Trisha Leconte

Introduction and Who Is Trisha

Taryell Simmons: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to another episode of Rise Urban Nation. I got my sister in the building, and her name is my mama's name: Patricia, but we call her Trisha. Trisha, where are you joining us from?

Trisha Leconte: I'm in Round Rock, Texas, about twenty minutes from downtown Austin. I moved here from San Jose, in the Bay Area, about a year ago, and I love it.

Taryell Simmons: Let's start with the question I ask all my guests: who are you?

Trisha Leconte: I'm a designer. I'm a creative. I love to come up with cool ideas, work with amazing people and just have fun. I've always been creative, but I removed the creativity and became super analytical. My dad was a software engineer who taught me math and science, so I went into software engineering, thinking I'd do it for the rest of my life. But sometimes things are put in your path and you have to make a huge shift.

Taryell Simmons: Designer could mean so many things. What kind of Picasso do you paint?

Trisha Leconte: I do graphic design and web design through personal branding. I love helping people show up as their authentic self, figure out their message and turn that message into a movement. I started paying attention to why people are attracted to a team or an organization, and it was about their message, who they are and what they represent. So I asked, how can I use my creative skills to help people find that and show it to the world?

What Makes a Brand Effective

Taryell Simmons: I love Apple's branding. At its core it's about being disruptive and creative. What makes a brand really effective?

Trisha Leconte: Clarity on who you are, what you want to do and who you want to attract. But most importantly, being your authentic self and having the courage to share that. A lot of people become entrepreneurs because of something that happened in their life, and having the courage to say, "This is the true me," is really attractive. I heard David Meltzer say the truth vibrates the fastest. And I love the difference between branding and marketing. Branding is about people resonating with you and coming to you. Marketing is the opposite: let me find this audience and say whatever I need to say to get them.

Taryell Simmons: So it takes a little vulnerability to get to the core truth of your story.

Trisha Leconte: Yes. I've had successful clients building teams who, when I start branding them, say the exact same thing everybody else says. So we figure out their true message and story, and create something that represents them.

HERO: Helping Everyone Realize Opportunities

Taryell Simmons: What's the true story that sets you and your branding apart?

Trisha Leconte: The word hero has been a huge part of my life. HERO stands for helping everyone realize opportunities. My journey began when my dad was diagnosed with cancer for the second time, a stage four cancer in his throat. I had a burning desire to figure out how to heal him, and I discovered you can heal the body naturally. I read 63 books, and my mind completely opened up. That's when I knew I couldn't just be a software engineer; I had to share this information. I started out as a health coach, but I didn't have business experience. Then I found Bob Proctor and learned that everything starts in the mind. I became a certified consultant with him, and I realized the information is out there; we're just not being taught it. When I help people brand themselves, it opens them up to a world of opportunities. When you're painted the way you want to be painted, you get speaking opportunities, more clients, a ton of things. It all fits.

Taryell Simmons: Shout out to Bob Proctor. That's a beautiful acronym, and a beautiful way to build a culture that champions belonging and pouring into others.

First Job at Apple and Letting Go

Taryell Simmons: College students often feel like they're failing if they're not in their career right away. Nobody starts there. What was your first job?

Trisha Leconte: You're gonna hate me for this. It was at Apple. I was so shy I never had a retail or restaurant job, but through a scholars program I got the opportunity. I worked on a database, probably organizing software bugs, and took apart MacBooks and put them back together to test the CD-ROM drives. The biggest lesson was the value of collaboration and not being afraid to ask questions. I used to feel like a burden if I had to ask twice. But it's okay to ask for help.

Taryell Simmons: You don't always end up where you start. For someone interested in branding, what steps did you take to get into this business?

Trisha Leconte: I had to let go of what I was doing, which was hard, because I didn't want to start over. I gave the past love, took my lessons and leaned into my gifts. Don't just be a typical graphic designer or web designer. Infuse your essence into it. A friend I'd known for about six months called and said, "I have somebody who wants to work with you. His name is Brian Smith. He's the founder of UGG, and he needs a logo and a letterhead." I was like, really? Me? When he asked why she recommended me, she said something like, "She does really good work and she's really fast." That's exactly who I am. I don't think I'm a traditional brander; I include coaching and helping people find their message. So don't get lost in the sauce of what society says a typical designer is. Add your own flair, add your own essence.

Taryell Simmons: Don't get lost in the sauce, ladies and gentlemen. That's a bar. And usually fast doesn't mean quality. Does that come from your engineering career?

Trisha Leconte: Exactly. I love organization, processes and automation, making things simple without sacrificing quality. I could look back and ask why I made this or that move, but I released all of that. Every failure is an opportunity to grow. I love my journey.

"It's All Good" and Being Your Authentic Self

Taryell Simmons: We get a hundred praises and focus on the one negative comment. How do you release that?

Trisha Leconte: A very simple saying: it's all good. Everything is always working out for me. If you fall off a bike and get scrapes, you're learning something new. If you fail in business, what did you learn? I started training my brain to see the good when my dad was diagnosed with cancer, for my own mental sake.

Taryell Simmons: What's one good lesson life has taught you?

