Being honest, helpful and willing to help others were just among the ways that Debi Lilly, A Perfect Event Chief Eventeur, suggested to grow your personal brand when she spoke to the crowd of entrepreneur women who had gathered for the “Personal Branding” event as the first of the three-part series of the Leadership Collaborative with The #ChicagonistaLIVE Show and SPACE by doejo. The event is built for professional women to gather, nurture and encourage learning, collaboration and career advancement.

Speakers Debi Lilly of A Perfect Event and Anupy Singla of Indian As Apple Pie shared their top tips on how to stay true to your vision, build relationships with the right partners, and how to use social media to share your personality and voice with your consumers online.

Anupy has built a brand based on her books and Indian As Apple Pie food and housewares company. She told the audience, that it took time getting a feel for who and what the brand should be, and that staying true to her vision was a key factor.

The story of her logo design, all the way down to the look of the packaging is all the result of Anupy feeling what was right, and going with her gut. As she also mentioned that some of her best consumers have also become great sources of feedback and inspiration.

Debi shared stories of how using the tools of social media have helped her to make a personal connection with many of her clients, and also giving potential clients an inside look behind the scenes glimpse into her style of work, decor, and her personality.

Both successful women spoke of their passion and long hours of work with results that are worth it and that collaboration with others is key to building their business and communities.

Debi Lilly was named Best Wedding Planners 2015 by Martha Stewart Wedding, she publishes a magazine and has a book “A Perfect Event” Debi can be found using social media to share her inspirations, decor, and behind the scenes creative process. Debi has an exclusive décor line of 500+ Debi Lilly Design products. Many of these can be found at your local grocery stores, and her store located in Chicago on Lincoln Ave.

Anupy Singla is a cookbook author and creator of the Spice Tiffin gives us all easy, healthy ways to approach Indian food. With her products, you can recreate recipes as easy as Apple Pie. Anupy has made it easy for all of us to start cooking healthy, flavored Indian Cuisine. Anupy came up with a design that puts a half-moon “catch into every small bowl, so you can easily measure your spices while cooking. You can find her cookbooks and products at Whole Foods.

See more pics at SPACE by doejo‘s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SPACEbydoejo/photos/?tab=album&album_id=922396714531569

WOMEN DRIVING EXCELLENCE: Leadership Collaborative Series is produced by The #ChicagonistaLIVE Show in partnership with  SPACE by doejo. Food were sponsored by Bowtruss and Cesar’s Killer Margaritas.

To register for the upcoming Leadership Series, go to http://WomenDrivingExcellence.com/wdelcs