Committing to My Niche & My Brand Transformation with Brittany Barnhart

Brittany Barnhart 07012020 ep 351

diane: [00:00:00] Hey, everybody. Welcome to another episode of design recharge. I’m working on 14 hours of sleep. You think, Oh 14 hours of sleep. That’s great. You went to bed like at five, eight, no. In three days, 14 hours of sleep. That’s not a great, for me, I’m a person who needs like eight to nine hours, but. I am super excited.

[00:00:17] I’m working on camp stuff and Brittany has been having some freaking wins and I can’t wait to share this. So I’ve known Brittany for maybe six years probably. And I’ve seen her go from newly graduated, I think, right to now like powerhouse. Focused and she didn’t just focus. I know you can’t even talk.

[00:00:38]She didn’t focus on just one industry. She also is focused on what she’s doing in that industry. So it’s like a double niche, so I’m real excited. Hey Fabio. he’s in Miami. Okay. Here we go. Brittany Barnhart, everybody. We met years ago. I want you to give us a little bit of your background and kind of paint the picture of where you were before you were niching.

[00:00:58] Brittany Barnhart: [00:00:58] yeah, so I’m Brittany Barnhart.  I previously ran  Just Curious Co, which was  a design studio that I started back in 2015.  and so I think I met Diane probably at my first Creative South, which is the day after I quit my full time job.  and so quit my full time job and started my own business.

[00:01:16] Had no idea what I was doing.  and through all the ups and downs, making ends meet year to year and, getting good clients and figuring stuff out. 2019 became the year of I need to figure out what I’m doing, or I cannot keep doing it, this thing because I’m exhausted.

[00:01:33] and so 2019 was a giant year of just like self discovery of figuring out what do I really want to do with my career, because this is not sustainable.  who do I really want to work with? Who am I as a person?  and mid 2019 is when I finally identified the niche that I wanted to do and the core services that I want to want it to offer.

[00:01:51] and since then it’s been smoother sailing, so yeah.

[00:01:54]diane: [00:01:54] I’m  sure this is not a quick Oh, I decided, and then bam,  there’s a lot of times, so I broke it down or at least I think of course really you had some self discovery. You also sought help. Melinda Livsey who’s here who poop and all those people from Melinda’s group inner circle, which I’m a part of, so there was a self. Introspection, I guess Craig’s going to get a shout out. Cause I think he was part of it, but that was because you were part of a group that was really focused on growing your business. That was Melinda Livsey’s inner circle.  then you ended up hiring a marketing person too. So it wasn’t just one person, one day, one call with Craig and you guys will have everything figured out. but it was this process, I guess I want people to know that it’s scary, but you are so full of courage.

[00:02:37] You always have been ballsy from the get go, right? I think ballsy is not a bad word. Okay. So you’re going to teach us something. Can you jump into it?

[00:02:47]Brittany Barnhart: [00:02:47] Yeah, absolutely. So I prepared a small little presentation on what it means to me.

[00:02:52] And it’s based on research that I’ve done experiences that I’ve had with my clients and my own experiences. so let me share my screen.

[00:02:59]And just to make sure everybody knows if you want us to read your stuff in the chat just right. Make sure it says in that blue thing, all panelists and attendees, otherwise just me and Brittany can read it.

[00:03:09]Okay.

[00:03:09] so I want to just cover quickly. You mentioned down your business. Cause I feel like this is something that a lot of people want to do and they beat around the Bush for a while. And then he never really quite decided because it was really terrifying. And so I want to just break it down to help you understand how easy it actually is.

[00:03:24] for the longest time in my entire career from quitting my full time job, I even in my full time job to putting, to starting just curious, I was always of the belief. I just need to be better at my craft. I just need to learn this skill and I’ll get more work. Or maybe if I learn how to,  do this, I’ll be better.

[00:03:42] I just need to practice an illustrator. Day in and day out, like all of these huge designers do every single day. And so I just believe this thing so deeply that if I just got better at being a designer, everything would make sense. Everything would be cured, but it wasn’t, it’s a lie. so without for, To back up a little.

[00:04:01] So it took me about three and a half close to four years to actually find my niche. And this was a lot of like me avoiding trying to identify one because it felt too hard and too uncomfortable to do that work.  and then it got to a point where I was like, I have to decide something. And so the things that.

[00:04:17] wild up for me went before I decided to finally find or identify mine was I was taking on any and every project, there was no, there’s no, common theme between any of my clients and which was frustrating because that became much more harder to find clients that I wanted to work with. And so we all heard that, we have to.

[00:04:37] constantly be putting ourselves out there to get more work, but where am I supposed to be hanging out if I’m working with anybody and everybody like it’s exhausting.  I was always, I’m sure of the value I provided just because I was doing so many different things. I’d be doing like a poster design for this person, a teacher design, and then I a logo here and it was just all over the map.

[00:04:54] And I was like, I know that I’m providing it your experience, but I don’t know the value and like the impact that I’m making. I didn’t know how to show up. And so for the longest time, without a niche, I didn’t know. I didn’t understand. I stood for, and so I was like, if I don’t know what I stand for, how can I show up?

[00:05:10] Why am I even here excited in my business?  and it just wears on you after a while.  and I felt like I was doing the most with no return. you put your energy and efforts into a whole lot of stuff, and it’s a whole lot that doesn’t actually end up working out for you.  and so this is different for everybody, but this was by own experience with what led up to me, knowing that I had to find a new fish.

[00:05:30]it can be a quick process. Some people are very like intentional with it, but from my experience and like talking to a lot of people about it and designers, yeah. It can take a long time, but key that I want you guys to know is that you have to be intentional with it. this isn’t something that like, if you want to find your niche, you can’t just think about it here.

[00:05:48] I think about it. They’re like it has to be. A very intentional process and it’s a lot of self discovery, which makes it that much more uncomfortable to actually take action on. And another thing is niching doesn’t have to be forever and never has to be forever.

