Branding Essentials: The Soulful Entrepreneur's Guide to Clarity

If your business was a person, then branding would be his or her heart. It is the palpable source of life upon which all the other systems depend in order for the whole to flourish and experience a meaningful existence. 

Can you have a business without a brand, or without an awareness of what your brand is? Yes, many businesses do, but that’s kind of like having a lame friend who has no real personality or ambition. Or worse, a friend who is always in the midst of an identity crisis and can’t get their stuff together long enough to actually be helpful or positive.

Maybe you’ll hang out with them because you live in the same neighborhood, or because at some point in the past they had something you needed, but you’re never really that excited to see them, and you certainly wouldn’t tell your other friends how awesome that person is. They’re just… there. Whatever.

On the other hand, a person with a beating heart and integrity, someone who’s warm and welcoming, clear-headed and communicative, and is always up to something interesting… Well, that’s a cool friend you definitely want to spend more time with!  

It’s really as simple as that.  

Branding is basically how you are perceived and experienced by those who interact with you. 

Whether it’s you personally, as in the case of a personal brand, or you as an entity or organization.

If you Google the definition of a brand, you’ll get something like this:

A brand is a distinguishing symbol, mark, logo name, word, sentence or a combination of these items that companies use to distinguish their product from others in the market. The legal term for a brand is a trademark.

But while that isn’t inaccurate, it is highly reductive because all of the things described there are the assets of a brand, not the brand itself. It’s like saying your veins are responsible for getting oxygen to your organs. True, but without the heart you’d just have a bunch of clogged-up tubes.

A brand is NOT a logo.

Here are some deeper interpretations of what a brand really is:

A brand is the position you own in the mind of your audience. It’s a promise to the people you serve and how you serve them. –Mitch Anthony, Clarity Strategy Agency

A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another. – Seth Godin, bestselling author and marketing expert

A brand is about caring about your business at every level and in every detail, from the big things like mission and vision, to your people, your customers, and every interaction anyone is ever going to have with you, no matter how small. – Dan Pallotta, author, entrepreneur, and activist

Once you have your brand identity figured out, all the assets (like your website, marketing channels, and even the products or services themselves) will fall into place naturally. But without first going deep within and doing the hard work of figuring out your unique essence, you'll just continue to spin your wheels and not see any real results. 

In case you were wondering, here's a little history of branding from Wikipedia:

The practice of branding originated during the ancient times when it was used by craftsmen to imprint trademarks on their goods. Branding does not only help identify, but it also ensures the quality of goods and services the buyer and trader will purchase from the manufacturer. In history, cattle and sheep were branded with hot irons to indicate ownership. Humans were also marked to classify their social status. Slaves were marked to indicate ownership and criminals are labelled distinctly to show disgrace. Similarly, victims of the World War II Nazi persecution were branded with numbers as they entered the concentration camps. However, despite the history filled with negative connotation linked with branding, it has been replaced with a positive and more commercialized meaning, which relates to the use of categorizing brand goods and services.

You could say the word branding itself was rebranded!

Furthermore, as hinted above, there are many different kinds of brands. So whether you have a physical product, are an educational organization, a non-profit, or a service-based entrepreneur, if you’re doing something you want others to know about then you have a brand.

It’s up to you whether you take ownership of that brand, or let others define it for you.

To me, what it all comes down to are 3 things:

1. Clarity about who you are and how you're serving the world.

2. Understanding that your customers/clients/students/donors/readers are the ultimate heroes, not you.

3. Expressing this to yourself will pave the way to effective communication with others.

The best way to break that down is NOT for me to dictate any rules or steps. It’s to present you with high-mileage questions and encourage that you set aside some quiet time, open your heart, put your thinking cap on, and really sink your teeth into your unique answers, which will become the raw ingredients of your ultimate brand.  

By the way, these are not superficial questions. In case you’re new here you should know that I’m not your average marketing gal who’s focused on endless growth and conversions and profit. What we’re doing here is connecting with the core of why you’re doing this work, and when you can really do that in both a genuine and strategic way, abundance will sprout in more ways than just your bank account. If you're a soulful entrepreneur then I have no doubt you know what I mean.

So here we go, questions to help you connect with the heart of your brand…

1.     Clarity.

What is the mission of your business?

How will this make the world better?

