Intuitive Branding with Calandra Martin

[00:00:00] Hey, my dear ones. How are you doing? I’m so excited to be on the mic today, talking to you. I’ve been on a podcasting break and I’m back and I’m so thrilled to be back. And I have an amazing show for you today with an amazing guest. Today we’re talking to Calandra Martin about intuitive brand design. Calandra has been my branding specialist for my business for the past three years.

[00:00:28] She is young and brilliant and amazing. I am such a huge fan. She and I work so well together. And as we talk about in our interview, I just went through a whole rebrand and a whole reset of my business with her supporting me and guiding me along the way. I couldn’t have done it without her. So, we share with you key components of our journey that will help you as you try

[00:00:57] to navigate and land on the perfect brand for you and your business. In the world of the branding there’s so much to choose from. There’s so many directions to go. So, this episode is here to help you find the path that is uniquely and truly yours so you can create a truly magnetic brand. So, in today’s episode, Calandra breaks down the key components of a killer brand.

[00:01:26] She talks about how to make your brand unique and authentically you so that it truly stands out and she offers a powerful practice that will help you uncover your brand. Whether you’re a beginner or you’ve been around and at this for a while. We end on an invitation that will have you designing a brand that magnetizes just the right soul clients to you and your business with joy and ease.

[00:01:54] So you’re going to want to stay with us until the end. Welcome to soul guide radio, a podcast for soul guided leaders, influencers, and entrepreneurs here to bring about change on a massive level. We explore how you can activate your big soul mission, amplify your intuitive gifts, and clear the energy blocks weighing you down so you can gain unstoppable momentum in life,

[00:02:22] love and business. I’m Allyson Scammell your host and soul guide

[00:02:35] Hey there, soul guide circle. That is the name of this community of soul guided leaders, influencers, and entrepreneurs. In the soul guide circle, we have big soul missions, and we yearn to earn more, serve more and grow spiritually along the way. If you aren’t already a member, then I invite you to join our Facebook group of over 1200 leaders and Lightworkers who are in service to each other

[00:03:01] and the planet. Today, I had the absolute pleasure of speaking to my brand designer and specialist for my business, Calandra Martin. Calandra is the founder of magnetic boss studio, helping service-based entrepreneurs cultivate a unique online presence. Calandra is an intuitive brand designer and social media manager for spiritual female entrepreneurs and small businesses.

[00:03:29] Calandra and I had an absolute blast unpacking how to craft a killer brand and sharing bits of our journey together for my rebrand process. So may you receive as much from her wisdom as I have, please enjoy.

[00:03:50] Welcome Calandra. Thank you so much for coming back to soul guide radio. Hey Allyson. Thanks for having me. I’m so excited to be here. Yay. You actually have not yet been interviewed for soul guide radio. You were interviewed in my previous podcast. Yeah. She grows. She grows. And you helped me to recently go through a whole branding, a whole rebrand process and journey. Sure did, and it was, it was a journey.

[00:04:23] It was a journey. It was such an incredible journey. It really was. And we had amazing breakthroughs. We had frustrating moments. We had holy cow, this is taking longer than we thought, but then I think please, correct me if I’m wrong. We both landed on like, wow, we nailed it. Yeah. It was a rollercoaster for sure.

[00:04:44] But it was totally worth all of the hard work and the rollercoaster was coming mostly from tech problems. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. So, it wasn’t like you and I were whatever. Not seeing eye to eye. We were thank God. And, um, we were able, because I think you and I are so in sync, we were able to just flow through all the Unforeseen technical things that arose.

[00:05:10] Yes. I think that we were worked really, really well together. I’m excited to talk about that a little today. I am too. I think we make an amazing case study for drum roll, intuitive brand design, which is our topic for today. And I’ve been, you’ve been my brand designer for what about three years now? Yeah. It’s been almost three years, which is really crazy to think about.

[00:05:34] Yeah. And you know, the first time I thought about my branding, I did it all myself. Soup to nuts, which is always a good way to start I think, especially if you don’t have a big budget and then I hired you for my first serious brand effort and I just hired you and you charged much less than you do now, which is good.

[00:05:53] Like you’re charging a lot and I’m super happy to see it. You deserve every penny and then this last, uh rebrand I went through, and it wasn’t just the website. You know, I rebranded the whole entire business. I kind of did a reset for my business, which I will want to ask you about later in the show, this idea, when you just have to kind of feel like resetting the whole thing.

[00:06:16] And I hired you. I heard a copywriter. I hired an illustrator to help me with the logo. I had a business coach, so I had a whole team on this last one. And I think that that sort of is what a lot of people go through as they grow, the rebrand process gets bigger and bigger and bigger, and then there’s more moving parts.

