Amazing, welcome everybody. Ok, let's dive in since we've just got a limited amount of time together today. And I really want to give you as much value as I possibly can during our time. So let's dive right in. Ok.So who here grew up baking with your parents or your grandparents? Let me know in the chat if you did, you might remember getting out all the ingredients and putting on an apron, pulling up a chair next to the counter. So you could help with all of the measuring and the stirring and you'd probably lick the beater, right? If you, especially if you were making cookies, you'd sample the dough. Obviously. Who doesn't do that? Then you'd roll those cookies into little balls and you'd stand at the oven window and watch those cookies spread and bubble and brown. And the house would fill with that delicious smell of cookies baking. I hope everybody's had like lunch or breakfast or wherever, whatever time zone you're in, you've had something to eat recently. I'm sure you remember that smell. So maybe you didn't help with the baking, but you loved eating what was baked, especially cookies fresh out of the oven, right?

Still warm and gooey chocolate chips melting in your hands. So one time when I was about eight or so, a little bit older than I am in this photo here, I decided I don't need my mom's help. I'm gonna make these cookies all by myself. So I get up my grandmother's recipe for oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. This was our favorite recipe and it was handwrit and water stained and it was faded. So it made it a little bit hard to read. And I accidentally put in too much salt, like a lot, too much salt. We're talking a quarter cup instead of a quarter teaspoon and to top it all off, I made four times the recipe because we loved these cookies so much. But I'm feeling super proud because I'm making these cookies all by myself. And of course, as I like to do, I sampled the dough and I vividly remember running to the sink, spitting it out, rinsing at my mouth with water. It was so disgusting. I was like, oh, what have I done? I just ruined this entire batch of cookies. Now, I don't know why I put in a cup of salt. I've made this recipe so many times before with my mom, but for whatever reason, this time I had the chemistry wrong, but I still love baking and my 10 year old son loves to bake with me. In fact, we were watching the great Canadian baking show.

And he was like, Mommy, we should be on that show. I was like, whoa, I don't think our baking skills are quite there. I'd say we're like maybe somewhere between nailed it and you know, in the Great Canadian baking show. But I love that. It's something to aspire to and how excited he gets about it. So one year he got a baking book from Santa and we decided to make these delicious looking lemon squares. He pulled up a stool next to the counter, put on his apron just like I did as a kid. And we got out all the ingredients and we started with the shortbread cookie base, followed the recipe, mixed everything up, got it in the oven to bake. We did everything right or so we thought the house started to fill with the buttery delicious smell of shortbread cookies. And 20 minutes later, we pulled it out and it looked like this. It was bubbly and crumbly and it wasn't set at all. It was completely wrong. So we double checked the recipe and we followed it correctly according to the book and we went online and we found different information. The book got the chemistry wrong even though we had all the right ingredients, we didn't have the right proportions and it was a failed experiment.

And the same can be said about your brand. You need the right ingredients in the right order at the right time in order to create chemistry with your audience, I call this brand chemistry and this is the key to success. So let's dive into what it takes to create brand chemistry. So the first part is think this is all about your messaging. It's about creating a brand that deeply aligns with you. This really helps you go from following what others are doing to forging your own path and leading the way this deep thinking really shapes an authentic and memorable first impression that stays in the hearts and minds of the right people. So the next part is design, this is where you go from blending into the crowd to standing out design is really about creating a candid expression of you and the big vision you have for your business. So think and design provide the clarity, the confidence, the assets and the strategy to launch and amplify your brand. So naturally that third element is amplify, this is all about expressing your promise to the world with authenticity and consistency, no more hiding behind professionalism or how it's, you know, always been done, right? It's really time for you to shine.

