The Wise Why

Warren Brown
Yeah.

Kirsty van den Bulk
The floor is yours. Please instead. The South.

Warren Brown
Hi everybody, thanks Kirsty for inviting me. My name’s Warren brown. I’m a a graphic and brand identity designer. I’ve been doing it for a number of years and and yeah, I’m just here to this. This is my first first podcast so. Breaking into new boundaries, breaking out of. My comfort zone.

Kirsty van den Bulk
And this is awesome. You are joining a list of quite a few new people who have come through my doors. Thankfully, I’m an on camera coach, so we’ve just been in the studio doing a little bit of coaching, but you’ve come through here, we’re gonna get you out there. We’re gonna start promoting you because we you’re a graphic and brand visual identity person. What’s the difference in your eyes between kind of what I do and what you do?

Warren Brown
Mine is brand. Brand is a massive word, it it covers all kinds of aspects of a company’s reputation and personality. Mine. What I do is the the visual identity side of it. So I create recognition of that reputation.

Kirsty van den Bulk
And it’s so important. One of the things that I’ve noticed over the last four or five years is the importance of that synchronicity. Oh, that’s a good word for this morning, isn’t it, synchronicity? I normally use. Uniformity. But I’m gonna stick with synchronicity across all the platforms. Can you talk a little bit more about how important that is for somebody who? Is either starting to launch, or someone who’s got tired and we all get tired of. Our brand, you. Know you go through it and you think. I need a brand evolution, so could you explain about that? I can’t believe you use the word synchronicity. Well, anyway, explain about that for me.

Warren Brown
It’s. Yeah, sure, it’s. It’s about. It’s about branding, is about emotion. Branding is branding itself in, in, in the bigger context is is about an invisible aura, an invisible layer of meaning that surrounds. Surrounds a business person or service. And yes, businesses start off. Generally there’s. Not much money. Available to start a business, but they get to a certain point when they notice the competition is looking better or the the market changes their business changes and then what they do to start with. It’s probably scribbled on the back of. The a notepad. As an idea, but it comes to there comes a time in every business where they need to scan. Love. They need to become more grown up and see the value and have pride in what they want moving forward. And that’s where where somebody like me comes in and visually expresses who they. Are for them.

Kirsty van den Bulk
And that’s really important. You when I launched, I launched and and I see this all the time. I I really do. I see it all the time with my clients. They come to me and they’ve got 2 brand colours. They’ve designed a logo and they’ve got 2 colours. And then they go. And now I want to launch on social media and I go awesome. I need more. Colours. And they look at me as if I’m some kind of strange person. I go no, I need more colours in your colour palette. Well, what’s wrong? I’ve got two colours. Yeah, that’s going to be. A great combination to create that colour palette. But colours have a theory as well. I wondered if you could just explain, like for instance I’m wearing bright pink, I wear bright pink quite a lot for the wise. Why my company colour is purple. Yeah, I love purple. A lot of people, particularly in business, we choose our favourite colour. But I wonder if you could explain about. A little bit about colour and the power of.

Warren Brown
What? Yeah, well. There’s the colour is just just part of the the the colour is just part of the visual, the whole visual personality of the business. I mean, there’s so many more different facets, facets to that. But yeah, colour has all kinds of different meanings to it that you know Blues are very can be very corporate colours and you know they’re they’re seem to be a. A bit of a go to at times, and then you you’ve got businesses that want to break the mould and they go with your pinks and your purples, purple being a creative colour. You know limes? That that’s when companies are pushing the boundaries, but it all needs to. You reflect the personality of your business, the the target market of your business and who it’s who. It’s gonna appeal to. It’s colours are a yeah, there. There’s a very it’s a. It’s a very big thing to go into, but it’s it’s just one facet of the brand visual identity.

Kirsty van den Bulk
So what are the other facets? Because people come to me and they go ah, and then, like, talk about fonts, images being what? Ohh my goodness. I’ve got a client. The moment I went. Can you go off and do some research on some images please? And they were like, why I went cause 5 is not enough. Yeah, I wondered if you could just give say it would. I was a brand new business owner, not me, somebody just launching or someone who’s been going for about 10 years and they realised that the world’s moved on and they need to embrace this digital age. What would you, what would your advice be?