[00:06:39] Totally. Yeah. And it’s so good to have a team to have, you know, multiple people infused into that process. So, agree and branding is really one thing in your business where it’s so helps to have a second set of eyes, a collaborative process. You’re co-creating it with someone else, even though it’s your brand, it’s your vision.

[00:06:58] It’s really, really hard to do it all alone, although it can be done. And, and certainly if you don’t have the budget, it absolutely can be done. So, let’s get into it. Let’s talk about what’s all involved in a brand. I would love to hear your take on that. Yes. I love this question because a lot of people, when they think of branding, the first thing that comes to mind is a logo.

[00:07:19] You think, you know, Nike logo or you think of target or any of those popular big companies. And that is part of branding, but the way that I like to break it down, especially for spiritual based entrepreneurs, soul guided entrepreneurs is that your brand really goes a lot deeper than the first component, which is the visuals.

[00:07:41] So when we think of visuals, we think logo, we think color palette, we think fonts, typography, visual elements, illustrations, your social media graphics, the way that your website is presented, all of those pieces combined. And then the other part of this, which is often overlooked is the energetics of your brand.

[00:08:02] And this is really how you are making your audience feel, the way that you are captivating them and also creating a long-lasting memory for them. So, the energetics are going to be the thing in most cases that sells people on working with you in whatever capacity that looks like. Yes. I love that. And you and I’ve talked about before and I would love to get your take on this.

[00:08:27] Um, I am not a researcher and I know some of you listeners are, you’d like to research, and you do that before you say, hire a coach or enroll in a program or buy your next blender. You do tons and tons of research. Like my husband, he likes to research and read all the reviews and he does hours of research before he makes a decision.

[00:08:46] I love that. That’s fantastic. I do not work that way. I get ennui. I have no desire to research, it just sort of like, I don’t even really absorb the information cause I don’t want to do it. And I’d get energetic and intuitive hits when I experience a brand or experience a website. So, I’ve invested five figures in coaches, and I haven’t even read their website.

[00:09:10] I’ve just gotten that energetic connection to their brand and intuitive hit that this is the one. So, and I think that that’s ultimately whether you’re a researcher or not, that’s what you want your potential clients to feel when they experience your brand, right? Yeah. It’s that? Hell no. Or hell yes. And you really want that hell yes

[00:09:32] from your audience. And that’s where the energetics of your brand come in and tying that together with your visuals so that there is consistency there between the way that you are showing up in your energy and the way that you’re presenting that to people from a visual standpoint. Nice. Great. So, let’s walk people through it and let’s walk through our journey together and, and use that as a teaching tool for people to

[00:09:57] maybe understand better the visuals of their brand and the energetics of their brand. So how did we navigate the branding process? Let’s let’s walk through it. Yeah, the branding process. I like to preface this with saying that the branding process is not linear. So, there is never like step one, two and three. That being said, I always set up the branding process for my clients in a relatively linear way so that we stay on track, and we know that we are covering our bases.

[00:10:27] So the first thing that I work with on with clients is the foundational pieces, which really ties into the energetics. So really understanding what your audience is, looking for, how you are going to be helping them. I sent you in the beginning of our process, which feels like a million years ago, um, was a full questionnaire that really just walks through

[00:10:51] what types of visuals do we want to incorporate? How do you want people to feel and really understanding some of those fundamental pieces so that we could expand on that with the visuals? Nice. Nice. And I think that one of, one part of my brand, which I don’t even really say this anymore, but I used to say that a part of my brand is like farm girl turned global nomad because I was born and raised on a family, farm cattle ranch, and now I’ve lived all over the world and I’ve, you know, I, I consider myself a citizen of the world and for me, like, having people understand that about me is important for whatever reason.

[00:11:32] And then we’ve talked about like, how do you bring that to life visually, you know, so there are the words, okay. That says something, farm girl turned global nomad, right. Words are important, but then there’s also the, um, the visuals, the colors, the fonts, like there’s all the components. So, two, two brand elements or, or, uh, visuals that

[00:11:57] brought that to life for me was the Buffalo, which is my spirit animal. And it’s the key element of my logo and the Eiffel tower. I don’t know why, because I guess the Eiffel tower to me is this representative of international and living globally. I don’t know for me, I guess, as an American who lives abroad.

[00:12:18] So like when I first came to you with that, like these are not like congruent, like, this is pretty like, uh, these two things don’t, Buffalo and Eiffel tower don’t really go together. So how do you approach it when somebody feels like their brand is doesn’t really tell a story that we’re used to hearing or that they feel like I have all these branding elements in my mind, but I don’t know how to create a cohesive picture.