So now at the intersection of these three things of think design and amplify is brand chemistry. And when you have irresistible brand chemistry, your customers are drawn to you like a magnet and they will love paying you for what you do. And today I want to show you how to create an authentically human brand when that stands out is memorable and builds trust with your audience so that you are the only choice. So let me ask you here, who here feels like you're one of many choices. I know if there's a way to raise your hand. So just like give me an emoji, do you feel like you're one of many choices? Maybe the hand emoji? That'd be a good one if you can get there. You're one in a million. All right, I love that Nicole. All right, we got a thumbs up from Carla. OK. So if you were to think, you know, think about your clients, do you think that they would disappear if your prices increased? Let me know if you think that is true. No. OK. Love that. Love the confidence Nicole. I'd love to know more about what you do. Ok. If there was a long wait time to access your services who here would see clients choose, you know, a different option if they had to wait a long time, let me know in the chat. Love that all these speakers are making you feel confident today. That's amazing. Awesome.

OK, so now you know, you're not alone if you're saying yes to some of these questions and most of you probably have OK, brands, but you might not have brand chemistry. Irresistible brand. Chemistry makes you the only choice for your customers and it will have them paying more for your services and have them lined up and waiting for you to serve them. So I want you to think about this, I could ask you to name any brand right now and one would come to mind for you, right? Probably in the blink of an eye, maybe it's a famous sports brand or a technology brand, your favorite apparel brand, there are literally millions to choose from. So why is this one standing out for you? Well, when you think about a brand, it needs to be memorable, memorable, it needs to build trust so that it is the only choice for those that's looking to attract and to do this, you need to think about creating an authentically human brand, one that deeply aligns with your values and those of those dream clients that you want to work with.

So think about that brand that came to mind for you. They probably do this and because they do this, they have created chemistry with you. They put the right ingredients in the right order at the right time in order to align with you that spray chemistry and this is what I want for all of you. It's a powerful process that I'm gonna walk you through. So fundamentally, I believe that brain chemistry is really about creating relationships and the reality is many businesses are missing the authentically human side to their brand. And I'll tell you I used to straighten my hair to look more professional. That's not authentic.

I used to play small, but that didn't allow me to have the impact that I desire and I used to fear the judgment of others and that really held me back from shining bright, any of those sound familiar. Now, your stories may be different from mine, but whatever they are, they will hold you back from standing out and creating those deep meaningful relationships and growing your business. I believe it's time to create a heart to heart connection with your clients rather than a brain to brain connection. You want them to choose you because you're the only choice, not because you're cheaper or more conveniently located. And by the end of our time today, you'll know how to create an authentic heart to heart connection with your dream clients. All right. So what I wanna go through is what is the brand and why does it matter what your brand is really saying? And you might be surprised and last but not least how to create brand chemistry. OK. Let's dive into that first one. So I have been a designer for over 20 years and an entrepreneur for over 18. And in that time, I've learned that it takes so much more than just being really good at what you do to start and run a successful business. You need a brand. But for a term thrown around so much, it is still so misunderstood.

So let's start by getting clear on what a brand is and why it really matters so to the outside world sticking with the baking theme here, your brand looks like one thing like this beautifully decorated cake. It's a cohesive hole that looks and smells delicious. But it's only when you cut into that cake. And you see beyond the sprinkles and icing to see it's actually made up of many layers and those layers are made up of a collection of perfectly measured ingredients, right? You've got the eggs, the flour, the butter, the sugar, all these things work together in harmony to give the cake substance and make it not just look and smell great. It tastes amazing as well. A cake that's made up of sprinkles and icing like substance just like a brand that's all logo and website. And when I say brand, I'm not just talking logos. While a logo is an important part of representing your brand, it's really only one layer of your cake. When I say brand, I mean, how you make people feel. It's the experience people have when they work with you or buy your product and the image you project when you put yourself and your business out into the world. So what is the experience your customers are having with you? I want you to take a moment and just think about that. Maybe for some of you, you're thinking they're really receiving experience, they're just buying a product or a service.

Maybe some, your clients feel like they're just a number like they're not really that important or special. Maybe some of your clients feel like you get them, maybe some of them just feel so supported and cared for regardless of where you are with this. What I know from many of the brands I work with is that even if their customers feel all of these things, they feel supported and cared for, they don't know why and they fear those clients will turn away from them at some point. So what you really need to be thinking about is making a promise to your customers, regardless of whether your brand is a simple commodity or a well loved service. Your brand is the reason they choose you over anyone else and why they'll continue to come back to you. Your brand is the promise you make to the world. It's what you stand for and it is what you believe in. It's why you started this business in the first place. So I want to ask you these three questions and we're gonna go through each of them today. Number one is what does the external world think of you and your brand within your industry? The second question is, what problem does your brand solve in the world? And question three is who are you and who is your brand? Now? These are hard questions to answer and we really have to peel back a lot of layers and go deep within. So let's go to that first question. What does the external world think of you and your brand within your industry? Are you memorable and remarkable?

