Client Success Stories
How Corporate Turned Founder Lisa Richer Leveraged
Her Passion Expertise Into a Personal Brand Business
Backstory
Lisa is a former executive HR corporate leader turned executive executive leadership coach with more than 20 years experience in her industry. As an executive coach, Lisa loved the work and enjoyed success but felt a calling for more using her passion expertise.
As a parent to two neurodiverse sons, Lisa is an expert at navigating the complicated educational journeys that challenge neurodiverse learners. After blogging for years and after repeated requests from others, Lisa founded Journey2Bloom, a consultancy to simplify the complicated educational process for parents educators and employers of neurodiverse learners.
Problem
Lisa struggled to put her words and ideas into meaning and motion. While she’s great at bringing simplicity to her clients, she wasn’t able to do it for herself. What was so clear in her mind was hard for her to articulate into a clear brand, niche positioning and compelling brand messaging.
She felt frustrated explaining her work to prospects and anyone that was seeking her services. For this reason, her website lacked the visibility and resources that were so important to prospective clients.
Solution
Lisa was a client of my Personal Brand Plan™ coaching program working on the first two phases to clarify her brand, position her expertise and amplify her reach. Our first goal was diving deep to find Lisa's "golden thread" of her internal, external and professional clarity. By our second session, Lisa felt clear, confident and more at ease with her brand values, vision and message.
Once her clarity and positioning were aligned, we worked on her personal brand statement, wireframed her home page which she brought to her website designer for a modern. We also revamped her LinkedIn profile and presence, service offers and her first stages of her visibility strategy on LinkedIn.
LISA RICHER, FOUNDER, JOURNEY2BLOOM AND
NEURODIVERSITY CONSULTANT
Michelle was instrumental in helping me create a clear and concise message.
I had so much information ~ written and in my mind ~ yet could not find a way to clearly articulate, package and present my message in a simple way that resonated with others. I am forever grateful for her patience and support.
Result
During our work together, we updated Lisa's LinkedIn profile which immediately got her noticed as an expert authority in her niche. Lisa enjoyed clarity and confidence in her elevator pitch and personal brand messaging on client calls, in presentations and on guesting on podcasts. She founded a community for parents and educators where she now shares resources and answers questions to members.
Within 30 days, she started collaborating with industry leaders, invited on two podcasts and within 90 days was hired to present a neurodiversity corporate training session for a Fortune 500 company. Now, six month later, Lisa enjoys a full roster of clients and has partnered with another international expert in her space for a co-branded program. Most importantly, Lisa feels aligned and impactful bringing clarity, confidence and courage to those navigating the neurodiverse learning journey.
How Fortune 50 Executive Jared Amaral Positioned
as a Founder a Data Strategy Consultancy
Backstory
Jared Amaral is a former executive in multiple Fortune 50 companies who transitioned to entrepreneurship in Summer 2020 founding Chief Data Solutions, a data strategy consultancy that helps brands use data to drive value for their customers. As the principal consultant, Jared specializes in first-party data to improve customer acquisition as well as understand and optimize the customer journey.
Problem
Jared had a clear vision of where he needed to be and what he needed to do, but lacked clarity in his niche positioning for his consultancy. His too many ideas got jumbled in his head and found lacked the tools, skills, and methodology to carefully go through the process on his own.
“I had a lot of marketing ideas, energy, and thoughts but it was really kind of jumbled in my head. It was really chaotic.”
Jared found it hard to organize all his ideas into a tangible strategy that could help him reach his ideal clients. This led to potential clients failing to understand what he offers, and as a result, affected his revenue when he was getting started.
Solution
Jared was a client of my Personal Brand Plan™ coaching program working on the first two phases to clarify his brand, position his expertise and amplify his reach. After our initial deep dive, our first goal was to organize his ideas and core areas of expertise. With so many areas to explore and avatars to target, we did a thorough competitor analysis to find the best market and niche positioning. Jared found clarity on his perfect niche, offering, his ideal clients, and messaging to better articulate who he is, what he stands for and how solves customer problems.
We crafted his personal brand statement, wire framed his website home page and reviewed his offers. Working with a web agency, we produced a standout website that reflects his expertise as well as his consultancy's growth. We also revamped his LinkedIn presence, detailed his content "known as" areas and reviewed his offers and customer journey.
JARED AMARAL
FOUNDER, CHIEF DATA SOLUTIONS
Michelle challenged me to be specific about my ideal client avatars and to communicate my offerings in straightforward, compelling ways.
Michelle's guidance was instrumental in helping me organize and focus the marketing chaos in my mind. If you're a corporate professional, consultant or entrepreneur needing help with marketing, personal branding or LinkedIn strategies, Michelle will steer you in the right direction.