[00:12:44] I kind of want to backtrack a little bit because I think we incorporated those pieces, and we can talk about that um, process and kind of the process of elimination of what we incorporated and what we didn’t. But one of the initial conversations that we had specifically with your brand was around, um, the energetics of masculine and feminine and how you really wanted to position your brand to be this luxury.

[00:13:09] Um, you know, a hybrid of people that were spiritual, but also having that masculine component and feeling like you could lead them in your coaching and everything that you do. So that was one of the first pieces and that tied into the color palette. Once we had the color palette, then we were able to kind of layer on top some of these visual elements.

[00:13:33] So the Buffalo and the Eiffel tower, and we actually had purchased some illustrations that were like passports for traveling. And so those were kind of the sprinkles on top of the ice cream. Right? We had that foundational piece of, here’s your color palette. It’s creating this masculine and feminine balance.

[00:13:52] And then here are some of the pieces that are specific to you in your story that we can layer on top of that and a really subtle way. Um, so you’re still telling that story, but it’s not the front and center piece, aside from the Buffalo, of course, because that’s your logo. Um, and that was a really, really important component for you.

[00:14:11] So these different components in your brand that we pulled together. The Buffalo, the Eiffel tower, they really all linked back to a conversation that we had around translating the two different energies in your business, the masculine and the feminine. And so, where we started with that was with the color palette.

[00:14:31] We incorporated these blues and these pinks, and we kind of made that combination happen in a way that was really, um, speaking to the luxury hybrid that your audience is. And then we were able to layer on the Buffalo and the Eiffel tower and some of the other travel illustrations that we had pulled together in your branding.

[00:14:52] And so those were more so accents or sprinkles on top of the ice cream, that really helped us pull your story together, but they weren’t the front and center, um, direction for the energetics, of your brand. So, they were more so telling the story, incorporating those pieces in a more subtle way, which I think we did really well with your branding.

[00:15:14] Um, so that your audience knows who you are, but they also have really clear idea of what your business is all about. Yes. And let’s talk about that for a little bit because so people really understand what we mean when we say the energetics of your brand, because I think the visuals are pretty clear, your fonts, your colors, your images.

[00:15:33] Okay. I think the thing that may feel more difficult to wrap your head around is what, what it really means the energetics of your business. And I think you added, you just mentioned some key elements, the masculine energy, the feminine, and then you had mentioned that my audience, I consider my brand, I call a hybrid luxury brand.

[00:15:54] And the reason why is because I’m not your classic luxury brand, I’m not attracting people who buy yachts and wear Rolexes. Although some of my clients have a yacht and wear Rolexes. Uh, but I would say my soul client avatar is looking to invest more in a coach. So that puts that higher investment puts me in the luxury market, but she’s not really so interested in the classic elements of a luxury brand.

[00:16:22] So that’s why I, uh, I do consider it a hybrid luxury, which I believe is a growing, growing brand audience. Do you agree with that? I totally agree with that. I think that the luxury, the typical luxury brand has been used quite frequently in the online space, especially in the coaching world. And what I loved about your brand is that it was unique to you, and it really sets you apart from that traditional luxury.

[00:16:49] I think at this point, people are really looking for authenticity. They’re looking for that realness and that grounded ness, which is where we really tied in the masculine energy of your brand. It wasn’t just hot pink and sparkles and gold accents everywhere. Um, there were other pieces to it that we pulled together.

[00:17:10] I totally agree. And I think that’s sort of the essence of the hybrid luxury. On the one hand, people want that genuine authenticity, that real connection, uh, which may or may not be, you know, arguably is missing from the classic luxury brands. And at the same time, they are investing more money. So they want an element of luxury.

[00:17:32] When I invest more money in something. I want to feel special and VIP and I’m investing in something next level. It’s something that other people don’t have. You know, all of those things that make you feel special because you’re investing more money into something. So, talk us through some of the key components to masculine energy and feminine energy in a brand.

[00:17:54] Yeah. So, this is a really interesting concept because it can be applied to branding. It can be applied to your personal life. It could be applied to your business, but essentially the masculine energy is that grounded ness, it is feeling like there is a sense of direction. It’s usually step 1, 2, 3, the masculine loves the to-do list and the checklist, um, and really just has a sense of, of moving forward and expansion in a way that

[00:18:21] is really just, um, directional. So that is one piece of it. And then the feminine is more so that flowing energy, the lightheartedness, the creativity, the jumping from one thing to another. It’s really interesting because I work with entrepreneurs that are more so more typically the, in their feminine, they see the big vision and they sometimes

[00:18:43] have a hard time pulling the pieces together. So, when we look at the masculine and the feminine in branding, you want to understand what your audience needs, and do they need to be led in the masculine or do they need to be pulled into expansion in the feminine? And so, looking at your brand, we wanted to have a good balance of those things, where you have that masculine essence of being able to lead people.

