Crushing on: Jen Gotch of ban.do

I was up late last night thinking of Jen Gotch. That woman is kind of a quacky genius who I can’t get enough of. 

If you aren’t familiar with Jen, she’s the founder and creative director (read #bosslady) behind ban.do, one of my all time favorite brands. I’ll let this photo from ban.do’s own website explain who they are and what they’re about, because no one can do them justice quite like this image does:

See what I mean? Anyways, I love Jen Gotch because she is the queen of Instagram and uses it perfectly to connect with her audience and to fuel the attitude behind ban.do. If you have a lot of time, and I mean a lot… like up late can’t sleep because of horrible jet lag type of time… then go peruse her Instagram account, but be warned: it’s a rabbit hole of hilarity. 

It’s pretty clear from Jen’s IG that she rarely holds anything back. While this absolutely doesn’t work for everyone, it’s one of the best parts about Jen and one big reason that she’s been able to leverage her social media to work so well for her. She says everything the modern woman has thought about or experienced, but would most likely never admit on social media, maybe not even to her closest friends. 

One of my favorite examples of this is below. In one post, Jen talked about being depressed and anxious, how even with a thriving business and an awesome year behind her, she just felt off. Oh, and did I mention she has 153k followers? For something that is difficult to admit to even ourselves at times, this #bosslady just told everyone (153k peeps might as well be everyone, right?) that she was struggling. And then the next day she told all of her followers (who worship her, by the way. that authenticity of hers may have something to do with that) ‘Thank You’ in the form of pink sprinkled donuts, in perfect Jen Gotch and ban.do fashion. 

Her originality and energy transfer seamlessly over to her business. How could you not be excited about ban.do’s new products or teasers when Jen is behind them? She is a pro at showing behind the scene photos of ban.do’s daily life and how the products came to fruition, how they fit into her life (and yours), and silly things you can do with them. Like these cards, for example; Jen suggested you hand them out to random strangers on the street. She’s so cool I’m not even mad about it.

In the days where many business owners seem to downplay the ‘coolness’ and the excitement behind their success, Jen celebrates it and calls attention to every aspect of it, the self-doubt, the fun behind a successful new product launch, the long hours, the struggle to eat healthy, all of it. She breaks down that barrier between you and her and invites you in to her business and her life in a way that makes having a crush on her impossible to avoid. 

While talking about your brain issues or how you’ve worn the same shirt three days in a row may not be your thing, I’m willing to bet that there’s at least a couple of things you can take away from Jen’s approach to her social accounts. Can you show your detailed thought process behind your latest product, rather than just announce that there’s a new product coming out? Probably. Can you show yourself, or your friends, or your family actually using your products and being so gosh darn excited (!!) about it? Probably. You’re not too cool for that. Try to have fun and inject a bit of feeling into your social strategies and see what happens. 

Until next time,
VHC