Allison Bran: Winner of the 2024 Great Companies International Women Entrepreneur Award

Name: Allison Bran

Business Name: The REX Agency (REX Marketing + Design Inc.)

Location: Port Moody , Canada

Establishment (Year): 2017

Category: Advertising & Marketing

Profession/ Specialty: Brand Strategy & Marketing Agency

Website: www.startwithrex.com

Social Media : LinkedIn | LinkedIn

Company Detail:

The REX Agency is an internationally award-winning brand strategy and marketing firm for service companies. They accelerate the growth of service companies by crafting differentiated brands and effective marketing strategies in competitive markets. Their services include research, positioning, brand strategy, branding, marketing strategy, website development (including UX/UI strategy), content marketing, digital campaigns, and multimedia design.

Unique Selling Proposition or Competitive Advantage:

Specialized for Service Companies: The REX Agency offers tailored strategies for business growth through brand and marketing, especially for the unique needs of Service Companies in competitive markets.

Award-Winning Approach: Their Business-to-Brand Framework™, developed over two decades by Founder Allison Bran, has earned 25 international awards and is endorsed by Alberta Economic Development to stimulate business growth.

Expert-Led Strategy: REX is led by seasoned experts in Brand Strategy, Branding, Digital Marketing, Marketing Operations, and Web Strategy, offering clients a fractional senior team for precise focus and results.

Entrepreneurial Culture: Their senior strategists have firsthand experience in growing service companies, cultivating a culture of entrepreneurship, vision, and grit that accelerates clients' entrepreneurial aspirations.

Accountable Partnerships: REX provides a fractional strategic team to enhance and empower client leadership teams and execution. They continually refine project and account management processes, freeing business owners from task management and allowing them to concentrate on their core operations.

Challenges Faced During the Journey

A few days after signing incorporation papers, hiring the first employees, and securing several 12-month projects for the new agency, unexpected news arrived – Allison Bran was pregnant. Building the foundation of the company while pregnant was manageable. The real challenge began when her daughter was born. She was four days old on her first in-office day. Weeks later, there was a brand launch party for REX, and she was the guest of honor, strapped to Allison's chest in an elegant sling. What people didn't know before Allison came out to do her welcome speech is that she was crying in the backroom, wondering if she was making the right decision. From the very start, her daughter became the resident 'Boss Baby'.

By the time her daughter was 8 weeks old, they were already traveling for business. Allison vividly remembers giving a keynote marketing strategy presentation to an all-male team and a National Franchise client, with her daughter in a sling on her chest, nursing discreetly beneath the cover of the sling tail.

The most significant obstacles Allison faced weren't just the practical challenges of balancing motherhood and entrepreneurship; they were the opinions and judgments the world had about her as a mother and a business owner. The self-doubt she grappled with was perhaps the most formidable obstacle of all.

As women, they found themselves redefining the boundaries between work and personal life, driven by necessity. Allison was fortunate to have a team of "Office Aunties and Uncles" who never hesitated to lend a hand, who never made it awkward when she needed to breastfeed in the boardroom, and who genuinely embraced the idea of a company led with work-life integration in mind.

The most rewarding part of this experience was the young women Allison met along the way who had previously believed they had to choose between having children and pursuing a serious career. Allison's journey helped them see that there was another way if they wanted to pursue it.

Today, Allison proudly leads a $1M marketing agency—an achievement that only 4 percent of companies reach, and few of them are service agencies. What makes this even more remarkable is that they accomplished this milestone in four years with a 'baby onboard'. Their agency's success is built upon a culture that constantly pushes boundaries and embraces diversity.

Plus, Allison has a daughter with a confident voice who will know she belongs in a boardroom if she chooses because she's been there since day one, she has a son who thinks girls are just as cool and powerful as boys, and she has a husband who is all-in on this journey of figuring it out, leveling up in big ways upon what society modeled for men and fathers.

While they, as women and as a society, are still navigating the intricacies of this evolving dynamic, the challenges are undeniably real. However, it's important to acknowledge that the women who came before Allison's generation undertook the monumental task of opening doors and creating opportunities for them to carry the torch forward.

Advice for Women Entrepreneurs:

For women who are either aspiring entrepreneurs or already navigating the challenging path of business ownership and motherhood, Allison has some advice to share. While it may sound cliché, she firmly believes it all boils down to purpose. Having a compelling and deeply meaningful purpose driving the growth of your business is what will enable you to tackle the inevitable challenges and turbulence of balancing entrepreneurship and motherhood.

Furthermore, if you have a partner, it's crucial to approach this journey with gentleness and understanding as you both figure out how to navigate it together. This renegotiation of roles is new for everyone involved, and it's important not to compare your partner to others'. Each family has its own set of needs, skills, and resources, which should dictate the way you make it work. In other words, achieving the ideal of "having it all" often means throwing out the rule book and crafting your own. It's not an easy path, and it will require a great deal of patience.

Lastly, Allison wants to emphasize that there is nothing inherently superior or righteous about entrepreneurship. It's essential to be open to the possibility that you may not be or may not want to be an entrepreneur. Only by considering this alternative can you truly understand how deeply your desire for it runs. The path you choose should align with your passion and purpose, whether that leads you to entrepreneurship or another fulfilling endeavor.