[00:06:02]diane: [00:06:02] I think that’s one of the scariest parts for most people is that they think it really is.

[00:06:07]Oh, I don’t want to, I have to pick something and do it forever.

[00:06:10]Brittany Barnhart: [00:06:10] niching doesn’t have to be forever it, test it out.  my approach was, I realized that I wanted to work with health and wellness space. I was like, that is a niche, but it’s not actually like niche enough.

[00:06:22] It’s not as niche as I would like to be. So how about I start there? See if I like it, get some clients, see if it makes sense to me. If I connect with those people, I had already knew that I liked that industry as a whole. And so it made sense to transition into it. 

[00:06:35] diane: [00:06:35] what did you like about it?  did you know. That was the industry for you.

[00:06:39]Brittany Barnhart: [00:06:39] I like it, the industry because I have a very personal tie to it and the sense of like I have had, not great, but also really great experiences with health and wellness. And so I’ve had this,  from being a teenager to now, I’ve had it.

[00:06:53]A decade and a half of experience in the health and wellness space and seeing, the really positive sides and the really negative sides and the really positive sides really resonated with me. It’s impacted my life so much that I realized that like I’ve, and also because it’s impacted my life so much, those are the things that I’m reading about.

[00:07:08] Those are the spaces that I’m seeking out online. And so it just made sense to transition into it because I’m already in those phases.

[00:07:14]diane: [00:07:14] I just wanted to tell you, Amy Lyon, it’s just giving you a little love.  Brittany your brand transformation over the past year or so has been impressive and amazing and she’s so proud of you.

[00:07:24]Brittany Barnhart: [00:07:24] again, doesn’t have to be forever. It’s just test it out.  no, I’m going to focus on these people and let’s just start there, wait a quarter or six months, whatever timeline you want and see, did it work?

[00:07:34] Did it not work? Do you do you enjoy it? What types of clients did you enjoy more? And just gather all this data so that you can pivot if necessary, keep going down that path or like hone in even further.  and the beautiful thing about niching, which is what we all want. It’s this beautiful moment that we’re like, Oh, maybe I’ll get there, but we never actually do the work to get there.

[00:07:53]is when you finally find it, you know exactly who you’re targeting, why it’s important to you. your vision can become clear. You. Yeah, I think it’s easier to know what you stand for and like connect with that in a very deep level.  exactly where to show up online. It’s really easy because you know who you’re working with online and where they’re going to seek out their content and their education.

[00:08:12] And it makes it that much more easier to become the expert,  which is what we all want. But we. It’s easier when you know exactly who you’re targeting. and also it’s easier to show up every day, you know exactly what your ideal clients are searching for what you need to talk about, what they’re struggling with, why they need you, why they don’t need you, and your offers become more catered.

[00:08:31] And so instead of just offering. Design, it became like, Oh, I’m offering brand strategy and design for this type of person, because I know that you need this because X, Y, Z.  and so offers become a clear, and it’s just, it’s a beautiful thing to be able to find something that you’re passionate about now in your niche, because you just, all this clarity happens.

[00:08:52] and then just two ways, that, I wanted to go over. If you guys are struggling to find your niche is, to identify what you’re passionate about. And so I love just doing an exercise of just doing a brain dump in the morning and grabbing coffee, tea, whatever your favorite, drink of the morning is.

[00:09:08]And just doing, writing a list of everything that you enjoy doing. it doesn’t matter. Don’t censor yourself, just literally write it down and then either connect the dots. Maybe there’s similar industries that you’re interested in. Maybe that means that there are ones that call to you more and seek those out and see if it makes sense to mission to that.

[00:09:24] and then another way that I love to like preach to my clients is identity who you’re working with now and who you’ve worked with in the past and see, are there any commonalities, do they come from similar background? Do they have a similar career location? Like mindset? what. What are the common themes between the people that I really enjoyed working with and the people I really did not like working with.

[00:09:43] I know not to target them in the future. and if you guys are curious, I have a niching category on my website.  if you want to check out my blog, basically talking about how to find your niche, what it means for your business, and then some strategies that you guys can use to find yours. 

[00:09:57]diane: [00:09:57] at powerhousebrandstudio.com.  you really went through the transformation from just curious  to powerhousebrandstudio.com.

[00:10:06] that was also a whole nother thing that really scares a lot of people is, Oh, no. Now I’m going to have to change my name.  That’s a whole nother. you had a name you’d been building it. How did you feel when you, somebody suggested maybe, Hey, have you thought about rebranding?

[00:10:22]Brittany Barnhart: [00:10:22] I was very excited, because the thing is what was that like for a long time, I was struggling to show up in my brand and I felt like I had started just curious out of sense of like desperation.

[00:10:32] It was this thing that I was like, I had no idea what I was doing. It was even reflected in the name, like just curious, just like the shy. Girl, who’s trying to figure out the world is what it felt like to me. And it’s just like when the, I worked with Ashley, who was my marketing mentor,  and she suggested it and I was like, yes, absolutely.

[00:10:48] This makes sense. Because the person who I was when I first started running a business is not who I am today. And it’s not who I want to be in the future. And I wanted something to. Reflect who I was. And so changing my name was very much like our personal and also like professional transformation.

[00:11:03] Cause I feel much more human alignment with things.  and so it was scary to do, and I was like, Oh, this is going to be weird. But yeah. The purpose of like your business name in my mind is to make sure that you align in the industry and you give away, this is what I do, or this is the feeling that I can provide for you.

[00:11:18]And so just curious, didn’t really, like anything that, really spoke to who the clients I were was where I am working with or who I want to be.

[00:11:26] diane: [00:11:26] Okay. So when you painting the picture for us from the beginning, you and you were investigating, you were feeling like, Oh my gosh, I’m just having to take whatever.

