8 Ways To Promote Your Brand By Being Unapologetically Yourself

“Anyone with a social media handle can attract attention and grow a following,” says Tristan Thibodeau, brand strategist and CEO at Wild Womn Haus. “But virality and a large audience do not equal an impactful brand. You also have to know what to do with someone’s attention once you’ve earned it.” Her marketing agency has worked with TikTok star Megan Lavallie (472.3K followers), beauty products company Sedona Lace, and many other leading brands.

When clients engage the services of Wild Womn Haus, they see an increase in revenue, community size, visibility, and recognition. The agency’s true specialty, however, lies in helping entrepreneurs identify their unique edge, market their “it” factor, and stand out in their niche. They help teach industry leaders how to “become industry rebels by being authentically and unapologetically themselves,” says Thibodeau.

In Thibodeau’s view, industry rebels push boundaries, innovate, and create new markets by putting self-expression at the forefront of their brands. She encourages her clients to sell what they want to sell and say what they want to say. “We teach leaders how to stand firmly in their individuality and create success on their own terms,” she says. “Industry rebels aren’t afraid to operate outside the lines of tradition, but also recognize that there is a difference between creating noise and creating real change.”

Here, Thibodeau offers eight ways to promote your brand by being authentically and unapologetically yourself:

1. Start with your boldest vision and then work backward. Every aspect of your brand should support the end goal that you are trying to achieve.
2. Never withhold the strong opinions that you have about your niche, market, or industry. By sharing your unique point of view, you will become a powerful magnet for the right type of people.
3. The topics you specialize in aren’t unique. People mainly hire you for what makes you unique.
4. Your brand should sound like you, so ditch the stuffy and outdated rules of professionalism. If you curse, then curse. If you’re loud, be loud. If you’re goofy…you get the point.
5. Just do the thing already. Fear is the only thing stopping you. Harness your courage and go for it.
6. Make sure that your opinion of yourself is always the loudest and most supportive.
7. Not everyone will get it, but the right people will. Surround yourself with those people.
8. Tunnel vision is not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes you have to tune out the opinions of others so you can really hear your unique perspective.

As an example, Wild Womn Haus worked with a health brand called Reproductive Radiance, which was run by founder Ashe Milkovic. In March 2022, her business was pulling in revenues in the low five-figure range, and she was ready to grow but also struggling with self-doubt. Thibodeau helped Milkovic rebrand her business as The International Association of Functional Hormone Health and evolve from “solopreneur” to full-fledged CEO leading a team of researchers, writers, and functional health experts. Business revenue tripled, social media following increased by 40 percent, and Milkovic emerged as the go-to expert for women's health professionals looking to specialize in functional hormone health.

Growing up, Thibodeau went to a conservative religious school that publicly damned people who identified as LGBTQIA+. Being bisexual herself, she found this extremely disconcerting. Through years of personal and spiritual development work, she decided that nobody should ever have to suppress who they are in order to fit into society. This attitude now drives Wild Womn Haus, where Thibodeau helps clients bring their wildest ideas to life through brand strategy development, design, website creation, copywriting, marketing, and image consulting.

Her life purpose, says Thibodeau, is less about “what I’m doing,” and more about “who I’m being.” She explains, “When I am connected to my most authentic self, I know my purpose is to be a womn who is a strong leader, a critical thinker, a creator, and a life-long learner. This perspective has given me the permission to care less about my title and instead focus my energy on the outcome I am trying to create. At the end of the day, the outcome that I care most about is helping womn stand in their truth."

The biggest challenge Thibodeau faces is overcoming her tendency to be a people-pleaser. “At my core, I value boldness, individuality, and creativity. But sometimes, negative feedback from those around me can be distracting and disheartening.” By encouraging women to be fearless in expressing themselves, she says, she also opens herself up to “a whole can of worms with internet trolls and haters.”

In the end, however, her work gives Thibodeau endless opportunities to re-align with her value and choose self-expression over perceived approval from others. What matters isn’t that everyone buys into your message – only that the right people do.