A Look Back at Elevate – Courtney Brown

Can Megan take over our blog at least once a week?! She’s such an amazing writer, we love having her here! She’s sharing an amazing recap of Courtney Brown’s talk today.  It’s almost like you were there with us!

Courtney Brown, the woman behind accessory e-retailer Cents of Style, will tell you it took a village and a vision to get her to where she is today. As the founder of Cents of Style, she will tell you that in the years since the company’s creation in 2007, it has taken a village to come out on top. Employing her family, her friends, and mothers in her community, she gives full credit to those who have helped along the way. With a vivacious and vibrant personality, Courtney is a force that leads with an  emphasis on family and love. Courtney has lead her company to success year after year. She attributes her success to her “vision”, a mix of finding your purpose, establishing your values, and defining your mission. With daily deals, fashionable accessories that are on trend, and her commitment to making women feel good, Courtney is on her way to change how you operate your business or blog.

This year at Elevate, Courtney introduced the attendees to her formula for creating your Vision. Vision, she says is made of three components: Purpose, Values, and Mission. Why does vision matter? According to Courtney, your vision will drive your decisions, and decisions create reality. Here is a recap of how to establish all three, and create the perfect vision for you.

Purpose: The Why
Why are you blogging? Why are you selling your life’s work on Etsy? Did you start your blog to become a better cook? Did you start your shop to stay home with little ones? Your purpose is your why, that “star that never changes”*, it’s that place that makes you feel at home. Your purpose is that idea, that love you’ve had since the very beginning. Now, that you know why you are working so hard, dreaming that big dream, sell it. Sell it to the masses. People will buy into your “why” far faster then they will buy what you actually do.
*a direct quote from Courtney

Values: The How
Courtney lists the following as the Cents of Style Values. These don’t have to be the values you adopt for your blog or shop, however they create a good base line and can stand as an outline for your own. 

Hustle: 
The work. The hard stuff. You can’t get to your vision if you don’t put in the work. Maybe it’s one extra blog post a week. Maybe it’s burning the midnight oil. Somehow, some way we have to find new legs and hustle.

Tribe: 
Find your tribe. Trust your tribe. Respect your tribe. The tribe will be there in the good and the bad. It could be your sister who proof reads your post. You husband who takes all your “What I wore” pictures. You neighbor who lets you borrow her camera for your recipe shots. Respect your tribe. They have bought your “why”, and they are there to see it through to your vision. Listen to them. Let them help. And help them in return. Without the tribe, you’ll never make it.

Clarity: 
Courtney reminded us that sometimes we think we are communicating effectively, but in reality we are just mumbling. Be clear with yourself and those in your tribe. Communicate clearly with your followers or customers. Be focused when you advertise or promote a sale or a post. The clearer you are, the easier it will be to communicate effectively.

Radiate:
Be the good in your world. It’s easy to get overwhelmed and bogged down in work. Whether it’s for your blog, shop, career, or kids. Choose to be the good in your day, in your life. Last year Courtney raised eight-teen thousand dollars for Girls Inc with a collaboration with Jane.com. Courtney says that giving back makes her feel good about herself and the life she is living. She says that when people, especially women, feel good about themselves, they are inspired to do good. Radiate the good. Inspire others to be the good.

Own it:
Whether it’s a success or a failure, own it. Learn from your mistakes, but also own up to them. Have a keen self awareness, so that you don’t repeat past mistakes. But also have a keen self awareness when it comes to success. Ask yourself, how did you get there? What will you do next time? How would you change it? That way no matter the stage of your business or blog, you are in a constant state of learning more about yourself.

Create: 
Be innovative. Create your own path. This is your purpose. These are your values. Take them where you want them to go. The end of the road looks different for everyone. Don’t follow anyone to your success, lead your own way. As Courtney noted in her presentation, “Get it, Girl”.

Mission: The Achievable Goal
This is your “what”. What do you want to do? After your find your “why”, and after you have determined your values, what is the mission? Maybe you want ten thousand followers on Instagram. Maybe you want to publish a cookbook. Whatever your mission, write it down, and repeat it daily. Don’t lose sight of that one thing. Don’t forget your purpose when you are defining your values. For Courtney at Cents of Style, the mission is easy, “Look good. Feel good. Do good”. It’s what they say, it’s what they live. Find your mission. Add the sum of it’s parts. Find your achievable goal.

Vision: Bringing your dreams home
Define your vision now. Take the time to sit down and really create this reality for yourself. Your vision matters, it will drive the decisions you make today and in the coming days. Courtney encouraged all of us to bring home our dreams. If our purpose hasn’t changed. If our values are sound. If our mission is what is driving us, then it’s time. It’s time to let our vision make the decision. Really, what are we waiting for?

Courtney Brown knows her “why” and her mission is clear. She wants us to look good, to feel good, and to do good. Use the tools that have made Courtney a successful business woman and an inspiration to the attendees at this year’s Elevate Conference. Bring your dreams home today!

Megan Crutchfield is a wife, a mother, a blogger, and an aspiring writer. She loves books, Grey’s Anatomy repeats, and cheat days. With humor and sarcasm she blogs at Absolute Mommy about motherhood, life, and things that are usually considered “TMI”. She lives happily among the chaos and mess that is motherhood, and can be often be heard saying, “Well that blog post just wrote itself”.

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