SO UNCLONED™

How Audria Richmond is challenging the norms

In a world of copycats, Audria Richmond is a refreshing reminder that you can have major success on your own terms. Her UnCloned™ Movement has captured the imagination of many entrepreneurs and reminded us that challenging the norms is necessary! It has become increasingly difficult, and let's keep it real, almost impossible to stand out in a sea of sameness. Her smart, fierce, and wisdom-filled messages inspire people to not only be themselves, but to be unapologetic about it. With her infectious smile and welcoming community, the UnCloned™ Marketing Tribe is the place to be for entrepreneurs who are looking to stay updated with marketing trends, social media insights, and receive mentorship from the genius herself.

We had the incredible pleasure of connecting with Audria, who is a superb launch strategist, bestselling author, all-around marketing genius, and the headliner for our upcoming Income to Impact Virtual Confernce, and we were honored to pick her brain. We are huge fans, so we asked her the questions that we wanted to know and that you, our readers, would find most helpful in your journey to meet your entrepreneurial goals. Now is a great time to pause your reading, get your notepad, and get ready to catch these gems!

BWMB: We have your amazing bio, but in your own words, describe Audria.

I would say that I am very innovative, very open to new ideas, and extremely creative.

BWMB: Tell us about the Uncloned™ Movement?

The UnCloned™ Movement came out of frustration of starting a brand. Back in the day, I used to have a company called Building Big Brands. With that company, I realized I was pretty much creating the same kind of products and services that other people in the marketplace were creating. It was because I didn’t know any better, right? The whole point of all of it was I just really wanted to grow my business online. At the time, I was selling Building Big Brands as a 12-week program for $2,000. I was also being compared to two other people in the industry who also had 12-week programs at the same price point. People could not distinguish me in the marketplace. They would be like, “What’s the difference between you and you and you?” They would compare me to other people. And the truth was, if I’m honest, they were right. They couldn’t figure out what made me different or what made me unique from others. So, I thought let me go ahead and figure out what makes me ME. That’s pretty much how UnCloned™ came about. In summary, it is about individuality, owning who you are, and showing up in that capacity.

BWMB: Why is having UnCloned™ marketing so important?

Having UnCloned™ marketing is so important because it’s about being able to challenge the norms and position yourself in the marketplace in a way where people can easily identify that you are the obvious choice. For instance, a lot of people, when they market feel like, “Oh, I’m just going to create my product or service, post it on social media, and it should work.” But the truth is people have a kazillion options. If people cannot see your product or service and immediately say to themselves, “Hey, this is an amazing thing. I want to learn more!”, then you haven’t really captivated your audience nor garnered their attention.

BWMB: What are the essential steps to Uncloning your business?

The first part of the process is getting to know yourself on an individual level. Once you get to know yourself, what you like, what you don’t like, what boundaries you want to put in place, what boundaries you don’t want to put in place, it really gets you to a place where you can show up and be excited about yourself. We have this process where we teach our clients about creating their Individuality Toolkit. Your Individuality Toolkit is everything that makes you, YOU. We look at what skills you have, whether they’re academic or non-academic, talents and experiences, and then consider how to leverage that in your business. Lizzo is known for playing a flute and twerking, right? When you look at other musicians there aren’t any, that I’m aware of, who twerk and play a flute! So, when you think about it from that perspective, you take yourself, combine it with your skillsets and area of expertise, and then apply it to your business model, personal brand and/or marketing campaign.

BWMB: What is the best actionable advice that you can give to

Black women as they grow their businesses?

Black women really should own their identity. When I say that, I mean just be yourself. It sounds really cliché, but a lot of people have boxed Black women in as women who are always trying to be somebody else or that being ourselves is never good enough. So, you know, as cliche as it sounds, I feel like we need to get to a place where we are loving on ourselves and respecting ourselves. I believe what was huge for me is putting a value system in place. That would be one of those action items that I would highly recommend. Also, be open to hiring someone to support you in your growing. I hired a life coach and it’s been a total game-changer. REFLECTION

BWMB: Tell us of a time when you were pushed to the “I want to quit” point.

I had TWO moments like this! I would say the first moment was when I was dealing with problematic clients, as well as inconsistent service providers. And on top of that, I would definitely say whenever I haven’t felt appreciated while working with a client.

BWMB: What was the turning point for your business?

The huge turning point in my business was learning marketing. I feel like marketing saved me, it saved my business, and allowed me to leverage myself in a way that I hadn’t been able to do before! It allowed me to feel excited every time I had an idea because I knew that I would know how to properly market it.

BWMB: How did this challenge you in your personal growth?

I guess you could say I’m still in the thick of all of this. Because I’m now at a point to where I don’t have to think about money, but now what? Leading up to this point, everything I did was all about, “I don’t want to be broke” and “I want to have enough money to do what I need to do.” Now that I’m beyond that, I’m like what does my legacy look like? What type of impact do I want to have in the world? So, this has definitely helped me with my personal growth. This has allowed me to reflect, get to know myself, and get to a point where I am improving my leadership skills.

BWMB: What did your support system look like in the beginning vs. now (friends/ family, biz besties, and your tribe)?

