How To Re-Brand A Brand with Brand Magician Johanna White!

When life threw a curveball at Johanna White, she didn't just dodge; she swung back with the might of a branding virtuoso. Our latest episode features the indomitable spirit of this visual branding strategist and founder of Design by Jo Studio, who faced down a brain tumor and emerged with an empire of three companies in the span of a year. Sit in on our conversation as we unpack the synergy between personal upheaval and professional triumph, and discover how Johanna's approach to rebranding and identity is revolutionizing the way businesses and individuals present themselves to the world.

The courage to rent the "Casino Royale" house for a client's brand elevation isn’t just a business move; it embodies Johanna's belief in living the brand you espouse. This episode peels back the layers on just how much of our future selves are already within us, waiting to be unleashed. I get personal about my own branding blunders and revelations, offering up a candid look at the necessity of authenticity and the power of taking bold, definitive action in shaping not just your brand, but your life.

With Johanna, every anecdote is a masterclass in resilience and the art of branding with integrity. From tales of construction sites to the dance floor, she illustrates how diverse life experiences can enrich one's professional narrative, leading to a more genuine and effective brand. Plus, don't miss the exclusive sneak peek into an Italian branding retreat that promises to transform your brand in ways you've never imagined. Johanna isn't just a guest on our episode; she's a beacon for anyone yearning to craft a brand as robust and dynamic as their dreams.

Enjoy!

CONNECT WITH JO:

Visit https://www.designbyjostudio.com/ and request a free brand consult (during this 30 minute call, you and Jo will discover what sets you apart, and how you want to show up in the world!)

Links:
Roberto on Instagram http://www.instagram.com/robertorevillalondon
Tailoring Talk on Instagram http://www.instagram.com/tailoringtalkpodcast

Credits
Tailoring Talk Intro and Outro Music by Wataboy on Pixabay
Edited & Produced by Roberto Revilla
Connect with Roberto head to https://allmylinks.com/robertorevilla
Email the show at tailoringtalkpodcast@gmail.com

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:10

Welcome to the tailoring talk show with your host, roberto Ravilla. I'm any can speak Taylor menswear designer and owner of Roberto Ravilla London custom clothing and footwear. I activate your superpowers through the clothing I create and the conversations on this podcast. We'll meet self starters and creators to learn about their journeys, while they share valuable lessons to help you be the very best you can be. Please support the show by subscribing, and it helps so much if you take a few seconds to leave a rating and a review.

Speaker 1: 0:40

Our guest today is a celebrated visual branding strategist and award-winning graphic designer. The founder of design by Joe Studio, she specializes in crafting premium brand identities, having collaborated with a range of clients from startups to 14 to 100 companies over the past decade. Her philosophy is that excellence deserves to look outstanding. Defying personal challenges, including baffling a brain tumor, she launched three companies in one year, rejecting the notion of limits. She's now renowned as a brand magician and dreamer extraordinaire for high achievers and ambitious brands. Here to show us how a rebrand can change your business and your life, and much, much more. Tayloring talkers, please welcome Johanna White to the show. How are you?

Speaker 2: 1:35

Well, now that we got all of our zoom bugs worked out, I'm pretty fantastic. How are you?

Speaker 1: 1:42

Yeah, I'm good. Thank you Right, so I should have asked you this before. So my sister-in-law is from Finland. Yeah, that's right, because my niece is half Finnish, half Spanish, and so her name is spelled exactly the same as yours it's Johanna. Is that the correct pronunciation?

Speaker 2: 2:04

Yes okay, great but I like to confuse the whole world by calling my business designed by Joe because you know, if you put JO, nobody's gonna say designed by yo, and that would sound kind of crazy anyway. So Joe has been my nickname since I was a child. But Johanna is the correct pronunciation.

Speaker 1: 2:26

And then it would also kind of just sort of take you off-brand a little bit and careen you into, you know from where you are. Yeah, exactly that's it. You know, from the beautiful, sophisticated, looks like she's got it all together confident, competent lady that I see before me to you know, sort of baggy trousers wearing hip-hop stuff, all of that that made me sound really old, but yeah, but, johanna, do you?

Speaker 2: 2:55

prefer Joe, I prefer Joe, yeah okay, fine, we'll do that now.

Speaker 1: 3:02

So, yeah, how are you? Where are you calling him from? Because I know you're in the States, but I'm not sure exactly where Dakota.

Speaker 2: 3:09

I am actually in Michigan beach coastline side, across the lake from Chicago, so a little town called St Joseph, which you probably have never heard of it unless you're from here, but it's absolutely gorgeous.

Speaker 1: 3:28

Kind of. I mean, wherever it is that you are in your some of your Instagram shots, it looks beautiful. So yeah, I just had someone from Chicago all the way over in London for a suit fitting recently.

Speaker 2: 3:43

Oh yeah, well, if I can't find any good tailors around here, you're gonna have someone from Michigan over in London sometime soon.

Speaker 1: 3:52

I mean, you look like you're kind of managing the whole wardrobe department pretty well. You look absolutely amazing.

Speaker 2: 4:00

Oh, thank you. I managed pretty fine for myself, but my husband, he's just along for the ride and we got to get him some more well tailored pieces.

Speaker 1: 4:09

Yeah, I hear that a lot. So designed by Joe. Did you start off as a graphic designer and then kind of sort of found your way through to branding? I?