Warren Brown
Yeah. Yeah. Number one, differentiation, you’ve got to look different. You’ve got to look unique. And different from the marketplace clutter that that is, that is the main thing to consider when considering. Your how your your. Brand is visually interpreted. It needs to look different and needs to stand out for me. What comes with that is memorability. So it sticks in the mind, but for me, I personally work with simplicity. So when I’m designing a logo it needs to it needs to be different, it needs to be memorable, it needs and it needs to be simple. And if if if it at all can can can be made so. You clever. Clever so that it it it garners a second glance. So you design the logo, you see it, and then you see something and. You. Think ohh yeah, that’s clever. And that’s when it sticks in the mind. That’s where the memorability comes from. But everything that I design is is designed to be simple. But sophisticated.

Kirsty van den Bulk
And and you’ve got quite a varied career, haven’t you cause, I mean not only have you been doing it for ohh? What? Please no. For many, many years. Have you had really big? Well, we’re the same age, so I’m not gonna hide on that one. But we’ve been, you’ve gone on the path. Haven’t you’ve had quite a varied career.

Warren Brown
Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean I I. Started my career. In small agencies, one to four man studios. I worked for for some terrific 2 particular terrific bosses. Again, small, small businesses. They helped me along the way. They taught me how to be a designer. Very intelligent fellas and I got to a point where I thought. I reached a level where working for for others. I thought you know what I could do this for myself and make a good living at it. So about 1515 years ago, that’s exactly what I did. I I I started working in the evenings with the blessing of my boss at the time. And and yes, it I did about three years of that doing a full time job, promoting myself and promoting yourself was different then we didn’t have, you know, social media wasn’t around then. So it was it, it wasn’t such a full on thing as it is now. And I built my, I built a client base. Just starting with, you know, a few friends and family, and then they spread my name around and I was working at like I say, a full full day’s work and then coming home and working till 11:00 and 12:00 at night. I did that for about 3 years. I had, you know, two young children, and I thought, you know what? This can’t carry on because I was getting close, close to burnout. So I said with my boss, you know, I’m I’m gonna is it can I work from home now and it’s time for me to make that move. So I invested in a. You know Mac and everything that went with it and we just moved house. So luckily enough, I had a a spare bedroom and that’s where it where it came from. And that’s where I how how it how I got to where I am now.

Kirsty van den Bulk
And and I love it because a lot of people who launch business actually start it as a sideline and the side hustle then becomes a big part of their lives. Now, I launched differently because the pandemic came along and rather than working with a job and launched the business, I had a different route. But I’ve got loads of new business owners I work with who are. In a full time job and running a business in the evening and small children because they know that when the kids go to school someones gonna do the school run. So I applaud you and genuinely applaud you for that because that’s a lot of a lot of hard work and a lot of grafting and well done.

Warren Brown
Thank you. Thank you.

Kirsty van den Bulk
So you want to talk about the inspiration along the way, you’ve just mentioned your boss. Yeah. He gave you the time and the space to use that creativity and there. You are where you are. Who’s inspired you?

Warren Brown
Yes.

Kirsty van den Bulk
Or what has inspired you to get you to where you are today?

Warren Brown
Ohh gosh, loads of things really. I think it’s it’s it’s an innate Dr within yourself to if you do something, you know, I mean, I know this is an old saying. If you if you do, if you work at something that you love then it’s not work or something along those lines it it it’s a hobby. And I do I absolutely. I love what I do. I love. Of the a tremendous sense of joy and satisfaction and purpose. The the end result, the, the the end result of my design brings to my clients. And I I love. Taking them on that journey, guiding them on that journey, and I get excited about the process and the end result as they do so that in and of itself is, is is my inspiration. I just love what I. Do.

Kirsty van den Bulk
That’s that’s just beautiful. And is there anybody or anything that’s really supported you to get you to where you are today? You know your family, your friends, any pivotal thing or person that’s really, really got you. To where you are.

Warren Brown
No belief over the over the last few years I’ve and I still as you can probably tell now by this being my first podcast. I’m not a I’m not a I’m not a natural salesperson. I’m not. I’m not naturally good at shouting about myself. So in a way I do have. Introvert tendencies, but over the last five years or so, as I think when you get to a certain age, a certain level of maturity, you get a certain level of wisdom and there’s things that have happened in my life literally over the. Last five or six years, which have given me that strength and I think you just realise you’re both in business and in life, you realise you’re your worth. You realise your worth. And value to your clients and that enables you gives you confidence. I’m good at what I do. I’m really good at what I do. I’m not good about shouting about it and this has got to change. And that if anything has pulled the reins back on well. Even, you know, 15 years on my own and 25 plus years doing this, it’s pulled back the reins on what I do. But now I know my work. I know my value. I know what I can bring to businesses and in life. I know my worth and. It brings A level of. Quiet confidence to you. It’s not. It’s not the big I am or the big, shouty confidence. It’s an internal, quietly unconditional confidence in yourself. And I suppose. Yeah, that nothing outside of me really has influenced me. I think I’ve just found a belief in myself and it’s taken till now, you know, to the to, to the age that I am now to realise that.