[00:11:37]And then when did you did, how, what, where did you find Melinda? it don’t say on the internet, but what, where was that in your journey? And then. When did you have the conversation with Craig? And I just want you to take us through that just so we can paint that picture.

[00:11:49]Brittany Barnhart: [00:11:49] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:11:50]I think it was early, it was quarter two 2019. so I knew Melinda from YouTube from the future, like I’m sure much of us know her. And I was like, I want to be like her, like just watched all the videos. I was like, she’s amazing. I got to know what she’s learning and what she’s doing.

[00:12:08]And so there’s one day when I received an email for, to apply for the inner circle and I was like, Probably not going to get accepted, but I’m going to apply anyways. So it was just like, it was, I think it was, I feel like it was very late that day. I was like, I’m just going to apply, like just cry my way through this.

[00:12:22] and I sent in an application and she responded, and so I’ve been in it for a little over a year. and I joined because you’re talking about lead generation. And so I was at the point where I was like, something’s not working. I need help.  and and the intent being in it for as long as I was, but it became the source of community and support and like friendship that I was seeking out because it’s hard to work for yourself.

[00:12:43]And it was middle of the summer, last year when Craig and I had like first conversation, I like knew him from the inner circle in our, all our weekly calls. He cracks me up. and we had just a one on one call just to chat, meet each other for the first time. And it was so funny because we were talking, yeah, I think he was asking me like, what do you enjoy outside of design or something?

[00:13:02]And I was like, Oh, I love working out. I love lifting weights and I, eating healthy, blah, blah, blah, just going off on a rant. And he was like, It really sounds like you should probably work with people in health and wellness. And I feel like the top of my head just completely blew off in that moment.

[00:13:17] Cause I was like, I’ve been trying to find a niche for four years. And you mean to tell me the first time that I met this person, he is the answer to my problem. So it was just, it’s the thought of anybody can be your teacher, you just have to be willing to listen to it.  and so it was at that moment where I was like, Oh, like that.

[00:13:33]Yeah, that makes sense. And I just remembered this fire ignited in me within that moment. I was like, I could see the trajectory moving on from there. and so that was middle of last summer, Okay.

[00:13:44]diane: [00:13:44] So was it at all hard? Okay, so it wasn’t hard to change your name, but was it at all hard to focus?

[00:13:51] I think sometimes maybe it’s just that first step of, in your mind of saying, okay, I’m going to niche. it’s scary to think about it, but what you were doing yours, It wasn’t working or it was too general. So nobody was typing in and would find you right. That you was just,  it makes sense, but it’s still super scary, right?

[00:14:08] Yeah. So what was the hardest part about making this commitment to focus down? And did you resist it at all in the beginning? Craig told you when you were like you’re right, buddy. I’m going at it full speed ahead. 

[00:14:19] Brittany Barnhart: [00:14:19] it was that way because

[00:14:20]I was like, okay. So it’s just you get to this point where you keep doing the same stuff over and over again.

[00:14:26] And you’re like, I’m going to continue to be on the same trajectory if I don’t change anything. So what do I have to lose? and so there was a giant part of me that I was like, It, everything became clear. Cause I was like, I’m in those spaces, I’m following these people online. I’ve established relationships with like health coaches and nutritionists.

[00:14:43] Like I know these people, like I know their language, I’ve done research. I do it for fun to learn more about my body. Like I. No the language and how they approach things. And so there wasn’t any resistance, cause I was just like, I’ve been resisting, changing for so long that I was like, I have to just do this and try it out to see if it works.

[00:15:02]diane: [00:15:02] Okay. I got to ask that question. exactly what you just said. I knew where they were. I knew what they were talking about. Okay.  what if, somebody in here wants to do.  Jose from Seville Spain’s having to re shift cause everything has, he was doing everything, sports and entertainment.

[00:15:17]it’s shut down right now. So if Jose, I haven’t talked to Jose about this, so I’m just making this up, Jose.  But say he wants to do, food packaging or, take out.  So how does he find those. People and where they are and what their problems are.

[00:15:31]you were doing this because it was important to you. You wanted to work out more or have a better body or eat better or whatever.  this was personal. where would you go? just act like you are a person that’s looking for, you’re a company and you need food packaging or you need, do you know what I mean?

[00:15:46]Brittany Barnhart: [00:15:46] Yeah. So for me, I did a couple of different ways, so I was started,  I was like, who, what are the, types of certifications that people need to be in this type of career? So there’s like a holistic health coach. There’s a registered dietician. There’s an empowerment coach. what are the lists?

[00:16:02]Of job titles that are of people that I think, yeah, I want to work with and I would look up conferences and look at their stuff. Students, like there are a lot of times people hashtag what college they’re going to, or there’s a hashtag called, R D to be like people who are in the programs.

[00:16:18] And I was like, cool, going to target you, going to target you. And so a lot of it was just like listing out the job titles that I knew I wanted to work with. And then working from there was like, okay, where are they? Where are they going to get their certifications? Where are they hanging out online?

[00:16:29] To obtain that information.  and then just working backwards from there.

[00:16:33]diane: [00:16:33] Okay. I love that because that gives us a step that we could take for our own.  interest. And again, if you end up not being interested in it, you don’t have to, you can change. And somebody I was talking to, I can’t remember who, but they reevaluate every year and they  Oh, it was Bonnie Tsang, she was like, Oh, I just figured out what I’m going to do every year.

[00:16:52]She doesn’t worry about that. It’s outside of our niche or anything. Do you know what I mean? Like she’s She just creates something new all the time. I think we’re really a lot of us get really well. I’ve said I was this, it doesn’t mean that your clients that you currently have, aren’t going to be your clients.

[00:17:07] It wasn’t like, Hey, I’m dropping you. But you get to a point where maybe you’ll you are going to, I call that the overlap method. I’m sure somebody has a better title for it, it’s like you’re doing, you’re going to keep these old clients until you can release them and focus because you have enough on the other side.

