Valentina Giraldo
Founder at LaValentina Design
Valentina embodies CREATIVITY. This is the best word to describe her, her brand, her team, and this interview. Through LaValentina Design, Valentina doesn’t just sell designs and ideas; she sells stories, creates powerful, unforgettable brands. Valentina teaches us that the brand we should sell first is our Image.
What Valentina Shared with us
To kick off the interview, we wanted to delve into Valentina’s childhood where she established her first business: a micro-business during school recess. This venture not only helped her pay for her home internet but also provided invaluable lessons for her professional life as an entrepreneur. Valentina shared that her first lesson was realizing that one isn’t entitled to anything by default; one must work to achieve their desires. The second profound lesson is to identify what one has available to generate income based on what they know and can do. It was here that she began her micro-business making handmade earrings. From this experience, she learned a third lesson: the importance of being kind to others.
This last lesson translates into sales. By being kind to people (which, by the way, we concluded is easier than not being kind), you can expand your circle of friends and acquaintances who could become your brand advocates or even your customers in the future.
The next topic we explored with Valentina was how a brand that has been in the market for a long time avoids “getting stagnant and swept away” and continues to experience sales growth. At Lineup, we resonated with Valentina’s response: someone who believes they know and do everything perfectly leaves no room for improvement in their daily life, thus remaining stuck. If a person remains in the same place, they don’t evolve or grow. This context goes hand in hand with the fact that today’s market is far more dynamic than before. Therefore, Valentina encourages brands to be more flexible in the face of necessary changes.
Importance of personal branding
Continuing the interview, we arrived at a captivating topic: personal branding. For Valentina, regardless of others’ perceptions, individuals are like brands. She explained how in most scenarios of life, even the most mundane, one is always selling themselves to others. Sales should not be exclusively seen as a monetary transaction; for Valentina, selling sometimes involves shaping how others perceive oneself.
Due to this, defining one’s personal brand is vital. This translates to what you want people who don’t know you to think of you. All of this can be conveyed to others through visual codes in your personal image, through what you say, and most importantly, HOW you say it and WHERE you say it. Through personal branding, Valentina has managed to connect with many people through various avenues, particularly social media. People who are now customers or potential customers. For her, this is the essence of selling without selling.
“A salesperson is born and made. Some people have more aptitude; they’re born with the ‘gift of the gab.’ But also, a salesperson is made because it’s a daily decision to keep training and learning. Being a salesperson is 1% talent and 99% decision, dedication, and work.”
Valentina Giraldo
What are 3 Important Points for a Brand to Effectively Communicate with its Audience?
To this, Valentina responded:
- Realize that not everything is for everyone, and not everyone will like what you offer. Make peace with the fact that not everyone will buy your product or service.
- In line with the above, it’s essential to define your target audience and understand how your product positively impacts this consumer profile. Understand everything about them, from their purchasing power to their consumption patterns.
- Lastly, once you’ve defined your consumer, determine how you will communicate with them. Identify how your consumer comprehends and receives information to approach them in a manner they’ll understand.
Are Salespeople Born or Made?
For Valentina, salespeople are both born and made. Valentina explains that some individuals have a natural aptitude for selling, born with the “gift of the gab.” However, a salesperson is also made through the daily decision to continue training and learning. A salesperson is developed by deciding and committing to refining their sales approach every day and learning from the feedback of those they’re selling to. Talent is 1%, while the decision, dedication, and work form the remaining 99%.
