Episode 246: Reflecting your most authentic self with Boris Kezic, Founder of Metcon Creative and FridaysOff
People want transparency and honesty. In today's episode, Fiona chats with Boris Kezic, Founder of Metcon Creative and FridaysOff. They talk about the importance of authenticity, taking the spotlight off ourselves and always looking at the audience and thinking, “What do they need? What is most going to help them right now?”. Tune in!
Topics discussed in this episode:
Introduction
About Metcon Creative
How family and life impacted Boris and his business
On resilience
On working with clients
Boris' advice on focusing on health
Honing in on your brand values
Essential elements of a brand
Tips before signing with a branding agency
Books and resources that helped Boris
On tools and platforms
Conclusion
Get in touch with My Daily Business Coach
Resources and Recommendations mentioned in this episode:
@MetconCreative - Instagram
“If you write something that you have to constantly reflect on and constantly encourage yourself to live by, then people are going to think it's not genuine because you're going to have a hard time living up to that value. If you're going to sit down and write down your core values, whether it's 3 or 5, think about what's meaningful to you personally and how you can bring that into the business, and how you can reflect your most authentic self.”
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Welcome to episode 246 of the My Daily Business Coach podcast. This episode is an interview that I did with an incredible small business owner that I've gotten to know over the last few years. There's going to be full of insights, tips, and all sorts of good things. No matter where you are in business, stick around because it's going to be a good one.
Before we get stuck into that, two things, I wanted to remind you that if you're looking for templates, whether it is 100 content ideas, a planner, or anything else that you need in your business that could help you immediately, do check out our shop, we have all sorts of things there. We have business coaching packages and our causes. We also have templates and tools that you can buy and download. Some are free and some are not. You can check out all of that at the My Daily Business Coaches Shop. It's MyDailyBusinessCoach.com/shop.
The other thing is I want to acknowledge the traditional owners and custodians on the lands in which I live, work, play, and record my podcasts, and that is the Wurundjeri and Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation. I pay my respects to the elders, past, present, and emerging, and acknowledge that sovereignty has never been ceded. I also welcome any other indigenous guests from all around the world who might be tuning in, welcome. Let's get into this small business interview.
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If you don't know, I send an email every single Sunday. When I first started this email, which is full of business insights, tips, and sometimes ramblings from me, it can be quite personal at times. When I first started, I had nine people on my list. If you're out there and you're like, “I can't start my email until I get at least 100,” you can start. I started with nine. At the time, I didn't even have a website. I used what was called Tiny Letter URL. I don't know if it still exists. It allowed you to create an email list without a website and without a subscribe button. I did that and I had nine people that were on that list.
I'm not sure if our guest was one of those nine but he was early in the piece of following and subscribing to my email. I know that because he and I were emailing each other. He would reply to my Sunday emails with sometimes a couple of words and sometimes a bit longer. Over the years, we developed this friendship through email. I'd never met him. He lives in a different state. Eventually, he signed up for coaching and I was able to put a face to the name, which was interesting.
I have been working with our guest for a little bit, maybe over year or two years. I feel like I've known him for a lot longer than that. It was my absolute pleasure to ask him onto the podcast. I am talking to the wonderful Boris Kezic, who is the Founder of two businesses, Metcon Creative and FridaysOff. The latter is a more recent business. In this chat, we talk about how and why Boris has come up with FridaysOff and how it relates to his other business, Metcon Creative.
Boris is one of those people that honestly is so positive and upbeat, always smiling, always excited, and always energized. Sometimes I'll see people on the 1st or 2nd coaching session but Boris has done oh twenty coaching sessions. Every time, he shows up with this amazing, contagious, and positive energy. Part of that comes from his absolute passion for fitness. He is crazy. He's running 100 kilometers.
He thinks nothing of signing up for these things. He's very much excited about challenging himself. It reminds me of the Beyonce quote when she said, “The only competition I have is who I was yesterday.” Boris embodies that. He's been able to create a whole life that is allowing him freedom and financial gains. Also, he's working predominantly in a niche that he's also massively passionate about, which is fitness and health.
I asked Boris to come on to the podcast to talk about how has he gone. He worked in big and small agencies as a graphic designer and branding expert to creating his own company. What was that been like? Also, about his upbringing, which is incredibly interesting. Boris was born in the Balkans and fled after the war. He went to live in Europe and then came out to Australia. What has he been taught by way of the example of his incredible parents that he does reference in chat? What did they teach him about life? Also, what did they teach him so that he feel free to be able to start his own business? What has that been like for him?
We also talk about how did he get so many US clients? It's one of the interesting things for us in Australia. We're still far away from the rest of the world. Boris does have somebody that works with him. Predominantly, he's working by himself to get pretty much all of his clients from the US when he doesn't live in the US. We've had a pandemic. A lot of people have been getting online. How has he gotten a lot of people in the US to be choosing this guy in Sydney to do their branding, their website, and their strategy?
He talked about all sorts of things in this chat. As always, it's such a pleasure to talk to Boris. He's very uplifting and motivating. I always get off our calls with a smile on my face. He is such a lovely guy. He's good at what he does. Here is my interview with the wonderful Boris Kezic each of Metcon Creative and FridaysOff.
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Hello, Boris. Welcome to the podcast. How are you feeling today?
Hi, Fiona. Thank you so much for having me on. It's a huge honor. I’m feeling great. Things are good. I'm on your podcast so it couldn't be better.
You're always positive and upbeat. It's good.