[00:17:23] we know Craig helped you find your niche, but you were interested in it. So it’s maybe like you said, writing down, sitting on that out of P piece of paper, and maybe you do it as a yearly process like Bonnie does, or,  it doesn’t have to be, I think you have to have some sort of check-ins to see if this stuff is still working.

[00:17:40] I think Ben talks about this at camp, just so you know, you’re going to get some good stuff, people. Okay. And she’s here too. So I’m just giving her a little shout out. Okay. okay. So then how did you decide on branding and strategy?

[00:17:53] Brittany Barnhart: [00:17:53] this time, I always gravitated towards doing logos because it was just, it was a fun thing.

[00:17:58] This is my instructors called it the bread and butter of design. They’re like, if you want to make money, go to do branding. And I was like, interesting. I’ll try that out.  and so I had done logos and have been so frustrated for the longest time that I would craft these logos that I felt so confident in.

[00:18:14]And then you check in three, six months later and they just butchered everything. And I was like, you gotta be effing. Kidding me, man. I’m like, how did you take this and ruin it so bad.  and so I just became so frustrated with it. And I was like, there has to be something different. There has to be different process.

[00:18:29]There’s something that I’m not doing so that they’re not understanding. Why this is important and why did the things I did? So there’s a lack in my process and in my communication skills that I need to figure out what I need to do to make the biggest effort or, whatever it is. But, so my introduction to brand strategy was watching Melinda in the future, and watching those videos, I was like,

[00:18:50]Whoa,

[00:18:51]that’s the missing piece.

[00:18:53]and so just diving into it and then learning. Yeah.

[00:18:56]diane: [00:18:56] you’re still, it’s not like you make this decision and then you just don’t go to the library ever again. You’re still searching. You still have to be within that space and continually be learning and then you find, Oh yeah, that’s the piece.

[00:19:09] That’s that itch. all right, so I’m going to just going to read what Paul st. Jose said so much value in a couple of minutes here. It says, go eat dinner. So he’s probably going to leave in a minute, but,  it’s okay, buddy. We love you. so Paul said Paul from MIT. Minnesota, not Michigan.  my life, moment is realizing that the niche isn’t artificial, but it’s acknowledging my authentic interest.

[00:19:27] I’m naturally drawn to people who you guys gotta stop typing. I can’t read and it’s a movement, right? I’m naturally, I’m kidding. I’m naturally drawn to. To the people in my niche market naturally curious about them and what they do revelation. I think that it goes back to that name of being curious right.

[00:19:44]For you. But now it was like a focus and I think curiosity is one of our best.  attributes as designers, as strategists, as branding people. Cause then we can ask those questions. But the other thing I love that you just said, and you mentioned it in your talk, you said they were changing the stuff like making it comic Sans.

[00:20:01] Oh, hopefully not, they weren’t valuing what you did. So it was a communication issue, but it was also that maybe you weren’t charging enough. So then they didn’t value the. Ability. The other thing you talked about in your talk was when you, when your offers are more catered, you’re able to, again, charge more because you know that industry and that,  those people and what their pain points are.

[00:20:24] So you can charge more in, you’re seen as an expert because you’re in the space, but you’re talking about the branding and the strategy. I just, okay. I love that. Okay. All right, was one of these niches easier to choose. So you see Melinda on the future about branding. You talk to Craig about.

[00:20:40]Whatever every Craig solved your problem.  you were just talking about your life, But then, so was one of these, I think for you, Brittany, you’re just a really free spirit. So I think some people are like, I do not relate to that. It would be incredibly difficult. It would take me five years to make that.

[00:20:54]But I think something we need to do is just embrace Brittany’s ability to say, Hey, if I don’t like this 10 days or 10 years, or in 10 weeks, I can move. I can change. We can still shift. And I think that’s one of the things that is your super power Brittany, is that you’re going to go full force at it, but you’re willing to continually be learning and change if it doesn’t work for you or if it’s not working.

[00:21:15]Brittany Barnhart: [00:21:15] Yeah, absolutely. It’s just I think, I think it was the reason why I go headfirst and everything. It’s just let’s just try it out. Let’s just do it because you never know is that I’ve set myself up to track things. And so like I went before I dive in, it’s not just I’m just like throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks is very intentional.

[00:21:31] I’m just like, what am I going to track? What do I want to get out? What is my monetary goal? How many people, what do I want to connect with? Or what do I want to sell? they’re like website metrics, like there’s so and then Instagram metrics, which could go on and on. But there’s a lot of things that like, I make sure that I check in with myself of what would make a successful transition or what would make this as successful niche for me.

[00:21:53] And then I set out those goals and then I just, and that makes it easier to take action. Yeah. And so it was not just like I’m diving into it head, first thing, what’s work. What’s working. It’s, I’m setting what I want to happen going after it. And it’s being very focused on showing up every day,

[00:22:07]but you don’t waiver.

[00:22:08]diane: [00:22:08] I think some people are like, I don’t know if that worked yesterday, I’m going to switch back to what I was doing. And I think it’s about your commitment to this niche. And you’re saying I’m going to dive in. You are already in there. I think that’s part of that overlap method to see where your curiosity is really taking, ground or taking roots,

[00:22:25] have you always been a tracker? 

[00:22:26] Brittany Barnhart: [00:22:26] that’s been more so recently.  I think once I finally identified that I wanted to work in health Alana’s I was like, cool.

[00:22:33] There’s all these things that all of these entrepreneurs are telling me to do for my business, but didn’t make any sense whatsoever. So I’m going to start doing it now and see if it works. And so I was just there’s so many entrepreneurs online in business coaches, and they’re just like, if you want a successful business, you have to do X, Y, and Z.

[00:22:48] and we can all take that advice, but it doesn’t really make sense if we don’t have a focus, if we’re not passionate about what we’re doing. And so once I finally pieced all these things together, I was like, Oh, I can start tracking and see what’s working and see, what’s really resonating with my audience and what they want to hear more of.

