Brand Revealer #21: "Businesses should start with kindness" with Kenny Alami
New Q&A with Kenny Alami, fellow Substack writer and operations strategist
👋 Hello, Brand Revealers. How are you doing today?
Today, we are diving into a nurturing and empowering conversation about freelancing, building a brand grounded in kindness, and a dedication to finding happiness within the journey.
I am thrilled to welcome a fellow Substack writer as our guest! Kenny Alami shares his journey as a freelancer and entrepreneur, along with interviews featuring other independents who have gone beyond the traditional 9-to-5 income model to create new, successful paths for themselves. Reading his Substack, I knew he would bring valuable insights to inspire others to dare, try, fail, succeed—and do it all over again!
☕ Grab some tea or coffee and let’s go!
The interview with Kenny.
Bright brands and news of the week.
His song selection.
✦ Did you miss the last post? We had a new Marketing Buddy.
🎯 Wise words from Brand Revealer: Kenny Alami
Who are you?
My name is Kenny Alami, and I'm an operations strategist.
Your agency/studio
Where are you located?
🇨🇦 Vancouver, Canada.
What is your definition of Branding?
The perception customers and the general public have of all their interactions with a company.
Kenny
Branding is trial and error. Positioning takes effort, time, and dedication. How can entrepreneurs recover from a branding that doesn't resonate with their audience yet?
I’d start by focusing on the current audience. What resonates with them? What do they value? What are their pain points? Do they clearly understand the value proposition, and is it presented in a way that makes them care? Start by uncovering these answers, and go from there.
Kenny
What are the repeated words you hear about your Brand and Branding from your audience, teams, and people who discover you? (3 to 5 keywords)
✦ Disruptive ✦ Helpful ✦ Knowledgeable
✦ Patience ✦ Understanding
Kenny
What is your best branding story from clients, yourself or an iconic brand?
For our wedding last year, we rented a vintage Porsche with the goal of driving it around during golden hour to capture some beautiful photos and cool videos. That’s what we communicated to the owner of the rental company.
As the wedding approached during golden hour, we tried to start the car, but it wouldn’t start. Earlier, we had done a few test runs, and it worked fine—just not when we needed it most. The next day, we approached the owner to request a refund. Instead of being cooperative, he immediately started blaming us for the problem. I’ve rarely encountered someone that rigid and unwilling to work together to find a solution. He refused to collaborate, wouldn’t listen to anything we had to say, and continued to place all the blame on us.
In the end, we asked Visa to act as a third party to determine whether a refund was warranted. We ultimately won, which was very satisfying after being extremely annoyed at this owner and the whole situation.
It embodies the opposite of what I strive for and value in brands:
Honesty and admitting your fault: Even if the fault isn’t entirely yours, we were in a situation that required a collaborative solution.
Cooperation: The best brands and customer support teams always try to make sure a happy compromise is reached. They are committed to the long term, prioritizing lasting relationships over being "right" or gaining short-term benefits.
Kindness: Businesses should start with kindness, striving to be as helpful as possible to their customers. Obviously, if someone is belligerent, we should stand our ground, but until that point, kindness works.
Kenny
Do you have any recommendations for mastering branding, such as books, podcasts, conferences, etc.?
Arvid Kahl is the name that comes to mind. He strives to build sustainable and long term relationship with kindness with his audience and customers.
🐢 Slow but great approach.
Kenny
You embark your readers on your journey to figure out what to do next business-wise. How was that transition from employee to self-employed?
It was a bit underwhelming at first. While I had a few clients while still employed, I then took a month-long holiday to get married. When I returned, I had virtually nothing lined up, so I had to dedicate a month or two to extensive outreach. It was exhausting, but it paid off, as most of my clients were inbound after that.
That said, a few things were steep for me. One of them was how often I had to discuss money and become comfortable doing so. I’m slowly getting there.
Another challenge is the delay in payments. With a full-time job, you're paid at regular intervals, so you don't really think about “I’m being paid for work I did in the last two weeks.” However, being self-employed is a different story; the workload varies, and payments take a bit longer to arrive. So I needed to accommodate for that.
