom and flexibility alongside meaning and income is the way forward for more and more of us.
At the same time, the world is noisier than it’s ever been — and getting louder still. That doesn’t mean we should stop talking to each other. But it does mean we need to be far more intentional about what we say, why we’re saying it, and the impact we want it to have.
That’s why I believe it’s SO important that you know how to communicate the value of what you do — clearly, confidently, on your own terms, and in a way that resonates with YOUR people.