WHY are YOU passionate about the work you do?

What are some words that describe your personality and personal style?

How might others describe your personality? If you're not sure, ask 3 people.

How is your approach to this work different from someone else who has a similar business?

2.     Customers.

Who do you want to serve?

What does this person really care about or value in life?

What is a challenge they have that you are uniquely qualified to address?

In what ways is your ideal customer an incredible person? How might they not even realize their immense gifts?

If you could boil down the result you’d deliver for them in one word, what would it be?

What are some words to describe your ideal customer's personal style?

3.     Communication.

What kinds of content do you most enjoy creating and are good at?

Where do your ideal customers get their information most often?

What kinds of communication do they most enjoy? (Visual, written, digital, tactile, detailed, quick? etc.)

How would they like to be spoken with?

How would they like to feel?

What kind of time do they have for interacting with a business like yours?

Ok, so how was that for you? Easy? Challenging? If you didn’t struggle with at least a few of the questions above then you must be a branding wizard with your business all figured out, in which case congratulations! But if you did struggle a bit, it's still a good thing because it means you're working through it and there's room to grow! 

Usually these answers don’t come easily, but asking the questions (repeatedly, if need be) plants a seed of awareness from which a brand will ultimately grow with thoughtfulness, care, and patience. It’s truly a process of unfolding from the inside out.

Also, please note that these questions are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to finding brand clarity. I usually go through these and many more when getting oriented with new clients in order to connect the many relevant information elements that need to come together to form a cohesive holistic brand identity. And depending on where you already are in your business, this may require a graceful pivot rather than a ground-up re-launch.

Hopefully this is enough to get you started, or to reconsider your existing brand more thoughtfully.

Next step:

After you’ve answered, take a nice deep breath, eat some walnuts to feed your brain, make a cup of tea to nourish your soul, and then take a step back to review and brainstorm what your brand is really all about. I’m talking about the BIG PICTURE, not selling more stuff or growing your bank account, but what your individual or organizational contribution is to this big beautiful world in need of progress and healing. How are YOU and your brand elevating human potential, creating more joy or wellness, or leading us all towards higher consciousness or empowerment?

If your brand doesn’t speak to the core of some aspect of universal humanity then it’s not fully cooked yet. That’s ok, just know that, and keep working on it.

Creating a brand isn’t just about sitting in front of your laptop and coming up with a brilliant business strategy. It’s about forging into the brave unknown of your own soul and extracting from that a precious nugget of greatness that will illuminate the collective good.

From there you can craft your mission statements, headlines, logos, web presence, social media strategy, colors and visuals, etc. and you’ll find that these things all fall so much more easily into place than by going the other way around.

So what do you want to have, a business or a brand?

Thoughts? Takeaways? Additional questions I should add above? I welcome your comments :)

Productivity vs. Slowness: How to Get Things Done and Chill Out Too

Productivity is all the rage these days, with experts touting the joys of efficiency so you can get more done in less time, and – ideally – use that unwasted time on the things that matter most, like family, health, and travel.

As an example, here’s a quick video of research-based productivity hacks that millions of people are trying to apply (most of these strategies have had mixed results for me, but maybe they’ll work for you).

But here are the questions I’m wrestling with in regards to this, should being “productive” be the ultimate measure for how we define success?

Can we have a valuable life without maximizing the generative capacity of every moment, and does it really work to schedule your fun after the important things are done?

One more, a biggie, are people really balancing their productivity with more life enjoyment, or do they just keep cramming more tasks into the day because they’re mistaking genuine productivity with busyness?

As a freelancer and entrepreneur part of me yearns for more productivity, to check off more things on the daily to-do’s, and to go to sleep knowing I accomplished something meaningful that day. But as a mother, I can’t help but look at my kids and see them as unquestionably – even flamboyantly – UNproductive, and also yearn to have their sense of wild abandon, imagination, and freedom. After all, they seem pretty happy… when they’re not wallowing in some dramatic snack-related despair.

To complicate things further, I’m a creative human and holistic thinker. I burn out if I’m solely focused on practical things for too long, even if it’s broken up with breaks. I need to play, craft, experiment, and generally waste time on things that feed my soul just because it feels good. I also want to connect with fellow humans, enjoy some juicy fiction with a cup of tea, or take a photography walk in nature­. It’s during those times that my rational mind takes a rest, and in resting serves as more fertile ground to ideas I’ll later integrate in more practical ways. But despite knowing the value of these pursuits I still have to quiet the nagging voice that says I’m being unproductive, that I should focus on growing my business, researching positive brands, organizing my tax receipts, networking, or learning something. Not just… (gasp) living life!