Speaker 2: 4:26

did. I actually started as a graphic designer at an agency and I bought him at the totem pole doing really work like on an assembly line. It was like the clients were on an assembly line Quick, make these ads quick, make these pages quick, do these things and I never felt like I was actually changing their business or their life at all. And about three years into that job I had all of the oh, someday I'll quit here and I'll move to New York and I'll join a bigger agency and I'll work my way up the ladder. But it was at that time that I got diagnosed with a brain tumor and suddenly life was completely uncertain. I didn't know how much time I had left and I decided, looking around, that I had not even come close to living up to my potential and that it was now or never. So I quit the agency and started designed by Joe. That's been 10 years ago now, and even when I first started designed by Joe, at first it was freelance graphic designer and then it was a graphic design company and I was still seeing that now, even though I was a little bit more in control of the deliverables and a little bit more in control of my fate. I still wasn't serving clients on a business altering level, because I was expecting them to tell me what they needed, what they wanted and what would be right for their business. And in most cases they didn't know. And I started saying, hang on a second, I didn't come this far. To only come this far and to still be mediocre and play it safe and fly under the radar, I'm willing to show up as the expert and own this space. You tell me, what do you need more of in a relationship with your designer? And they basically all came back and said we don't know what we don't know. We need an expert who can help us with our messaging and help us know what to say and draw it out of us. We need an expert who can tell us what needs to go on our marketing materials or what the copy should be on our website. Or I need to do a photo shoot, but I have no idea how I should look or what I should wear or what would represent my brand, and and even when it comes to the brand visuals, I don't really know what my audience is drawn to.

Speaker 2: 6:54

And so I started quickly expanding. I took courses on messaging. I took courses on web design. I learned to code because I would make these beautiful brands and then send my clients off to a web designer good luck, honey, goodbye.

Speaker 2: 7:12

And it would get typically quite subpar results because many, many web developers are not actually designers and vice versa, they or they find a designer who then didn't know how to do good UX and UI and make it flow and it would just get broken. And I thought, well, if I can't find someone in these areas right now that I trust their outcome enough to send my clients to, I'm gonna expand and become that and just bring it all together into a seamless experience that gets them actual results, because that was the biggest thing. Each time if I did a piece of it, it didn't matter how well I did on a piece of it. If it wasn't cohesive, intentional and consistent across the board, they didn't get results and I did not want to sell something that had no ROI. So I switched. I engaged more pieces of the process and totally fell in love with the, the style aspect of it along the way, the personal brand style, and how much that can be a confidence catalyst for them actually then living their brand in the world yeah, well and.

Speaker 1: 8:29

I don't.

Speaker 2: 8:29

I don't know how to give short answers, robert, so you're gonna feel free to interrupt me anytime and say, okay, you answered the question moving up you know I listen to every single episode of mine.

Speaker 1: 8:41

So at least it gets one more download. No, but because I've, because, you know, for several reasons. Right, you know you're learning and there's things that you miss while you're having the conversation, so I like to go back over. It Also gets one extra download, but also so I can listen to myself and get better, and the one thing that I realize is so you say that you don't give short answers. I don't. I don't ask long, short questions. I don't ask short questions. That's it. So, health wise, all clear now.

Speaker 2: 9:18

Health wise, I experienced a complete and full miracle. So it was a two and a half year health journey from brain surgeon to brain surgeon who would say, maybe we can help you no, actually we can't, and they'd ship me off to the next guy. Maybe we can help you, maybe it's bigger, we don't know. Our, our machine's not going to work on that. Actually, it could turn it into something that it's not, or it could cause blood clots in the brain or et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, and so none of them could help me. But I had a miracle going on under the surface, the the whole time, which really then laid the foundation for how much of a I don't know bulldog I am in business now when it comes to making sure that my clients don't take no as the last answer in a lot of cases, or that they don't stop because something feels a little scary. Because I had a really good friend challenge me right after I got diagnosed. He showed up on my porch the day after the diagnosis and he said you know, you've said your whole life that you believe in God and you believe in healing, and I challenge you today to act like it and to talk like it and to not own this story that the doctors are giving you. You have a choice and you can choose what you say. You're not going to lie about it. You're not going to say everything's fine when it's not, but you're not going to say I have a brain tumor. You're going to say this is what they found. I am being healed. And he challenged me to change my speaking and to change the inputs. I stopped listening to anything that made me afraid. I did not do WebMD or spend a lot of time trying to self-diagnose and instead I just spent time listening to anything that said healing was possible and putting it in. And I went from totally debilitating symptoms partial paralysis on my left side, food coming out of my nose instead of going down my throat, atrophyed muscles in my neck that looked like it had been scooped out with an ice cream scoop and just total misery to heal. And it didn't happen overnight and I had a lot of roller coaster, up and downs and setbacks.

Speaker 2: 11:34

Because I would stand in faith, I would speak in faith, I would start changing my thinking and my speaking and really act like I believed. What I said I did, and my body started to get better and better and better. And then I would go to another surgeon or another MRI appointment because I really wanted uncertainty, I wanted to see the clean scan and to be able to prove to everyone that I really was healed and it wasn't just I'm not just a fraud or making it up or any of these things. And I would go and they'd do the scan and they'd say we're not quite sure because we use a different machine, but it's either same size or maybe bigger. In fact, here's the next five symptoms that are going to happen to you Vision loss, hearing loss, like facial numbness, all these things.

Speaker 2: 12:18

And I would go into the appointment almost healed, like body working, like previous pre brain tumor. I would hear the diagnosis again, I would see the scan and I would leave crushed and I woke up the next morning with all of my symptoms back and then some, and I started to just connect the dots on how really powerful our mind is and how important our faith is as well. In, like, we always have faith. We either have faith that the thing is healing or that it's not. We either have faith in the good thing or the negative. Right, like you have, fear is just faith that something bad is happening. Yeah, really.