Result
Jared now has the right approach and model in his mind to build marketing collateral to speak to prospects and share what he offers to potential customers.“When someone asks me a question, I have a clear idea of the context for that question and the context for my answer.”
Jared finished 2021 really strong revenue and has started 2022 even stronger, feeling well positioned in the market when talking to prospects. “I definitely feel well-positioned in my conversations with prospects. What I have to offer resonates with them.
How Global Executive Shermalyn Sidonie-John Found
Clarity in Her Unique Message on LinkedIn and a TedX Stage
Backstory
Shermalyn Sidonie-John wears two hats as the ultimate "side brander" — global brand and marketing executive by day an internationally-certified personal brand strategist by night coaching women leaders to build their powerhouse brands at Influential Boss Lady.
Problem
Shermalyn was ready to expand her reach and amplify her message on LinkedIn. While she found success coaching clients in her Influential Boss Lady mastermind on Facebook, she recognized the power of LinkedIn to attract a wider audience. However, she was intimidated by the platform and unsure how to communicate her expertise into engaging content.
Even as a brand and marketing executive, she needed an "outside expert" to clarify her brand and position her expertise on LinkedIn so she could feel confident in her message and thought leadership content.
"I needed to align myself with an expert like Michelle who would give me confidence, and who would really understand and make sense of all the ideas in my head."
Solution
Shermalyn was a client in my Personal Brand Plan™ LinkedIn coaching program. Our goal was to turn her confusion into clarity and position her as an expert authority on LinkedIn. First, we started with an assessment and deep dive for her 3Ps —positioning, profile, the foundational brand identity and positioning before could revamp her LinkedIn profile and presence.
After my audit and analysis, I made an important discovery. Shermalyn had coined the term and owned the domain of "careerpreneur" but wasn't "owning" it. This unique word is her mission — based off her own story and the transformation she brings clients — teaching women leaders to take control of their careers and reach their next level of success, on their own terms.
"This is a category of one, I told her. You need to own it." And that she did. During our work together she applied and was accepted to present a Tedx Talk in June 2022.
After nailing her positioning and messaging on LinkedIn, we worked on her content strategy and schedule. With a demanding day job, we worked on a system to "warm up" on LinkedIn, commenting, connecting and finally regular content creation. With clarity and "practice," Shermalyn's posting took off — she resonated and found engagement fast, even with limited time on the platform she found early traction.
SHERMALYN Sidonie-John,
BRAND STRATEGIST & MARKETER
FOUNDER, INFLUENTIAL BOSSLADY
Michelle helped niche and position me for greater authority on LinkedIn.
As somebody who comes from branding and marketing, it's hard to know everything that you need to, but Michelle was able to expertly guide me. Our deep dive sessions taught me so much and I'm just so immensely grateful for her insights and collaboration.
Result
Shermalyn is launching her next mastermind and debuting the Influential Boss Lady LinkedIn Live show. She's enjoying inbound messages, has doubled her connections, and is attracting industry partners now that she’s more visible on LinkedIn. Her Tedx Talk was well-received and she's even getting inquiries from women leaders who want to speak on stages too.
“I needed somebody to show me how to get all my information and the content that I had in my head in a structured format that would engage and resonate with my target audience. I'm just so grateful for that structure that you provided me, it was so important. That clarity, and just the support.”
Watch Shermalyn's Tedx Talk: Ignite the Careerpreneur in Brand You
How Corporate Leader Turned Founder Aaron Fish Built
His Expert Authority Brand on LinkedIn (and Beyond)
Backstory
Aaron Fish is a seasoned corporate executive in the senior food service industry who leaped into entrepreneurship by founding Trestle Hospitality Concepts in early 2022. Despite having a master's degree and no stranger to marketing, he realized it's hard to market yourself. Aaron struggled with being seen as the authority he was in his corporate role and needed expert help establishing himself and his new company on LinkedIn.
Problem
Aaron needed expert guidance to grow his personal brand authority and thought leadership on LinkedIn. He realized fast LinkedIn is the place to build connections, grow relationships, land clients and industry opportunities, yet his profile didn't look the part — it was a glorified resume and did little to show for his industry expertise.
Solution
Aaron was a client in my Personal Brand Plan™ LinkedIn coaching program to power up his 3Ps —Positioning, Profile, and Presence on LinkedIn. As with all my client work, a foundational brand identity and positioning is a must before we revamp your LinkedIn profile.
