Hi! I’m Aubrey – most people call me Aub. I’m from a very small town just outside of Flint, Michigan. Yes. That Flint Michigan.

 

I have an overactive imagination, and I guess that suits me because I have always wanted to be a writer. I didn’t follow a literary path though. I figured I could learn to write as I went along – but to tell great stories, I needed to understand people. So, my degrees are in Criminal Justice and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences (I particularly like sociology) and I’m a certified clinical herbalist.

 

I got into marketing because I wanted to know how to get people to read my work – and it turns out, I really like it. The data and the planning – I like how everything is always changing and I constantly need to channel creativity into my craft. I get to help other people get their most important stories read. And with Dandelion Branding, I get to elevate the impact of businesses that are at the front lines of the climate crisis.

 

I think believing in yourself is extremely important. But I also think a person needs to understand their own limits. Especially when it comes to leadership, it is vital to know what you’re capable of and what you need help with so that you can create priorities and know what to delegate.

 

I actually think “entrepreneur” is a quality more than a person. It describes someone who has an idea and is willing to take steps to execute it. We always use the word in relation to businesses, but I think it’s a special quality that isn’t at all related to money or the capitalist system we attribute it to. It’s like, the meeting point between a leader, a dreamer, and someone with an industrious streak.

 

I’d like to say that Dandelion Branding was my biggest idea but Dandelion itself wasn’t. What it allows me to do, however, is channel my creativity and big ideas to other businesses! That’s why I work with people doing good. I couldn’t stomach it if I gave a huge, cool idea to a company that wreaks havoc on our planet everyday.

 

I think one of the most exciting was when COVID hit and a client, who was a completely in-person herbal school, was faced with real shut down issues. We transitioned them to a fully online platform in just a few weeks, got them set up with a totally new revenue stream, and helped them conceive of an additional program so they can continue to be operational.

 

I knew we could do it because I know what we are capable of and I’m honest with myself, my clients, and my team about it.

 

I got sick.

And not like, I missed a few days and had to work harder the following week, sick. The kind of sick that left me exhausted day in and day out for the better part of a year.

 

I couldn’t work more than a couple hours at a time, and I couldn’t focus for a lot of that time either. I thought I was dealing with burnout – but I wasn’t uninspired or sick of the work I was doing. I WANTED to work, but I physically couldn’t.

 

I was watching our lead pipeline dry up and our savings dwindle. I felt scared and asked myself, would we have to shutter Dandelion? After months of doctors appointments and trial and error (mostly error). I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder.

 

I am still figuring out how to manage it all the time, but I am learning how to push the right way, and seeing what I do have the energy for. I realized that the downtime gave me the space to think about how I see the business growing and what I want from it.

 

If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. — Stephen King

 

I want to be a writer so it’s a legitimate inspirational quote for me, but I take it with me to other places too. The idea is that you have to be successful in any venture, you’ve got to be the consumer in addition to being the producer.

 

ie. understand your audience.