Trust me, not always.
I find your business fascinating. We've talked about that before. Part of that is that you're aligned. Your business is aligned with who you are outside of work. Interestingly, many of who you work with, many of the brands that you work with, and the bulk of who you work with are on the other side of the world. You are like me, we're in Australia. Can you tell us a bit about Metcon Creative, your business, why you started it, and when you started it? Also, the name. I remember you caught me out when I asked and you were like, “If you know, you know, and you don't know.” That's fine. Can you tell us all about the business and what it means?
Metcon Creative is my business. I’m a company of one. It's just me. I do brands and websites for fitness professionals like small gyms, online coaches, nutritionists, and anyone in the health and fitness space because that's something that I'm passionate about. I got my training as a graphic designer. I’m always creative. I always loved drawing things and making things.
After I graduated, I worked in different agencies for ten years. Like a lot of creatives, that voice felt like, “I want to work for myself one day. I want to build something for myself.” The older I got, the more I got into fitness, working out, running, lifting weights, CrossFit, and yoga. Anything I could do with my body, I was passionate about. This idea started to form in my mind, “Maybe I could combine these two things.” I did.
In 2017, I started working for myself and Metcon Creative was born. Metcon Creative, if you say it in its long form, is a terrible name because Metcon stands for Metabolic Conditioning. Metabolic Conditioning Creative is a terrible name. In the fitness world, especially in the CrossFit world where I was at the time and the most popular thing was at the time, a Metcon is a strength-based cardio workout in essence. You lift weights, you move fast, and you're left sweating and gasping at the end of it as any good workout does.
That was the origin of the name and I did it that way on purpose because I did want it to have that if you know, you know element to it. I want people to understand straightaway that if they're in the industry, this is a fitness creative business and it worked out well. I’m fortunate. I have phenomenal clients. I first started working with clients here in Australia.
My coach, at the time, who's now my best friend, was opening up a gym under an American model with some American business coaches and all of that. I did his branding. They were impressed. One of the same types of gyms from America wanted me to look at her branding. She turned out to be well-known and well-respected as a gym owner in the industry. It's a small-ish industry where people know the big players. I did her branding and went well. She started referring me to other people. That was maybe over three and a half years ago.
Now, 99% of my work is in the US, which makes sense because the fitness industry is way bigger there. They have a bigger population. It's been phenomenal for business. I get to work with many great people. Thanks to the internet, the oceans between us don't mean that we can't work together. That's a quick rundown of who I am, how I came to be, and what I do.
I love how you're like, “Thanks to the internet world.” Imagine if you were doing this years ago.
No. Faxing people their concepts.
Crazy times. I love that you explained that because I was not okay with metabolic conditioning. I remember when you said that, I was like, “No.” As people can probably tell from chatting with you, you are down to earth. You're probably one of the most genuine down-to-earth people that I know. I've had the pleasure of working with you for a while now. Part of that is maybe because of your upbringing. There's a whole nurture-nature part. How do you think that your family and your life before starting a business have impacted what you do and how you run the business?
It's nature and nurture. I was born with a pretty optimistic and positive disposition. That comes pretty naturally to me. I'm lucky in that way. I was born in Bosnia, Yugoslavia. The war broke out when I was 4 years old. We moved to Germany. We were in Germany for seven years and then we had to leave Germany because we were on a refugee visa. We then moved to Australia and that's where we've been ever since. We moved here in 1998.
I look to my parents as a huge source of inspiration in terms of working and dealing with the situation at hand, moving countries twice, and learning a new language twice. It's huge to uproot your life and make that move. I'm grateful to them and inspired by them in that way. We were just kids. You're playing outside and my parents loved that.
My dad nurtured a love of health and fitness in me. I remember being maybe 6 years old in Germany and it was my earliest memory of exercising. Other than playing, we would go for a run. We'd ride our bikes. He got me into basketball and stuff like that. It was always an active lifestyle. Other than being a kid and loving playing outside, that introduced me to sports and exercise and moving your body and feeling good.
In terms of upbringing and things like that, another thing that my parents did well that I'm grateful for was they never pressured us, me and my sister. I have a sister. I never felt any pressure to go to university or make sure I get these great grades or anything like that. It was always, “I hope you're doing well in school.” My parents were busy. They were working all the time trying to put food on the table and keep a roof over our heads and all that.
As long as we were doing well enough in school and they weren't getting phone calls, they left us to explore on our own. That meant that when I chose a creative career, they weren't like, “No. That won't make any money,” all that stuff. They were like, “We don't care what you do after high school, just do something.” I went to TAFE and studied graphic design and the rest is history.
I will say that a woman who worked with my mom, her son was a graphic designer. He had told her, “It's hard to find work as a designer. It's difficult and competitive. It doesn't pay well.” My mom told me some of her concerns about the career I've chosen. I said, “Mom, anyone who's good at what they do gets paid well and has no trouble finding a job. I intend to be good at what I do.”
Mic drop.
I prefer a humble approach. There was that ambition to get good at what I'm doing. That's something that is part of my upbringing. There was never a lazy moment in my household as far as what was modeled to me by my parents.
Thank you so much for sharing that. It leads so much to the next question. You would have seen so much resilience. I almost don't even want to use that word because it's not powerful enough for everything that you and your family have gone through. It’s that constant, “Keep going.”