[00:23:03]diane: [00:23:03] how often are you tracking? Is this a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly?

[00:23:07]Brittany Barnhart: [00:23:07] So I track my Instagram weekly.  every Monday morning I opened up my Instagram and look at all my insights for particular things.

[00:23:13]diane: [00:23:13] Like what particular things are you looking at? 

[00:23:15]Brittany Barnhart: [00:23:15] I’m tracking, the amount of people who have, looked at my profile. How many website clicks that I’ve gotten, how many cold DNS that I’ve gotten, how many dams in general that I’ve gotten? How many post shares. Post saves. and then just like looking at, and making sure that like I’m constantly growing and connecting with the right audience.

[00:23:32]diane: [00:23:32] So that’s a super good though, right? Like your post saves. I didn’t even think about that. I barely ever look at those things. but then, what too you’re posting about and then to make more posts about, so let me ask you this. How often are you posting?

[00:23:45]Brittany Barnhart: [00:23:45] so this is another thing is with, tracking my  newsletter content and my blog content and my. Email marketing newsletter content. Wow. I am able to plan out my entire month. And so I have set days, I publish blogs, newsletters, and then I figure out my Instagram stories and posts around that.

[00:24:03] And maybe I post like an actual Instagram post three times a week, but I’m like on my Instagram stories daily talking about specific topic that has to do with the content that I just published.

[00:24:12]diane: [00:24:12] So then in the beginning, when you decided where you. were you posting more often?

[00:24:18]Brittany Barnhart: [00:24:18] I was, I think I was just like, Oh, I got it.

[00:24:21] When we present all the time, I have to post and provide value and do all this and do that. And it just, it becomes exhausting. You just have to figure out what works. And so like now I’m just like, if I put an effort and have two or three solids post a week, but I’m showing up on stories, I’m sharing people’s content.

[00:24:34] I’m like interacting with her that I know people I want to work with are hanging out in. That’s great. like obviously it’s important to provide value, but also like Instagram as a social platform. So if you’re not, if you’re posting and not interacting with anybody,  why are you even doing it?

[00:24:47]diane: [00:24:47] Yeah. It’s your marketing tool. It is time that you need to spend having a relationship with the people that you’re trying. It’s dating.  you’re trying to woo these people and see if it’s a good fit in a way for you and a good fit for them. All right. So Chelsea I want to make sure we know she’s in Lexington, Kentucky people,

[00:25:05]and then Lenny has a question.  it says I have more background on knowing you, like I do. Him. He knows you.  can you talk about moving ahead with the powerhouse without a new finalized logo?

[00:25:15]Brittany Barnhart: [00:25:15] Yeah. So I’m moving forward with powerhouse. Brand design was a quick transitioning because I worked with a marketing mentor. I was like, I need help, like leveling up my business. I need some clarity to hire her. I hired her when the pandemic hit. so like March or April or so, I can’t quite remember, but it was like quarter beginning of quarter two.

[00:25:35]diane: [00:25:35] you sound so businesslike quarter two. It’s like I got to up my game.

[00:25:39] Brittany Barnhart: [00:25:39] so working with her, she was like, Hey, I think you should change your name. I was like, absolutely. I should.  and so what I realized in this process was that like, A logo is important. I think that like I will eventually have a logo, but I decided to move forward without one, because I had my brand established.

[00:25:56] I know exactly what I offer, who I’m targeting, how I make my clients feel, why like the value I provide, why I matter. What I’m working towards in the future.  and while the small little logo is important, the overall brand as much more important. And so I felt confident in what I have to offer to people and my processes and my client testimonials.

[00:26:16]and it’s just the brand felt so secure that I was like, do I want a logo right now? I’m sure, but it’s gonna take me forever because I don’t want to design for myself. And at the end of the day, It matters, but it doesn’t matter to me right now. I would rather focus on developing relationships and leveling up my business and then investing in another designer to do my logo in the future.

[00:26:34]that’s how I’ve viewed that whole thing.

[00:26:36]diane: [00:26:36] Okay. So last quarter four, was it last year that you start, you made the change and you started posting.

[00:26:42] Brittany Barnhart: [00:26:42] yeah, so I started with targeting people in quarter three of last year to work with quarter three. And so I started getting, cause I wanted, I didn’t officially switch anything over until beginning of this year because I didn’t have any client work for that to reflect that I was working, but like specializing in health and wellness.

[00:26:58] and so I spent the last half of 2019 getting those clients so that I could have case studies and showcase like, Hey, I do work with these people. Oh, for sure.

[00:27:07]diane: [00:27:07] So Jacob had a question and I’m going to go back to it. He probably put it in the Q and a too, but he said, how do you, this going back to the tracking, how do you stay up with your analytics without going overboard and suffering from analysis paralysis?

[00:27:19]Brittany Barnhart: [00:27:19] for me, it’s just, I’ve set out exactly what I want to track. And so I don’t try to dive too deep into it. And so I know specific categories that I want to see growth in, and those are the things that I track. cause I feel like, even in Google analytics like that, Would cause me analysis paralysis.

[00:27:35] Every time I looked at it, if I didn’t have a specific thing I was looking for. So it’s just goes back to being intentional, what do you want to track? What do you want to increase?  why does that matter to you and then showing up and tracking those things? and so I just decided there are certain categories that I wanted to track.

[00:27:50]Built out my spreadsheets and then track it weekly.

[00:27:52] diane: [00:27:52] All right. So then this is a pretty fast, progression then because you had somebody, I can’t remember when it was, I think it was last year. When that person about the conference. Can you tell them about that?

[00:28:03]Brittany Barnhart: [00:28:03] Yeah. beginning of the year, so going back to like, when, you know your niche, you kinda know, who your ideal client is, and where they’re hanging out.