So where’s the balance?

As is so often the case, it helps to know we’re not alone in feeling like something just isn’t right about the way everyone around us seems to be doing things.

When I came upon the global slow movement, I let out a huge sigh of relief and then a HELL YES! This is what I’m talkin’ about!

"The slow movement is a cultural revolution against the notion that faster is always better. The Slow philosophy is not about doing everything at a snail’s pace. It's about seeking to do everything at the right speed. Savoring the hours and minutes rather than just counting them. Doing everything as well as possible, instead of as fast as possible. It’s about quality over quantity in everything from work to food to parenting."

You can’t really savor the minutes if you’re on a productivity schedule, trying to get things done.

And while the point of productivity is to avoid distraction so you can actually accomplish your goals, something I totally agree is necessary, there are also times when distractions can be… good. By nature, they are “of the moment” and can lift our spirits in surprising ways. A text from a friend could make you smile, a pause to Google some interesting creative initiative could inspire you, leaving work early to go see your kid play soccer helps strengthen our human bonds.

Because the slow movement focuses on quality over quantity, it is unproductive in all the ways that matter!  

Wisdom traditions know the value of doing nothing, living simply, and taking it slow. Isn’t that what meditation is all about? Artists get it too. They don’t mind spending hours, days, months, or even years producing just one piece of art. I know there’s more to it, but the point is that cultivating the stillness of pure being creates the peace from which all the good things can grow, including the vision to be productive with purpose.

Productivity pays the bills, but unstructured living feeds the soul.

The sweet spot is ultimately the ability to recognize when productivity is important and to stay focused, but to also dial it back and chill out regularly enough to actually enjoy this one beautiful life you have.  

Here are some ways to help you do just that:

1.     Make a habit of creative input.

You can’t keep producing if your own creative well is dry, so do things that enrich you spiritually and engage different senses than what you might use when you’re being productive, however you define that in your own work and life. I have a creativity practice, which encompasses a variety of things like doodling, crafting, listening to guided visualizations, or dancing. It doesn’t really matter what it is, as long as you’re consciously and regularly finding ways to fill your creative well with things that just feel good and don’t necessarily tie into your business or professional life.

2.     Assess where you are on the productivity/slowness scale, regularly.

Doing too much? Give yourself a productivity detox and take a day off, yes you can, the world won’t stop spinning, promise. Use that time to do some slow activities, like cooking, gardening, or even spending 3 hours browsing at a bookstore. Or are you a little too loose right now and need some more structure to get things accomplished after a period of relative unproductivity? In that case, open your calendar right now and literally schedule all the things you want to complete over the next few weeks or months, with reasonable breaks and times to unwind. Then, get to work.

3.     Do the right things in the right order.

This is perhaps one of the most useful pieces of advice I’ve ever gotten, from author Sean Platt who gave an incredible talk at camp GLP. It is so very tempting to yearn for the accomplishment of all our desires right this minute, whether it’s to launch a new product or go on an epic trip around the world. We are impatient, it’s a quality that provides both intrinsic motivation and sporadic depression. But it helps to remember that life is a long time, and wisdom is the ability to zoom out and realize that our experiences build upon each other in forging our unique paths as we take each step forward, however tentative or confident it might be. Perhaps for you, at this time, that means focusing on productivity this year, so that you can change careers next year in favor of a slower life.  Doing the right things in the right order means making tough decisions with the big picture in mind, and then pacing yourself accordingly.

What’s your take on the productivity/slowness debate? 

50+ Conscious Brands Doing Business for Good

Now, more than ever, there is a great need for humanity to come together and solve some massive crises that affect us all. The degradation of our environment, devastating poverty, lack of access to basic resources or education, fellow humans or living beings needlessly suffering.

You get the picture. We need to step it up and do more. A lot more.

At the same time, those of us fortunate enough to live comfortably in the “developed” world are surrounded by a culture of consumerism, sensory delights, and fleeting thrills. We like shiny new things, fancy food, and anything that makes life easier or more fun.