At the time, that's life. A lot of my friends came from the same background and their parents had been through the same thing. To us, this was normal. It's only now that I'm at the age that my parents were when they had to flee the war. Now, I have a child of my own. You start to put things together because now you're at the same age that they were then. You're like, “How would I meet these challenges?”
It's only now that I can truly appreciate the gravity of what happened and what happened to them personally and not just the fact that the war happened, which was horrible. Also, you have your life planned out and you're going to do all these things. Suddenly, it's all gone and you have to make a move and start again. You settle in a place and then you have to do it again. That resilience is now inspiring to me.
At the same time, it doesn't surprise me because humans are incredibly adaptable, incredibly resilient, and capable of so much, especially under pressure. It's beautiful the way that my parents handled things and many others as well. We're a multicultural country. There are many different backgrounds here and people who've come here through different stories. It's all around us. It speaks to the human spirit and what's possible when you have to do something, what you can do. There's a lot of that admiration in hindsight now.
I bet there is. My parents did not have to go through that at all.
I'm glad.
Even still, they moved here. My mom was my age when we went to Australia. I'm like, “How could you do that? Poor kids didn't know anyone.” You’re like, “Whoa.” It's only when you get to that age and you're like, “Oh my goodness.” It was a million times harder. On that note of resilience, changing, and adapting, you work with a lot of gyms and a lot of people in the fitness space. That has been an industry that had to pivot.
Pivot was used so much but people physically work out together at a gym and gyms were one of the first to close and one of the last to open. I saw people constantly talking about, “How can we not have ten people in a gym but we can go out to thousands of people at an event?” It's still changing. We've had people starting online courses, live workshops, Zoom, and everything else.
I'm wondering how you're able to guide your clients through such massive changes because there may have been people that have had a gym for 40 years. That's what they do, they turn up every day, and everyone comes to do boxing. They never have to think about computers. I’m wondering how did you work with people and change their ways of thinking about their businesses?
Like a lot of businesses, they were like, “Maybe we could do work from home. Maybe we could do this and that. Maybe one day.” It's like, “You better do it this week.” It's that thing, when you have to, you will. It was easier for some clients of mine than it was for others. I'll say this across the board. The people that I work with, their heart is in the right place.
Of course, they own a business, they need to make money. They have financial goals of their own as they should. Their concern was, “How am I going to deliver training and coaching to people now that they can't come in here?” They understand the importance of what their gym meant in their client’s lifestyles. Everyone's stressed. Everyone's susceptible to illness. The gym is this place where you can build yourself to be resilient and also a place where you can find stress relief and a reprieve from the pressures of daily life. That was taken away from people.
The main concern that my clients had was, “How do I now reach these people and make sure that they don't fall apart through this lockdown, which may last 2 weeks or 2 years?” In the case of Melbourne, it’s closer to two years. That was the challenge. Technologically, the majority of them are not people who want to be behind the computer or in front of a camera or anything like that. They want to be one on one with people working with them, enjoying the time of working out together without a screen present. That took some adjusting.
I will say that most of them handled it phenomenally well. I was surprised that the number of people who came to me and said, “Now that the gym is closed, I finally have time to focus on my branding. I finally have time to rebuild my website. Would you work with me?” I thought this is going to shut everything down. People are going to be scared to spend money and stuff. It speaks to any person who has the courage to start their own business that they'll look at this as a setback and an opportunity to focus on things that they didn't have time for before rather than packing them in.
A lot of people closed their gyms and are better off now that they have closed them. For the most part, my clients used it as a way to get better and improve their service. Now that we're removed from the pandemic, people are back to working out within the facility. A lot of them have retained some online training offer where they have access to an app. For an extra amount of money, they're getting their workout program for them. It's created an additional revenue stream.
What I try to get people to understand is that we're never going back to normal and we can't predict the future. We don't know that this won't happen again so you better be ready and you better be prepared. A solid brand message and more than one offering is always a smart play no matter the industry but for fitness especially because that was always the first thing to get shut down. You are in an enclosed environment. You're sweating together. You're breathing heavily. I could understand why gyms closed. At the same time, I was very much inspired by the resilience and the desire to improve during that hard time by my clients and other people who reached out to me.
It’s massive. It's interesting when you're talking about the gym or working out. A lot of people work out in a gym. It alleviates depression, mental health, and all the other things that skyrocketed over the last few years and have continued and take that away from people, that almost ethical challenge that comes up for the person who owns a gym. It’s like, “I know that I provide this great service. How am I going to do that?”
You've talked about it and I see your Instagram and you're always out there running or doing some crazy 100-kilometer run. You are passionate about health and we were talking about it before. I've gone through my own back challenges and you've been lovely in reaching out and connecting and everything else.
What advice would you give to somebody who's reading this? I would pretty much say most small business owners struggle with their health. It’s either physical health from packing boxes all day or moving around a shop or manufacturing or creating products. There's the mental health of staff, stress, lockdowns, and everything. You're interested in this and you've been interested in it forever. If somebody's reading who maybe needs a bit of a kick or a reason to remind themselves to focus on their health, what would you say to them?
The first thing that I would love for people to understand is whenever it's about going to the gym, going for a run, or going for a walk, people always say, “That takes so much effort. That's going to take so much time away from me.” I've been exercising intentionally for over seventeen years. The main thing that I would want to get across is exercise gives you way more than it takes from you. For that fifteen minutes that you invest in going for a walk, you're going to get a lot more in return in terms of stress relief and health for your body. Get moving and do something.