Do you show up consistently? Do you stand out in the crowd? Let's take a look at a sample category. I've worked with quite a few naturopathic doctors and clinics and so for fun, I googled naturopathy and this is what came up, pop into the chat. Let me know, what do you see? I know what I see. But I'm gonna let you tell me it's probably a slight delay in the chat. Yeah. Consistent color choices. Yeah. You see green, you see leaves, these are the conventions that drive this market with very few exceptions. Although I am on a mission to change this and this page actually goes on a really long way. You can scroll and scroll and scroll and everything starts to blur together. Yeah, Carla, no one is standing out. They're all kind of looking the same. It really looks like they're promising the same thing, which is naturopathic medicine, right? Just that's it. Right. Then you're just comparing apples to apples, right? And when we dig a bit deeper, we actually see some of these are stock images and they look like many of the logos we've just seen, you could buy any one of these for next to nothing. Slap your name on there. Bob's your uncle. You've got yourself a logo. That's not gonna help you stand out, it's gonna make you blend in with all the other ones that we just saw. So, how do you stand out in a sea of Saneness?

You need to break from convention just because something's always been done a certain way, doesn't mean it's the best way or the only way I really want that one to land with you. Just, there's so many times we get stuck in this world. This is how it's done. It's always been done this way. You know, I don't wanna be different. I, you know, why would we change something if it's not broken? Right? Really? Let that one land. If you get nothing else out of today's session, I want you to walk away going just because this has always been done this way in my industry doesn't mean it's the only way to do it or the way I have to do it. Ok? All right, make me that promise. So blending in with your competition is not going to get you remembered or noticed. So now take a look at this page. This is still a search for naturopathic doctors. You can assume everyone on this page offers a very similar service. It is one of them standing out for being different in what they're promising their customers. Let me know. Yeah. The red one. Yeah, you see your eye goes directly to that. Exactly. So maybe you're seeing that one, that doctor Lisa Watson in the red Phoenix logo. And if I asked, why, what would you say you might think that she looks different than the others and that perhaps because of that, the experience will be different and it's true, she's not your typical naturopath.

So take a moment and think about if we did a Google search in your industry, how would your logo show up in that search? Would it blend in like all of these green naturopathic logos or would it stand out like Doctor Lisa Watson's? Does it show your customers they'll be getting the same service as everyone else in your space or does your brain imagery stand out and does it stand out for the reasons you want it to? Does it really indicate the unique experience your customers will have with you? So, in Doctor Watson's case, she is bold dynamic, authentic, inspiring and I'll tell you she's a bit of a badass. She Hula hoops with fire. She has red hair and red lips and tattoos and piercings and she needed a brand that really reflected that she doesn't prescribe and the pun is intended to what her industry indicates is the status quo. So let's take a look at what it is about her brand that's memorable and separates her from her competition. So her logo, everyone noticed the red and color is important, but it's not the only thing the Phoenix symbolizes rebirth and regeneration, which was the perfect icon to illustrate her essence from burnt out to fired up this brand truly embodies Lisa and her promise to the world.

But before we could get to designing the logo, right, that outward expression, we needed to get really clear on what she wanted to show how she wanted to show up in the world and what she wanted, that promise to be. And we had to do the deep work first and we did that together through my brand camp program. So let's look at it this way. If we want to relate it back to baking is Lisa a plain vanilla cupcake or a spicy chocolate cupcake? What do you think? I think she's definitely a spicy chocolate and I even showed this to her and she was like, yeah, spicy chocolate all the way. This is really what she wants her brand to say to the world. So what is your brand promising? What are your customers taking away from your brand? Is it saying I'm just like everyone else. Is it saying I care but not that much or is your brand like, hey, look at me. Is this saying to your audience that you offer a unique experience? Is it saying that you care deeply about them? You were in control of what the world thinks of you in your brand. So you really need to be deliberate, choosing to look like the rest of the businesses in your space means you won't be memorable. Or remarkable. And more importantly, you won't be yourself. So are you a vanilla cupcake? A spicy chocolate cupcake, maybe a unicorn cupcake? There's no wrong answer. That's the beauty of being an entrepreneur. You get to make your own recipe. So are you still searching for that recipe?

