Stacy Thal, the founder of True North Branding, was a guest on the Failing to Success podcast hosted by Chad Kaleky with Cosmic Design. True North Branding is a brand strategy agency that focuses on startups. Thal revealed how she started her business by accident when she got laid off five times in the last 10 years while working in the volatile world of Silicon Valley. She realized that pursuing a steady paycheck was an illusion and that her passion was in her consulting work as an independent contractor with startups.

Thal said that she is passionate about using her experience from working with household names, such as Google, Yahoo, and Walmart, for the benefit of worthy startups. Her goal is to help startups succeed by offering them her knowledge and transferring her skills to help them realize their vision. Thal believes that startups have a worse success rate than marriages in California, and the people who have great ideas for startups don't always have the marketing sense that it takes to bring them to light.

Thal also shared some of the key takeaways and lessons she learned from working with these big corporations. She said that clarity, transparency, and sincerity around foundational brand strategy are crucial. This includes mission, vision, values, and reasons to believe. Thal explained that it's not enough to state your mission these days; you have to stand for something and make a difference in the marketplace. Additionally, Thal emphasized that transparency is essential to let everyone in the company know what's going on.

Timestamps:

00:00:00 Intro

00:00:24 Background

00:03:18 Lessons from Working with Big Brands

00:05:06 Creating Brand Missions

00:05:37 Hiccups Along the Way

00:07:03 Mentorship

00:11:34 Contact Stacy