If you're doing nothing at the moment, put in a daily walk even if it's five minutes. People think that they need to go to a boot camp or they need to join the gym and do all this stuff. You don't. You have to be moving and you got to do something every day. One thing across the board for small business owners or large business owners, it doesn't matter, we're all stressed.
There isn't a better stress relief than exercise, getting out there, and sweating. Whether you're going for a run or you joined the gym and do some strength training or you do join a fitness class, go to yoga or pilates or walk around the block. If you get moving, that is the best stress relief that we have at our disposal and it's accessible.
If I was going to think about the ideal thing for someone who, like me, is sitting for 6 to 10 hours a day or is doing a lot of meetings and managing projects and there's a lot on your mind. If you can make the time, one hour a day. Let's look at your week. I will try to do some strength training like lifting weights 2 or 3 times a week. Go for a run, a bike ride, or something to get your heart rate up at a normal steady pace 2 or 3 times a week. Go for a 15 to 30-minute walk every single day.
If you do that, in three months, you won't recognize the person that you are. Your ability to get your work done without pain and without stress will go through the roof. You'll be amazed. If you're not doing anything at all at the moment, go out and go for a walk every single day. Do that for a week before you decide to take up anything bigger than that.
Small incremental things have a huge impact way more than the fitness industry. To its detriment, it would have you believe. Everyone wants to tell you that you have to go on a detox and do the latest fad diet and exercise six days a week at a high intensity. It's unsustainable for most people. It's unsustainable for everyone in the long term. Sustainable is a little bit of movement every single day forever.
Thank you. We’ll come back and do an exercise class with Boris. It's true. I normally take my dogs for a walk for about 50 minutes, sometimes 45 minutes, or up to an hour if I'm being slow. That's most mornings. I'm missing it. This is my seventh week with my back challenge. My physio is like, “There is no way that you can do that right now.” It's mental as well and that space. You have a young child. I have two young kids. Getting out of the house and having that time to yourself. This is off-topic but when you exercise, and you seem to do a lot of it, do you listen to podcasts or do you listen to nature?
It depends. I work out of a little studio space. Across the road, there's one of those 24-hour gyms. Sometimes I'll work out in there. The music is so loud and high energy. I have to listen to that. If I'm going out for a run or if I'm working out in my home gym, I have a little setup in the garage. I'll usually listen to music and it's usually hip-hop or something like that. I prefer to listen to that. I will say though when I've been going on runs because I'm training for this ultra-marathon in the Blue Mountains where I won't be allowed to have any music with me because you got to pay attention. I'll run with no music on my long runs.
With my shorter runs, as weird as this is, I've been listening to meditation music. I'm using that time to relax, calm down, not have lyrics in my head, and have fewer thoughts. I’m using it to unplug. I have a daughter. Our home life is busy. Work-life is busy. There's noise at every turn. I'll either listen to nature when I'm running or meditation music and stuff like that. I can't do podcasts while I’m running. That’s more of a driving thing for me.
Everyone who's reading this right now is like, “Boris, what is wrong with you?”
I've tried many times. I get too caught up in the conversation and I end up slowing down and listening.
I often listen to podcasts or talk to my friend overseas. My husband listens to a huge amount of music when he skateboards. When he used to go for runs, he'd always be like, “I don't understand how you can listen to anything. Listen to the world, be quiet.”
He’s got the right idea.
I wanted to ask you that. Back to branding because that is a huge part of what you do. Thank you, Boris, because you've been a supporter for a long time. I always asked new clients to fill in a questionnaire and part of this includes their brand values. Often, they're five words or maybe a little bit longer. Sometimes people don't know what they are yet.
I remember reading yours and going, “This guy knows what he's about, what drives him, and what he wants to build with his business.” You're in the branding space so it was expected but they were good. I remember even looking on Instagram and being like, “I’m blown away with this person's branding stuff.” How can people hone in on their brand values? How can they work them into not just being something that they put in a questionnaire one time but marketing and operating their business?
First, let me hit you with a reverse shout-out. I don't even know how I got signed up for your newsletter.
That's the magic of marketing.
I signed up for it at some point in time and then these emails kept landing in my inbox and hitting me in the head and the heart every Sunday. I was like, “If I ever hire a business coach, this is the one.”
Thank you.
I finally did it. The only regret I have is that I didn't do it sooner. Thank you for writing those every week. It got me. You helped me so much that by the time we started working together, I felt like I had already been coached for three years. A big shout-out to you. I'm sure everyone reading feels the same way. We're all used to our dose of Fiona on Sundays.
The main tip I have is they’re based on you. It has to be stuff that's almost effortless. For people who are reading, I pulled mine up now when you started talking about it. Do good work for good people. Number two is to be kind always in every situation, especially the hard ones. Number three is to be enthusiastic and approach every person and project with a sense of wonder. Teach while you create. Knowledge known and not shared is knowledge wasted, that's one of my big beliefs.
When I'm creating brands or websites, I aspire to teach my clients about why it works and not just give it to them and say, “This works.” The last one for me was to be free. Don't forget why you chose to work for yourself. A litmus test, if I'm living that value and if I can't take a day off whenever I feel like it, something's gone wrong. If it's a beautiful day, the forecast is going to be amazing and sunny tomorrow. My wife would say, “Do you want to go to the beach with our daughter?” I’m like, “No. I go to work.” It's a problem. Always strive for that freedom. That's why we ultimately will start working for ourselves. Those are my core values.
