You've outgrown the brand you built to get here.
Inner Muse is a twelve-week private engagement covering brand strategy, messaging and visual identity, for founders whose work is trusted and referred and hasn't fully translated online yet.
Branding for the woman shaping her corner of the industry
There's good stuff happening behind the scenes in your business. Your clients love working with you and most of your work comes through referrals, so the people sending clients your way do a lot of the explaining for you.
You end up compared to the cheaper options, and you're left picking up the slack, answering the same questions over and over and over-delivering to justify your pricing.
So you hold back. You put off posting because you're not sure what it's supposed to look like, and you start counting yourself out of things before anyone else has the chance to.
Have you already paid to fix this once?
- The templates looked professional but never felt like you
- The rebrand changed how things look, but the disconnect was still there once the excitement faded
- You hired out for socials or content and watched your voice entirely disappear in the process
None of it reached the layer underneath, because none of it started with you.
You know who you are and who you help. It's just not coming through in how it's presented.
"We had had some previous branding work done but NOTHING as nearly as extensive. She took what we had done previously and completely elevated it."
— Skylar Gross, Magnolia Creative Co.
The Founder Interview Method
So I interview you first, to learn your story, perspective and approach, so it becomes the backbone for the rest of your branding.
I'll ask you things like what your clients keep thanking you for. What feels obvious to you that you've realized isn't obvious to everyone else. Who your work definitely isn't for. What you'd say if someone at a party asked what you do.
You don't need perfect answers and it's okay if your thoughts come out messy. Not to toot my own horn, but making sense of loose threads and weaving them into your brand is exactly what I happen to be best at. (Toot.)
“It's an intuitive experience and very special”
— Katie Lee Jones, Beauty Opus
I believe the best of your brand lives in the mess, the mundane, and the parts of your work that might feel too obvious to even mention.
Inner Muse
A 12-week private branding engagement for founders whose work is trusted and referred, but hasn't fully translated online yet.
A brand that does your work justice when you're not in the room.
Positioning, messaging, visual identity design and brand guidelines.
$9,000 CAD, or three monthly payments of $3,000.
— Avery Anderson, Avery Apothecary
I just reread through the strategy and I still absolutely love everything you wrote. You were able to capture everything I was thinking and saying.
"You literally captured exactly what I wanted my brand to feel like."
Three founders who were already good, before their brands said so.
→ Isabelle of Coldwater Skin Bar was charging like a home studio for industry-leading skin treatments. Now she's in a gorgeous commercial space in a cute neighborhood with a full team behind her.
→ Jackie of Humankind Advisory went from being overlooked as an expert in her niche to being trusted by world-class organizations like UNICEF and World Vision.
→ Rachel of Luna Salon launched her extension studio and grew it from a one chair salon to nine in less than two years
How the twelve weeks run
(It's true, we don't touch design until week five)
The interviews.
Weeks 1 and 2
We start with what's already working: referrals, the parts of your work people love, the experience you deliver behind the scenes.
Your positioning and language.
Weeks 3 and 4
We work out how you talk about your work and start putting language to it, and I pull forward the parts of your story that belong in your marketing.
Your visual identity.
Weeks 5 to 7
I translate your messaging into visuals: colour, typography, graphics and visual language, built to echo your expertise when you're not actively selling.
Review and changes.
You see everything before anything is final. We go through it together and change what isn't working.
Weeks 8 to 10
Putting it into practice.
Weeks 11 and 12
We walk through how to apply it across your content and your client experience, and I build your first set of assets with you.
- Brand positioning rooted in the work you're already known for, so someone can tell what's different about you before they've met you.
- Messaging and voice that reflect how you actually think, speak and sell, so your brand feels like a natural extension of your real life work.
- Visual identity including colour, typography, textures and supporting elements, built to signal the level you're already at without saying anything.
- Brand guidelines, so it stays consistent when I'm not in there, including in the places you hand off to someone else.
- Your first working set of assets, built with you in weeks 11 and 12. Social graphics, Canva templates, a business card, a services guide, or whatever you're about to need.
- Seven 1:1 calls including founder interviews and collaborative messaging and design reviews across the twelve weeks.
What's included
Krystal was selling every project in person.
The brief was to build a world that felt like stepping into one of her finished homes.
We re-positioned Old Soul towards folks looking to invest in full-scale projects, so the wrong inquiries could be filtered out before they even reached her inbox.
One-off projects became full redesigns and renovations at multiple five-figure price points. She's now been featured in more than ten major publications, including Architectural Digest. She's hired a full-time designer to support the demand for her work, and has also since opened a homewares boutique under the same umbrella.
Client success story:
Old Soul Design Studio
Her interiors were thoughtful, layered and completely custom, but none of that was being translated online. Most of what came in was small, one-off jobs rather than full redesigns. The selling happened in conversation and via referral, over and over, because the brand wasn't doing any of it for her.
Who this is for
- You have clients, referrals, and a great reputation, but it's not being reflected in the places you show up online.
- You'd rather be involved in the branding process than just approving it at the end.
- You want a brand that feels like a natural extension of your real work.
And who it isn't for
- You want a faster visual refresh rather than the identity work underneath it. (That's The Weekender.)
- If you'd prefer to work with someone who decides who you are for you and loops you in at the end for approval.
- If you can't commit one to two hours a week for twelve weeks.
Is this the right fit?
Prior to meeting Chelsea, I had some hesitation regarding the unknowns of working with a new designer. I decided to take a leap of faith and hope for the best. The process from beginning to end was incredibly rewarding.
— Arezou Babri, Armaiti Wellness
"She was not only able to bring to life an idea, but more so a feeling."
Frequently Asked
Your business has grown, but your brand might not have kept up. The free Brand Disconnect Audit shows you where the gap is, and exactly where I’d start to close it.
Like hot takes, living room dance parties, branding advice, and rescue dog cuddles?
What’s your brand saying about you?
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