Speaker 1: 13:02

Yeah, we all have an amount of faith. It's just where we choose to place it.

Speaker 2: 13:07

Exactly, and we also all have a story running through our heads at all times and I thought that was just the truth.

Speaker 2: 13:19

It was the story. Whatever I'm hearing or thinking must be true, but in reality, we can change what we're thinking and we can change the story, and then we can change the outcome. And that is what ultimately happened when I finally said okay, I'm going to stop going back to the doctors who are saying they can't help me anyway, and I'm going to stop getting the pants scared off of me every six months and I'm just going to take that last step of faith that I really do believe I am healed and being continually healed the rest of the way, and stop going back because I didn't. I needed to shift my faith a little more in the helpful direction and I was too easily swayed in the fear direction. So I punched fear in the face and took that last step and, like I haven't had any of the symptoms choking or the pounding migraines or the swallowing issues for six or seven years, now was the last time I had any of that long gone, and so I am a walking, talking, everyday miracle. Wow.

Speaker 1: 14:28

You're my hero. I just love that because you yeah, that is the decision that you made and, as you said, punch fear in the face. I would use a slightly different term, but let's try and keep the clean right. But you embody that not just through the work that you do and the work you do with your clients and so on, but the way that you live your life. I mean you are a real adventurer. I mean you really grab life like you wrap your arms around that and you go for it. You know going up mountains on snowboards I tried that once. It was really bad. You know horse riding, trying to think what else I've seen you do. You're a motorbiker as well, like you're an all round action hero.

Speaker 2: 15:20

I think you I accept your compliment. I love life now and I didn't used to appreciate it enough, so I would never, ever, wish a brain tumor on anyone. But I sometimes still am thankful that I went through this, because at age 25, I had a choice Keep living life safe, secure, mediocre, never actually trying to do what you're capable of because it might fail. That was the thing I was scared of the most was failing. I would rather not set a goal than set a goal and not reach the goal and be confronted with my failure. I would rather not try something in business, because what if it fails? And, by the way, I've had two failed businesses in the last decade designed by Joe is still going strong, but I have had the scariest thing. I thought that could possibly happen. Failure happened again and again and again, and I'm so thankful that I had that moment to pivot and say, okay, I can keep playing it safe, but look where that's got me.

Speaker 2: 16:29

I've put off doing this, I've put off doing that because I wanted to be the good girl, get it all right, follow all the steps, and that's not working out for me. I don't know if I have six months, six years or 60 years, but however much time I have left on this planet, I'm going to live it. I'm going to spend it with my family, with my friends, with people that matter and the kind of clients that I work with. They're going to be people I want to spend time with. I'm going to say no to people that aren't the right fit. I'm going to charge what I'm worth and work with the kind of people that are totally aligned to everything I want to offer. They were going to become my best friends along the way, which they do. And then we're going to do like my client, julie, and I just did, which was go to Italy and Greece for her brand a few months ago and spend 30 days working with photographers from Milan and shopping and spying. Is that a word?

Speaker 1: 17:32

I know what you mean Spying.

Speaker 2: 17:35

And adventuring and new flying dressed photos in Greece and like I would have never been the person that even thought that was possible 10 years ago, let alone that it could be something that's a normal part of my life. So I came back from that trip, for example, and a lot of people said you, lucky duck, that is a once in a lifetime 30 days at five star resorts in Italy and Greece, like that is a once in a lifetime trip. And I just looked at them and I thought for you, maybe, if that's your story, if you believe that it could only be a once in a lifetime thing, okay, but I'm going to make that my new normal. I'm going to create these brand experiences and offer them to clients, and the right ones will say, oh my gosh, I have been waiting for you to make this offering so that I could work with someone like you to up level my brand in my favorite spot in the world. In June, I have plans to rent the house that was used at the end of Casino Royale, james Bond.

Speaker 2: 18:51

Did you do your high level.

Speaker 1: 18:52

May.

Speaker 2: 18:54

I was stalking your Instagram a little bit. We can talk afterwards about some of your cover art because, honestly, we could level it up.

Speaker 1: 19:04

Oh, yeah, definitely.

Speaker 2: 19:06

That true bond vibe. But I found the house when I was in Italy with my client this past June. I found the house and I want to rent it this coming June for one very special client who is ready for just the next level brand experience and take my videographer and photographer and just do an epic up level to their brand in the place where they feel the most like their future self already. So that is the other thing that I learned during the brain tumor was I couldn't keep waiting for her to show up, that Johanna, that someday she would be a badda, someday she would be brave, someday she would be making an impact on the world. I kept waiting for her to, I don't know, walk in the door one day and I would just feel like it. So instead I had to say what does she look like, how does she live, how does she act, how does she help other people around her, how does she spread love and joy? And I've got to step into that in some small way today. I've got to buy the shoes, I've got to wear the shoes, I've got to take that next step and start becoming her so that she could show up.

Speaker 2: 20:21

And it took me six or seven years to really learn that principle and begin in embodiment better. But now that is what I do with my clients. That is probably why we're talking today, because I'm so passionate about helping clients truly live their brand and their style is one of those ways that you think, oh, in five years I'm going to be this chic executive, whatever position you've got on your vision board. No, actually, how about today? You become the first step of that person and then you plan your New Year's goals from that place, from that mindset, from that space of I've already arrived and therefore I'm going to make these decisions. And it shortcuts the timeline of their business uplevels by five to 10 years and I freaking love it. And I don't know if that even made sense. I got so excited.