In the very beginning, I had a lot of friends and we were pretty much on the same level. We were broke entrepreneurs or just-getting-by entrepreneurs who were wanting something more in life. As I began to be more successful, and then become more successful, my circle got smaller, and smaller, and smaller. The same thing happened with my family. They are supportive, not as supportive as I personally would like for

them to be, but they are there. I would defi- keting, is a best seller. What does that kind just the world in general. If you want to learn nitely say that as you grow your support sys- of win feel like? something, where do we go? We go to the tem changes, and it may not always be the So, you know, having an Amazon best-seller libraries. We go and read books. We try to people you started with. is not new to me. I think having the book is go find any type of written format or conmore important to me than the status of the tent that’s going to allow us to deepen our BWMB: Let’s dig deeper on relationships. book. It feels good to be able to have a ref- knowledge around a specific topic. Writing Many women in business have a “business erence point when I’m teaching. One thing books has been an amazing credibility and bestie”. Who is yours and how has that re- I’ve always wanted was a marketing book. authority builder. lationship benefited you as a woman and an Like, “Oooh, I cannot wait till I get a marketentrepreneur? ing book!” And, now that I have a marketing BWMB: Do you think that it has been I feel like I have a lot of business besties, but book, I feel like I’m able to leverage myself in harder to achieve success in the marketing I also call them my friends. Personally, I ways that I haven’t been able to do so before. industry as a Black woman? don’t really like the term business bestie be- I personally try not to subscribe to a lot of cause it kind of implies that we’re limited to BWMB: Your book launch was a master- the common conversations around that. business. I try to establish relationships with class in marketing. What was the mindset It seems like every other week I’m seeing people where we have a 360° friendship, we around this? a Black woman being promoted into execcan hang out, we can go out to eat, or we This marketing campaign was absolutely utive positions as it relates to marketing. I can travel. We can talk about business, if we amazing. I would definitely say my mindset also feel like we’re in a time where we don’t need to, our spouses, fam- necessarily need to be apily, personal stuff, sensitive proved and put into these and secret stuff (chuckles). positions for Caucasian So for me, I don’t necessarily have a business bestie, but I do have a lot of Anytime someone is successful at anything; it always creates companies, or other companies in general, to be validated. Building our own great friends and women that I interact with. an opportunity for the next platforms and doing our own things is the ultimate person. It allows another level of success. Black peoBWMB: Describe your most memorable experi- person to say, "Hey, that is ple will thrive in marketing… I’m proof of it! ence as an entrepreneur? I was living in Memphis and possible!" BWMB: What stratewas creating all of these gies have you deployed major events around my was forget everything you know, and do to overcome obstacles in magazine called Love New Art. Obviously what you want. Think about that. Forget your business? that magazine is not here anymore, but I had some of the most fun! I do feel like I’m getting back to that place, my more creative self. Back in the day, I would have all of these amazing ideas. And, even though I didn’t EVERYTHING you know, and do what you want. I feel like I’ve been able to do things that are very fun, innovative, and creative without the restrictions. Operating from a place of excellence can help you overcome obstacles. If we focused our attention on building our own thing, as opposed to trying to be approved or validated by others, we would grow a lot faster. know how these things were going to happen, I took a lot more risk. I had no shame in my game and I feel like as I’ve gotten older, I take less risks now. I still take risks, but not as much as I used to. I will say a lot of my more memorable experiences were actually when I wasn’t making any money, because I felt like I had more freedom and could do more creative things. RIGHT NOW BWMB: Your latest work, UnCloned™ MarTell us why writing books have been such a big part of your brand? Writing books has been a major part of my brand because if you want to build authority on a topic, it’s always been said to write a book on it. Yes you probably could have done a podcast or you could have done a magazine or any other traditional format. But, I feel like a book just confirms that I know this, you know? It takes a lot of time and energy to put together a book. Books have a lot of holding power especially in America and BWMB: Do you believe that your success has paved ways for others? Absolutely. Anytime someone is successful at anything; it always creates an opportunity for the next person. It allows another person to say, “Hey, that is possible. I could do that!” My husband and I were watching a documentary about the Rubik’s Cube conference and these people they call the Cubers. You’re seeing all of these young kids who are competing for the top rank of professional Cubers who can solve the Rubik’s Cube in seven to eight seconds or less, which

is insane! I think anytime that you are moving up, you’re always setting the tone and paving the way for anyone who wants to do the same thing.

BWMB: You openly talk about your investments in coaching and resources. Why is investing important?

I believe that investing in myself, my business, and my personal development is the reason why I’m successful. It has been proven from the first day that I invested in my first $2,000 course, all the way into the work that I’m doing now with my life coach. The more I invest the smarter I become, and the more people I get access to which increases my network. The more intelligent I become, the better decisions I make as an executive of my company. A lot of people say, “I don’t really need that” or “I already invested in something like that”. The day that you decide to stop learning is the day you decide to stop growing. Even when you look at somebody like Bill Gates or anyone that’s extremely successful, learning and personal development is a huge part of their daily ritual. He’s even dedicated a blog to how many books he reads in a week. So, you have to understand that continuously learning is an intricate part of growing and building your business and brand. PERSONAL

BWMB: Who is Audria away from the spotlight?

The Audria people see in the spotlight is who I am without the spotlight. I’m bubbly, fun, creative. I’m a family person. I love spending time with my husband, and my daughter. I’m just a person who wants to win. I’m somebody who loves creating. I’m someone who wants to make her mark before I leave this earth.

BWMB: Final nuggets, advice, words of wisdom for those who are aiming for your level of success?

I would say aim above and beyond me. Use me as an anchor to know that you can follow your own dreams. You can follow your own ideas, and know that you don’t need to be validated in order to have greatness. Be willing to take the risk, lean in, and tap into your most intimate self from a creative perspective. Be open, and not give a shit what other people think (chuckles). If you’re trying to achieve my level of success, then that needs to be true.

To learn more about Aurdia Richmond and

UnCloned™ Marketing: www.unclonedmarketing.com/unclonedtribejoin

AUDRIA RICHMOND is visionary marketing, and launch strategist who specializes in helping clients unleash groundbreaking marketing campaigns. She runs a seven-figure company and is the author of UnCloned Marketing: How to Challenge the Norms with Profitable Marketing Campaigns. www.audriarichmond.com

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