This isn’t a bad thing, it’s just how we’re wired. We may think about helping others more, giving donations when we can, but there’s only so much we can care about, and we’re living in our own bubbles most of the time.

Nonprofits are great, amazing in fact, they do the hard work on the ground to actually help people, plant trees, build schools, clean up the oceans, find new homes for refugees, etc. But they can’t do it alone with meager funds, and addressing these issues after significant damage has been done is not nearly as effective as shifting the paradigm of how we co-exist on this planet in order to really solve some of these problems through awareness and action.

We need to live more holistically, bridge the gap, evolve.

It’s a massive challenge, one that businesses and creative entrepreneurs are in a unique position to address, and they’re already doing it...

With the power of CONSCIOUS CONSUMERISM.

By integrating the innovation, creativity, and influence of business with an intention of affecting real positive change, we are seeing an increasing number of hybrid business models that are thriving with profitability AND contributing to creating a better world. Hallelujah!

If you haven’t heard of the conscious consumerism movement, B-corps, Corporate and Social Responsibility (CSR), and #businessforgood, then prepare to fall in love and regain hope in humanity.

I truly believe this is how most business will be done in the future, so let’s get on the bandwagon and support these efforts together.

If you’re a business owner, check out the companies below and let them inspire you with a new vision, an opportunity to not just make money, but make a positive impact.

If you’re an individual, choose to shop with brands like these as much as you can, because you vote with your money, and by supporting these businesses you are supporting something good and much larger than yourself.

Here are 50+ conscious brands doing good while making money

(I plan to keep this list ongoing, welcoming any suggestions for additions! Bookmark this bad boy for anytime you need gift ideas.)

Apparel

Toms – perhaps one of the most popular, they sell comfy shoes and other wearables, then help provide shoes, sight, water, safe birth, and bullying prevention services to people in need.

The Elephant Pants – makers of elephant-themed clothing and accessories for adults and kids. 10% of net profits is donated to the American Wildlife Foundation.

Tentree – manufacturers of ethical apparel, planting 10 trees for every purchase.

Darn Good Yarn - wholesaler and retailer of original recycled yarns, clothing and home goods, made in small batches by artisans in India.

Out of Print – they make t-shirts and other products with iconic book covers or themes. They also support literacy and book donations in underserved communities.

Toad & Co. – a sustainable clothing company, contributing to causes that improve the lives of adults with disabilities.

Eileen Fisher – quality apparel made with sustainability in mind, supporting conservation efforts and human rights.

Life is Good - optimism-inspired shirts and other apparel, with a Foundation that partners with leading childcare organizations to positively impact the quality of care delivered to the most vulnerable children. 

Oliberte - Fair Trade Certified boots, footwear, and other accessories supporting workers in sub-Saharan Africa and donating 1% for the planet. 

Gudrun Sjoden - eco-friendly clothes and houseware, with proceeds going towards sustainability and impacting environmental business policy.

Ethos Collection - Fair Trade clothing and accessories, with 3% of proceeds invested in Kiva micro-loans around the world. 

Bombas - super soft cotton socks, every purchase results in a pair donated to the homeless.

REI - outdoor gear, apparel, and related accessories, with a coop business model, run on renewable energy for operations, and partnering with countless nonprofits for environmental stewardship, education, and social good.

Devocean Co. - makers of hoodies, t-shirts, jewelry, hats, and towels. Focused on raising awareness about the growing fragility of marine habitats, currently donating 20% of profits for sea turtles.

Accessories

Feed project – makers of quality bags and accessories, and providers of school meals for children around the world.

Hopeshades - eco-friendly sunglasses, donating to a cause of your choice based on color, as well as to an emergency fund for any cause that needs immediate action.

Planet Love Life - recycled marine debris awareness accessories, hand crafted from salvaged fishing nets & ropes collected during beach cleanup projects, benefitting ocean conservation.

Ubuntu Amulet - jewelry with symbolism for religious and cultural unity, a portion of each sales goes to MasterPeace, an organization focused on peace-building around the world.

Rice Love – upcycled bags, 1 kilo of rice is donated in India and Nepal for every bag purchased.

Warby Parker – offering quality eyewear at an affordable price, Warby Parker donates a pair of glasses to someone in need with every purchase through their partner organization.