Speaker 1: 21:24

So I mixed in. I'm hanging on to every single word that is coming out of your mouth right now and I'm hoping that everybody listening to this is as well. I'm sure they are, but made total sense. It's so funny and fortuitous, I think, or serendipitous I need to look up that word. I think I know what it means you and I meeting today of all days, because today was my last official client day in the workroom and I'm taking the next five, six weeks out to work on the business and also work on myself as well. It's been really, really busy. We had our best year ever last year coming out of the pandemic, and then we grew some more again this year, but I reached burnout completely. The business has kind of got to that point where it's now a bit more than I can actually handle, which is exciting, because I describe it as the kind of change that is. It's a little bit chaotic but it's like stretching and things are breaking, but it's good, because then when I heal them they'll be stronger and all of that.

Speaker 1: 22:42

Anyway, there's all sorts of stuff going on in my head right now. So it is really really kind of and it's kind of awesome that you and I have actually met today, on my last day of this year that I'm you know, it's like I've said I'm fully booked until January. You guys have to wait. I've got to take care of this stuff and start working on it, on it now. So, yeah, okay, where do we go now? So, brand magician.

Speaker 2: 23:13

I have an idea. Can I give you a tip for the next five to six weeks?

Speaker 1: 23:19

You don't need to get us permission, just tell me.

Speaker 2: 23:25

Well, one I want to say I'm really proud of you for setting aside the time to work on your business, not just in it, because that is one of the key things that makes a difference between a business, a true business owner, and just a business operator. It's the person that takes the time, and for my business, that was actually one of the pivotal moments was it was probably about six years ago I did the same thing. I actually took three months off. I refused to take any clients for three months. I literally blocked my calendar and I said I am going to do that. I am going to do what I do for my clients to myself, because I've been living by that old adage the cobbler's children wear no shoes.

Speaker 2: 24:08

I was creating beautiful brand pieces for clients and my own like brand didn't even exist. I had a website. It was a portfolio. It looked like everyone else's. I was embarrassed to send people there. I'd say, okay, so like, go to my website. Don't look at the website. I know I do brand. This is not a representation. He's biting his fist right now. Folks like this is because there's things that she guys and girls listening, there's things that she's saying, but not exactly the same.

Speaker 1: 24:38

But there are so many parallels right now between the two, well, between Joe then and me right now. But you carry on, and then I'll tell you something that'll make you laugh, yeah, and also make you extremely worried at the same time. Well, I just think your making a difference.

Speaker 2: 24:56

I think you're making the right choice because when I did that, when I finally took time for myself, it meant I believed in my business enough to treat myself like my own client, and it truly taught me what I now use as the three pillars for every client process that I go through, which is first, you have to know your value. So I was talking till I was blue in the face to people about how I could help design a luxury brand for them, but it didn't come across clearly that the true diamond in my message was not refined, it was not polished, it was not coming through. And so I had to know my value and I sat with myself and went through my messaging and really asked myself what makes me unique, what makes me different? What problem do I solve better than anyone? Because if I don't know that, how on earth would someone know that they should work with me versus someone else, et cetera. And so I really sat with myself and I got to know my value and then, once I realized that I really did have something unique in this ability to not just design a logo or just pick colors, but to truly encapsulate the person in their brand in every piece of it and help them walk it into the world. Then I knew the frustrating fact that I was totally undercharging, but I also knew I was at the perfect point to do something about it, and so, once I knew my value, then it was time to show my value, and that is what I did.

Speaker 2: 26:26

Next was, during that three months, I completely redid my copy for my website, and then I went out, gathered my photographers and said, okay, I have this art direction. I'm going to make these business cards with gold edges. I'm going to get these ridiculous nails crested with diamonds. I'm going to dip it in gold paint. We're going to fling gold all over the studio. This is going to be an epic shoot and it's going to be the core image for my brand. I'm going to get this Hermes Collier mission bracelet, because if I was a bracelet, that would be me. It's like the luxury staple of their brand, but also it's totally bad. And so I picked just a few pieces which, by the way, at that time were way out of my budget, because I was still the undercharging, overworking professional who just was hoping and dreaming of becoming that Johanna someday, and one of the key things that I did so. Take this to your listeners and you can challenge yourself to do this in this time. That you're doing this was.

Speaker 2: 27:26

That was one of the moments of stepping into the Johanna. I knew I wanted to become right then and my husband said hey, you know, why don't you just borrow one from my aunt or why don't you just rent a bracelet for the shoot or something? And I knew that I couldn't do that because it wasn't about the photos and it wasn't about what other people saw. It was about who I knew I was meant to be, and it needed to be genuine. It needed to be real. It was not for show, it was not for I'm going to take pictures of this bracelet. I can't afford and pretend I'm somebody. I'm not, and then everyone's going to think I'm in luxury. No, it was. I am the person who shops like this, starting today, and this one piece is my little line in the sand of becoming that person. And so I did the shoot.

Speaker 2: 28:13

I then built my website in a way that the message was clear. The photos told this story of the message I was trying to communicate, which was really important. And as soon as I knew my value and then I showed my value to the world. My pricing changed overnight. I literally was in a coffee shop the day after I launched my new website and a gentleman walked up and struck up a conversation. He asked if he could borrow my power cord because he saw I had a Mac and I'll let him borrow it. He came back, returned it 30 minutes later, asked me what I did. I gave him my new business card. He got so excited he ran back to his table, ran back five minutes later and said I had to look up your website immediately because this card is bad ass, like it's thick and it's gold and it's sleek, and I've never seen anything like it. And then I went to your website.