Kenny
Do you remember your first sale? Could you share how pivotal it was to your understanding and growth of branding?
I do. I spent a few months reviewing scripts for free for a talent agency, and my first gig on Upwork involved reviewing a feature script for a book author. I made $50, whereas the industry standard was probably $250 or $300. While I don’t think it was pivotal, I wanted to ensure my client was satisfied with the work, and she was quite pleased in the end.
Ultimately, satisfaction is what matters the most to me. It requires understanding what a person values and what they perceive as satisfying, and then delivering just that.
Kenny
How would you qualify your branding style? Have you recognized one?
I barely think much about my branding, but I do have some principles that I try to implement:
Being constructive: I do my best to provide solutions and figure out with the client a path forward no matter the circumstances. I don’t like to give up, even when it seems like there’s no way.
Being civil: I notice a lack of civility in today’s world, and it annoys me. I’d like to believe that being kind pays off and serves as a big differentiator. Small gestures, like saying “thank you” to acknowledge the client’s efforts and contributions, or wishing people an excellent weekend, can make a difference. Even engaging in small talk for five minutes at the beginning of calls to chat about the client’s life helps.
Honesty: I might be honest to a fault, but I believe that it’s a requirement for long-term working relationships. Although, I sometimes struggle with what I should disclose or not to my clients.
Helpful and understanding: People come to me with their problems, and I put a lot of effort into understanding the context of their issues while also providing potential solutions. I’ve hired people on the platform where I freelance, and often they just don’t seem to care about what you want.
Kenny
You have strong expertise in standing out on platforms like Upwork, and you teach fellow entrepreneurs to do the same. Without revealing too much about your course, could you share three "aha moments" or truths you have realized while standing in the crowd and signing those deals?
1. Inbound is the absolute best
People who come to you have usually already chosen you in their minds or, at the very least, taken the first step, which means they are psychologically more invested in the relationship. This makes it much easier to start working with those clients. I’m trying to optimize as much as possible for inbound leads. I’d rather build authority once and reap the fruits than struggle on the treadmill of outbound outreach. That said, outbound can be quite predictable with a proven system.2. The belief that I can figure it out + The internet is beautiful
To start on Upwork, I literally typed "how to start on Upwork," binge-watched all the videos I could find, took notes, devised a strategy, and got to work. After a few days, I landed my first job on Upwork. While there are some answers available online, most things need to be tailored to fit my particular situation. In my opinion, this ability to adapt and problem-solve is one of the most valuable skill sets.3. Project management and customer service are a crazy edge
On Upwork, if you look for a web developer, you’ll receive 50 proposals within 30 minutes. So, while the technical skills are there—at least hypothetically—many people struggle with customer management, updates, follow-ups, and conflict resolution. This lack of skills can cause them to lose much of the advantage they could have gained. Freelancing is far more than just applying your skills to a situation; it’s much more than that.
Kenny
You can connect and discover his mindset and work @Kenny Alami
🤩 Bright, they are!
🎯 Lisbon will gather brilliant minds! (Next month, the Startup Guide Summit will bring together 60 startup ecosystems to engage in important discussions about innovation, entrepreneurship, and more. Get fresh ideas and make connections for growth!).
🌱 Eliminate the carbon footprint of email marketing (What if you could write emails and plant trees simultaneously? This email marketing platform is on a mission to make emails cleaner! Bonus: calculate your email carbon footprint).
👏 Know when it's time to walk away (I loved these insightful lessons by brand strategist Awa Nduke. We learn so many lessons when we let go of old habits, environments, and more. I needed to read this!).
🍀 Have you heard of FFG (Freelancing For Good)? (This community is golden. Maja and Alistair are bridging the gap between talents and nonprofit organizations. You can explore their Substack for valuable resources and opportunities!).
I leave you with kenny’s song selection.
Sending jolly vibes ✨
Keva.
The mission of Your Branding Letter is to demystify the big word Branding.
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