A Lesson From T. Swift (whether you love her or hate her)

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I’m endlessly curious about personal branding and how people scale...whether it’s a business, a career, or a creative pursuit.

And right now, in a house with two young girls in our home, we’re very much in our Taylor Swift era. (pun intended)

It was actually a conversation with some fellow full-time RV'ers that led me to pick up the HBR Taylor Swift strategy book. (It’s fine...not groundbreaking. But, it answered some questions for me: like why her success was so astronomical... while so many other equally talented artists plateaued.)

Here’s what stood out the most and why it matters for founders:

1️⃣ She had a crystal-clear vision early on (honestly this is so rare at any age, but especially at 13)

Taylor knew what she wanted long before the results showed up.

She knew her vision for what she was building and her ideal role within it (the songwriter).

That clarity shaped:

the partners she chose to work with
the opportunities she said no to
the patience she had during the early years

(It was three years before she realized any real success and that was mainly because she waited for the right label partner to even exist as a viable business.)

💣 Most founders quit or pivot long before this point—not because they lack talent, but because they lack vision.

2️⃣ She chose the right partners...and then parted ways as she outgrew them

Scott Borchetta and Big Machine helped her launch. (This was who she waited for.)

Later, she outgrew them.

This is normal. In fact, it’s all part of the journey.

As you scale:

some partners/employees will grow with you
others won’t
and holding on too long can cap the growth to your next level

💣Scaling isn’t about loyalty at all costs. It’s about alignment at every stage.

3️⃣ She found (and owned) a blue ocean.

Teenage girls listened to country music, but no one was singing to them. And record labels weren't focused on them as a target market.

She identified a gap, then built her brand around it.

Growth accelerates when:

your audience feels seen
your message feels specific
and your offer feels inevitable

💣This is the same mistake I see founders make every day: They compete in crowded markets instead of designing a clearer position.

4️⃣🌟She obsessed over fan experience, from Day 1.

Taylor didn’t just perform. She designed an intentional experience.

Early on, that meant:

handwritten notes
inviting fans into her home
making them feel personally known

Later, that meant:

running on a treadmill for three hours a day to rehearse her full set while singing
friendship bracelets
key connections and responding to social media comments directly

💣Most businesses obsess over growth before they obsess over experience. She did the opposite—and that’s why her growth skyrocketed (think Savannah Bananas and others that have also practiced this philosophy.

🌟5️⃣She always knew her “$1M+ destinations”

She knew:

her $1M+ vision
her $1M+ ideal role
her $1M+ fan experience
her $1M+ metrics (the level she wanted to play at)

She brought in help (hello, Max Martin) when she needed new direction and capabilities—but she never outsourced ownership of the actual work or the story. She knew who she was and stuck to it.

‼️What This Means for Founders ‼️

Every successful business I’ve worked with shares the same foundations:

A clear vision of what they’re building
A defined ideal role for the founder
An intentionally designed client experience
Metrics that reflect the future they’re aiming for (and not just centered on sales)

Talent matters. Hard work matters.

💣But clarity compounds faster than effort ever will.

Whether you’re an artist, a founder, or somewhere in between—the question isn’t “Can I scale?”

It’s:

👉 Do I know exactly what I’m building?

👉 Who I need to become to lead it?

👉 And what experience I’m actually delivering?

That’s where real growth starts.

What are the $1M+ Destinations that you're building towards?

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