A collection of interviews: Summer 2018 edition

Nela Dunato speaking at WordCamp Europe 2018

I’ve had the pleasure to talk to journalists and fellow business owners and share some insights from the book The Human Centered Brand with their audience. Since the questions are different, my responses are as well, so it’s a useful read even if you’re familiar with my work and my own articles.

Awarepreneurs Podcast

Awarepreneurs is one of my favorite podcasts, so it was a great honor to be invited as a guest to discuss the intersection between business, awareness practices and social impact with conscious business coach Paul Zelizer. Paul was also one of my book beta readers, and has given a glowing endorsement of the book.

Awarepreneurs podcast interview – Nela Dunato

“What happens when you have a relationship with a client that you’ve been working on for a while, you get to know them, you get to know what their family situation is, maybe even about some personal details that they don’t tell to everyone else, and you also get to know their business (if you’re a business to business provider). So you get to see things that the public doesn’t see. That’s quite vulnerable for them. Like, they’re letting you see parts of their business that they may not want people to know about. But if you’re gonna help them, then you have to know about that. (…) I think it’s important for us to make the first step in showing our own vulnerability so they can think ‘Ok, this person is safe to be around because obivously they’re putting their cards on the table, they’re not hiding anything. I can trust them. They’re not gonna laugh at me, they’re not gonna think I’m a loser because I need help with this thing.’”

Listen to the podcast episode: Grow Meaningful Relationships with Clients Through Human Centered Branding with Nela Dunato

GoDaddy UK interview

Oliver Lindberg has interviewed me at WordCamp Europe 2018 in Belgrade, where I gave a talk titled The Human Centered Brand, giving people a small taste of the subject I explored in detail in the book.

Nela Dunato speaking at WordCamp Europe 2018

“What are some common mistakes designers do when creating a brand for a client or a small business?

ND: Any kind of templated approach is just not going to work. You have to approach each business individually. Their core values and underlying principles are important to communicate because it’s what the customer sees and interprets. We all do it. You see a logo and form an idea of what the business is like. Is it an expensive or a budget business? Is it eco-friendly? Colours and textures tell your story, so we have to be mindful of these shortcuts. We really need to make a decision that’s rooted in the client’s approach. The way they speak to their customers really needs to harmonise with the way they present themselves visually. It all has to connect and make sense as a whole.”

Read the interview: Build a human-centred brand: an interview with Nela Dunato

Netokracija interview

Netokracija is one of the leading Croatian IT portals, which has already interviewed me twice before regarding my other projects. This interview is in Croatian.

“Poanta je identificirati ono što nam već jako dobro ide – što možda uzimamo zdravo za gotovo – i po čemu nas nama bliski ljudi znaju, i odvrnuti to na maksimum. Najbolja stvar koju možemo učiniti je da svojim klijentima pokažemo da smo ljudi baš kao i oni, da ih nećemo osuđivati jer nemaju znanje koje mi imamo, ili im podvaliti nešto što im ne treba. Umjesto da se skrivamo iza “mi”, pokažimo im tko smo to mi, zašto se bavimo ovim poslom, čime se bavimo kad ne radimo, što nam je najbitnije… Tu nastaje potencijal za povezivanje na dubljem ljudskom nivou, ne samo financijskom.”

Read the interview: Knjiga koja nas uči kako privući (i zadržati) klijente s kojima će nam biti užitak raditi

The Digital Commuter interview

One of my readers, Jennette Cajucom, founder of The Digital Commuter invited me to share my tips and insights with her community of entrepreneurial women, and I was very happy to do that because the more women learn how to step into their full self-expression and power, the better our world will become.

“No one else can tell you what your brand strategy is, it needs to come from within you. Consultants can guide you through a discovery process, but they can’t tell you to be or act a certain way. You need to be ready to own what comes from inside, even if it scares you. Often the vision of our brand seems too big, and we want to shrink and make it more “ordinary” so we don’t stand out too much. Try to resist this temptation. Your unique brand lies in this quirky, bold, brave, even outrageous vision. This is what you were made to do, and when you finally accept it, your branding will take less effort to envision and implement. It just feels natural.”

Read the interview: An Interview with Nela Dunato

 

Another radio interview is coming up soon, I’ll edit this post once the recording is published.

Read more