Do you have all the ingredients or are you just trying to figure out how to put them all together or have you created the recipe? And now you want to, you're wondering really what's next some, some things to really start thinking about. So the next step is identifying what problem your brain solves in the world. So I want you, you could close your eyes for a moment if you, if you want and if you're not an entrepreneur, just think about why did you start? Why are you doing what you're doing? So why did you start this business or why did you choose this career? Think about that for a moment. There were likely thousands of things that you could have done, but you chose this. Why maybe you saw a need a problem that wasn't being solved or solved fully by others. You felt you could do something better. Maybe it's something you just love to do. So let's go five years into the future. How do you want this business to be? How do you wanna feel? Who do you wanna be working with? What's the impact you want to be having? How many of you found it easy to imagine your business in five years. And how many of you drew a complete blank, put easy or difficult or something else? And let me know in the chat, which one of those? Ok, Carla found it easy. Mhm. Miriam. It's ok to dream. Right. Absolutely. Dreaming is good. We forget how to dream sometimes actually as we, as we get older. Ok.

So for, if you found it easy, do you believe the brand you have today will help you get to the vision that you have for your business five years from now and for those of you that drew that blank and you don't know where you're going to be in five years. I'm not surprised we've been in massively changing times and because of this change, so many people and now have a different problem to solve and your business will need to evolve with it. So now that you've thought about what your business could be in the future, let's come back to now. Where are you now? Are you showing up differently in your industry? If you still have your eyes closed, you can open them. Now, the reality is that many of us are selling the same products or services, naturopaths are selling a similar service, same as real estate agents, business coaches, even branding businesses. Now, if I was selling logos and websites, I'd be competing against fiver and 99 designs where you can always get something cheaper. I'm not selling logos and, and websites. Although we do those, I'm selling a transformation. I'm selling confidence and clarity. I'm selling a unique and powerful experience that produces compelling results. When your brand becomes a problem solver to your specific audience, your products and services become solutions and not just commodities. Think about it.

This way, when you take a vacation, you're buying how that vacation will make you feel right. You're not buying the plane, you're buying the destination, you're not actually selling the thing you do. You need to sell the what people are getting from working with you, which is their most desired outcome. So what is it that you sell? Feel free to pop that into the chat? I see there's some activity. I can't quite follow everything but yeah, pop into the chat. What is it that you think you sell? And do you think that's what people are actually buying from you? Now? I used to think I was selling branding but then we started receiving testimonials that were all focused on how we made our clients feel the experience they had working with us. And I realized that while we are amazing at what we do and we have to be just like you have to be amazing at what you do. Ultimately, it was the experience that won our clients over and there really is magic in what other people say about you. Now, I met a woman at an event a couple of years ago. And there was this exercise where we had to spend 10 minutes talking to each other, share what we did and then interpret back to the other person, what we thought they did.

And I was like, how could she possibly get to know me well enough in five minutes to give me something interesting. However, I will tell you that my partner Patty said to me, you see deep into people's souls, pull out the best of them and put it into words and visuals. If I had a mic right now, I would drop it. It was one of those moments. I was at a complete loss for words. No one had ever described me that way and I never could have come up with that on my own. So it's really important to understand what it is that people are saying about. You find out, ask them, ask them to write a testimonial. Are they writing about you on social? Are they telling your friends, their friends pay attention to these cues? They will provide you with insights you simply can't have because you're too close to your own products and services.

People are buying the solution to the problem they have. So get clear on what the problem is that your customers have. And remember the key is that you're not selling milk eggs and sugar, right? You're selling a gorgeous, delicious and fragrant cake. If anybody is a baker here.