Kirsty van den Bulk
I’m not. But that’s so important that belief in yourself, all of us suffer. I mean, if you think about if I think back to my teenage years, I used to walk down the street and were head down, I didn’t want anyone to look at me. I now host a podcast. I don’t think about, you know, I put makeup on for the podcast. But usually I don’t bother with makeup. I go. Now it’s there is a thing that comes with with age and it’s really hard to try and explain that that the age thing really, really does just where you just go out, don’t you? That ego that ego can go. I’ve got time for that. But say yeah.

Warren Brown
Yeah, that’s an ego is the word. Ego is the word. I think they there there comes A level in your life when you reach a certain level of experience in life that. The wisdom and ego balance out, so the the whole, the whole point is for the E not to you. You can’t suppress the ego. The ego is a fundamental fundamental part of who you are, your personality, it it. It keeps you safe. It has very many important elements to it. But it does have the tendency to overpower everything else, and when you have an in a in a knowing about who you are, then the ego. Becomes more balanced and life becomes more balanced and your wisdom becomes more balanced. You become a wiser person. It’s got nothing to do with the intellect or anything like that. It’s wisdom that that brings this to the fore.

Kirsty van den Bulk
I think life teaches you things and and it just throws things at you and and as you. Deal with what’s thrown at you. You pivot, you change, you learn. And I think that learning brings that wisdom. But what I wanted to ask you about was those our harm moments. There must have been some along the way where you went. Aha, I love this or. Ohh.

Warren Brown
Oh.

Kirsty van den Bulk
That was a yeah. But you’ve learned from it. So I wondered if you could share some of that with us.

Warren Brown
Yeah, it’s. It’s as as I’ve I’ve as I’ve explained, it’s the it’s realising your worth and and also rolling with the punches when you when you run a business for yourself, you get, you get high times, you get busy times, but they’re also. In my case, there’s lots of quiet times. There’s lots of troughs. The peaks come. That’s great. You do the best. You you know you. You enjoy it as it it’s there. But when the trots come, and when the trots come and they become extended and they become longer, that’s when panic sets in because we’ve all got bills to pay. We’ve got, you know, young kids and lives to lead when it it takes money to do that. But I think it’s having the inner strength. Which again, I’ve over the last five years. I’ve, I’ve, I’ve. I’ve got well under control to, to, to roll with that and realise at the end of the day everything’s gonna be OK. Everything will always be OK. And it’s also you using gratitude, having gratitude for where you are and what you’ve actually got in life. Helps with that. It helps. It’s a leveller. It helps you step back and say, look, hang on a minute. Things ain’t so bad. Not really. And gratitude being thankful. For what? What you? Have what’s in your life is A is A is A is a massive part of being. Able to control. The the, the down and worry time. Times.

Kirsty van den Bulk
Gratitude is such a big thing, joy Foster also being on the podcast talks about gratitude and awful lot. I joined the tech pictures years ago and one of the things that I realised was I’ve been practising gratitude since this sounds awful, but I’ve been practising gratitude since I got divorced in 2004. It sounds really bad because it sounds like a really horrible about. My ex-husband. I’m not. You’re a good guy. You won’t like me. You’re a good guy. But gratitude is what really keeps me going. It keeps me really grounded. You know, I I have a really privileged. Life now? Yeah, I’ve got a beautiful, loving husband. A beautiful stunning daughter. Something that people dream of. And OK, it wasn’t an easy journey. Don’t get me wrong, it was not an easy journey to get our daughter. It’s been a really that was hard. But you know what? It’s. Having her and seeing her fly and knowing that I’m instilling gratitude into her and getting reports back from the school to say that she’s really she’s just a team player. I’m like, yay gratitude. So I practised it every single day. I think there was a day that I don’t go to sleep now, some people. Crap. Some people could watch you. Some people call it spirituality. Whatever your your life, there is. I am a big gratitude person.