[00:19:09] But then there’s also that feminine component of being your soul guide and expanding on your bigger vision and moving to that next level. So, we really wanted to in your brand tie those two pieces together, which is what we did with primarily first and foremost, the color palette. I think was a really key component.

[00:19:28] Yeah, absolutely. And the color palette can do so much in terms of like, do you want to have an element of luxury? Do you want, um, I think colors and fonts together can really tell such a huge story with regards to feminine masculine balance luxury, playfulness like any of the things that you want to express in your brand, you can get so much of it across through colors and fonts.

[00:19:56] And one thing I just want to mention is I think sometimes it can be overwhelming for sure. Like when you’re trying to pick fonts and there’s 7,000 to choose from on one site, you know? Um, and it’s overwhelming. And so, what I tell my clients when they’re in the process and they’re like, oh, I just don’t know.

[00:20:14] I say, you know, you know, it is a journey, and your brand is always changing and it’s fluid, right? It’s not static. So go with what your heart is calling you for today. And things can always change right? Now, I understand if you’re creating a lot of graphics, you don’t want your colors changing all the time.

[00:20:31] And that’s what makes a brand a brand. It’s how you represent yourself consistently but know that there’s no reason to put pressure on yourself and you know, go with what you feel feels good today and use it for a period of time. And when you feel like you’ve outgrown it, that’s when you hire Calandra and you do the rebrand, right?

[00:20:49] Yeah, definitely. I think that it is really important to really focus on the possibility of evolution, especially when you are creating your brand, because you don’t want to create a brand for yourself that is feeling restrictive right from the get-go. You really want to be able to grow into it, which was our intention

[00:21:07] when we started working on this brand for you. This rebrand was, you specifically told me I want this to be my 10-year brand. Like I want this to last and be the longevity of me growing into it. So, we really kept it not broad in the sense of there was no direction, but in a way we created it in a way, from the visual perspective that you could change elements or add elements as you continue to grow your business.

[00:21:36] Yes. That’s such a good point. And this, this is a question I always ask myself when you’re like trying to land on a name for something or something in your brand that will be around for a while colors, fonts, names, slogans, logos. Uh, one question I always ask myself, which has really helped me to land on the best decision at the time, because it can be sometimes just hard to know if this is the right choice, even if you’re using your intuition and all the things, right?

[00:22:07] It’s just asking yourself; will this grow with me? Will this grow with me? Will this name, will this color, will this font grow with me for at least a year? If not two. And it doesn’t mean you have to keep it for as long as you’re envisioning. If you want it to grow with you for two years, it doesn’t mean you need to keep it for two years, but as long as there’s enough space there, that if, if you want it to it can.

[00:22:31] And if you’re getting a no, I feel like I’m going to outgrow this next week, you haven’t probably landed on the right thing yet. Yeah, it’s definitely trusting in the moment and then really asking yourself, does this feel good? Yes or no. And it sometimes can, at least for me, when it comes to intuitive design, it sometimes is like a bodily reaction.

[00:22:53] Like I get a full yes or a full no and practicing that in your daily life and in other decisions in your business is really going to help with being able to make those types of decisions in the branding process. Very cool. I love that. So, let’s talk to, let’s start out with, um, talking to some of our listeners who are new to branding and some of our listeners who have been around for a while.

[00:23:18] So if you’ve never considered your brand before, what’s the best way to get started. Yeah. So, this is really an interesting question because there it’s two-sided, two-sided coin the first one being that it’s really important if you have not shown up and gotten visible in the world yet with your brand is to just start and to not overanalyze that.

[00:23:41] But on the other side of the coin, it’s also really important to have an understanding of who you help, how you help them and what makes your business unique. So, because branding is such a, such a complicated process. If I’m being completely honest, it’s important to start where you are, start with what you have start pulling pieces together

[00:24:04] now that feel in alignment, but really be looking at first and foremost, the foundations of your business and how those relate to your branding, especially from a visual standpoint. Um, nice. I love the question. What makes your business unique? If you can ask yourself that question once a week, once a month, and just start to feel into the answers that you notice, like what makes you different and how can you pull that piece out for your brand that is going to help you stand out so much?

