How a Broken Rooster Became Famous (and What That Means for Your Personal Brand)
Nicheless writers, I'm looking at you.
A few years ago, my best friend moved to California’s Central Valley, to a rural neighborhood where three farms intersect. One of the neighbors has a rooster named Beethoven.
It seems Beethoven was not there the day God handed out operating instructions. Beethoven does not now, nor has he ever, understood the assignment. In Beethoven’s case, the rooster does not crow at midnight. . . or at dawn, which are the only two times a day a rooster is legally allowed to crow. Beethoven’s preferred business hours are any time between 3 am and 2 pm.
Just not dawn. Never dawn.
My best friend has gotten used to Beethoven’s shenanigans out of necessity. But whenever I visit, I’m awakened repeatedly every night—always at indecent hours, always dreaming of chicken pot pie.
Despite this fellow’s ineptitude for crowing at actual dawn, he is so busy the rest of the day! He salutes and caterwauls and peacocks like the certified professional rooster that he is, with no regard for the fact that he’s botched the single thing that was expected out of him in life.
And here’s why this matters.
Beethoven is famous.
Shortly after my best friend moved into the neighborhood, he mentioned to a coworker in passing “the rooster with the broken brain,” and they said, “I know that rooster! He belongs to the couple who owns the local bakery.”
Santa Maria Bakery happens to make the most mouthwatering sourdough in the valley. People come from far and wide to buy their fresh-baked cranberry & walnut boules or their savory rosemary & garlic loaves. Restaurants snatch their rolls up faster than they can restock them. Their sourdough is in such high demand that I would not be at all surprised if it drove someone to commit grand theft bread. That someone might be me.
Beethoven, it turns out, has earned such infamy for his failed attempts at proper roostering that they chose his likeness for the bakery’s logo. His offbeat character so charmed visitors to the farm that his owners figured he just had to be the ambassador for their brand. And so, the locals have come to equate that lovable fuck up’s profile with one of the tastiest delicacies in town.
Stop Waiting for the Right Time
At first, when my bestie told me this, I rolled my eyes. Confidence is more important than competence? Awesome. Sounds like a lot of corporate America to me.
But the more I thought about it, the more I realized this is good news for those of us prone to waiting in the wings until we’re ready. Until we’ve tweaked our offering one more time. Until everything is pristinely done and dusted.
This story illustrates that enthusiasm matters more than perfection. In Beethoven’s case, it matters more than even being good. Because what he lacks in accuracy, he makes up for in bravado. And that has made him memorable.
Enthusiasm is a magic that few people possess. This is unfortunate for most people but great for you because enthusiasm can be cultivated, and you’re reading an article about how to do it.
With enthusiasm in your corner, you can gain recognition, followers or clients even before you have it all figured out. You can start ugly and refine as you go. So, in other words, you can stop waiting for the right time and do the thing that’s in your heart NOW.
Find a Cake-for-Dinner Job
People get very upset about the advice to “follow your passion.” I have a theory, however, that those people don’t know what their passion is and, therefore, feel positively stuck when asked to follow this edict.
Then, there are multipassionates who have no doubt about what makes them feel alive. These folks are simply trying to figure out which of that long list of careers to choose without sacrificing any of their other loves in the process. This tip is for you people:
Find a cake-for-dinner job. And watch yourself become enthusiasm incarnate.
It’s exactly what it sounds like—a job that’s so damned enjoyable it feels like you’re getting away with something. Like you’re having cake for dinner.
It’s easy to feel enthusiastic when you’re doing what you love. Big duh. But since that’s what we’re all about here at Down the Rabbit Hole, it warrants a mention that this is the goal. You might not be there yet, but helping you design that dream job, that digital nomad existence, that publication that lets you spread your wings so you can spend your 4,000 weeks on this planet DOING YOU is my cake-for-dinner job.
If you’re still on the hunt for that kind of job, lean into what makes you curious. Enthusiasm starts with genuine curiosity, and scratching the itch to know more can be the ultimate adventure. When you’re so obsessed with learning everything you can about a topic so you can turn around and create solutions for others, you’re homing in on your cake-for-dinner job.
You can even develop enthusiasm by embracing curiosity in your “good enough” job—if that more accurately describes your current sitch. Ask your colleagues questions about their own outside-of-work passions. Challenge the status quo and explore better ways to do things.
Connect these explorations to a “why” that gives the project meaning for you. Are you a conservationist? Maybe you can help your company source more sustainable office supplies. Are you a writer? <wink> Weave your coworkers’ tales into stories.