Trades of Hope - ethically produced accessories and home decor following Fair Trade practices, empowering artisan women around the world and donating to organizations that also support women in challenging social situations. 

Sprout Watches - eco-friendly watches made from sustainable materials, donating 1% of profits to environmental efforts.

Love Your Melon - makers of hats and beanies, donating hats to kids with cancer and supporting nonprofits dedicated to research in pediatric cancer.

Edibles

Alter Eco – they produce healthy and tasty foods like quinoa and chocolate with an environmentally responsible and socially just model that preserves the land and helps communities of farmers flourish.

Dean’s Beans – purveyors of great tasting, organic, and Fair Trade coffee, Dean’s Beans also funds a variety of initiatives including reforestation projects, micro-loans, and community health development.

Four Sigmatic – creators of healthy mushroom products, Four Sigmatic partners with a cancer organization and sends high value mushroom kits to patients in need of wellness and cheering.

Snack Nation – a healthy snack delivery services for offices, donating 10 meals for every snack box shipped via Feeding America.

Andean Naturals – a quinoa importer and champion of quinoa growers with a sustainability program that includes environmental, social, and financial initiatives focused on their farming communities.

Numi Tea – makers of organic and Fair Trade certified teas, with a philanthropic mission that supports the environment, K-12 education, and wellness initiatives.

Natural Vitality - makers of wellness supplements and sponsors of organizations and initiatives that focus on personal, social, and environmental health.

New Chapter - non-GMO certified organic supplements with a philanthropic mission that includes human health, environmentalism, and traditional herbal medicine.

Whole Earth & Sea - vegan raw food vitamins using organic, non-gmo ingredients, with $2 of every bottle sold going to support seewhatgrows.org.

Body & Home 

Soapbox – makers of natural bar and liquid soap products, donating soap, fresh water, or vitamins to children in need.

Sack Cloth & Ashes - makers of tribal-inspired wool blend blankets made in the U.S.A. For every blanked purchased, one is donated to a homeless shelter.

Prosperity Candle – makers of natural soy candles, with proceeds benefitting refugee women.

W.S. Badger Company – makers of certified organic body care products, supporting organic farms and promoting holistic, chemical-free initiatives for the wellbeing of people and the planet.

Smile Squared – makers of bamboo toothbrushes, donating one toothbrush for every purchase to children in need.

Klean Kanteen – makers of durable stainless steel cups, bottles, and food containers, donating 1% of profits to plastic cleanup efforts, conservation, and environmental stewardship.

Mad Hippie – natural skin care line, donating $1 of every web sale to wildlife conservation.

Young Living – makers of quality essential oils, with their own Foundation that provides wellness and education opportunities to underserved communities around the world.

Give Something Back – office supply company, donating 73% of after-tax profits to charitable causes fighting hunger, helping the environment, or supporting youth and families.

Kids & Pets

Wapikka – a teddy bear company not only making cute toys, but also feeding a child in Malawi for a year with every bear sold.

Everything Happy – makers of children’s clothes, blankets, and pillows, for every purchase a donation is made to orphanages, children’s hospitals, or poverty-stricken communities.

Baby Teresa – an organic clothing company for babies, donations are made via products to babies around the world, or charitable giving for formula or helping mothers in need.

Bogo Bowl – pet food company, donating food to animal shelters.

Travel/Experiences

The Institute for Integrative Nutrition - a comprehensive online Health Coach Training Program, regularly supporting nonprofits that focus on holistic wellness and sustainability.  

Animal Experience International – providers of volunteer adventure experiences where people interact with and protect wildlife at sanctuaries, conservatories, and rehab centers. Experiences are structured around actual needs of placement partners, and proceeds go towards supporting those wildlife organizations.

Miscellaneous

Kiva store - Kiva is a nonprofit organization providing small loans directly to people all around the world, and now they have a shop so you can buy from independent artisans online.

Ten Thousand Villages - a non-profit social enterprise that partners with independent small-scale artisan groups, co-ops, and workshops to bring a variety of handmade wares to the global community. Fair trade standards that help communities thrive.

There’s even a pub in Portland that donates profits to a variety of charitable causes. Their hashtag is #aletruism. How genius is that?!