[00:28:11] And so part of my like discovery process and reaching out to people was finding like, where are these people coming from? What conferences are they going to? And what conferences should I be going to meet those people? And so I was like, yeah, design conferences are great. But at the end of the day, It’s not people I’m trying to target.

[00:28:26] I went to a nutrition conference back in February, for, the nutritional therapy association. Cause I was like, I think I want to work with people like that. So I should probably be in that space show up and just talk to people. And it was like the second week of February, that, like I got an email from that association.

[00:28:43] They’re like, Hey, we saw that you were attending. We love your work. Would you love to be a guest presenter basically at our business round table, on Sunday, which was like, While to get, I was like, how did you find me? And he was like, Oh, you had a cool email, which is silly, but he was going through the tenant’s list.

[00:28:58] And I left like my email stuck out to him.  and yeah,

[00:29:01] he reached out. And there was like a, business round table on Sunday, which was like the first time they’ve ever done that. And they wanted somebody to talk about branding.

[00:29:08] And so I got to speak to about 60 people in a matter of an hour and a half about branding. And  it was like a 20 minute shifts. So people would sit for 20 minutes, ask me questions and then shift around. And then,  that happened about three times.

[00:29:20]diane: [00:29:20] Okay.  Before you even went to the conference.

[00:29:22] Okay. So he emailed you, right?

[00:29:24]But  this was the first you’d had. People commenting or deeming you’re starting conversations, you’re starting relationships, but this was the first, in a very short amount of time, but because you were present in the industry and because you were focused and you were spending time building those relationships, I think is what I’m hearing is that you were.

[00:29:43]You were seen and then this was a tear inducing time, right?

[00:29:47]Brittany Barnhart: [00:29:47] Yeah. I flipped out. I thought it was a joke when I got that email. Cause I was like, obviously I just, I saw the email and I was like, I have to do research. is this person actually real, Looking on their website, who is this person?

[00:29:59]because I don’t want to get my hopes up. I feel this is a joke.  and cause there’s a lot of spam these days. found out it was real. And I just started crying because it was just, it was the validation that I was like, I’m on the right trajectory. And the, one of my goals, honestly, longterm is to work with associations, like the, those to, be the branding business portion of their courses.

[00:30:19]And so I was like, I literally have this opportunity, right? When I finally, I found my niche, I was switched things over my, my hopes for the industry are being validated in this moment. I had the opportunity to develop a relationship with these people that longterm could turn into, like me being a part of that course.

[00:30:35] and changing the way that people approach branding in health and wellness.  

[00:30:38]

[00:30:38]diane: [00:30:39] But it’s even those things that we aren’t sure are real. It’s wow. Okay. But the one other thing I want to make sure you tell about is that when you’ve gone to conferences, you’ve gone to professional design conferences and there is a difference. And I think it’s great that you’re seeking out.

[00:30:54]The conferences or those organizations, because usually, maybe they do need a little bit of branding help, like the whole thing, like organization help. And my goodness. Are you organized? So your experience in that workshop, I think it’s, it was a good cause this was a small, it’s that you said it was like,  what was the type of people?

[00:31:13] It was like specific kinds

[00:31:14] Brittany Barnhart: [00:31:14] yeah, it was, nutritional therapists.

[00:31:16]diane: [00:31:16] Okay. So nutritional therapist, it wasn’t like, I don’t know some other,  not that nutritional therapists, aren’t big people, but so you go and you probably hadn’t expected. You’ve been to workshops at creative South and other design conferences.

[00:31:27] You thought it would probably go something like that, but it’s good to know because now you have a frame of reference and you can also tell people, Oh, this is how it’s going to go in now. And because we’re always learning, we think it’s going to be this way, right?  But can you tell them about what you learned and then it was an epiphany because you didn’t think it would go a certain way? You know what I mean?

[00:31:45]Brittany Barnhart: [00:31:45] Yeah. So the experience itself was very insightful. I got a lot of like really great questions. And what helped was that like, I.

[00:31:53]Was basically all of their questions was becoming content. I was like, these are what they’re searching for online. These are what they’re struggling with right now. These are the overhead problems that they’re probably typing into Google. And so now I can create all this content to answer those problems.

[00:32:08]and did you want me to talk about the woman and the fivvr logo?

[00:32:12]diane: [00:32:12] the whole thing of it was 20 minutes and then you have your presentation and then 20, or it was a 20 minute round table

[00:32:18]Brittany Barnhart: [00:32:18] so panel was going great. It had a lot of really great questions and I was like, Oh, this is amazing. Like really bad. I can help you. People hand it out ton of business cards. And this moment comes over on the second round  and, she, this person asked me, what do you think about logos? should I get one right now?

[00:32:34] And as I go to answer to provide my professional yeah. Offend you. And this woman who apparently actually works on the courses jumped in, was like, I got my logo from fivvr for $50. And it’s not great, but it’s okay. And He gave me all of these variations for like $50. Here’s all of his information and guys.

[00:32:54]She gave everybody at that table, this person’s information and talked for 10 of the 20 minutes. I was so mad. I was like, whatever, but what’s fun is now I have a bunch of content coming out, shitting on fivvr so I’m pretty excited about that,

[00:33:07]diane: [00:33:07] that, but it’s about,  it’s also teaches you about, I’m controlling the situation. I’m really bad at that. If I wasn’t expecting somebody, it’d be like, Hey, I, what I,  yeah. And it, I don’t know. It’s hard. It’s like something you need to practice. I would think this would be like a good, like a role play kind of thing.

[00:33:23]some lady starts talking over you. Anyway, I just think, yeah. Clueless lady. It’s okay. Those people are not

[00:33:29] Brittany Barnhart: [00:33:29] are.

[00:33:30]diane: [00:33:30] The people we want to work with. If you want to go to fivvr, go at it. Cause it’s not going to be $5. Okay. So when you started, you were looking weekly at your you’re tracking it and then the content, what kind of content did you start posting?

