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Root + River

a beliefs-based branding strategic consulting team

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‘I Thought I Could Do It On My Own’

October 19, 2020 By Jennifer Lawhead

By Jennifer Lawhead Branding was always something I didn’t feel like I needed help with,” our client Sonya Stattmann recalled. “But I started to realize there was misalignment with who I am and how I ran my business.” This realization dawned on Sonya about a year ago: as she continued to grow her business, she knew it needed to more closely represent who she is today. Not who she was ...

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The Evolution of a Growing Mission-Based Brand

September 21, 2020 By Jennifer Lawhead

By Jennifer Lawhead Jennifer Stevens built her company, JHL, around her own credibility and reputation. Jennifer was the brand.  Her public relations client list grew as she landed high-value media placements on behalf of her clientele over and over again. As she began planning more events, Jennifer quickly became Austin’s go-to event planner, overseeing some of the community’s biggest ...

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3 Unexpected Ways to Share Your Story

August 21, 2020 By Jennifer Lawhead

By Jennifer Lawhead The biggest mistake I see businesses make with storytelling is they put it in a box. That box is assigned to the marketing team where they are responsible for caring for the stories and sharing them as they see fit. Why this is a mistake, you ask? After all, isn’t storytelling the job of the marketers in the building? No. No, it’s not. It’s a responsibility that ...

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When You Brand from Your Beliefs, Marketing Execution Reveals Itself

July 22, 2020 By Jennifer Lawhead

Sara Hertrampf, Sales & Marketing Manager, looked around in amazement at a packed house in October 2019. Filling the Alpine Communications event were business owners, community leaders and economic development champions throughout Iowa. As she marveled at the connectivity happening among local influencers before her eyes, she couldn’t help but remember a time when Alpine Communications was ...

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Doers v. Thinkers

June 24, 2020 By Jennifer Lawhead

By Cat Weise Freshmen year in college, I lived on the same floor with a bunch a young, smart women. One decided she had a new theory about the world as many young people do when they first exercise their independence muscle. Her theory was that the world could be divided into doers and thinkers. She rattled with authority who she believed was in each category. It was presumptuous, ...

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How Branding Led to a $8M Revenue Increase

May 28, 2020 By Jennifer Lawhead

By Jennifer Lawhead We always say, “a strong brand solves a thousand business problems.” When a business moves away from obsessing about bottom lines, profitability and ROI, and instead adopts a brand-centric mindset, it fundamentally changes the fabric of the business. Suddenly, financial milestones are reached; not because a CEO fixated on them, but because the quality of the brand became ...

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Why Branding Matters in the Face of the Unthinkable

May 4, 2020 By Jennifer Lawhead

By Jennifer Lawhead It wasn’t their first rodeo, but in terms of cancelling, it was definitely their first rodeo. In the first weeks of March 2020, as the nation was just beginning to consider shutting down, Rodeo Austin faced a seemingly impossible decision: cancel its entire lineup filled with live music acts, a popular livestock show, a carnival and more, or try to press on, even though other ...

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How Do I Do Big Marketing With A Small Team?

December 13, 2019 By Emily

As the director of marketing, you are one person. You are one person who acts as the chief mouthpiece, the brilliant broadcaster and the tenacious town crier for your big organization. With limited resources, it’s up to you to manage publicity, message, brand voice, campaigns, digital, visuals, and video, all while vetting new marketing advice and services, newfangled technology and CEOs who ...

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The Future of Your Brand Starts Now

September 24, 2019 By Emily

By Emily Soccorsy and Justin Foster One of the downsides of being an engaged leader in a company is that you really want the company to succeed.  You want the profitable business venture that leads to you and your team getting paid, furthering your cause, enjoying accomplishments to succeed. Badly, day-in and day-out. And as fast as possible. You want it to succeed so much it creates ...

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The Off-The-Record Factor: Share Stories You’d Normally Hide

June 27, 2019 By Jennifer Lawhead

If you were being interviewed by The New York Times about the success of your brand, what would you say? (I’ll give you a moment). Would you explain how you made some smart investments? Would you describe your strong work ethic? Would you acknowledge all of the things you did correctly? Yes, I’m sure you would. As you should! Undoubtedly, if a national newspaper has recognized you as an ...

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Co-Founder @emilyatlarge was recently asked about ...

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Co-Founder @emilyatlarge was recently asked about intentions.“No words came to me,” she writes. “Instead, my heart filled, my mind flooded with emotional visuals, forms and feelings blending seamlessly into one another. (This is how most important ideas begin within me.)”Read more about why she doesn’t do resolutions and her unique process for setting intentions. Link in bio

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In the years I spent as part of a fundamentalist ...

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In the years I spent as part of a fundamentalist church, “Grow where you’re planted” was a common trope. It was typically used as an admonishment to someone’s complaining about their circumstances, writes @fosterthinking.The phrase is an adapted relic of survival. While its roots are in hope, it’s usage in contemporary times encourages hopelessness, he continues.Visit the link in bio to read Justin’s three tips if you’re stuck in a survival situation or mindset.

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For those of you who are new here, welcome! We’d...

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For those of you who are new here, welcome! We’d love to share a little bit about who we are.We are a team of four (from left): Jen, Justin, Emily and Cat. Our mission is to inspire others to go inward. We are the founders of intrinsic branding, the practice of building your brand from the inside out. No cheesy gimmicks or taglines allowed in our work.A few more facts about us: We are defiers. Each of us have stories about going against the status quo, shaking up the stale and trying new things.  We are teachers. Our team loves guiding others, teaching new concepts and freely sharing what we know. Plus, Cat was an actual teacher earlier in her career! We are a silly bunch. Ask Justin about his library of Dad jokes.Drop us a line below to say hi and ask us a question.Photo credit: Jean Laninga
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We believe all great brands are spiritual experiences. Branding is an experience that will change you. It will shift the borders of your thinking and give you a practical framework for how to collectively carry the brand forward.

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