[00:24:35] And I know that everyone no matter what you do, no matter what your business is or your business idea. I know that you’ve at least one time had the feeling that your market is saturated. I know it. And I know you felt, how am I going to stand out in a saturated market? Well, I’m here to tell you if you ask that question, what makes my business unique?

[00:24:55] You can stand out in any market. If you dream of opening an Italian restaurant, and Lord knows there’s millions around the world. If you can come up with makes you what makes you authentically unique, authentically you, you can launch, everybody wants to eat good Italian food, right? So, you are able to launch that, uh, award-winning Italian restaurant, be that coach.

[00:25:21] I know there’s a lot of coaches out there and they feel like, oh, there’s so many coaches in the world. There’s really not that many coaches in the world. And this is one of the biggest growth industries out there in the market. So, there is so much potential and coaching. So, I just want you to know if you feel like you’re in a market, that’s just too saturated, but yet you are called to be in that market.

[00:25:45] You are in the right place. And I just invite you to spend some time with this amazing question. What makes you and your business unique? Cause I promise you there is something and there’s something exciting to your ideal audience. Yes, it’s such a powerful question. And another thing that people can do, if they’re feeling like they don’t really know where to start with that, or they’re like, oh, I don’t know if I’m unique at all is to ask people either in your audience or people that, you know, personally.

[00:26:13] What about you stands out to them because you will get a lot of really great reflections from that, because sometimes it’s really hard for us to see ourselves and to understand that we do have a uniqueness about us and a magic about us that is going to really draw in your ideal audience. So, getting that outsider perspective is really helpful.

[00:26:34] Super helpful. And I’m going to give you one other little trick on that. When you are noticing what your peers are doing or other people in your market, who’s doing something very similar to you. Notice what annoys you about them. Notice what you don’t like. And, um, things that, that, that you do that just like, oh, I would never do it that way.

[00:26:55] That is likely pointing you to what you do uniquely. Cause your, whatever they’re doing is great for them and their audience, but it’s pointing you to how you’re going to do it in a way that’s better for you and better for your audience. And so that’s another little trick to getting the answer to that question

[00:27:13] what makes my business unique? To give you an example of that I noticed that, um, among a lot of my peers who are spiritual business coaches, they were offering a lot of vague concepts. Like that sounded flashy and nice, but I was always like, how do you plug into that? Like what concrete results do those flashy

[00:27:36] cool, you know, very spiritual, you know, concepts all sound very, very cool, and very pretty and very, maybe even exciting, but I just couldn’t see the concrete results it was getting people. And so, I really realized what makes me different from a lot of my peers is I offer spiritual tools in a way that gets people real concrete results.

[00:28:01] Yeah, I love that. And that really brings in that masculine, um, that we were talking about with your branding is you do include all of the feminine components that there’s also that masculine direction, the tangible, the attainable. Yes. And I think, I mean, when it comes to getting people to yes, to invest in your stuff, whatever it is

[00:28:25] you’re selling, adding a little of that, tangible, a little that masculine, and we’re not talking about like a masculine energy we’re talking about actually, you know, classic, the classic differences in energies. And I think a lot of masculine energy has now been distorted. It’s overly aggressive.

[00:28:44] There is, oh, what do we want to call it? Wounded, masculine energy that’s out there. We’re not talking about that. We’re talking about the classic balance when it’s in a healthy state between the feminine and the masculine. And if you feel like you want to have a more feminine brand, that’s perfect. And that is beautiful.

[00:29:02] And you will get clients that way, for sure. But just make sure in it that you do have some like, hey, work with me and you will get these three tangible things that you can see, feel touch, taste. Like you can see it in your third dimensional reality. Yeah. I think it’s super important to have, to have both of those components.

[00:29:23] Absolutely. Okay. So, let’s get, let’s talk to the people who’ve been around for a while. They’ve already gone through a few brands and they’re ready to do what I just did with you. I was really ready to up-level and go totally pro and have like a super next level design and brand. So, for folks who are in that space or approaching that space, or want to be in that space someday, what’s the best way for them to

[00:29:50] uh, what are some of the ways they can up-level? Yeah, this is such a good question, because I think it’s entrepreneurs, we can get really stuck in what we’ve been doing for so long because it’s familiar. So, something that I really like to do for my own business and for people that have an established brand already is to go through a brand audit.

[00:30:10] And this is really just asking yourself what is currently working in my business, what is not working and where do you want to take your business in the next 3, 5, 10 years. And does the brand that you have right now allow you to do that? If not, it’s probably time to evaluate where you want to go next, how you want to really make people feel and the impact that you want to have in the longevity.

