Joining me on the podcast today is Stephen Houraghan of the Brand Master Academy. He helps designers and brand builders learn the art of brand strategy to enhance their career all while better helping the people they serve.The Brand Strategist and Brand Strategy Educator shares his own journey of getting started with content creation, being comfortable with the discomfort of not really doing well in the early years, and finally achieving the little wins that got him to where he is today — a thriving personal brand with robust engagements on multiple platforms. We talk about:
His professional journey and the question he asked himself that sparked the pivot in his career
How trying to differentiate himself against his competitors led him to the fundamentals of branding and brand strategy
The origins of The Brand Master Academy 
Why he focuses his content marketing efforts on YouTube and subsequently, how he practices content repurposing to maximize his reach
His advice to beginner creative professionals looking to find their key differentiating factors
Marty Neumeier’s thoughts on what niching down really means and what it certainly isn’t 
How taking a course by Kerwin Rae began his content creation process that helped him find his groove and voice
The ability to sit in your discomfort when first putting out content and not getting a lot of views and subscribers until you go through the metamorphosis that allows you to grow in following and mileage
The idea that there’s always someone a couple of steps behind you that you can help
His advice on how to choose the content form to start with
How he’s been leveraging the use of carousels created out of his valuable video content
Where he finds his inspiration and the end goal that guides all the work he does
How he balances his personal brand with client work
Brand strategy trends he sees on the horizon
His personal mantra that revolves around empathy
Mentioned in this episode:My Brand Design Masters Podcast interview with Marty Neumeier: https://podcast.branddesignmasters.com/22Business Coach Kerwin Rae: https://www.kerwinrae.com/ To connect with Stephen, head on over to his channels:Website: https://brandmasteracademy.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/brandmasteracademy Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this episode of the podcast, head on over to the following links for more of my work and some valuable resources to get you started on your own branding initiatives. Until the next episode!VISIT MY WEBSITE:http://www.philipvandusen.com JOIN THE BRAND•MUSE NEWSLETTER:  http://www.philipvandusen.com/muse JOIN THE BRAND DESIGN MASTERS FACEBOOK GROUP:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/branddesignmasters/SUBSCRIBE TO MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL:http://www.youtube.com/c/PhilipVanDusen FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER:https://twitter.com/philipvandusen FOLLOW ME ON PINTEREST:https://www.pinterest.com/philipvandusen LIKE MY AGENCY ON FACEBOOK:https://www.facebook.com/verhaalbranddesignBring Your Own Laptop - Adobe Training with Daniel Scotthttps://www.byol.me/philip InVideohttps://bdmpodcast.com/invideoDiscount Code: “PHILIP50”____________________________The Brand Design Masters Podcast is targeted to entrepreneurs, designers, creative professionals and anyone interested in brand strategy, business planning, graphic design, personal branding, trends and marketing.Philip VanDusen is the owner of Verhaal Brand Design, a brand strategy and design agency based in New Jersey. Philip is a highly accomplished creative executive and expert in brand strategy, graphic design, marketing and creative management. Philip provides design, branding, marketing, career and business advice to creative professionals, entrepreneurs and companies on how to build successful brands for themselves and for the clients and customers they serve.