Trisha Leconte: To be your authentic self. I naturally have curly hair, and straightening it takes so much energy, and if I do it too long, I damage it. People get lost when they try to be something they're not. I used to hate my curly hair; now I embrace it. If I'd known that long ago, I would have stuck with being a creative. But I don't regret my journey. I used to be super serious, and now I just enjoy and stay present.

Advice: Use Your Gifts, Don't Chase the Money

Taryell Simmons: What advice would you give someone fresh out of school who wants to follow your path?

Trisha Leconte: Figure out your skills, your talents and, most importantly, your gifts, and use them to build something unique. There's a lot of competition. I was a hurdler in high school; I love being fast and athletic. I love Lolo Jones, because she's beautiful and very athletic. So my work is about beauty, about branding people to show their strength, and about me being quick. That's my essence. And don't chase the money, and don't give up.

Taryell Simmons: You start a business to get paid. What does "don't chase the money" mean to you?

Trisha Leconte: As a mindset coach with Bob Proctor, I thought I'd make a ton of money. When it didn't work out, I mainly left coaching for an industry that was just about the money. I got burnt out; I didn't enjoy it and got a lot of rejection. It was a necessary path, but if I chase the money, I'll end up somewhere I'm not happy, and that affects my work and my mental capacity. Stay true to yourself and don't give up. Being an entrepreneur isn't easy, especially without a circle of successful people to guide you, but you'll learn the lessons to become successful anyway.

Taryell Simmons: I say: don't chase the money, let the money chase you. When you work from genuine love and passion, you attract clients and doors open you couldn't imagine.

Trisha Leconte: I always say "easily and effortlessly." When I leaned into creative work and got over having to post on social media, my entire client base came from my network and referrals. Four or five months in, I was making eight to fifteen thousand dollars a month with zero marketing. The money was chasing me. When you're authentic, success happens more easily and effortlessly.

Taryell Simmons: This podcast started as a beacon of hope, not to make money. People from our communities need to see people that look like them, because people can't be what they can't see.

Trisha Leconte: That gift of hope is amazing. My first Bob Proctor event was in Toronto, the first time I'd spent that much money on anything. I saw so many young people like me who were happy and successful, and I thought, if they can do it, I can do it. Three months later I wrote my resignation letter and quit my job.

Taryell Simmons: Someone told me I'm a historian of the history being made by people that look like us. You create brands that will be remembered in history too.

Trisha Leconte: I love that. When I create personal brands, I'm solidifying what people stand for and helping spread a movement that started with them and can continue way beyond them. That adds more meaning to my work.

Making the Leap of Faith

Taryell Simmons: What would you tell someone stuck in a soul-sucking job who wants something different?

Trisha Leconte: Try different things. You don't have to quit before you're making money or know what you want. Ask people in your community or family, "What am I strong at? What are my gifts?" because sometimes you can't see it yourself. Try things until something feels right.

Taryell Simmons: Just quitting is bold. How did that work out?

Trisha Leconte: I thought it would be so easy. It did not work out like that. But I had tremendous faith. I had a plan, a process, a program. I didn't calculate that I'd never done public speaking or sales. I didn't hate engineering, but I was no longer satisfied, because I had this massive awareness. I had a 401(k) and my husband was still working, but I didn't really factor that in. I'm not advising this, but I don't think I even consulted my husband. I just said, "I'm leaving my job. It's time. I'm jumping."

Current Projects and the Future of Personal Branding

Taryell Simmons: What are you working on, and where can people find you?

Trisha Leconte: The Brand Remix is a do-it-yourself or do-it-with-me approach that helps coaches and consultants find their message and audience, shape their branding and create websites. Branded Media, with a partner, helps people who've had some success build their personal brand, so if they want to sell their company, people know them and want to do business with them. I'm also collaborating with marketers on a three-day, in-person event in Utah at the end of August, where you build a funnel and your brand around it at the workshop. All the information is at funnellaunchsummit.com. I'm doing more speaking too, and I'll be in California, including San Diego, in mid-August.

Taryell Simmons: Come say hello to Rise Urban Nation. What does the future look like for people trying to build a brand?

Trisha Leconte: Gary Vee says it's so important to build your personal brand now. It takes a long time; it's not an overnight thing. And ten years from now there'll be so much competition that without a personal brand you'll probably be irrelevant and not visible. It's so easy to start a business now, with no brick and mortar and sometimes zero money down. When I was a Bob Proctor consultant, trainings had forty or fifty people; now it's probably ten times as many, all selling the same thing. It's not about price point. It's about, do I want to do business with this person? Are they relatable? Are they vulnerable? Do I have a similar story?

Taryell Simmons: And as you evolve, your brand evolves with you. If people have seen you transition, they'll trust the new thing you're on.

Trisha Leconte: Exactly. You got it.

Taryell Simmons: Trisha, this has been amazing. Any last words of wisdom?

Trisha Leconte: Trust the process and trust your journey. Always have a positive outlook, knowing that things are happening for you, not to you. That will keep you from pivoting in the wrong direction. Stay true to yourself, don't be so quick to get to the end result, and have fun with the process.

Taryell Simmons: Things happen for you, not to you. Gold nuggets, Rise Urban Nation. Where can people follow you?

Trisha Leconte: All my handles are Trisha Leconte, on Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Taryell Simmons: Follow her journey. Trisha, thank you for being with us. We'll see you next time.

Trisha Leconte: Thanks for having me.