[00:30:33] Nice. Nice. I love that. So, um, let’s get into, uh, more masculine stuff in the sense that can you share a practice with us that will help people uncover their brand or go to the next level with their brand? Yeah. So, I want to share today one of my favorite journal exercises, and this is really going to allow you to sink into your feminine, to really get into that visioning process.

[00:31:01] So, what I like to do when I go through this is to set a peaceful environment, get yourself your favorite beverage, light a candle if you want to, diffuse essential oils if you want to and get yourself a fresh notebook or a clean piece of paper and your favorite pen or pencil. And as you get started with this journal exercise to really just allow yourself to close your eyes, take a moment and envision your business in the next five years.

[00:31:27] And really think about what type of work are you doing? How are you spending your time? What do your days look like? What type of people are you surrounded by both professionally and personally, and as you’re sinking into this vision with your eyes closed, take a couple of deep breaths? I then want you to open your eyes and let the pen flow, because this is where

[00:31:55] you are going to channel essentially what your brand is going to look like in the longevity of your business. And with this practice, with this journal exercise know that there are no right or wrong answers. This is really just allowing source to flow through you, your big soul mission to flow through you.

[00:32:15] And from there, you can start refining and pulling together all of the tangible pieces. But this is such an important step because it is going to allow you to tap into deep within you, what you really want and what you really want to create. I love that exercise. This is something that I’ve been teaching for years.

[00:32:36] I call it soul guided visioning. It’s so powerful to do for all aspects of your business. Your branding. Um, the direction you want to go, your offerings, your ideal audience, uh, where, where do you want to run business? Um, we, a lot of us are in the online space, so we have this idea that we can work from anywhere, but I don’t really think we’re all meant to work from anywhere.

[00:33:01] I think there are places in the world that makes us more creative, more free, more flowing. Where do you see yourself? Are you in your current house? Are you in the mountain somewhere? Are you in the beach? Are you living their full time? Do you live there seasonally? Just notice all the things. Um, it’s so, so powerful.

[00:33:20] And another thing I add to the process is, what do you notice is not there anymore? So, um, yeah, the things that you’ve outgrown, it’s not there anymore. I love that so much and I really never thought about doing this specifically with my brand. I mean, it’s super powerful, uh, to do that, uh, for all elements of your business and really your branding to see what is there, what does your brand look like?

[00:33:48] Yeah, I think it’s really helpful to be thinking about all of these pieces, your environment, your day to day, the people that you’re starting to buy, because those are some of the visuals that will eventually get incorporated into your brand. So, if you are somebody who wants to work in a coffee shop, three days a week and you get to, you know, grab your favorite Starbucks beverage or whatever it is.

[00:34:10] You might be incorporating some of those visuals in the stock images on your website. So just be thinking about how those could be incorporated into your visual branding. Nice. And if you want to, if, if this feels good for you for some of you, this may not feel good. And for others, it, will it just depend on your energy and where you are in your journey.

[00:34:31] You can even try it 10 years out. And the reason why I like to do ten-year visioning is because it gives you more space. When you have more space. So, you have more time to achieve your goals or to grow into the person you see in the vision. It gives you permission to dream even bigger. So, um, yeah. So, if you

[00:34:56] are doing a ten-year visioning. You can really allow those really big, next level, wildly improbable goals to appear because you know that you have 10 whole years to bring this goal or achieve this goal or dream. And so sometimes that can give you uh, ability to dream and scheme even bigger if you go out farther, but sometimes going out so far in the future can feel intimidating to people, or it can kind of close you off a bit, a little bit.

[00:35:26] So if that’s you, then I would totally go for the five-year just feel into what feels better for you. And try both.

[00:35:34] Yes, totally. I love that so, so, so much. Um, so we talked about this a little bit, um, but I do want to come back to this question about what you. How can you make your brand truly unique, so it stands out? So, we already talked about answering the question. What makes your business and your offerings and you unique?

[00:35:57] Okay. What are some other things we can think about to help us stand out in super crowded or appearingly saturated markets.? Yeah. There’s a couple of things here. I think the first one being what makes you really excited? What really lights you up? Both, You know, in your business, but also in your personal life, I often find that your hobbies and the things that you’re spending time on outside of your business, are going to be the thing that really sets you apart.

[00:36:26] For example, I work pretty heavily in dog rescue and so a lot of my, um, branding, it sprinkles in the dog rescue. I like to share my dogs on my Instagram stories, and I talk about the work that we’re doing. And so that’s not directly related to what I do as a business owner, but it does add a level of uniqueness to who I am as a person.