The cool thing is I don't have to put them up anywhere. I don't have to be constantly reminded of them because I live them naturally and that's what I would recommend to people. Whenever we start branding ourselves or we start writing things about our business, we have this tendency to professionalize. Because of what we're exposed to in the marketplace and what we grew up being exposed to in the marketplace with these faceless corporations who are paying lip service to values and not living them.
We're in an era now and we have an opportunity now to build a business based on what we value as people. That's powerful. The main thing to remember is don't be afraid to make it human. Don't be afraid to make it about you, if you're a serious person even. Make core values like, “I don't laugh at anyone's suggestion,” or something like that. If you're serious, be serious. If you're out there and outspoken and loud, be that. Your values should reflect what you do naturally and what your business does no matter what.
If you write something that you have to constantly reflect on and constantly encourage yourself to live by, then people are going to think it's not genuine because you're going to have a hard time living up to that value. If you're going to sit down and write down your core values whether it's 3 or 5, think about what's meaningful to you personally and how you can bring that into the business, and how you can reflect your most authentic self to others because that's where people are going to connect with you. That's the power of branding. You can connect to your audience or clients, future, past, and present. Be yourself is the short version of that long-winded answer.
It's not long-winded at all. I love that.
Thank you.
Don't feel like everything that you value has to be in your business. I would consider myself a spiritual person. I grew up in a spiritual household. I happen to be spiritual but I don't feel the need to bring huge amounts of spirituality into everything that I do. I hear you. You live and breathe your values.
Thank you. Be authentic but still have a healthy divide between your company values and your personal values.
On that note, you're an expert in the branding space. Are there essential elements of a brand? You've talked about brand values but what else makes the brand great rather than good?
What's interesting is people always reach out to me. If we're going to work together, I'll ask, “Which brands inspire you?” Across the board, they'll say, “This brand is cool.” I've gone down a rabbit hole of figuring out what is it that makes a brand cool or what we perceive as cool. It's authenticity, clarity, and consistency.
If you want to build a brand that is loved by people and that represents your business as a business that they want to work with, be as authentic as possible. Be clear about who you are, what you do, and why you do it. Be consistent with that message. Consistent authenticity in a clear way, that's what makes a cool brand.
If you think of, traditionally, cool brands like Deus Ex Machina, they’re motorcycles/clothing/restaurants, they're 100% themselves in everything they put out. It's clear. You know what you're getting. It's not buttoned up. It's let loose and live life at 100 miles an hour. You get that from the brand all the time. That's what they do all the time.
They could open a bookstore and you would understand that this is part of the same family. It's because there's consistency in how they deliver their magic sauce. They're genuine and clear and open about who they are at all times. That's what makes a cool brand. Nike is another cool brand. It’s always pushing the limits. It’s always celebrating the athlete. Never shying away from things. That's Nike, a cool brand, always creating and innovating. You have these things.
If you look at brands and try to look at them through this lens, are they authentic? Are they clear? Are they consistent? You'll find that the brands you admire tend to tick all of those boxes. There's no brand that this can’t apply to. I'm sure that I'm not the only one who listens to the podcast and gets their toilet paper delivered by Who Gives A Crap. It's toilet paper on subscriptions. Try explaining that one to your grandparents.
Their brand is cool. You know exactly what you're getting. There's a sense of humor to it. It's the same across the website, social media, packaging, and everything like that. It's authentic, tongue-in-cheek, and clear about what you get. Tongue-in-cheek is probably the worst thing I could say when talking about toilet paper.
You’re taking it to a whole new level, Boris. It's clever though that you've been clear yourself in consistency, clarity, and authenticity. It's a great example, Who Gives A Crap, a great brand to look at.
If someone is reading this and thinking, “I should work with Boris or an agency or a professional.” What things do you think they should be looking at if they're going to sign on for branding work particularly?
You got to be a good fit. I'll give you the top three. The first thing is the person you're considering working with should be able to demonstrate the technical skills to deliver what you're asking for. If you want a whole brand and you want someone to take you through brand strategy, design a logo, design fonts, and colors, and put it all together into a consistent look and feel, and then expand that and build a website for your stuff like that. Hiring someone who only specializes in logo design is probably not right for you. If all you want is a logo, then you can get that logo designer.
Make sure that whoever you're looking to hire can demonstrate that they can do the work you're asking them to do. That's the first thing. It's a no-brainer if you're going to get your car fixed, make sure you're going to a person who knows how to fix cars. That one is like a gimmick. A lot of times, people reach out for help from people who can't deliver it. That's the first one.
The second one is to make sure you have some rapport or that you get along. Make sure you at least send a few emails back and forth or even get on a call to see if you guys get along. As much as people think, it's like, “This is the business name. This is the Pinterest board that I've put together with inspiration. Make me something like this.” A good process entails the designer, brand strategist, web designer, or even a photographer on the other end of it asking you a lot of questions to make sure that the outcome matches your goals.
You're going to be talking to this person a lot. You're going to be going back and forth, giving feedback taking, taking feedback, and giving constructive criticism, I hope. It's all part of it. You got to make sure you get along with that person. That's one of the main things. If you don't get along with them, this is going to be a frustrating journey.
You should be frustrated with other areas of your business like the accounting side of things or the removal list when you're moving offices. That stuff can be frustrating. This is creativity. We're designing things. We're bringing new things to life. This should be an exciting part of your business journey. If you're going to work with someone, make sure it’s someone you think you can get along with. It'll make that process a million times better.
