E20: Deliciously Ella - Blogging Saved My Life

Jun 18, 2018 41m 19s 13 insights
Ella, founder of Deliciously Ella, shares her journey from debilitating illness and mental health struggles to building a global brand. She offers insights on authenticity, team empowerment, and navigating social media for personal and business growth.
Actionable Insights

1. Cultivate a Sense of Purpose

Actively seek and engage in activities that provide a sense of purpose, as a lack of it can significantly contribute to feelings of low mood and identity loss. Ella found that even small actions, like creating recipes for her blog, provided a crucial sense of achievement and direction during her illness.

2. Take Action to Change Your Situation

When facing difficult circumstances, avoid passive sadness and instead take small, intentional steps to move in a positive direction. Ella realized that even trying to cook or reaching out to friends, despite the difficulty, was better than doing nothing to change her situation.

3. Empower Your Team

Recognize that a company’s success is driven by its team, not just the founder. Empower team members to excel in their specific areas of expertise, as no single person can be brilliant at everything.

4. Hire Smarter People

Actively seek out and hire individuals who possess brilliant expertise in areas where you lack it, rather than fearing exposure. This approach is crucial for scaling a business effectively and leveraging diverse skills.

5. Complementary Skills in Partnerships

For successful business partnerships, especially with a romantic partner, ensure that individual strengths and roles are complementary with minimal overlap. This allows each partner to focus on what they do best while sharing similar overarching goals.

6. Maintain Authenticity; Avoid Compromise

Build your brand and offerings from a place of genuine passion and personal belief, refusing to compromise on your core values for external offers or trends. This authenticity creates a deeper connection with your audience and ensures your work has a true “soul.”

7. Deep Community Engagement

Foster a strong sense of community by personally engaging with your audience, such as responding to social media comments. This direct interaction builds loyalty and can be a powerful, free marketing tool.

8. Create Useful, High-Quality Content

Focus on producing content that is genuinely useful and well-presented for your audience, as this drives engagement and encourages people to save and revisit your posts. Ella found that easy, practical recipes resonated most with her community.

9. Set Personal Boundaries on Social Media

While being personal is important for connection, establish clear boundaries on what aspects of your private life you are comfortable sharing online. This helps maintain a distinction between your public persona and personal self, protecting your well-being.

10. Practice Conscious Social Media Consumption

Be mindful of how social media makes you feel and consciously choose what content you consume. Avoid comparing yourself to curated highlight reels, especially when feeling down, and instead use it as a tool for inspiration rather than comparison.

11. Make Conscious Life Choices

Understand that ambitious goals, like rapidly scaling a business, often require conscious choices that may impact other areas of life, such as social activities or travel. Acknowledge that you can’t “do everything” simultaneously.

12. Embrace Discomfort for Growth

Recognize that moments of imposter syndrome often arise when you are stepping out of your comfort zone and growing. View these feelings as a sign of expansion and an opportunity for development.

13. Present a United Front in Business

When working with a partner, especially in a leadership role, ensure that any disagreements are discussed privately, and a unified stance is presented to the team. This maintains professionalism and avoids making others uncomfortable.