[00:36:48] So really be thinking about some of those things that you can incorporate in a really subtle way in your branding of the things that really light you up and make you excited and also are part of your mission and your vision for the work that you’re doing. How is that going to benefit some of these passion projects?

[00:37:07] And there’s the dog. We hear the dog. And it’s funny because I adopted a rescue for the first time in my life, um, in the middle of our branding journey together. Yes. So, you became, Calandra my brand design person. And when you’re going through a rebrand, it’s your, that the brand, the branding specialist becomes a pretty important person in your world.

[00:37:31] We were talking just about every day. And you are like my, uh, how do you even say you were my, my guide, my guru to like how? Cause it’s pretty, it can be pretty intense bringing in a rescue and I had a four-year-old, but that was the biggest thing. If it was just me and my husband, it would have been a transition and it would have been, but because we had a rescue and a four-year-old and the two weren’t really sympatico that was incredibly stressful.

[00:38:01] And, um, it was amazing that you were there to support me through that and give me, because you also have a four-year-old. And, um, so I felt like, oh my gosh, this relationship is truly meant to be. Yeah, that’s divine guidance right there. Right. We were working together and branding, but then so many other things came about, but I love that about you.

[00:38:20] I think it’s a such a good example, Calandra that you’re like the dog rescue person. And I just knew that about you. Like, we had never really talked about it before, and I just knew from your brand being so clear that you do intuitive brand design in, in your free time, you do a lot of dog rescue stuff.

[00:38:38] And that’s when I was like, oh, I am struggling with this dog rescue. I can talk to Calandra about it. But I think that that’s like, that’s sort of, uh, you know, like most people aren’t, that’s very literal, but I think that what we’re saying is it really helps to just tell the story of who you are. Yeah. And things like this really help and build connection points with your audience too.

[00:39:01] Like most of the time my audience tends to be dog lovers. Like I work with a lot of people, whether they’re in rescue or they just have a dog that they adore, and we have that connection point outside of business, which really helps with building relationships. So, finding something that’s really unique to you and sharing those pieces with your audience through your brand is really going to help with

[00:39:25] building long lasting connections. Totally agree. And you know, for me, it’s the Buffalo, it’s the symbol of my logo. It’s my spirit animal, the spirit animal, the Buffalo represents abundance, which is important for a soul guided entrepreneur. It’s an ancient animal that has weathered so much of evolution and still lives.

[00:39:47] Uh, it’s an animal that when it steps, because it’s this massive vegetarian, so it can’t utilize its energy unwisely. So, every step it takes is really thought out because they really have to manage their energy. And that’s how I like to coach my clients. I don’t like to give them a ton of homework. I just like to give them the steps that will get them

[00:40:11] the most easefully to their dreams. Um, so for me, like the Buffalo just represents so much of who I am, and I don’t feel like I really need to explain that to people. I feel like it’s in the brand and they sort of get that about me and every time, so many times. Uh, I will have conversations with potential clients and members of my audience about the Buffalo.

[00:40:39] They asked me a question. People love to share with me their own relationship to Buffalo. I get those stories all the time. Clients who know me really well and collaborators such as you Calandra get me the greatest Buffalo gifts. Yeah. Yeah, you got me this beautiful. I’m looking at it right now. This beautiful Buffalo print.

[00:41:03] And basically it was just, I decided that the Buffalo had to be part of my brand and it just kind of sparked all of this, all of this that I’m talking about. Yeah. It really, it ties together whether it’s, you know, directly forward facing in your brand or not, it’s really creating an opportunity for people to find something about you and your brand that they’re going to remember about you.

[00:41:27] So when people think of Allyson Scammell, they are picturing that Buffalo in their mind. Yeah. Yes, I hope so. And so, I just turn it to you listener. like think about what your Buffalo is. It doesn’t need to be an animal. It can be an activity, it can be a place, it can be really anything, but it’s uniquely you and you have a unique connection to it.

[00:41:49] And it really says like on an energetic level who you are, and maybe you have more than one Buffalo, you can. Um, and I think like identifying your Buffalo or your dog rescue, uh, that, that thing that’s so meaningful for you and really tells the story of who you are. I think that also really helps you stand out uniquely wherever, wherever it is you are.

[00:42:13] Perfect. All right. So, here’s my last question. If you could help the audience understand one thing about branding, what would it be? Yeah. So, we mentioned this already, maybe more than once. But I cannot repeat it enough. And that is that your brand is always going to evolve as you and your business evolves.

[00:42:34] So really understand that when you are cultivating your brand leave room for growth, allow yourself to play with the process and have fun with the branding process. It’s not meant to be this, you know, cut and dry, let’s get it done in 24 hours process. It’s supposed to be something that allows you to feel expansive and open up possibilities.