The last tip that I have is whoever you decide to work with, ask what the process is. Every single creative person that I know has their own process. They're all similar to a degree but you need to know how they like to receive feedback. You need to know when they're going to deliver stuff to you. You got to understand, “This is going to take six months until we have your brand and website.” You're like, “What? I'm launching in two weeks. I have all this marketing plan.” That's a problem. You need to understand their process and service and see if it works for you.
Those are my three. Make sure the person can deliver the work, make sure it’s someone you get along with, and make sure you understand the process and how things are going to run. A bonus one is price. You can get a brand done for $500. You can get a brand known for $500,000. The range is huge depending on where you fit in and what investment you're in a position to make. Make sure it works for you where you feel like you're investing but you're not staking everything on this rebrand. Those would be my tips.
Such good tips, especially the process and how long it's going to take. People can get excited and they want to see stuff soon.
Every time.
You're like, “I've got an idea. Can we do it yesterday?” It's figuring out what works for you as well. The other thing I wanted to ask you about, and it's probably coming across very obviously to people reading, is that you are also a mentor and coach for other people looking to run a business like yours. You're much community over competition. We've talked about that numerous times. What advice would you give to someone who maybe can't get to that level of acceptance, like, “I can help my potential competitors.”
Here are two things. I've helped several of my colleagues who have transitioned into freelancing or working for themselves through advice and stuff like that. Every time I learn something, I'm like, “Maybe you need to implement this in your systems and processes and all of that.” It's been helpful to people. I've started doing that.
You're a great example of this. I am now coaching some graphic designer friends and an interior designer. You've been nothing but helpful in helping me coach them and become a mentor of sorts. I could ask the same question of you. This is perceived as competition but it's not. We see eye to eye on this. I don't see it as competition. If more people are getting good work done, then more people can benefit and that's good for everyone. The pie is big enough for everyone to eat. A funny story is a young guy from France reached out to me. He was obsessed with fitness.
Probably would know what Metcon means.
He knows what Metcon means and all that. He's been following me and he reached out and he's like, “I want to do what you do. I want to work with gyms. I want to do their branding. I want to do their social media and stuff like that. Could you help me?” Of course, like everyone, I have that scarcity survivalist instinct like, “He's trying to take food off my table.” He's not. He's trying to make a living for himself in a way that he will be passionate about. I'm in a unique position to help him.
I gave him a ton of advice. I gave him instructions on what he should focus on next to develop his skills and how he talks to clients. I encouraged him to just stop planning and start working. It felt good. It comes down to it feels good to help people. I've had so many benefits from working for myself and living this freelance life and all the wonderful people that I've met. If I can help someone do that and if I can help someone do that better than they're doing it now, then it's almost a responsibility to do that. You should always pass on what you've been gifted.
That's how I see that. I don't see it as competition. Maybe that's because I'm not directly pitching against other people for work and stuff like that. In a micro sense, maybe I am and my clients never tell me that they're considering other people. It's happened before. I don't see it as competition. I see it as the pie is big enough and there's enough for everyone to eat. You put your best foot forward and do the work that you do and the right people will come to you. That's how I've always seen it. I see money as a consequence of doing the right thing. When you view it that way, it's hard to get upset at people for wanting to do the same thing that you do and succeed.
I love that. Money is a consequence of doing the right thing unless you're Donald Trump, which it is not.
For me, money is a consequence of doing the right thing. I should add and then I can sleep at night. There are a lot of people doing not the right thing and making money.
I love that though. I genuinely love it. I shouldn't have made the Donald Trump clip.
That’s a good example.
I see that in the same way as well when you said, “I could ask that question back at you.” There's enough. In November 2022, it's estimated there'll be 8 billion people on the planet. There are 8 billion, I certainly don't have time to talk to that many people and neither do you.
You’re not working hard enough.
Many people are starting small businesses. Many people have small businesses. Both of you and I work with people in small businesses. There's always enough to go around. Also, there will be people reading this that are like, “I'm going to get Boris to be my business coach.” There will be people reading going, “It’s the right fit for me.” It's each to their own. I've worked with different business coaches and some have been amazing and some are not so great. You got to find that out yourself.
I was lucky that I landed on the number one business coach ever. You're my first business coach. I've had mentors and stuff like that that I was lucky to have access to in my career. As a business coach, I can't fault it. If anyone's on the fence about working with Fiona, get off the fence.
I was going to ask you because you helped many people with their brands and with their businesses outside of us working together. You don't feel the need to promote everything. What has helped you? You're into books. Have there been key books? Have there been key mantras? Have there been things that have helped you?
One of the most impactful was a book called Company of One by Paul Jarvis. He has this philosophy of staying small intentionally and not scaling for no reason. It's the antithesis to this idea of hustle culture and startup culture where you go all in and you hire a team and you raise money from investors and do all these things. You've got the book.
I'm holding the book, yes.
That was phenomenal. I listen to it on Audible. When you hear that deep truth, if you read a spiritual book or something like that, it hits you and you're like, “I knew this, I just didn't know how to say it.” I had a lot of moments with that book. Other than that, one that always stayed with me was Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport.
I'm in front of a screen for eight hours a day. I'm on my phone for an average of between 2 and 3 hours a day. I'm watching Netflix for 1 or 2 hours. That's a lot of screen time. Most of my day is spent in front of a screen in that case. How do you not lose the human side of yourself in this digital world? That was a cool book.