Speaker 1: 29:00

This is the American psycho thing, right when we compare. That was the thing I did as well with mine. It was it needed when someone took it from me. It needed that. I wanted them to hold on to it a little bit longer. You know what I mean and really feel it and give him an essence of what I was about. Anyway, yours is beautiful too.

Speaker 2: 29:23

Well, I feel that way. You know, the business card was just one touch point, but I feel that way about every single brand touch point. You never know where a client is going to come first. It should be a mic drop moment, it should make an unforgettable impact, and so we can talk more about that in a second. I'll close the story by saying he came back like geeking out over my website and he said I need you to do work for me. No, by the way, I work for Google and I did nothing.

Speaker 2: 29:55

So many ways potentially, but continue but I just showed up different and I'm sure that I go. I glowed different, like in that coffee shop that day. I was confident and I knew that if I gave him my card and he looked at my website, he was going to see the real me and what I was capable of, and he wasn't going to have to translate it himself. He wasn't going to have to draw his own conclusions. Too often we think our websites are OK or social media is fine, Like if people look long enough and hard enough, they'll eventually get to know the real me. But that's asking an awful lot about someone who doesn't really know you yet. You're asking them to do a lot of work and draw a lot of conclusions and in today's overwhelmed over digital, over flooded age, that's just leaving way too much to chance. So my goal is within two to three seconds of seeing any one piece of my brand, whether it's me walking down the street, a business card, my website, my social media, you know a thank you card that I sent to a client. I think giving that they're going to say, oh, OK, this is what it means to create excellence by design. This is what it means to live your brand. She gets luxury, she gets me, I need her on my project. And that's what happened.

Speaker 2: 31:17

My my brand packages went from 5000 to six figures like in the span of six months, and it went from people saying at 5000. I don't know, Like I can't quite see the value, I'm not sure it's worth it. I don't understand why I need this to at 100,000, people saying either yes, heck, yes, I need you now, or I can't quite afford it right now, but I'm putting you on my vision board. I'm gonna grow my company until it's like till I hit this goal so I can work with you and I totally see why it's worth every penny. And I'm so excited like I can't wait.

Speaker 2: 32:02

And that is what happened, because I took the three months. I treated myself like my own client. I put myself through my own process, which, by the way, if you can't do that with a good conscience, whatever your process is, whatever you're selling, whatever your service or product is, if you can't either put it on yourself or put yourself through it and get results, why are you trying to sell it to a client? Clearly, if you can't do it on yourself, it's not working.

Speaker 2: 32:30

And so not only did it change how I showed up in the world. But then it enabled me to do step three, which was really live my brand, because my confidence was high that how I was showing up was an accurate representation of the uniqueness I had to offer, and over the years I've added more to my website. Like as a brand designer, of course, I'm always playing and always elevating and calling my photographer with a new idea and saying, okay, so I just got this gorgeous gown from a designer in Australia and I wanna change some things. Or calling another one and saying, hey, the Harley is clean today. Can we do a photo shoot in a dress on the motorcycle? Because I wanna show people what it's like to embrace all the facets of your diamond and stop shaving them off into a little ball so that you match what you think other people wanna see of you.

Speaker 2: 33:27

And hey, I have this idea and they've forgiven me for everything. They've forgiven me for the motorcycles on their studio floors, they've forgiven me for the gold paint everywhere, and we always have fun because in every single moment we're bringing a brand to life. And so that was a long tip, but hopefully you can take several nuggets of ideas for your next five to six weeks and I wish you the very best of luck with all of that. Of course, like call me if you need to chat. We can talk again. I can help with any of that. But I'm so excited that you're doing that for yourself, because it means you really believe in who you are, and I think you'll emerge on the other side of it so much closer to the next level version of who you wanna be.

Speaker 1: 34:13

Yeah, I know exactly. And just to sort of dive back into your amazing answer and like I say, that's why I actually spun around in my chair for those who are listening to this biting my fist because there was so much that Johanna was saying that you know I'm going through at the moment. So you said one thing that you know the saying that a couple of children have no shoes to wear. And you know one of the realizations look, I'm going through burnout. I've changed saying I went through burnout this year because, you know, nine days in Cyprus at a five star resort did not fix it. It's, you know, a much longer term problem. So that was one thing. The other thing that happened was that I was seeing a client and he was complimenting my outfit, but in particular the trousers, pants that I was wearing, and I said, yeah, I absolutely love this fabric. It's a really lightweight milled wool so it kind of has that fun leal tunnel look, but it's got a little bit of stretch to it and it's available in all these amazing colors of nature, so they're just really versatile. And I don't know why, but as I was talking to him, I just reached behind to my butt and I don't know why I did it. I don't normally do that, but I did and I felt a hole and my head, taylor, was standing behind me watching, probably thinking why the hell is he reaching behind for his butt? And then he saw it and so, anyway. So suddenly I kind of like put my legs together, because I'm now really self-conscious, and hurried the client out. So I was like, okay, fine, don't worry, I'll give you a quote for him and we'll just make him up. I've got your measurements, get out of the work room. And then I sat down to have a look and like, literally, johanna, my pants had gone right through the crotch. And so I said to my head, taylor, I was like what the hell? I didn't even realize. Like how would I not even know that I put them on in the morning? I criticized my own clients for that and he said actually we noticed it on those last week when you wore them. We just didn't tell you, asshole.