Warren Brown
Yeah.

Kirsty van den Bulk
What about you? How did you get to gratitude?

Warren Brown
Well, this goes back to the the to the the Awakening that I had about about five years ago. And we’re going back to, I I did get along one of these long extended troughs in business and I and I became. Worried and I basically went to see I had my first roki experience and that flew open the door. It just changed my life completely. It flew. It flew open the door to the to belief in something. That’s that’s far. Greater than. It’s all a power that’s a conscious power that’s far greater than us all, and it’s just giving me great strength. I spend time every day meditating for, you know, maybe it 10 minutes, be it 20 minutes, be at half an hour and it’s just grounded. Me. It’s just grounded me and it’s given me a knowing that I’m I’m looked after.

Kirsty van den Bulk
Yeah, I I love it. We’ve had some comments I’m gonna put on my wonderful glasses because I can’t read them otherwise. And Charlie has joined us. Charlie George has joined us and said morning folks. And Haley has just said I love, Haley said, inspiring podcast. Thanks for sharing.

Warren Brown
Brilliant.

Kirsty van den Bulk
You get to ask me a question and I’m gonna do this at the end, but I’m gonna bring it in here because it’s. I think you’re gonna ask me something that’s gonna be quite poignant. I’ve got no idea because I don’t know what it’s gonna be. And I think it’s gonna twist the energy of the of this conversation so far away and ask me a question.

Warren Brown
Right. OK, cool. What is it? I know that you and I have. And our coffees have had conversations like this before, but. You it’s. It seems like you have a very similar and I think more and more people are feeling like this since since things that that, that, that things that have gone on in the world it’s made made people question various things. Do you have the do you have a similar? Belief system or strength to system behind you.

Kirsty van den Bulk
So I do and it’s. It’s really interesting because in 2002, well back about year 2000, I realised my marriage wasn’t working and it was really tough and I was getting lots and lots of. He was a good guy. We we we just got married too young. And lots and lots of things were being thrown at us, so lots of things have been thrown at us as as a couple and we’ve become a little solid genie. It was us and us against the world. But then that started to crumble and break, and I ended up actually picking up the Bible, which sounds a bit funny. I hadn’t picked up the Bible for many, many years. I’ve been reminded of I’d gone to sleep and I’d just woken up and thought. A. Joke now Joe was being tested and tested and test and I’m not. Going to say that I am. A regular church going Christian. I’m not because I don’t go to church regularly. I am going to say that I have Christian beliefs and I’m very spiritual, so it’s kind of interesting where I am, but in that time of crisis, that time where I was really low and I couldn’t work out what was going on, I ended up back at the Bible reading the Book of Job, dipping in and dipping out because I always like to click open. And being dyslexic or reading the whole book tiny print. Not going to work. So I kind of think I know, so I dipped in, dipped out and then eventually I found the courage. To break what was already broken and and step away and through a long journey for him and for me we separated, got divorced, and then I found myself back at home, humbled and living with my parents. And that was really difficult. I’m not gonna say it wasn’t for my parents, Anthony, because by this. And I’ve forgotten how to be in a family, you know. How to be? A daughter sounds really strange. And then I moved into a flat share in London. Then I decided to do a degree back to my parents. So a lot of shifting and changing a lot of time, a lot of ups and downs, lots of filling jobs, gave up being an actress, went into business. Oh my God. Somewhere along the line I met Dennis. Dennis is my soul mate. Dennis is just let’s hope he never listens to this, OK, because if he does, I will cry. But Dennis is just the best man. Yeah. Don’t, don’t he? He he. Thankfully he never watches anything I do. Dan is is he doesn’t he doesn’t even see my socials. Brilliant. Then this is the best.

Warren Brown
I’ll tell him.

Kirsty van den Bulk
Person in the world and somewhere along the line. I have just from that book of Job to where I am today. Something has carried me, whether it’s God, prayer, spiritual. As I said, if you’re a shaman and I’ve read all the shaming books, you’re not all of them. But a lot of them great grandfather walking them. I’ve looked at the tower. I have explored every single aspect. From Pagan to shamanism through Christians. See, I love walking to in my special place, which is 8 breeze. So if I’m really.

Warren Brown
Stressed. Ohh no. And I wish, yeah.

