BRAND CREATORS: Nathalie Grolimund On Building A Brand Aligned To Who You Are
Nathalie Grolimund, rethinking her business on the top of MAAT, Belém, Portugal | Photo: Lucie Kirchnerová
One of the things I like about branding is its fluidity. You might have built a brand that attracted your first clients but after years of working for the same niche, you started to feel something was off. Perhaps you overgrew your brand and it was time to rethink the strategy again. As you do self-reflection about your life, don’t forget to once in a while reflect at your brand evolution. Reconnecting the brand to who we are at the moment is an enriching experience for both you and your clients. You might even find new ones!
My second interview was with Nathalie Grolimund, a Swiss-Korean entrepreneur with a strong background in Marketing, Branding, and Communications, who went through this process recently. She lives a conscious lifestyle, applying sustainability principles to everything she can in her life and thriving to be better as she grows. Nathalie wants to be active in building a better world, advocate for animals, and stand up for injustices. She created The Rethink Hub, a platform for entrepreneurs with the goal to rethink their business, mindset, and lifestyle through consulting, courses, and 2 podcasts that aim to educate on different sustainable development topics.
When Nathalie reached out for a personal branding photoshoot I got astonished by her project. Sustainability in any industry is something I am passionate about and I love to create something with the goal to support such a cause through my photographs. Her brand pivot is living proof she is aligned with her purpose no matter how she evolves as a person or a brand.
Nathalie’s authenticity can be spotted in her approach to brand content. During our last photoshoot, we were capturing her on the phone call. I was very impressed when she suggested calling a friend instead of pretending she was on the call. This was an amazing idea because we could compare the results and see how much more real and full of energy the real call was.
What led you into starting The Rethink Hub?
3 years ago, I started a project called Rethink Travel as a platform to educate on sustainable travel, inspire change and highlight the best hotels with great initiatives that protect people and the planet. I did that as a side passion project while working hard to keep my publishing and marketing agency alive through the last crazy months.
I've been an entrepreneur for 15 years, evolving in branding, publishing, and marketing, and I have worked with luxury hotels and brands worldwide. Living in Berlin opened my eyes to an “eco-lifestyle”, and I changed how I think, eat, consume and travel over the last 10 years. I accelerated my education on our global challenges and still do much learning on consumption, climate and biodiversity. So I naturally started sharing more about these complex topics.
And as you can probably tell, we're in a very different world now than 3 years ago, and what was true then needs faster and more action!
So last Summer, I dropped the “just travel” page and went into my most significant rethink to decide what I would do here and how I would be true to who I am and what I do every day. How to share what I'm passionate about, far beyond travel. This is how I switched Rethink travel to The Rethink Hub, a hub for entrepreneurs to rethink their business, mindset, and lifestyle.
Nathalie’s workspace in a boutique hotel, Lisbon, Portugal | Photo: Lucie Kirchnerová
Within the lifestyle pillar of your brand, you talk about a certain revolution in the travel industry. How was your experience with challenging the status quo?
There is a revolution in the travel industry, yes. And there are now so many platforms and journalists addressing the topic, but readers/consumers/travelers are a little (a lot?) lost, to be honest. I think the industry as a whole, being the employer of 1 out of 10 people in the world, recognizes its impact, but not enough is being done to drastically change and get people to change.
People will still fly, go on vacation in fragile destinations: they want to, they think they deserve it, and if they don’t see others changing, they don’t want to change. Getting into the psychology of every individual to drive change can take generations, so the “supply” needs to step up faster. We are losing travel destinations to overtourism, big hotels groups keep building new hotels and growing their brand.
What I like about your brand is that it connects sustainability and luxurious travel. That's quite rare. Can you please share with us your process of finding such a niche?
I worked with luxury hotels for over 15 years and featured many of them in over 30 coffee-table books for the biggest names in publishing. I did that mainly as a branding and marketing strategist and editor for hoteliers and luxury brands.
After visiting so many hotels, I quickly questioned what differentiates one luxury hotel from the other, so even before all my personal changes, I started looking into those who are comfortable and beautiful as a baseline, but doing things for the local communities, for the environment and just operate with a better mindset than the others. My definition of luxury is the anti-bling one. And some of these hotels are pioneers in the sustainability space, they started long before all this was a thing.
These are the ones I feature on my platforms, and also talk to in my podcast, Rethink Travel. I love everything about producing this podcast, and I enjoy talking to the amazing guests I had the privilege to interview.
The “luxury travelers” are ultimately who I wanted to target to inspire change in them. Many of those who followed my Instagram were entrepreneurs so as it aligned with the work I was doing anyway, my niche for the Rethink Hub almost find itself.