[00:33:44] And then how did that shift? Obviously it shifted because you were tracking. But what kind of things were you trying.

[00:33:48] Brittany Barnhart: [00:33:48] so at the beginning of 2020, I decided to work with the copywriter because I was like, I know who I want to target. So let me invest in myself and my business and work with somebody so that I can publish regular content be the expert, provide all these resources, and then have metrics to track to see what people are the most interested in.

[00:34:05]And so I started out, The prompt that she gave me, it was just like, if somebody were to follow you for 90 days, what do they have to do? Or what do they have to narrow about your process?  and so I did that for the first month or so, and I think as I continued, I realized that there were some topics or questions that I was getting on Instagram that people wanted more insight into.

[00:34:26] So I was like, cool, let me shift and do this content. But I approach, my months with like overhead topics. Cause I like to have this common theme or story to follow. I don’t like the piecemeal type of content. It really bothers me.  cause my brain doesn’t work that way. and so I just developed rough concepts and break it down from there, every month.

[00:34:44] And then now that I’m tracking my analytics and like blog posts and see what’s performing well, I can repurpose those or.  dive into those more coming up in the next three months.

[00:34:55]diane: [00:34:55] Okay. Linney and Lily, and some other people are talking about the logo and you don’t need a logo to go forward.

[00:35:01] But the other problem that a lot of us have is that, Oh, I have to design this and I don’t have time to design my logo. I’m going to put other people before me. So can you take them through that process and what that is? Because I think that’s another thing that. When we do brand strategy, it’s hard to do it on ourselves.

[00:35:17] It’s also hard for us to focus and spend money on a logo when that’s what we’re doing, right?

[00:35:23]Brittany Barnhart: [00:35:23] Yeah. Yeah. it’s really hard to invest in ourselves. And I had this experience when I decided to work with a marketing mentor, but like the whole thought process for me is I can fast track my progress or, I can get where I want to go quicker if I literally just pay somebody to do it.

[00:35:40] Yeah. And if I’m preaching to other people that they need to invest thousands of dollars into my own process, then why should they pay me if I’m not doing it in my own business? Like clearly I have trust issues if I’m not paying other people to do things for me, yeah, it was just like, I knew that I had to practice what I preach.

[00:35:56] I wanted to be in the client’s seat to see what other people are, how they operate. and eventually when I decided to hire somebody else to do that. Yeah. A logo. That just makes sense because I know I’m going to take forever to work on it. Yeah.  I’d rather just have somebody who I trust, who I know who’s passionate about it, who has great work and she can just do it for me.

[00:36:15]diane: [00:36:15] because sometimes our time and our money, We would, might maybe invest in something. Money wise and get it quicker from somebody else. Fabio did, the tee shirt for camp. I always love being able to get his awesome stuff. Matt wood did all the illustrations. It would have, I’d still be working on illustrations.

[00:36:33] He did it in a day, So I think that it’s important if we it’s about the going forward in your business.  if you’re holding yourself up because you can’t afford time or money, then. It’s not really important in your business. So what are you going to sacrifice? What are you going to give up?

[00:36:48] And I think a lot of times, for us, it’s a mental thing, right? Oh, maybe it’ll be this. And then you choose a different font and you choose a different it’s now it’s in a badge and now it’s an, you know what I mean? It’s Oh, so then having somebody else, then it’s just responding. Is this true to my brand?

[00:37:01] which side of the fence to live on, tell us about your marketing coach, how you found her, who she is. I know you have a link. I don’t know if you sent me that link. You can get it to me and we’ll make sure. But how did you pick her? 

[00:37:12]Brittany Barnhart: [00:37:12] she, the copywriter that I worked with ended up getting an intensive with her, and I remember she posted about it and I was like, huh, this is interesting.

[00:37:20]and I started following her and Ashley Burnside is her name. She goes by the empire lab. If anybody’s curious. she, I looked her up. we connected on Instagram and she has sent me some voice memos and we started chatting back and forth. So practicing what she preached and was very, like very engaged and connecting with me.

[00:37:36] And I was like, Oh, I feel seen, I feel heard, like she’s excited about what I’m talking about. And this is amazing. and it was actually when I was sitting at the last. Talk at the conference. I went to the nutritional therapy conference this year,  that I was sitting with my laptop because it’s just, you’re in so many different talks and you get so many ideas.

[00:37:54] And I was like, I could do a course on this. I could do blog posts on this. And I was just became so overwhelmed. I literally had this moment where I was just like, no, we’re not doing, I was like, I don’t like to waste my time. I want to make sure that I’m spending it where I need to be doing, I don’t know what’s working right now or what’s not working and that’s problematic because why am I going to keep doing all this stuff?

[00:38:15] If I don’t know it’s working.  and so I filled out a form on her website and I was like, I need help piecing these together. Like I have so many ideas, but Piecing all my offers and ideas and content together is overwhelming. And I can’t do it myself. I’ve tried, it takes too long. I’m a patient. I just want to fast track this.

[00:38:31] and so it was just I knew that if I didn’t work with her, that I wouldn’t be where I am today, or know how to get to where I want to be.

[00:38:40] diane: [00:38:40] So Lily says your own branding. Rebranding can be so difficult. It took her three years to complete her rebranding. Plus client work takes priority.

[00:38:48] So your branding often takes a back seat, but if you are trying to make a shift, then maybe investing in somebody else to do this allows you to move quicker into that place, where you’re making the type of work you want to make and the money you want to make. So it’s a little bit of investing has completely.

[00:39:06] it’s totally been worth it, right?

[00:39:07]Brittany Barnhart: [00:39:07] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:39:08]diane: [00:39:08] Yeah. All right. So we are at the end  okay. How do you recharge and what inspires you?