Speaker 1: 36:44

So I went home and then I showed my wife. I said to her you never guess what. And she said what? So I sat down on the chair in front of her and spread my legs and she said put that, what the hell is wrong with you. Throw those in the trash. And then I went to my wardrobe and I looked through all of my other suit pants Same thing At various different levels of wear. So I don't ride a motorbike your way cooler than me but I have a Vespa and so I guess, and I have big thighs as well, so I'm probably prone to crotch wear, excessive crotch wear, but anyway. So I looked at all my other pants and they're all gone. So I've now got a wardrobe that's completely decimated. So this happened around September time.

Speaker 1: 37:35

So then I've spent the last two, three months basically using all my talent and instinct with the clothes that I have to throw outfits together, and it's been working. But is that thing that you said right, like with the Hermes thing, like you could have rented it but you would have been kind of faking? It Is the other example I give that's kind of similar is when, during the pandemic, clients would proudly tell me oh, I'm not wearing a suit these days, I'm just wearing shorts and a T-shirt. But then sometimes I need to look smart for a Zoom call, so I just put my suit jacket on, but I'm actually in my pants and they're actually proud of that and I would say to them but the person, you're not being genuine, you're not being what's the word? I can't think of it, because my dog is barking outside, so that's another distraction I've got going on right now and she has one of those barks that's like on a higher upper end frequency that cuts straight through your brain. Anyway, so that's the problem that I have at the moment, right Is I feel I'm not being genuine because I'm doing all this wonderful work for my own clients, I'm not even taking care of myself.

Speaker 1: 38:48

It's like the original 77 Superman movie where he catches Lois Lane and he's like I've got you, and she says you've got me, who's got you? And I'm like no one's got me, I'm like free falling at the moment. So so that's the other thing that I'm doing in December is I'm becoming my own client and I need to take myself through the entire process, but at the same time, because our branding and everything is just now got to a stage where it's just a complete mess, I'm going to take take myself through all the touch points of you know what our customers, from prospect three to client, go through and start working all this stuff out. But it's crazy and you know, go at the beginning of the episode because people are scratching their heads some of you who haven't been paying attention and there is a question coming. Probably I told you maybe, maybe maybe there's a question coming.

Speaker 1: 39:46

You know, about how rebranding can change your business, in your life. It's when particularly solopreneurs and entrepreneurs get to this stage where they feel like everything's a mess, that they've got the label on the jam jar. But you know, what they've been telling people for five, 10, 15 years is strawberry jam has suddenly turned into apricot jam. On the inside there's a mismatch and they don't quite know how to untangle that sort of mess. Which is where someone like you comes in, delivering an end to end solution and not doing what a lot of branding experts do and I don't want to put anyone down, but a lot of branding experts do kind of come in and they'll do the kind of first bit, and then they'll say, right, okay, this is what we've been through, everything that you need to do, good luck, see you later, thanks for your check and or bank drama's fur, because no one writes checks these days, and that's it. And then what happens? If you then go and look back in on those entrepreneurs, solopreneurs a year, two years down the line, nothing's changed.

Speaker 2: 41:00

Nothing worse, right? Yeah, it's just chaos, because they're now discouraged and more burnt out, because they feel like wait a second. I've tried to fix this. I got help. I paid money, I spent time, but I'm still in the same place, because they told me things that I either then didn't have the time or the skill or or the knowledge to actually implement myself. Which is why, for for my clients, I tell them it's done for you and with you it's. It's like you have to be part of it.

Speaker 2: 41:41

I'm not going to make up your authentic brand, but I do a process called content mining, which is that I believe everything that makes you unique and that makes you amazing is already inside of you. Just, sometimes it's hard to not in an unseat not the right word, but sometimes it's hard to really express it cleanly, clearly and and quickly in a way that the person you're talking to grasp why they desperately need to work with you starting this minute. And so I just do content mining and I ask the right questions to draw that out of them, and then I craft it into a message and I say okay, I think that this would be what you would say for an elevator pitch. I think this would be a great one liner. I think this would be a great email to your existing clients. I think that this would be great copy for your website. But we're going to review it together. You're going to help me change any words that are words you would never say, or no, that's not actually how I meant to say that or this. And in like 80% of the messaging sessions, I swear my cry. My clients like burst into tears of joy because they're finally seeing what they've been trying to get out of their soul for years. And it's short and it's crisp and it's compelling, and they feel seen and heard and they know that they will be seen and heard by the person that they are wanting to attract and and so it's just so like it's such a life changing thing. It's no longer just a business changing thing. But then in most cases, even if I created all that messaging and then just said, okay, go put this on your new website, go put this on places like it wouldn't happen. It feels overwhelming, which is where the done for you part really comes in. I say, okay, now we've got you in this and now I'm going to go make this for you so that all you have to do is keep telling your audience like this is coming, we're doing this, and then like it's like a new birthday, it's like a rebirth and you get to just step out as that person. And it's not overwhelming, it's actually a fun process. Most of my clients call me up and say what can we do together next? Because I don't want to not be working with you at all times, basically for forever, and it takes something that felt so just like it's something you had to do.

Speaker 2: 44:07

Many people think of a brand identity as a necessary part of doing business. It's like a toll I must pay to cross this bridge. Or it's like getting your passport photo. You got to have it If you want to get on the plane called business. So you march down to the post office, some grumpy lady snaps your picture, you get your passport off, you go, had to be done. But in reality, your brand is like the jet fuel that powers the plane of business and it is the thing that carries you to the next level. So when we talk about, like, how changing your brand can change, totally change your business, it can change what you're able to charge, it can change your confidence to actually sell what you're selling and it can make your sales process way, way shorter, because you no longer have to explain why you're worth it till you bloom the face.

