By: India Laughlin
Serial Entrepreneur, Marketing Strategist, Visionary, Brand Manager, Project Manager, Wife, and Mother are all words that describe the vivacious partner of BRANDilly and owner of Ntewani.
Brandi Royal Washington hails from Detroit, MI where she attended Central Michigan University and earned her Marketing Degree. Upon graduation, Brandi wore the shoes that most college graduates loathe to wear. The shoes that walk down ‘I need a job lane’ and those shoes usually takes them straight to the door steps of their parents. While living at home desperately trying to knock down the doors of the marketing industry, one day Brandi’s father brought home the Crain’s Detroit Business Journal. Brandi thumbed through the journal and stopped at the Books of List page which details the industry leaders of the metro Detroit and Greater Michigan areas. After applying to a few places Brandi was hired and her marketing journey began. After eight successful years with the same company Brandi transferred to their North Carolina office where her professional life was about to take off and her personal life was about to heat up.
Brandi kicked off her entrepreneur journey with her own boutique marketing firm. While getting her firm off the ground, Brandi met her now husband and soon to be business partner Kemah. In 2009 this dynamic duo combined their incredible talents and birthed a full service marketing and branding firm known as BRANDilly. Offering a wide-range of services from branding, marketing, creative design and web development, this one of a kind marketing firm caters to both small and large companies. Whether you are just starting out or just need to regroup and rebrand, BRANDilly has the services you need to not only get your message across but the get the right message to the right audience.
Brandi states that many new entrepreneurs make the mistake of trying to cut corners when it comes to marketing. She points out that it’s usually an afterthought that ends up costing companies more money in the end than it would if they had planned for it from the beginning. Brandi makes a profound statement saying that businesses often lump marketing and branding together when in fact they are extremely different. Marketing is more of a tangible strategy such as a website, or brochure. While branding evokes a feeling or an emotion. Both have the same objective but should be approached from two different angles.
In an initial consultation, Brandi says the first question she asks is, “Who is your target audience?” Following with questions to find out who they feel their competition is and what makes them different. She likes to end the consultation with an incredibly simple yet thought provoking question, “What do you want to be when you grow up? A question donned on us as kids but who knew it would be asked of us as entrepreneurs? Her reasoning for asking this question is to find out if everything you told her about your company actually lines up with what you see for yourself. And if it doesn’t, this straight to the point businesswoman will send you back to the drawing board.
Knowing exactly who your audience is, is extremely vital in the survival of business. She provides an example of a photographer whose goals are to have spreads in Vogue but the majority of his company’s revenue comes from wedding and baby shoots. Know where your money comes from, accept it and capitalize on it, is the advice Brandi gives to entrepreneurs.
Brandi understands that capital is hard to come by when you are just starting out so one of her suggestions is to trade. She suggests trading your services/products for another service or product. An example she provided was that of their cleaning company. Their cleaning company provides cleaning services for them in exchange for marketing materials. Brandi also suggests using the talents of those in your immediate network. If you have a family member, close friend or contact who is great at design you can benefit from their talent and they can use you in their portfolio.
While helping BRANDilly down the path to success, this ever evolving businesswoman was ready to take on another challenge. However, this business venture was different than any other. This venture had heart. This venture had meaning. After an emotional and eye-opening trip with her husband to Ghana, Brandi came back to the states revitalized, rejuvenated, and most importantly full of ntewani. Which in the Ghanian Twi language means inspiration and is pronounced N-te-wä-ni.
Inspired by the culture, the array of colors, and the custom handmade garments the women wore, Brandi knew that she wanted to bring this influence back to the states. Upon returning home, Brandi got to work on what is now her Ghana inspired custom apparel and accessories line, Ntewani.
Even as an experienced marketing and branding guru Brandi was faced with her own reality when initially launching her web-based company. Her vision to provide women with custom made apparel required her customers to send in their own measurements. Which meant these women had to either measure themselves or have someone else take their measurements. Women barely want anyone taking their measurements as is so asking them to take their own turned out to be an unexpected hurdle for Ntewani. In response, Brandi stepped back and regrouped and decided to inventory a low range of sizes. This decision did not coincide with her initial plans but she had to do what needed to be done in order to meet the immediate needs of her customers. Brandi emphasizes that entrepreneurs must be flexible in order to succeed. Although she is currently carrying a low inventory, Brandi has not lost her initial vision which is to make everything custom. Which is why her next goal is to get a destination boutique where customers can come to get measured as well as purchase accessories.
Brandi’s advice for entrepreneurs can be summed up in these words: forecast, start with your best foot forward, be humble, trade, and most importantly be a brand not just a company.