After my audit and analysis, I got to work honing in on Aaron's positioning to a specific niche to position Aaron as the "go-to." Like so many, it's so hard to see our true expertise and communicate our value, voice and vision online.
One area that held him back: Aaron’s headline was a very cliché, didn't portray him as an expert and was filled with too many buzzwords and phrases that didn't attract his ideal clients. Upon immediately positioning his profile he found the clarity he needed in networking and sales calls.
I did a thorough update on all areas of his profile and trained him on best practices for writing, posting and engaging as a LinkedIn thought leadership, which gave him more confidence to post and grow his following.
To boost and fast-track his credibility, I suggested he launch a niche podcast to gain traction and coveted connections with industry partners. As a busy executive, this meant work, but with my Content Multiplier Method™, I taught him to repurpose his existing content for weekly episodes and pitch targeted industry partners as guests.
“My updated profile immediately helped me start and keep conversations going and landed proposals together through those conversations on LinkedIn.
AARON FISH, ExECUTIVE CONSULTANT
FOUNDER, TRESTLE HOSPITALITY CONCEPTS
Michelle is super easy to work with, very knowledgeable about building a personal brand, and her approach was very much a collaborative one.
As I started my journey into entrepreneurship, I quickly realized that I needed to not only create buzz around my new brand, but that I needed to develop my own personal brand and create more awareness for myself. I quickly realized that LinkedIn was going to be a high value place for this, and that after a few conversations, my profile and overall personal brand were not in sync and need much work.
Enter Michelle. I stumbled across her listening to her give advice and speak on Clubhouse, and quickly realized that she knows her stuff. So I reached out for a brief introduction and the rest is history. She was super easy to work with, very knowledgeable about building a personal brand, and her approach was very much a collaborative one. She took what was basically a nice online resume and helped me create a powerhouse personal brand and strategy to create and execute it. She was gracious with her time and still to this day is supporting me through her #365Challenge group and our connection.
I considered a few other personal branding consultants, but none of them seemed to have what I felt was the most important attribute - authenticity. To this day whenever I talk to Michelle, I don't feel like just a client. And I think that approach is why Michelle is one of the best out there. So if you need help with your brand & content, you are on the right LinkedIn profile. Michelle is amazing at what she does and I continue to recommend her to professionals whenever I can!
Result
Positioning brings clarity and clients — Aaron landed six or seven large proposals after working with me which all came much "faster than he expected." He's attracting steady inbound leads and speaks monthly at top industry conferences, guests on leading podcasts and has partnered with several large state senior living professional associations to amplify his reach, build his thought leadership and grow a steady client base.
Check out Aaron's Tips from Trestle: The Senior Living Food & Hospitality Podcast
How Literacy Consultant Barb Golub Scaled Her
Business With Better Positioning and Brand Messaging
Backstory
Barb Golub is a Connecticut-based literacy consultant who specializes in supporting administrators, literacy coaches and K-5 teachers in evidence-based practices for reading and writing instruction. As an educator with 20 years experience she specialized in personalized literacy staff development to support school leaders, literacy coaches, classroom teachers, and support staff. She's passionate about empowering school administrators and teachers to make the best choices for their readers and writers.
Problem
Barb was struggling to grow her business especially with an outdated website and a “non-existent” LinkedIn profile, where she "knew her potential clients are." She felt lost in articulating who she was, what she stood for and how she should communicate her message to prospective clients.
Barb knew clarity would grow her consultancy and her realize her goal to impact more students while earning more and working less. This came with a need to get clear on her vision, positioning her expertise and ensuring her brand messaging and website reflected her specialization in her industry.
Solution
Barb was a client of my Personal Brand Plan™ coaching program working on the first two phases to clarify her brand, position her expertise and amplify her reach. Our first goal was to find clarity on her vision, mission and values to align her internal perspectives with her goals. Since Barb serves the New England area, she's limited by distance but not by expanding her authority to reach and speak at industry conferences to broaden her thought leadership in her space.
As we worked together on the first 3 phases of the PBP, Barb found true clarity in our deep dive and was excited to translate this into her brand and website messaging. We wire framed her website homepage copy, restructured her offers and sketched out a lead magnet, aka conversation starter, to align her communication and collateral in one cohesive brand.
BARB GOLUB, LITERACY CONSULTANT for K-12 SCHOOL DISTRICTs
I didn’t know what my messaging was before I worked with Michelle.
I wanted to scale my consultancy and needed help finding clarity for my vision. I feel so much more confident in my new messaging and new website. Michelle guided me to step up for more visibility and authority to reach bigger clients.
