Most of us enjoy being boss of our own company rather than working for someone else. It’s always fascinating to see successful entrepreneurs enjoying and living their dream. As we all are aware of the fact that one of the main reason businesses succeed or fail is on the power of storytelling of the product/service.
I recently interviewed Celinne De Costa (Brand story coach), here are her thoughts on the importance of storytelling.
Hi Celinne! I’m excited to share your story and your business with our readers. Tell me a little bit about your background
My name is Celinne Da Costa, and I am a Brand Story coach, published writer, and influencer, building my business from wherever in the world I choose to be 🙂
I’ve been on the road for two years now. I left my corporate marketing career in New York City to design my life just as I wanted it: full of meaningful moments of human connection, time for self-discovery, opportunities to pursue my passions, and of course, financial abundance! I help high-level entrepreneurs gain extreme clarity so they can manifest their life and business vision into a reality that fulfills them and inspires others. This comes in the form of teaching my clients how to tell a story so compelling, heartful, and clear that it literally changes how they think and work. Your reality starts with the story you choose to tell—to yourself and to the world. My mission is to help people shape that story so it is full of joy, meaning, and purpose.
How important it is to have a knowledge of branding and storytelling for people thinking of creating their first online business leaving 9-5 job?
Celinne Da Costa : Branding is not only important, it is essential. When people are creating their first online business, there is a lot of scrambling to get the systems and structure into place, get your first clients, and a hang of the lifestyle change. It’s a pretty scrappy process, which is both stressful and exciting because you’re moving at lightning speed.
That being said—people who don’t think about their brand and story set themselves up for failure. Think of branding as the cement that holds your business together. You can lay down the foundation, add bricks, and furnish, but at the end, you need cohesion for the whole structure to stick together. In order to succeed in the long run, businesses absolutely need to think about their reason “why”: their vision, values, and who they’re serving, to name some. Otherwise, it’s only a matter of time before things start to fall apart.
The journey of creating a brand and story for yourself and your business forces you to look inward and get crystal clear on what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and what sort of impact it will have on your surroundings. This is what will dictate any and all of your business decisions moving forward.
How do you balance building your business and exploring the world as a full-time traveler?
Celinne Da Costa : It’s not easy, but it’s worth it! I’ve found that everyone has their own style of working and travel, which means I’ve had to customize my own version of “balance.”I used to get so frustrated watching how some of my entrepreneurial friends worked—they’d wake up super early, spend their day at a co-working space, take beach breaks, and sometimes even pull all-nighters! I don’t like breaking my day up like that, and I don’t perform at my peak when I do.
Personally, I work in ebbs and flows… I really enjoy the grind for finite amounts of time, but then I need to completely disconnect from it. I guess you could say my style is all or nothing! This means I’d rather work 10-hour days for 3 days straight and have 4 days totally free than split up my workload across more days. Every few months, I take a month off from my business to recharge and focus on travel.
The point is, balancing a business and traveling the world is absolutely possible—but you have to find a rhythm that works specifically for your lifestyle, otherwise you’ll burn out.
I am very excited to read your book. Please share with our readers what’s your book “The Art of Being Human” is about?
Celinne Da Costa : Back in 2016, I quit my corporate New York City job, packed a carry-on, and set out to prove that I could circumnavigate the globe exclusively by staying with people with whom I shared a real human connection. I spent close to a year putting my fate into the hands of strangers.
The result? An astonishing 70+ hosts in 20+ countries across five continents hosted me. By letting me into their homes and their hearts, these incredible humans helped me along my path and unlocked a love for humanity that I didn’t even know existed.
The Art of Being Human is a collection of short stories from this around-the-world journey that taught me that we are indeed capable of creating a life that we are proud of, and we don’t have to do it alone.
Any advice you want to share with entrepreneurs who want to build their business being location independent?
Celinne Da Costa : Yes! I can share the three main tips from my life design framework that I teach my private clients
- Set an intention: for you to build the business you want, you need to know what you want it. So, define what building a location-independent business means to you: is it just working from your laptop? Do you want to travel the world? Do you want to build a team, or do it solo? Understand WHY you want to build a location-independent business.
- Find clarity: now that you understand your intention, what steps do you need to take to get there? You need to look into yourself and think about how you can realistically achieve your goal in a way that works for you. If you build an online business, what kind of business will it be? How many hours would you work? How do you want your days to look like?
- Take action: this is the part where you make magic happen! You can think about your business all day long, but nothing is going to move forward if you’re not acting. That’s where strategy and tactics come in—make a game plan, figure out weekly steps to get there, and then execute on them.
If you have any more question, feel free to connect with Celinne:
Website: https://celinnedacosta.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/celinnedacosta/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CelinneDaCosta
