My teenage and early adulthood years were driven by high school cheerleading and sorority girl antics, which somehow evolved to an extreme devotion/obsession with the band Phish. I have since turned into an outdoorsy, adventurer with a passion for marketing and communicating.  It is fairly simple to see how each of these elements of my past have made an impact on who I am today.  The Meisha Lawson Marketing Services brand is a lot about me, which means these elements of my past and current self help to brand and position my business. 
Why am I writing about this? Over the last few weeks, I've spent quite a bit of time connecting with friends, colleagues and potential clients about Meisha Lawson Marketing Services, as well as their particular situations. The conversation is typically focused on marketing and communications many of these individuals either run businesses or work in marketing and communications; I've started to notice a trend. Often in business we are so busy activating, we forget to start with the basics.  If you are reading this, I want you to ask yourself, "who am I". If you are a business owner or marketing professional ask yourself, "who is my business". If you are a business owner, your business doesn't have to be driven by your personality, but it does need a personality. If you have answers to those questions write them down, humanize them and live by them.  If you don't have answers, I'd encourage you to spend some time thinking about it.  Why? This is the beginning of your brand positioning statement. 

•  If you don't know who your business is, then how can you meet and exceed your customers expectations. 
• If you don't tell your customer who you are, then why should they choose you over the competition? 
• A brand is much more than a logo. A brand helps to define you to your customer. 

As people, we all have something that makes us different, which is the same in business. Once you know who you are you are able to be true to your business is. 
In the spirit of high school cheerleading, "Who Are We? Who, Who Are We?" If you need help answering that question, let me know! 

The first month of entrepreneurship has been what can only be described as a whirlwind.  Making the decision to create a business, building a website, networking and applying for a business license were only the beginning. The important stuff like creating proposals, presentations, estimates, invoices combined with building and executing marketing and PR plans for clients has been invigorating to say the least.  From working with KCPW on generating media coverage for the Park City Cycling Festival to presenting the strategic direction for Historic Main Street, I have been able to reconnect with the wonderful SLC media and look forward to continuing to grow those relationships.   When I look back at all I've accomplished in the first month combined with the outpouring of support I have received, I am extremely overwhelmed. I have hustled and bustled, worked a lot and still found a way to have a lot of fun.  While I still have some serious room to grow, I can only hope the first month is a sign of what's to come. 

On a fun note, I've biked a lot the last few weeks including climbing Armstrong and talking the entire climb with Jessica Kunzer, officially incorporating unassisted pull-ups into my WOD's at Motion Crossfit and catching up with old and new friends.  Park City has enjoyed record temperatures (that enjoy is tongue in cheek) and what has to be a record lack of rain. It's shaping up to be a scorcher of a summer. Let's hope MLMS continues to sizzle as well. 

Below are a few pictures of the progress made in June 2013,  the first month of business for Meisha Lawson Marketing Services.