Nathalie Grolimund, producing The Rethink Travel podcast, Lisbon, Portugal | Photo: Lucie Kirchnerová
How does targeting high-paying clients help you accomplish your vision?
One of the reasons I focus on the luxury market is because they are responsible for a lot of negative impact, but also, are the ones the rest of the markets look up to. In most industries, everyone copies the high-end tier, they are the “dreamy” ones, so they better act with that responsibility in mind.
I believe the people in the luxury market are the ones who are best positioned to change things because of the position they’re in (business owners, influence, network, etc). So I hope to reach as many minds as I can with my different vehicles to get them to do something. Wasn’t it in Spider-man? “With great power comes great responsibility.”
What kind of businesses (besides the travel industry) are the most needed at the moment in order to make a big impact in the world in your opinion?
We need a global approach, and we need to tackle our global challenges from all ends. If we keep pointing fingers to who is not doing this or that, we’ll never achieve anything. It needs to come from individuals, small to large businesses, and governments. The ones that need to move into bigger and faster actions are Fuel, Fashion, Food, Construction industries, but all the industries need to change.
I was born at 3.8 billion people on the planet, we are now 8 billion. It doesn’t take rocket science to understand that constant growth and using more and more resources is just not going to work.
As for what type of business, all of them :) That’s why I moved “Rethink Travel” to being The Rethink Hub. I want to work with all kinds of entrepreneurs to build a future-proofed vision, and a business that supports this vision. A lot of people think that only “impact” or eco-products businesses can be sustainable. But every business can and should be. There are 17 sustainable development goals, so trust me, there are topics for everyone to tackle!
Nathalie Grolimund, on a stroll passing iconic MAAT, Belém, Portugal | Photo: Lucie Kirchnerová
What made you convinced to schedule a personal branding photoshoot?
When I decided I was finally OK with showing my face and being true to my vision. With Rethink Travel as a platform, I could just hide behind being a “Platform” and didn’t see the need to show myself much, but as I transitioned into The Rethink Hub, I knew I needed images that reflect my true self.
That was also when I started selling online courses and consulting services, and I knew people won’t trust me if I can’t show who I am.
I believe, for you as a conscious entrepreneur, it is very important to show up authentically. How did you ensure your photo shoot would be as authentic as possible?
We had the photo shoot done in places that represent me. The shoot took place in Lisbon, where I was planning on moving a few months later, so it was rather hard as I didn’t have a home yet. But we did it in 2 indoor places that could have easily been my home and then by the River as water is my element!
I specifically picked clothes that I wear every day and didn’t wear any makeup so it could show my authentic self.
Also, we decided to do almost no photoshop to the final images to be as transparent as possible.
Nathalie Grolimund, reading in a cosy apartment in Estrela, Lisbon, Portugal | Photo: Lucie Kirchnerová
What is the most rewarding part of your work?
There are 2 parts to what I do, when I consult or help people with my courses, I love being able to enlighten them from totally confused to ready to take over the world!
Then with my platforms and what I do every day, being able to give back, and fight injustices gives me great feelings. Although I go to bed every night thinking there is so much more to be done! But I definitely want to be on the right side of history.
What would you recommend to other entrepreneurs who want to start a purpose-driven business?
To make sure they understand the challenges at stake and check that their mindset is in the right place. Do not do it because it’s “what people do right now” or because it’s “trendy”. Educate yourself, understand what you can bring to the table and be sure you do it for the right reasons.
My brand story talks about creativity caused by the proximity of the ocean. Does the ocean affect you? If so, how?
I grew up between Geneva, Switzerland and Los Angeles, California. So if you know Geneva, it is by the largest lake in Europe, you see no end, and LA well, California's magical oceanfront needs no introduction! I need water in front of my eyes like you can’t imagine. I moved to Lisbon for many reasons but one being by the ocean, for my soul and also to work with ocean conservation projects.
One of my heroes is Sylvia Earle, if people could just listen to her simple message: leave the ocean to rest. We need to protect our oceans at all costs. Again, once we educate ourselves and understand the importance of our oceans, we will act very differently. As Captain Paul Watson says all the time: If the oceans die, we die. Quite dramatic, but very true!
Connect and learn more.
Did you like Nathalie’s journey to build a brand aligned with her purpose? Connect with her and discover how she can help your business be more meaningful too.
WEBSITE: www.rethink-hub.com
INSTAGRAM: www.instagram.com/therethinkhub.nat/
Nathalie Grolimund, Personal Branding Photoshoot, Lisbon, Portugal | Photo: Lucie Kirchnerová