Cultivate the hell out of that enthusiasm—it creates a snowball effect—so that one day, you can use it to shout about your thing from the rooftops.
Stew in Some Good Vibes
Helping people feels good. Studies show that acts of generosity and kindness trigger the production of dopamine and oxytocin, the brain’s natural feel-good chemicals.
In other words, helping people is a biohack for enthusiasm. To use an example from my own life, the best comments I’ve ever received, hands down, are the ones like this:
. . . You’ve been the one to encourage me to hit publish with my very first article, the first one to like it and the first person that ever gave me a comment.
. . . You’ve made me believe that my words were worthy of being written and shared.
And it’s not just me.
of CollabStack came up with the AMAZING idea of sending valentines—Love Notes, as she called them—to her favorite Substack writers this year. She enjoyed doing it so much that she is building a gamified version of Love Notes into CollabStack so that writers are incentivized to wax appreciative about their favorite co-conspirators year round!
After doing someone a solid, you have a bit of a glow about you. You’re oozing good vibes. And you know what just naturally flows from that state? Enthusiasm.
Best yet, enthusiasm makes easier what, for many of us, is the worst part of entrepreneurship. The awful task of selling things.
We’ve been conditioned to think that selling is sleazy. But what if, instead of pitching, you simply said, “Here’s what I’m good at. Would you like my help?”
Dare I say that might make selling feel . . . good?
When you focus on serving, selling feels as natural as breathing. Imagine you just found the best restaurant in town. Would you feel weird telling your friend about it? Nope. That’s what earnest, integrity-based selling is like.
And it gets to feel damn good when you have genuine enthusiasm backing you up.
Surround Yourself with Human Fireflies
You know those people whose eyes light up when they talk about what they love and who make you feel like anything is possible? Yeah—those are the sparkplugs you want to hold onto for dear life.
Enthusiasm is contagious. Just like spending too much time with energy vampires can leave you feeling drained, surrounding yourself with passionate, high-vibe people will naturally elevate your own good feelings.
As someone who had more drinking buddies than human fireflies for the first 40 years of my life, I thought finding people like this was impossibly hard. Then I happened upon Substack and discovered that this is where they’ve been hiding all along. If you haven’t yet engaged with other creators in idea ping-pong, getting a little jolt of electricity every time another’s glee triggers a download of your own inspiration, DOUBLE DOWN on making connections today.
Give sincere compliments gratuitously. Go beyond comments like “Great post!” and prioritize having actual conversations. And remember that enthusiasm attracts enthusiasm. The more you embody excitement for your own passions, the more you’ll naturally draw like-minded people into your orbit.
Never has it been easier to find your firefly tribe. Thanks, Substack 😘
Design a Brand You’re Proud Of
If you love your brand aesthetic, you’ll want to tell everyone about it—including Steve, the supernice checker at Trader Joe’s. After all, when your brand reflects who you truly are, sharing it with the world doesn’t feel like marketing. It feels like self-expression.
But what if you have multiple income streams and no idea how to connect them in a way that looks sexy? Or if you write in multiple niches and aren’t quite sure what your personal brand even looks like? Perhaps you’ve settled for a slipshod web presence comprised of mismatched stock photos and branding elements that aren’t quite what you imagined.
That was me for years. No matter how excited I was to talk about my new obsession, I was way too embarrassed to send people to a home page that was less than professional or, perhaps more accurately, hot garbage.
Picture me being out in the world—bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and all, like, “Hire me, I’m fabulous—” and then when it came time to share my contact info, I’d slowly skulk away into the shadows. Turns out, that’s bad for business.
Don’t let lackluster branding destroy your enthusiasm.
You deserve a logo that makes you do a happy dance, a color palette that screams you and brand images that stop people mid-scroll. Your branding should feel like YOU in 2D, shining brightly from the page like the beacon that you are.
That’s what makes it magnetic.
That’s what makes people want to click, read and buy.
If you’re ready to create a visual identity so irresistible you won’t be able to stop talking about it, book a Claritea Consult. Because when your branding makes you light up, everyone else can’t help but sit up and pay attention.
Paid subscribers, did you know you get $85 off The Claritea Consult? Simply message me for your coupon code.
What are you so excited about right now you could absolutely combust?
Share it with us in the comments because I guarantee it will fan all of our creative flames 🔥🔥🔥
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Hit the nail on the head!
Surround yourself with high vibe people and you’ll surf the inspiration wave together!!
Also, great reminder to turn my hot garbage into something more accurately brandified!!
Love the positivity, human fireflies, and the cake-for-dinner approach. I also want cake now.