This Founder Didn't Want to Be the 'Face' of Her Brand. But She Pushed Through the Discomfort — and Now She's a Household Name. Why the founder of Angie's List was resistant to being 'Angie,' but came to embrace it.

Before this interview, I told my wife that I was talking to Angie from Angie's List. And she asked, "That's a real person?!" You must get that all the time.

I do. And in fact, that's why our marketing team wanted to put me in our commercials — because it was people's most common question. "Is there an actual Angie?"

Founders don't often realize the power that they have. As the face of a brand, founders are the ones that customers build relationships with. Did you appreciate that when you named the company Angie's List?

It was quite a journey for me. We started the business in Columbus, Ohio, and we called it Columbus Neighbors. No one understood the business. They always got our name wrong. So a year in, we went through this process of renaming.

That name was so limiting — but so many businesses make that mistake! They create a name that doesn't scale, because they're not thinking about what happens if their business grows and succeeds.

Right! At the time, we had a few hundred members. There was no reason to think that the name was a big decision. But then we grew and were debating new names. My cofounder Bill threw in at the last minute, "We should just call it Angie's List. She's the one that answers the phone." So we decided to name it that.

I am incredibly shy. Like, no part of me wants the limelight. Before I made this crazy leap into BIZ Experiencesialism, I wanted to be an actuary. Spreadsheets, numbers — that was perfect for me. But now I say this: People like people much more than they like brands. You can relate to people, you can understand their story, you can understand why they did what they did, and it gives you a reason to believe.

Related: A Face Behind the Brand: How to Humanize Your Business for Maximum Growth

How did you handle the limelight?

For me, being the spokesperson was really about being super authentic. To be comfortable telling my story, I had to actually tell the story. No spin. No extra frills.

This became increasingly important. At first, the team would write content, and it would be under my byline, and then I'd go through the bank drive-thru and the teller would ask me a question about a story "I wrote" and I couldn't answer the question! So I told the team, "I have to see every piece of content that goes out under my byline. You must operate within the realms of who I am, 'cause I can't live this dual life."

Founders often play a kind of "character" in public. They present themselves as an authority on a certain subject, or a cheerleader for a certain group of people. What did you do?

It was really about: How are we building out the message of the brand? I'm the connector, right? We run a marketplace — we have homeowners, we have pros. Like, I'm not an expert in home improvement. But I have the luxury of getting to talk to them all the time and being able to give their expertise a voice, and give them the credit.

It's important to define what world you're going to operate in, and what topics are good for you to talk about. Also, understand that you're in the public realm, and people are going to see you as the spokesperson. You've got to be prepared for that.

How did that responsibility change as you became more famous?

I viewed it as a privilege, and I needed to treat it as such — taking the time and being gracious with people. I would tell the team this as well: I have the luxury of being able to talk to all of our customers, because they feel like they can come and talk to me in person. I can collect all kinds of feedback, and it makes the business better.

I still spend a lot of time talking to our customers, because I think one-on-one conversations are incredibly valuable, and we don't do enough of them.

Related: Embrace Being 'The Only' in the Room — 3 Strategies Successful Founders Use to Grow Their Companies

So you identified the utility of your sudden fame. You thought: This is a business function, and I'm going to see it as a business function.

Which, as an introvert, kind of gives this role a purpose. And it's analytical. I'm learning a ton. I've institutionalized this process. I actually do office hours; anybody can sign up — pros, customers — for a 15-minute slot, where we'll talk about anything you want to talk about. Those calls are incredibly valuable to us as an organization to help us learn.

It creates an incredible cultural moment as well: We can give people a level of accessibility where they're like, "Yeah, you can talk to Angie." The customers appreciate it. We're working with small businesses, and they're wearing many hats trying to grow a business. If they have a pain point that we can help solve, I want to hear about it.

There was a time when you stepped back from being a public face of the brand, and then you returned. Tell me about those two decisions.

I always told the team, "Using me as the key spokesperson can be good for the brand. It could also be limiting for the brand." Since it has to be my authentic self, they don't have a lot of room to be super creative in how they think about their advertising campaigns and things like that. It was the right time for us to think about the brand standing independently.

But the brand is old enough, and I was so entwined with the brand, that there's value in periodically bringing us back to our roots and making that connection. I may not be in absolutely every campaign anymore. But I think there's value in sprinkling it in.

Related: Founders Experience Time Differently Than Everyone Else. Here's Why — and How They Can Manage It Successfully.

You've been playing this public role for a long time now. Does it ever feel repetitive?

It's kind of: How do you keep things fresh, and how do you reinvent yourself along the way? Because I think they go hand in hand. How are you learning new things? How are you thinking about things from a different perspective? You have to think about your messaging the same way. I might be talking about starting a business for the thousandth time — but how am I making it different and unique so it can be intriguing and relevant? You want to incorporate a new tidbit, a different takeaway.

It sounds like you've identified the timeless message, and now you discover fresh ways to get there.

Yes. How do we relate to people today? The homeowner today is not the homeowner from 30 years ago. How do we talk to them? How do we tell the story differently?