Result
After working with a website designer, Barb's new site is a solid 360 turnaround and showcases her as the friendly, smart and helpful expert she is. Her new offers support her goals and her lead magnet, "5 Things School Leaders Can Do to Support Teachers on Their Journey to Evidence-Based Instruction" is currently being downloaded on her site.
After a detailed revamp of her LinkedIn profile, with a new banner, company page and "authority areas", she's ready to start building connections with key people of influence in her industry. Barb's case study showcases how goals should be supported using brand clarity, messaging and aligned packaging to become a standout in your space.
How Certified Financial Advisor Renee Cohen Found Clarity
by Branding Her Signature Expert Authority Framework
Backstory
Renee Cohen never set off to come a certified financial planner. After spending ten years in her dream career of sports media, Renee felt stuck. She was constantly struggled with her finances and desperately wanted to stop worrying if she was doing "the right things" with her money. While searching for guidance, she discovered the financial industry overlooked and underserved the "modern woman." That a-ha moment ignited her and she's been on a mission ever sine to help women to claim their financial power.
Problem
While Renee enjoys a thriving business in the Los Angeles area, Renee wanted to amplify her thought leadership on a national scale. She worried her positioning was too generic and she wasn't specialized, getting her "lost in the sea of sameness" among so many financial advisors. In her male dominated industry, Renee needed wanted to gain traction and become more recognized for female financial literacy and gender pay advocacy.
Solution
Renee was a client of my Personal Brand Plan™ coaching program working on the first two phases to clarify her brand, position her expertise and amplify her reach. Renee needed a more simplified and cohesive approach. When you're ready to scale, she, a foundational brand identity and visibility strategy is needed to better niche positioning and messaging.
One roadblock was that Renee hadn't defined her core audience so my deeper and extensive analysis in my Pillar one, Perspective, helped us uncover what matters, what she stood for, and her core area of impact and differentiation, The Financial Flexibility Framework.
With her brand clarity and cohesiveness revamped, we worked in her messaging, LinkedIn profile, thought leadership, marketing assets, events and PR strategies. We revamped her resource guide, tested a LinkedIn Live show, developed her podcast and speaking media guide, story ideas, updated her authority bio, podcast pitches and speaking and networking events.
RENEE COHEn, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL ADVISOR, FOUNDER, WEALTHY WOMEN COLLECTIVE
Michelle's superpower is helping people with their branding. I now have clarity around how to differentiate and communicate my brand.
Michelle guided me to true brand clarity and cohesiveness so I can confidently own and communicate my framework. I feel much more aligned and have intentionality to continue to leverage my process and scale my brand message and marketing with her coaching.
Result
Renee is enjoying business growth with her new positioning helping women claim their power with her Financial Flexibility Framework. She's now hosting in-person and online educational events with her Wealthy Women Collective community, relaunched her revamped resource guide and nurture email campaign and is publishing weekly newsletter to help women claim their financial power.
Renee's Wealthy Women Collective Financial Newsletter and Events
How Executive Coach Jason Frazell Found Clarity
and Alignment with His Personal Brand on LinkedIn
Backstory
Jason Frazell is a leadership coach, working with executives and founders of tech startups as well as facilitation work in the tech community. He is also a brand strategist at Brand Builders Group, where he helps entrepreneurs get clarity on their message as they launch their podcasts, books, speaking careers. Jason love to talk and hosts two podcasts; Talking to Cool People and Talking to Tech People.
Problem
Jason struggled with finding cohesiveness across his brand, from LinkedIn to his website, which blocked the opportunities and new clients since most potential customers couldn’t understand what he offers or does. And as a brand strategist, his LinkedIn profile blended him into a generalist mode and worse potential clients hardly understood his work.“As a brand strategist, it just intuitively wasn't feeling like me."
Solution
Jason was a client in my Personal Brand Plan™ LinkedIn coaching program to power up his 3Ps —Positioning, Profile, and Presence on LinkedIn. As with all my client work, a foundational brand identity and positioning is a must before we revamp your LinkedIn profile.
We quickly narrowed down Jason's niche and brand messaging to better position him as a specialist vs a generalist. We aligned his LinkedIn profile with his website. Finally, we built authority on his profile to showcase credentials and client results.
With most of my clients, getting out of their own head and own way, the clarity and ideas start flowing. Jason is a prime example of positioning his authority led him to higher profile and higher paying clients.
Result
After narrowing down his niche and messaging, his profile is attracting better qualified clients. Jason is working new projects and initiatives with his new clarity and cohesiveness. His LinkedIn profile has organically landed new projects. "I definitely feel more authentic and proud of what’s on my profile
Listen to Jason Frazell and Michelle Griffin on The Talking To Cool People Podcast
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