Speaker 2: 45:00

They take one look at your brain and they're asking you hey, I know your book through February, but please, please, put me on your waitlist. I have got to work with you and it turns like maybe clients into raving fan die hard, will do anything to work with these. Taylor Swift, yeah, and that's what it it does, so it's no longer just a drudgery that you must get through, although most people are still treating it that way, which is why it's scattered. It's put together piece by piece. I'll do a little bit when I have time. Oh crap, I'm starting this Facebook group for these types of clients.

Speaker 2: 45:47

Quick, make a little banner cover photo. Throw something together. Oh, I'm starting a podcast. Quick, make a cover for the podcast. Quick, make episode art. Hurry, hurry, hurry, we don't have time. Throw it out there. And then they look around and they realize that their entire visual brand has come together by default instead of by design and that it's not actually saying what they want it to say. It's still happening, like your brand is always happening. It's just either being done by you or done to you, so you get to choose.

Speaker 1: 46:20

Yeah, and a lot of people think that, you know, especially when they start a business. I'm talking to someone right now, a friend, who doesn't listen to this podcast, so he ain't going to get offended. He is starting a business and he's got the logo done and he thinks that's it, that's, that's my brand done. There's this disassociation between you know, a brand being so much like you described it. You know, if you take your business as the jet plane, the brand is the rocket fuel. It's the essence, it's the core of who you are when people, people don't look at rocket fuel, but anyway, maybe my illustration breaks down there.

Speaker 1: 47:08

Yeah, it does so.

Speaker 2: 47:10

so yeah, we can help me come up with a new one.

Speaker 1: 47:12

We can rework that one, but yeah, but it's not just a logo on the side of the plane, right? That's not going to get you anywhere. So, so, yeah, I'm just my head is completely swimming at the moment because I know I'm totally in this situation. It's a wonder that I've got this foreign business, to be quite honest, and the last 12 years, but, but you know, we're going to pull this together, so that's it. That's the thing, as you were talking, that I absolutely loved about your approach, which is that you, when you were talking about content mining, and that you really get in there to find out what this person is about, from who they are, what they like to do I mean the thing that we do with our clients, right, the way that they speak, the language that they use.

Speaker 1: 48:03

I took a screenshot while you were talking and this also kind of threads in with the guy that approached you in the coffee shop and used your MacBook adapter. You're very generous, by the way, I'm very precious about that kind of thing. I'm like sorry, you want to what? Where he he kind of gave you your adapter back and then took your card and then ran back to his laptop and then he looked at your website and then he came back and was like, oh my God, I got to work with you.

Speaker 1: 48:35

I took a screenshot while Joe was talking. I have on one side and I'll see if I can post this up somewhere. I have one of her profile pictures where she's wearing a May's linky thing and so on, and then she's talking on screen and I took a screenshot at random and what is in her one of her branding photos and what you see on the screen in front of you, the person that you see in front of you it's exactly the same, exactly the same. You are the living embodiment, and sorry. Now I'll go back to the other thing that I really picked up on, which was so the content mining. Where so the photo shoot you did, where you told them okay, right, I need to get back in the studio and I'm going to bring a Harley Davidson or whatever in there. They must have thought, oh my God, what the hell is? This woman on that photo is amazing. The one with you in the red dress on the motorbike.

Speaker 1: 49:38

Yeah, that's one of the ones from that shoot.

Speaker 1: 49:41

But you see, that's something about you, that when people could see I know that about you right before working with you, so it's not going to come as a surprise later on. So you know, you know, with me there are things that surprise people, so like when they find out that outside of my you know working day, the first thing I do when I get home is I'm in rich ripped jeans, trucking boots, my t-shirt and I'm out with my dogs. All the time People seem to think that I don't know where monogrammed pyjamas and a smoking jacket and you know. Or when I'm fitting someone and a long standing client, like my cuff just kind of rolls up a little bit, and then a long standing client, particularly older, more well to do ones, will go oh, I didn't know that you had a tattoo. Yeah, I do.

Speaker 1: 50:40

What is it? It's two dragons coming out of the sun, because it represents a number of times that I've almost died and I've you know, I'm still here, Like resilience, rebirth, all that kind of stuff, and I'm like, oh, okay, but you can see there's something that's gone off in them, because it's like something that they didn't know about me and it's kind of like a wish that there was a way to encapsulate that so that when people actually hit me first time they kind of know all of that stuff and there aren't really any kind of surprises later on. I mean, they can't know everything.

Speaker 2: 51:13

Right.

Speaker 1: 51:14

But it's like the main stuff. You know the, you know the no BS tailoring. I don't hang around with other people from my industry because you know I find a lot of them really pretentious. Sorry, I don't care if any of you are listening to this. That's the way it is, you know, because they're all so judgy about people. You know, like those, they sneer at people that walk past that aren't dressed the right way or don't look high end enough for them to be. You know it's like well, we're actually in the business of dressing people and making them better. And some people might dress that way because they haven't found people like us yet. And I don't do that. I don't judge people when I meet them the first time in that way, et cetera et cetera.

Speaker 1: 52:01

I'm talking way too much now I don't know.

Speaker 2: 52:03

I'm so glad to hear that and I love that. And two things on that one some of them sneer at people because that is what they think they need to do actually to carry out the persona of a true artisan. Affection, like I couldn't possibly have kindness in my eyes or people would see weakness. Many of them are truly just, they're like that, but there are there are some of them who have become that way because they felt like they needed to be that way in order to make it in the cutthroat fashion world. But there are a few like you, who are seeing that the way things have always been done is not how they should continue to be done and and like showing more of yourself through your brand. It goes above simply removing potential for startling moments and it goes into actually creating moments where more people will want to work with you because of those things about you. People want to work with people that they know like and trust, and they love working with people that they have something in common.