Other than that, it's been mentors. It’s Chris Do and The Futur YouTube channel. I learned a ton from them. Many people are willing to share what they've learned and pass on their knowledge whether it's through books, free content, online, blog posts, videos, and stuff like that. That helped me get to where I'm at.
Now I'm in a position where I feel like I can help so I want to do the same. I don't know if that's what helps drive your decision to help people but that's the way I see it. I'm one part of this continuation of helping people to live a more fulfilling life through the work that they do. Now that I'm embarking on this business coaching venture side of things, that's what's driving me and it's exciting.
I could not agree more. I was holding up that book because I also loved that book. My dad was like, “If you have the opportunity and access to education, then you must share it with those who maybe did not have that.” Education is a huge part of my brand values. It's important. Also, that keeps you going when it does get tough or whatever.
I had a beautiful client. They cried in the session. They cried with actual gratitude. I was like, “You can’t cry. I'm going to cry.” They were like, “You've helped me so much.” I was like, “This is exactly why I do it.” Of course, I need to make money and I need to feed my kids and everything but there's nothing that comes close to that. If I was working as a CMO in somebody else's business, that would maybe be as meaningful when it's not my stuff that I'm helping.
That's beautiful. I'm not surprised that you had that.
I haven’t made you cry yet, Boris. We have to get there yet.
It doesn't take much to make me cry but I don't think I've cried on one of our calls.
That's my challenge.
I've been filled with gratitude. I’ve had tears in my eyes once or twice. You're going to make tear off. There’s work to be done.
Speaking of work, I like a lot about the stuff that you do, Boris. I like that one time you said to me, “I don't like drawing the map how you like to draw it, Fiona. I like to do it my way in this document with bullet points.” I remember that instead of drawing circles. I was like, “That's completely fine. You can do it however you choose to do it, Boris.” You have introduced me to many different tools. I thought I was pretty across a lot of stuff. You use a big one from Dropbox that I did not have a clue about. What are the tech tools or platforms that you use and that you couldn't live without?
The first one for me is Evernote, which is a note-taking app. I outsource my memory to that, especially since I've had a child. I'm sure the parents reading can attest to this. I cannot rely on my mind for memory so I outsource it to Evernote. I'm always making quick notes. Dropbox and Dropbox Paper have been huge for me. Dropbox Paper is like Google Docs but I like it because the formatting is a bit nicer. You can use emojis and all sorts of stuff.
I don't know if it's a snobby designer thing but I find it works nicely. I incorporated that into my business. I have a project hub that I set up with my clients. We run our project through there. I list everything like how to give feedback and some good projects and housekeeping. We keep track of all of our milestones. Since I started doing that, it's made them feel a lot more involved in the project. It's how I get my process across.
I mentioned earlier how important processes are. Now they feel way more involved. That's been a phenomenal tool. Streamtime I use for project management, which I would be screwed without because I wouldn't know what to do and when to do it. Also, good old Spotify. It keeps the good times rolling. It keeps the atmosphere in the workplace up high. Those are the key essentials and then the software that I use to get the work done.
Loom is a video screen recording and you record yourself and your screen at the same time. It’s an absolute game changer because I work with people overseas. I rarely get to present face-to-face. Sometimes I'll do it over a Zoom call but I prefer for people to be able to take it on their own time. I'll take people through things. I'll do tutorials on how to edit their website. I'll send them quick thank-you notes and stuff like that. That's a huge one, Loom.
Many people use Loom. I use QuickTime for that. It’s old school. Now I've heard Canva also does that. My friend, Natasha, is obsessed with Screencastify, which is another. When I was in the US mastermind, I noticed that every time a coach had to give feedback, they did a Loom video.
Canva does everything. I love Canva by the way. I know a lot of designers don't feel that way. They're like, “It's putting us out of business.” It's not putting you out of business. If you empower your client to use the stuff that you create and then continue on the brand and let it live on through Canva and teach them, Canva is an asset and not a hindrance to your career. I love Canva.
I'm going to sound bite that and send it to Canva for sponsorship of this podcast.
50/50, Fiona.
When we finish up, I always like to ask people this question and I would be interested in hearing your response to this one. What are you most proud of from your journey in business so far?
The fact that I have it. It delivered on its promise. My dream was that I could take a morning off and go for breakfast with my wife or I could take a day off randomly or I could do work that I'm passionate about. It delivered on all its promises. I live an incredible lifestyle. That's not to say that I'm not stressed. That's not to say I never get overwhelmed. You've coached me through some stressful situations and stuff like that.
Mainly, the thing that I'm most proud of is that this lifestyle exists for me and I'm grateful to have it. I get to work for myself. I get to make a great living. That's the main thing that I'm proud of that it delivered it. You can be a person with good intentions and kind in almost every situation and still succeed.
One of the lessons that were taught growing up in businesses is that you have to be ruthless or that you have to step over people to get to the top. So far, it’s not true. So far, nice guys can make it. If you're a nice person and you think business is too cutthroat or ruthless for you, you couldn't be more wrong. It's an asset to be kind-hearted and wants good things for people. Go for it.
On that note, if people are like, “This guy is super nice. I have to connect with him.” Where can they connect with you? Also, what's next for you?
I'm @MetconCreative on Instagram. If you want to connect, you can DM me there. I don't use my private Instagram. I stopped that a few years ago. If anyone is a freelance or something like that and vibed with what I was saying on the business coaching side, which is what's next for me, FridaysOff.club is the domain. That's pretty much how to get in contact with me.
