Book Nook - The Goddess Guide to Branding: Your Blueprint for Building an Abundant & Authentic Feminine Brand

Business partners, co-authors, and sisters Kate McAndrew (Venture Capitalist) and Jane McCarthy (brand strategist) collaborated to write The Goddess Guide to Branding: Your Blueprint for Building an Abundant & Authentic Feminine Brand - and I had a chance to check the book out.

What I love about this book is that the term "goddess" isn't amorphous, nor is it trying to embody all of the ideas of being a goddess in one - after all, Aphrodite and Freyja and Isis are all very different, right? Instead, the reader is introduced to eight goddess archetypes whose timeless energies are alive in successful brands today. Using the traits each goddess embodies, the book shares how to incorporate those traits into branding.

Throughout the book, female founders and brand leaders share what they’ve learned on their own brand-building journeys. You’re introduced to women who lead big and small companies in categories ranging from fashion to financial technology, renewable packaging to personal care products.

Some of the women in the book include:

• Laura Modi (CEO & Co-Founder Bobbie)

• Sallie Krawcheck (CEO & Founder Ellevest)

• Georgina Gooley (Co-Founder Billie)

• Sophie Bambuck (CMO The North Face)

• Sali Christeson (CEO & Founder Argent)

• Susan Griffin-Black (Co-CEO & Co-Founder EO Products)

• Alexandra Fine (CEO & Founder Dame)

• Sashee Chandran (CEO & Founder Tea Drops)

• and many more! 

The book is accessible to anyone - even those without an MBA or marketing degree. The exercises included are engaging and help generate ideas. And instead of being a one-size-fits-all approach, this book helps readers find out what works for them, and then run with it.

A few quotes:

On Motherhood & Work-

"I run a $100M venture fund and I'm also a mom. I have 50% custody of my 4-year old son, so I don't have the traditional balance of also having a partner at home to help out. This means I have to manage my time incredibly effectively, and I'm careful who I give it to. To manage your time well, you have to learn to love your NO. When someone wants to meet for a coffee or a lunch, I say No about 80% of the time. And then, I really optimize the set-up of my life. My son's preschool is very close to my house. We sometimes walk to school together. It's transit time where we get to really connect with each other. I don't hide either part of my life from the other side. I talk about my child with my fellow partners at Baukunst. I try not to work during the hours when I'm with my child. When I'm working, I try not to do things related to my child during those hours. You have to be really on top of self care, because if you're a linchpin for your business and a linchpin for your home, it can be pretty exhausting. I do sometimes take a day off for myself, as I can't be pushing all the time." - Kate McAndrew

On Bobbie-

"I led the pre-seed round in Bobbie Baby in 2018. We're now doing hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. When I first met Laura Modi, she was a solo founder and she was eight months pregnant. She didn't have any food experience, but I knew she understood the customer. She was the customer. Laura explained to me how women are in a double bind. They were being shamed for choosing not to breastfeed, while they were also trying to go back to work. Breastfeeding takes 35 hours per week. She understood the problem, and she also understood the opportunity. The infant formula market in the U.S. was completely out of touch with America's taste. Laura was committed to delivering an organic formula parents could truly feel good about. No more shaming and no more guilt. It took $6 million and three years to get FDA approval in the U.S. Bobbie exceeded every bar. I'm so proud to have been Bobbie's lead investor and to now sit on Bobbie's board." - Kate McAndrew  

• To learn more, visit: https://www.goddessoffice.com/
  
  

• Take the quiz to discover “What’s your goddess archetype at work?” 

About the Authors

Kate McAndrew is Co-Founder and General Partner at Baukunst, a $100M venture fund based in San Francisco. Kate leads pre-seed rounds for startups at the frontiers of technology and design. She is passionate about backing women-led startups with the potential to radically transform industries, providing new solutions to pressing problems.

Jane McCarthy works with companies to define their foundational brand strategy. Collaborating with entrepreneurs and marketing teams, she helps clarify a brand’s essential archetype, core motivation, and intended customer impact. Bringing her 15 years of advertising experience to the table, she inspires strategic brand blueprints that are both authentic to who companies really are as well as ultra-compelling to customers.