Speaker 2: 53:10

I remember after I don't know, I think I rode my motorcycle out to the barn and I took a snapshot of the motorcycle with the horse and I posted it and suddenly I had 20 new friends on Facebook that also rode motorcycles and road horses.

Speaker 2: 53:27

And then I looked at the profiles and we also both, like all of us, did ballroom dancing. And it was suddenly we were this weird niche of people who did all of the unusual sport at the same time and I had a whole new tribe. And it was just really fun because I had hidden parts of me for a really long time, thinking that if I'm going to be this professional who does branding on a luxury level, well, luxury people, you got to have your chin up to here. All the time. You must look down on everyone. You must always, always be wearing like dripping in gold. And where did that lead? Room for the girl who worked construction for 15 years of her life and would like scrape off the tile mud to go ballroom dancing. Or the girl who, on the weekend, has like a brown patch on the back.

Speaker 1: 54:21

Oh sorry, this is Bailey he's. He's a rescue dog.

Speaker 2: 54:25

He's dressed for the holidays.

Speaker 1: 54:27

He, yeah, he is.

Speaker 2: 54:29

I love it Hi. Bailey. Oh, bailey just blurred out. He's got to say I'm trying to be there.

Speaker 1: 54:38

So, I kept shaving off that part.

Speaker 2: 54:40

Yeah, I didn't think that my clients would want to know that Johanna that walks back from the barn with like a dusty patch on the butt of her breeches because she's been riding bear back out in the field today and doesn't care what the neighbors think and probably still has some hay stuck in her hair and I. So I compartmentalize. I had my barn friends, I had my brand friends, but then I started realizing, as I let myself be seen and I made it great design always has a reason. So I'm not just on my website in a motorcycle because I think a motorcycle is bad. It is because I started to realize that what made me unique was the ability to see that it was possible to do all the things.

Speaker 2: 55:25

You didn't have to throw half of yourself away to be authentic and I wanted my clients to know the same thing, so that's why it's on there. But the more I started to do that, the more I relaxed into who I truly was, the better and better clients I got to work with. Like the more aligned they were, the more joyful and kind and loving and fun. And people talk about bad clients and complaints and like, oh, you got so and so, asking for 20 revisions or they didn't like this. That never happens to me anymore. I love my clients. My clients love me. Like we love the process. They get killer results.

Speaker 2: 56:01

I have a great time. I wake up excited. I have a client coming over in like 40 minutes. I can't wait till she gets here. We're probably going to have some wine and work on her press release and finish up her brand and like it. The more you open yourself to letting yourself be seen, the more you open yourself to experiences and kindness and wonderful people and magic like it really just comes in when you start to say it's possible, I can be seen and I see you, and that is just like one of the gifts of a brand is unwrapping that present for the world.

Speaker 1: 56:41

Yeah, wow, and I'm so glad that I mean it has been a real treat and a present to have you here. He's really distracting, isn't he.

Speaker 2: 56:50

He's so cute. Please keep him. He's holding very still. Honestly, I think he should probably be on all your podcast episodes. He's got great hair.

Speaker 1: 57:02

He really, really likes contact. We found him when he was roughly 18 months old and he was. My wife actually spotted him from the car we were driving along the highway and she spotted him from he was. He just been dumped on the side of the road with a broken leg. So really sad and so, yeah, we, it was a big fight and it was a lot of money and you went through a lot, didn't you? Three operations and so on, but he's been with us for like five, six years now and he's just the best.

Speaker 1: 57:34

And he's also very demanding too. Oh my God, shut up. I know it's nearly dinner time. We've got to let Jo go too, because she's got a client coming. Hmm, I feel like I could talk to you forever I know this is so fun.

Speaker 2: 57:51

We're going to have to talk again sometime.

Speaker 1: 57:53

See, I was going to say that. So, yes, definitely. Now people listening that are thinking oh my God, I really, really want to work with her. I should definitely go to your website, designed by joe studiocom I'm going to make sure that's in the show notes. You can request a free brand consult there. So it's a 30 minute call where Joe will discuss with you what sets you apart, how you want to sharpen the world and then, you know, hopefully close you on working with her. There's something else that you're working on or about to introduce, Am I right?

Speaker 2: 58:29

Well, we talked about somewhere in the middle of this episode. We talked about the James Bond house on Lake Como in Italy. I am making that an actual offering. So I'm only going to take one client to Italy to up level their brand in this like insanely magical spot. So it's not on my website because it's not for everybody. You're someone who says I know that that is what needs to change, like I'm ready to become my next level self, my next level brand, and have a heck of a time doing it. Put that in your consult note and let's talk about what that could look like for you.

Speaker 1: 59:13

Awesome. Love that, joe. Thank you so so much. Have you had fun today.

Speaker 2: 59:20

I've had so much fun. This has been one of my favorite podcasts this year, I think.

Speaker 1: 59:26

Oh, thank you. It's definitely been my favorite too. Any of my previous guests that are listening, I'm sorry. Just up again next time we get on a call together, joe, thank you. Thank you all so much for joining Joe and I on this episode and don't forget we are on Instagram. I still don't see the point. Joe's going to tell me why at some point, and you know I love feedback, so email me at tainerooontalkpodcastcom. Remember to subscribe, rate and review. You can click the share button in your player to send this episode on to people you know who might get some help or be inspired by Joe and what she and I discussed today. And if you're enjoying Tainerooontalk and want to support the show, you can simply hit the support show link in the show notes. Have a great week. I'll be back with a new video.