The above are examples of consumer-friendly brands with products we can all use, but there are many more conscious organizations that offer a range of services in nearly anything you can imagine, such as web development, financial investment, consulting, pharmaceuticals, and more.

Below are some additional resources you can explore if you’re interested in business for good. Not all of these have donation partnerships necessarily, but they all conduct business in a way that is positive, enriching, and/or sustainable.

2015’s best of the world from B-corp

Global brands with impressive CSR programs

And if you’re a business owner who’s interested in integrating sales with charitable contribution, then check out 1% for the planet, or Buy1Give1.

Because we all share this beautiful world and we’re all we’ve got. Let’s work together and solve these big challenges with good ol’ fashioned commerce!

Client Experience Core Values: A Freelancer’s Manifesto

Balance, mindfulness, and abundance are my core values in all areas of life, and it is no different in my freelance work.

Even before I began working independently with clients I had a certain work ethic that permeated my career journey from humble beginnings as an ice cream shop server, all throughout my administrative and waitressing jobs in college, my 5-year stint in publishing, and ultimately to being a Health Coach and a Content Manager at a wellness school before starting my own business as a copywriter and content strategist.

These principles have guided my path forward and made me a welcome colleague, coach, and writer. I just never thought to write them down before!

So in case you might be wondering just what guides my sense of purpose and what kind of experience you might expect as a client, here is my manifesto…

If this sounds like it's right up your alley,   let's talk.

Work as Art: The Rise of Creative Entrepreneurship

There is something magical happening in our consciousness and economy, something that’s not totally new but has recently reached a level of critical mass that makes it more visible, more palpable, and more accessible than ever before.

The simple pursuit of things that light us up inside, relegated beyond the role of hobbies and secret passions to something front and center in our professional lives.

I’m talking about entrepreneurs, freelancers, artists, creators, business-owners, independents, those who are navigating the fine line between business and pleasure, and balancing their creative and logical minds with a newly refined level of expertise.

I’m talking about people who pursue cool things they love and make money doing it.

Yes, sometimes this balancing act requires that we take on work that pays in order to fund our ideas, but then WE MAKE THOSE IDEAS HAPPEN, and that often leads to invitations to do more of that, setting up an exhilarating (and sometimes scary) career where we are the masters of our time, priorities, and income.

The value system has shifted so that more people are inclined to think big, take risks, and follow their dreams.

Many are applying those efforts towards making the world better, healthier, happier, and more sustainable; towards helping others and expanding the possibilities for everyone to thrive with resources and support, not just the fortunate minority, and towards fulfilling some mysterious inner calling. 

Income is not the primary objective of work.

More and more are stepping up and saying “I refuse to spend 40 hours a week doing something that crushes my soul for a paycheck and benefits, I’d rather spend 60 hours a week doing what I love, earning less for a while, and forging my own path forward.”

Does such a career lifestyle come with it’s own set of drawbacks? OH YES, it does.

It’s hard, really hard sometimes. You have to hustle for clients, charge varying rates, barter for services, figure out taxes and other legal issues. It’s not for everyone, and I’m certainly not saying that it should be. But there are rewards too, and the point is that the world is ready for this and it’s happening.

This year I joined this incredible tribe, but it was only after years of observation of the pioneers who paved the way and showed that it was possible for the “average person” to succeed and thrive without the safety of the corporate structure I was previously attached to.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think I could just invent my own job but that’s exactly what’s happened.

My fusion of content management, strategy, copywriting, photography, wellness, and more recently co-founding a coworking space have fused into a career where no two days are ever the same.

The ability and freedom to use the entire range of one’s skills and talents not only creates a happier worker and more interesting work, it contributes to a shift in paradigm that will permeate all of our lives.

Clearly, I think this is pretty cool, and I just had to say so.

I will leave you with a book to explore this further. Zen and the Art of Making a Living was published in the 1970’s by brilliant author and thinker Laurence Boldt. It was ahead of its time then and in many ways still is, but we’re just starting to awaken to some of the ideas he shares there. I highly recommend it, and here’s a quote:

“The highest order of duty to self is to follow your bliss. To thine own self be true. The highest order of duty to society is to make your fullest contribution to its well-being. These duties meet in life’s work. They may appear (especially in the short-term) to be in conflict, but in the long run of a life span, they can be seen to be threads interwoven so tightly as to be almost indistinguishable.”