[00:39:13] Brittany Barnhart: [00:39:13] I recharged, I think by doing a lot of reading, I’ve just been a bookworm this year. So just reading about different topics from whether it be intersectional feminism, to learning more about Detroit history.

[00:39:23] It’s way more about just brand strategy, just learning and growing as a person.  and then what inspires me?

[00:39:30] Ooh, that’s  a very hard question. I always really don’t have an answer for that one. I think just the people around me. I think that there’s the people you surround yourself have early.

[00:39:39] So friend of my circles have, a lot of focus,  and they’re all so passionate about what they’re doing and it just rubs off on you. So I think that, my community inspires me.

[00:39:47]diane: [00:39:47] I love that.  is there a quote or something that you keep close to you to help you get through these tough times?

[00:39:53]Have you found anything new or that you have always kept.

[00:39:56]Brittany Barnhart: [00:39:56] Not really. I’m just, I’ve always been one that like, I’ve always had this feeling and I think other people might feel of things get hard and you might think about quitting, but there’s something in you that just just keep going, just keep.

[00:40:09] Going a little farther, like you’re going to get there. And so it’s always this goddamned, Melanie, it’s always this feeling of, like I just have to keep going, like I have to keep pursuing this. I know that I’m taking action and showing up daily and things will work out. Like I trust in myself that I will make it happen.

[00:40:25]diane: [00:40:25] trust in yourself that, the difference between something you’re really passionate about and then something that you’re not it’s. Yeah. Not that everything you do, everything you knit like crazy and you it’s okay, no, I’m going to let the knitting go. That was just a phase.  she knows where she’s not excited and she lets those other things go. So stay focused, but also. Don’t give up in those places.

[00:40:46] Brittany Barnhart: [00:40:46] And stay intentional. This, I can’t stress enough what it means to be intentional with everything that you do in your business.

[00:40:52]I feel like everything should have some sort of purpose, whether it be like how it connects to you, how you move forward, what it means to your business or whatever it just intentional.

[00:41:00]diane: [00:41:00] Okay. So what’s next. 

[00:41:02] Brittany Barnhart: [00:41:02] so what’s next is I’m launching my first group program this month, which I’m super excited.

[00:41:07] it’s called the brand bootcamp. I’m super stoked to be launching it.  I’m watching AIDS digital product, at the beginning of August, that kind of talks about identifying your ideal client and finding your niche if you guys are interested in it.  so I’m in the process of building that out. and so that would be

[00:41:21]diane: [00:41:21] for who? For designers ?

[00:41:23]Brittany Barnhart: [00:41:23] So it’s hard because I’m catering more of my marketing towards the health and wellness space. And the examples are going to be in the health and wellness space. But I think that, it still applies to people. So if they wanted to sign up and are curious about it, you can sign up, I’ll provide more information.

[00:41:36]but yeah, and then today I found out that I got accepted to be a speaker at a, registered dietician symposium in September. So I’m pretty sorry about that. So that’s what’s next? Yeah.

[00:41:47]diane: [00:41:47] That’s awesome. I didn’t know that. That’s incredible. Alright. so you actually have two kinds of content, then one for that niche of, to do design right.

[00:41:56] And marketing, and then you also are happy to teach people like us, people here about what you’ve learned, Going to a little bit of a deeper dive. So the, Thing is going to be building a fit brand ma masterclass bundle. Thank goodness. She didn’t lose. Use any more. B’s in there, man. You with Brittany’s branding anyway.

[00:42:15]Okay. so that’s for us, you can click it and then I’m gonna, sent this out here. You guys can follow her on Instagram at power house. Brand studio, one studio, no S on the end and then powerhouse brand studio.com. And then also her newsletter. There’s a special link and you guys can click it because if you’re listening or you’re watching on YouTube, it’s going to be underneath it.

[00:42:37] Everything’s there people everything. anyway, Brittany, thank you.

[00:42:40]and I think you’ve done such a great job of,  in a year or a year and a half, it has been like intense

[00:42:47]you’re getting more of the work. You’re more valued you’re seen as the expert, but your presence you’re present in those places. And you’re also, You’re also building relationships with these people.

[00:42:59]Brittany Barnhart: [00:42:59] Yeah. Yeah. Anyway,

[00:43:00]diane: [00:43:00] it was perfect. Brittany, I’m excited. I could see a lot of people from camp in here, and I think this was super, totally on target of what we’re doing at camp.

[00:43:09]And I’m just really excited to be able to see you like explode and.

[00:43:14] I think design recharge is about hope. And if Brittany can do it, you can do it. If, it’s that sort of sounded bad, but I was thinking like, if I can do it, you can, or if somebody, yeah.

[00:43:22] I remember when I first started, I was like, if that guy can do it, I can do it.  but I’m like, I just really think it’s such a good. If we just focus, if we just put in the time to build some relationships, be present, listen to what people are saying. And if you know how to solve that.

[00:43:40]Then, solve it, right? tell people, Hey, this is what it is. Or this is what helped me, or this is what I’ve seen or this, yeah. I just think it’s great. And I’m just really proud of you. I’m proud to be your friend and I’m so excited to be on this journey with you. So keep rocking.

[00:43:56] like power house, brand studio. You guys check it out on Instagram and go to our sign up for a newsletter if they go there. They’re listening. where on your site is the newsletter sign up?

[00:44:07] Brittany Barnhart: [00:44:07] the newsletter or sign up is. There’s a part where either as a freebie, if you want to download my, identifying your ideal client for me, it’s in my like work ways to work with me. And then at the bottom, if there’s another sign up. So if there’s a couple of places to find it

[00:44:21] diane: [00:44:21] perfect. That helps us know where it is.

[00:44:23]And we will see you guys back in August. Brittany, I appreciate you. I’m so proud of you. I can’t wait to see where you go and remember me when you are way big and famous and, you can be like, Oh my little friend, Diane,

[00:44:34]it’s always good to see you.