[00:42:58] I love that. And I totally believe that bears repeating. So, we’ve also sort of talked about this. And so, this may or may not be a repeat, um, can you Calandra leave our listeners with a, with an invitation, so an invitation to do something or be someone or both? Hmm. This is a really good question. I think that I would love to invite the audience to be their true selves, to really allow themselves to step into their own power, uncover what that might be and to be unapologetic about that and show up in the world in that way, because that is what the world needs more of.

[00:43:39] Love it love it. Beautiful invitation. And before I ask you Calandra, to share how our listeners can find you. I just want to say, I want to spend a moment here talking about just how amazing you are. Like seriously listeners, listen up. If you are listening, looking for a branding person to help you. I’m sure Calandra offers lots of different offerings.

[00:44:06] So whether you want to go all in, or you’re just looking to take a course or whatever. I really, really recommend you get on her mailing list. Get in her social media world, check out her website because Calandra is the real deal. And I just have to say, and I might get a little choked up here. Um, you know, I am, I think, great to work with.

[00:44:28] I think I would like to work with me and I’m also like really committed to this sort of perfectionism. And there’s a lightness in a shadow to that. And I think sometimes I will be like, I know what I want, but I can’t articulate it, but it’s not that. And I think that can be really hard for the other person to be like, okay, you don’t like it, but then sometimes I just, I, I’m not ready to tell them what I do want.

[00:44:53] And Calandra, you handled me and my idiosyncrasies. Like, so like, amazingly, uh, when I was feeling frustrated and like, none of us is coming together the way I want it to you were just with me, you said, all right, do we need to start over? Like, what do we need to do? You never gave up and you had this amazing attitude of we’re always going to get to

[00:45:17] yes. We’re always going to get to what you want and that commitment to excellence, I think got me to a product at the end that I adore, and I get feedback all the time. Allyson, I love your brand. I love your brand. And I really believe it was because it was your commitment to the process, your commitment to we’re going to get to what.

[00:45:40] What wants to be, what wants to be birthed? No matter what, we had technical problems. We had so many different pieces that were coming together, but they weren’t coming together at the same time. Because as you said, branding’s not linear and I just cannot give you, my, I can’t give you an endorsement

[00:45:58] that’s high enough to let you know just how amazing you are at what you do. So, for the listeners, I’m speaking from my heart. If you are looking for brand assistance, you have found the person. Oh my goodness Allyson you’re going to get me all choked up.. Thank you for that. You are so welcome. And you know, like, yeah, on that note, I just want to say working with you was really,

[00:46:23] really such a beautiful example of branding because, you know, we’ve said it already, branding is not linear and being really committed to moving through some of those moments of uncertainty is something that some people will dust their hands off and walk away from. And you stayed true to what you wanted and the vision that you had.

[00:46:44] And it took us a little while to get there and we had major technical difficulties, but we made it work and you were happy with the end results. So that’s the most important thing to me. And I’m so happy to hear that you are happy. Oh, I, yeah, I totally agree. And really, it’s more thrilled, like ecstatic, elated, thrilled.

[00:47:04] So I can’t really thank you enough. And I’ve loved having you on the show. I’ve loved this conversation, please Calandra tell our listeners how they can find you. Yeah, I keep it super simple. You can find me everywhere, but my website is the best place to go. So, Calandra martin.com or magnetic boss, studio.com.

[00:47:22] Both of those will get you there. My name is a little tricky to spell and pronounce, but I’m there. Um, you can also find me on Instagram and Facebook and all of the places and what I would love for your listeners to take action on is to sign up for the brand personality quiz. This is a free quiz that I have on my website.

[00:47:40] And it really just helps you identify some of these pieces that we talked about today. What makes you unique? What is your energy? What are you bringing to the table? And it’s a really fun lighthearted quiz that you can take in just a few minutes. Perfect. And all those links will be in the show notes.

[00:47:56] Calandra, I can’t thank you enough for being in my life, for being my branding guru and for being on the show. Thanks so much. 

[00:48:03] And I want to thank you dear ones so much for tuning in. I’m so grateful for you each and every week. If you’re feeling so called, please, please leave us a rating and review wherever it is you listen. And so more people can find us. And if you haven’t yet, go ahead and also hit subscribe. And until next time, may your soul guide the way. Are you ready to fill your business with soul clients in the next 60 days, then download my free energy upgrade meditation to amp up your energy frequency, dissolve the doubt and attract the soul clients you are destined to serve.

[00:48:50] Find the link to download on my website, Allyson scammell.com as well as in the show notes.