If you want to reach out, shoot me an email, Boris@MetconCreative.com.au. If you've had any value from this podcast, I'd love to hear about it. Whenever you do a podcast, it's like, “Is anyone going to hear this?” I know that you have a platform and people love your podcasts. I have no doubt that will be the case.
Thank you so much for coming on. Thank you for all the chats and everything else. I value our relationship. Thank you so much. Thank you for coming on and sharing so many tips and ideas on branding, on health, and all the important things.
Absolute pleasure. Thank you so much for having me on. I appreciate it. Huge fan. I can't wait to see what's next for you, Fiona.
Thanks, Boris. Bye.
Bye.
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How uplifting and inspiring is this guy? I loved my chat with Boris. I enjoy all my chats with Boris. He's a positive and upbeat guy. There’s a lot of talk about toxic positivity. He doesn't go into that area at all. He’s real, genuine, excited, passionate, and enthusiastic. All of that comes through in the way that he works, which is why he's been successful with Metcon Creative and I'm sure will be with FridaysOff.
I would love to know what you took away from this. What are you going to change maybe about the way that you work? Perhaps you're looking for a branding agency at the moment and to work with somebody like Boris. He's given you many ideas for what you should look for. I loved when he was talking about creativity and working on things like your brand assets. Design and website should be fun and it shouldn't be frustrating.
I've gone through this same process of working on a new rebrand with our company. We're about to get started into the website, finally. You do want it to be an exciting part because it is the creative part. It's the fun part. I loved everything he was talking about. I'd love to know what you took away from that.
Please don't be a stranger. You can share it @MyDailyBusinessCoach on Instagram. Send me a DM. I'm sure Boris would love to hear from you as well and you can find him on Instagram, @MetconCreative. You can also find him over at MetconCreative.com.au. If you're interested in FridaysOff, it's FridaysOff.club.
Two things stood out for me and they stood out because I agree with them wholeheartedly. He talked about values a lot. That's a huge part of brand. I love that he talked firstly about that his parents showed by example. They didn't necessarily have to sit him down like the American TV shows and have this incredible monologue. They showed by living their truth and living their values by example. That's an important lesson for anyone who is lucky enough to be a parent, to be a friend, and to have staff.
It's not that people are watching us, like, “Careful what you do but.” Live your values. I see often where people have created these brand values that are externally aligned and so non-aligned internally. I've worked at places where they're like, “These are our brand values.” Internally, they could not be more different.
If you are going to go to the enjoyment of figuring out your brand values, make sure that you're living them as well, especially if you're a leader in your company if you have staff. You are showing up to those values internally. They're not just something that you put on your website and put on Instagram. They are things that you live by. In the same way that Boris was talking about, his parents lived their values and showed him by example.
In that same space of talking about values, I love that he said they should be almost effortless. They should be things that you are already interested in and genuinely aligned with. It goes to the same point that I was saying. You don't want to create these values that are anywhere close to how you live. Maybe you've got a fashion brand and you're like, “We're going to talk about sustainability,” but you have a toxic work culture inside that brand or you are getting things as cheaply as possible.
Don't get on something. Don't greenwash or get on the bandwagon because you think it's going to sound nicer because people will see through it. People want transparency and honesty. They want to know who's the humans behind it, what's their story, and what's happening. Don't jump on something because you think you should if it's not true to who you are. I loved that whole chat about values because I feel it's important as well. I'm staring at my values, which are up on my post-it note on top of my computer.
The second thing that stood out for me was when Boris talked about how much the gym owners and the fitness people he was working with at the start of the pandemic when they realized that things were going to have to go online. It was less of a concern of, “How do I get online? I don't know how to use these programs.” It was more of a genuine concern of, “My clients who were used to distressing, who are used to looking after their mental health through the gym, and who are used to maybe the social aspect of the gym, is not going to be getting those.”
I love that they were able to pinpoint quickly. What does the client need right now? What do our customers need? What does our audience need? Whether it is a pandemic or whether it is some other smaller thing that is happening, often, we can flip the script and start worrying about, “How will I look? I will look stupid. I look like I don't know what I'm doing. Our website is not as perfect as other people's.”
We can fall into that trap as opposed to putting the emphasis back on, “Who am I trying to help here? What do they need?” It takes the pressure off ourselves. It takes the spotlight off ourselves. We can begin to reframe what's happening whether it is a huge situation like a pandemic that is stopping people coming into a gym or whether it is something much smaller.
We are getting caught up in our own minds about, “What's wrong with me? Why can't I do it?” Thinking of me rather than looking at the audience and thinking, “What do they need? What is most going to help them right now?” That is going to be your path to freedom and your path to creating something that is a solution to whatever the problem is or the situation that you find yourself in. I loved that Boris talked about that.
There are many great tips and insights from Boris. You can connect with Boris over at MetconCreative.com.au. He does work with people all over the world, not just in the US. We focused a lot on the US. Predominantly, a lot of his clients are in the US. However, don't let that stop you if you're not in the US from getting in touch with Boris. You can find him on Instagram, @MetconCreative. If you're interested, FridaysOff.club. You can check out a whole lot of interesting information over at FridaysOff.club.
If you found this useful, I'd love it if you have two seconds to leave us a review on Apple or Spotify. It helps other people find this small business podcast. Perhaps this is exactly the information that they need to know from Boris. If you can leave a review, it may help them find this episode. Thank you so much and I'll see you next time. Bye.
