What My Name Taught Me About Marketing

Lale means tulip in Turkish. And before you say it — no, tulips aren't originally Dutch. They come from Turkey, gifted to the Habsburg Empire by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in the 16th century. The Dutch just took them and ran with it. Within decades, tulip bulbs were selling for the price of a house. Today the Netherlands produces over 80% of the world's tulips. Not bad for a flower they didn't even grow first.

The lesson? It doesn't matter how beautiful your flower is if nobody knows it's blooming.

That realisation hit me hard when I started thinking seriously about my own brand. Here are the six marketing principles I keep coming back to.

1. Your origin story is your superpower. Your background, your accent, your journey — these are the things that make you irreplaceable. Weave your story into your bio, your website, your social presence. Clients don't just hire a voice, they hire a person.

2. Perfect the craft, then amplify it. Keep investing through coaching, exploring new niches, and refreshing your demos. Once your product is the best it can be, turn up the marketing dial. A stunning demo that reaches the right ears will always outperform a mediocre one that shouts the loudest.

3. Consistency beats one-off brilliance. One great campaign or viral post won't build a career. Regular outreach, consistent content and steady follow-ups are what compound over time into something clients recognise and trust.

4. Create your own milestone moments. Give people a reason to pay attention right now. A new demo launch, a targeted campaign, a video introducing yourself. Landmark moments create momentum, and momentum creates opportunities.

5. Don't wait to be discovered — go and find your people. Your voice won't find work sitting in a folder on your desktop. Targeted outreach to production houses, agencies and e-learning companies — tracked, followed up, refined — is how careers are built. And if someone consistently ghosts you, move on. The people who want to work with you are out there.

6. Belong before you feel like you belong. The tulip had no natural claim to Dutch soil. But through investment and sheer commitment, it became so embedded in Dutch identity that the world forgot it ever came from anywhere else. You don't have to feel like you belong in a space before you decide to show up in it. Imposter syndrome is real, but it is not a reason to hold back.