This would be really ironic, right? If you sell the milk, eggs and sugar, you're selling the same thing as everybody else. What you're selling is a special recipe you create and you are the secret ingredient. So let's go back to Lisa Watson. She's such a great example of a memorable and aligned brand. I'm sure you'll never forget her. Now, she focuses on women and solving the problems of women, dealing with hormone imbalances in fertility, to menopause and everything in between women who are tired and burnt out from life, right?

Work and family and balancing it all in the last couple of years have been a doozy. So understanding her client's biggest challenges and what problems they need solving. We created the tagline from burnt out to fired up. It resonates deeply with her and how she wants to help women, Lisa, her messaging and her visual brand are now all in alignment and the right people will resonate deeply with you when you get that alignment, right? And for Lisa, you don't go to a naturopath for IV injections or bioidentical hormones, you got to feel better to feel like yourself to get fired up. So Lisa knows clearly what problems she's solving, who she's solving it for and the promise that she is making. So how do you make your clients feel? Take a moment right now? Get in their heads, think about the promise you make to them when they receive what you're, what it is, you're promising them? How do they feel? Are they excited? Ambivalent disappointed. Do they have any feelings at all? How do you want them to feel? Do you want your clients to feel like they've won the lottery? Like they've been seen and heard like, you know who they are now? Think about, how do you feel about your clients? All right. The last piece, the piece, the peak of the pyramid. You've probably heard the Maya Angelou quote. People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

So what do people remember about you and your brand when you're out of sight? The key, this is the key to figuring out who you are. So here's what Lisa Watson's old brand looked like this was her old logo and here's what she looks like. What do you think your reaction would be if you booked an appointment? Now? You know, never having seen a photo of her, but just having seen the logo, maybe seeing this online and you showed up to her office and this is who you met. You might actually be surprised because we make assumptions about people and businesses based on visual cues. So if there's a misalignment between who you are and what your brand is telling people you're going to attract the wrong clients, now don't get me wrong. The logo is not terrible.

Seen way worse and it worked for her for about 10 years, but for Lisa, there was a misalignment in her branding that needed correcting. So now look at Lisa and her new logo and her photo doesn't that feel aligned and authentic? Don't you know exactly what kind of naturopath you're gonna get before you walk in the door. Now she'll resonate with you or she won't, it's not about attracting everyone, it's about attracting the right ones. Let me just repeat that one. So it really lands. It's not about attracting everyone. It's about attracting the right ones. Your brand is showing up and showing who you are. I see it as this like beacon of light, giving up clues to your audience. It's like, hey, if you're like this, come here, right? Lisa is standing out. She's memorable and remarkable for all the right reasons. She's created her recipe and now has the chemistry, right? So think about your brand right now, does it reflect who you are? Would someone expect to meet you based on your online presence? Your brand needs to reflect you your story, what you stand for? What makes you different so that you can create that heart to heart connection that I talked about in the beginning with the right clients, right? And become their only choice when you are misaligned with your brand, you're hiding or inauthentic, your audience will feel that. So I wanna ask you these questions. Are you sending mixed messages. Do your clients clearly understand what you offer? Do they think you charge less than you do?

Are you trying to be someone that you're not? Are you really a badass? But you're trying to be soft and sweet because that's what you think your industry expects of you. Are you diluting your brand by being a jack of all trades and a master of none or trying to please everyone but not attracting anybody. Are you following what everyone else is doing or the conventions in your industry? Are you jumping the barrier and forging your own path? The key to all of this is to be in alignment with your brand. So are you aligned, is it easy to show up and represent your brand or does it feel hard? Like kind of like you're pushing a boulder up a hill? Do you feel connected to your brand or are you embarrassed by it? What would it like? What would it be like if it was easy? One word? Tell me in the chat how that would feel if it was easy freedom. Exactly. It would feel bluh if it was easy. Hm Julia, we need to dig into that a little bit more effortless. Yeah, exactly. This is where you connect with your brand on a human level and it invites your clients the right ones, the ones that align with you to connect with you on a deeper level.