Kirsty van den Bulk
So if I’m really stressed, I will shoot to a bit and I’ll walk and at some point I will take my shoes off and I will feel the terraferma and the grass. So what is it? I believe in? I honestly don’t know, but I believe in something. Yeah. So it’s probably a bit of a strange answer because I don’t know. But I did. Get lots and lots of crystals for my birthday and I love. Crystals. Everyone knows this. Do I think they’ve got hidden talent?

Warren Brown
Facebook. Yeah. Well, what’s it do?

Kirsty van den Bulk
I think they’ve got healing powers. I don’t know. I’m not gonna say they do. I’m not gonna say they don’t. Do I sometimes feel like I’ve got an answer for someone sometimes? Do I feel like I should keep my mouth shut? All the. Time, so I don’t know what I believe in, but I do know that I believe there’s something there and it is there holding my hand and guiding me, so probably a bit of a strange long winded answer but.

Warren Brown
No, I get I get every I get every I get every bit of that. That’s that’s a very straight. That’s a very similar thing to. So widely, it’s nothing that it’s nothing can that can be proved. It’s a it’s a belief and it’s a knowing, but it’s it’s it’s internal. I’m not, I’m not a religious person. I used to go to Sunday school when I was a kid. I hated it. But a person from a personal point of view, I think that religion. Is having an experience having somebody else’s experience of? Let’s call it the divine. I’m a spiritual person and I have my own personal experience with that force. If you like, call it, call it source, call it the zero point field, call it the universe. Some people call it God. That force I like to think of it as the force. As in Star Wars, that has a better better relation to relation to me, because I’m obviously a kid of the 70s and 80s. But yeah, there’s there’s something there that holds everything together and guides everybody and loves everybody. There is something there.

Kirsty van den Bulk
Awesome. I’ve had. We’ve had another comment. So the glasses have to go back on from Haley and she says, what a table tone question. I feel touched by the close of this podcast. Exactly. Haley, I knew that Warren would ask me something that I’ve got no idea what’s gonna be, because that’s the whole point of this. Now I wanna talk about before being with you. Do you find find sometimes when you’re sitting in a meeting, just as we’re? Rounding up the end. Do you instinctively feel that you know what’s right when it’s you’re designing a brand when you’re looking at Visual brand guide? How instinct is it?

Warren Brown
Very, very, very, very. I’m. I can. I can think of it. If somebody gives me a company, comes to me and says, oh, look, we’ve got this new, I don’t know. New food company and it’s got a. Real twist on this. We’re gonna do it really different. This way. I can instantly think of of what I can do. It just pops into my head. I’m old school, I’m a pencil and a blank sheet of paper going so. But yeah, it my intuition is something personally that I’m working on more. To to to, you know, to to, to strengthen that. But yes, from a design point of view from what I do as a living, then yes, I it it comes very, very natural to me.

Kirsty van den Bulk
Ohh, that’s awesome. I remember Nathan Miller. He’s he’s unfortunately passed where he was my singing teacher. He told me that if your heart and your head agree, you’re on the. Right. Path don’t listen to only one of them.

Warren Brown
So. Yeah. What? But the heart, I mean everybody says, you know, and this is where, you know, the the thinking process. That where the. Ego gets involved, the ego telling you or your mind. Your thinking process will chat your way or you must do this. You mustn’t do that. You must do this. It’s the heart. That’s what you need to follow is your heart. That’s it. It’s so powerful. And if your heart is thinking its heart is thinking it, that’s your true nature. If your head gets involved and the little chattering voice in your head gets involved, that’s your mind taking over, which is ego. And then that goes back to the ego. The. The balancing of the ego, which comes with age as we all know.

Kirsty van den Bulk
I wish sometimes my heart wouldn’t take over because it does sometimes lead me with doing this, which comes out my mouth and then my head. Clicks in and goes. Why did you do that? That was very foolish of you. And then my heart goes, my heart goes. But it was wrong and my head goes. You shouldn’t have done that. And then it’s like and that inner.

Warren Brown
But he’s coming.

Kirsty van den Bulk
Ohhh yeah anyway.

Warren Brown
Your heart expressing. That’s your heart expressing itself and. That’s that’s your. That’s your true you.

Kirsty van den Bulk
Thank you so much for your time this morning. It’s been a fabulous conversation. Please put any comments back to Haley and anyone else who’s joined us. And thank you. I really enjoyed the conversation.

Warren Brown
You’re welcome. And I’ve really enjoyed it myself. A great first. Broadcast. Thank you.

Kirsty van den Bulk
Congratulations.