So these are the three questions I've shared with you today that help you build out your brand and the promise you're making. This pyramid shows. This is our brand camp process and all of the elements that these questions begin to help us answer. That first step is to get clear on the external influences, the clients you want to attract and who else is competing in your space. Then comes the deep work, discovering what problems you're solving. This is about gaining clarity and confidence about how you're different, why you do what you do and the benefits people get from working with you and finally, who are you? This is the core of everything you do and how you show up in the world through your personality position and essence. Now, by creating your brand foundation, this work, right? You can be proactive instead of reactive in what you're putting out into the world. And this work brings clarity and confidence and the knowledge you need to bring it all to life. Now let's go back to those lemon squares that didn't work out the first time because I'm sure you've all been dying to know what happened to them. And I'm happy to report that our second attempt worked out. We started over with the right proportions in the right order and this time we got the recipe right? Because the chemistry was right and successful baking is all about chemistry.

It's about having the right ingredients and the same can be said about your brand. You need the right ingredients and the right proportions at the right time in order to create brand chemistry because the brand is all about chemistry. I want you to think about your brand as uniquely and authentically human. Think about standing out and how you can build trust and build those deep connections with your customers so that you are the only choice because when you have the right ingredients and you have the right proportions and when you do it all at the right time, brand chemistry is there.

And when you have brand chemistry, you will have customer loyalty. So I would love to uh in a moment, I'll open up to questions. I think we have about five minutes left. So one thing I wanted to share with you, I'll pop it into the chat. I have resources on my website that can really help you wherever you are in your brand um on that journey. So I've popped that into the chat. There's things you can download, there's all kinds of things that you can do there. Um I've got videos uh there's ways to connect with me. And then also if you want to follow me on Instagram, there's my handle, follow me there and then connect with me on linkedin. Let me know that you joined me. And if you took any pictures, you know, make sure to tag me for sure in this. All right. And then let's, let's go to questions would love to open it up. If anybody I know there was some, I feel like there was some questions earlier on. Somebody posted a youtube video asking if it's me. I don't know, I don't want to click on that right now because I'm in the middle of this session. Um My business is lab creative. So if that is where you see a video of me, then that is very much likely me, let me stop sharing here. So we can uh I can actually, I have to just have that on the screen. Amazing. OK. Any advice on launching? Um Absolutely.

So that's, that's kind of a loaded question. But uh I do have a lot of resources on my website. I would say really getting that positioning knowing how you want to be known as different in your industry. You know, a lot of people think, oh I'm gonna just put something basic out there to get started till I get clients till I make some money. Unfortunately, if you look and sound like everybody else in your industry because you haven't gotten clear on what makes you different. It's really hard for you to position yourself to get those clients to get the clients that will pay you what you want to uh what you want to earn. So there's all kinds of resources, Nicole on my website. Um And if you want to book a discovery call, there's uh you can always reach out to me and we can connect any other questions. Let me go back and see if I see things. Thank you for all of the participation. You're welcome. Awesome. OK. Well, we've got two minutes. I'll stick around if you've got questions, uh pop them into the chat otherwise, um you know, I will see you in the next event. Oh, advice on rebranding Amber. Great question. A lot of people kind of are at that stage where maybe they've been in business for a little while and they are thinking about rebranding that is predominantly what we do. We actually mostly work with people on rebranding. So it's taking a look at what you've already got.

Is there anything there that we want to keep, are we evolving the brand or we kind of revolutionizing and we're like kind of throwing everything out and starting fresh. So there's, there's a few ways to think about it. I usually say, I don't know the answer to that until I've gone through brain camp with my clients. And then it's like, oh OK, this still aligns with some of the things you've got, let's work these in together and sometimes it's like this is radically different from what you had before we need to completely rebrand the business, visually, messaging photos, the whole shebang.

So Amber, if you want to connect with me, um I can hear, let me pop my email into the chat. Um if you wanna connect. Oops, I don't know what that just did. Yeah. Laura at lab creative dot C A. Yeah. If anybody has any questions, feel free to reach out to me and thank you all so much for being here with me today. That was super fun.