425. Why Great Branding Is Never Just Fonts and Colors

00:00

What does it really mean to brand your higher self? Lesley and Brad dive into the key insights from the conversation with branding expert Nadine Hanafi. Discover how branding goes far beyond just fonts and colors, and learn how Nadine’s actionable advice on personal branding can elevate your business. Tune in to find out how to present your higher self and build a brand that truly aligns with your energy and message.

If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co.

And as always, if you’re enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.

In this episode you will learn about:

Nadine's expertise in helping small business owners build standout brands.
How energy and authenticity create a memorable personal brand.
The importance of positioning yourself as an expert through branding.
How to brand your higher self and elevate your business presence.
Why a professional photo shoot can take your branding to the next level.

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Episode Transcript:

Brad Crowell 0:00

You have a brand, even if you don't realize it, right? You know, you are your brand. And then you can begin to define these things and hone that stuff, and make adjustments to it. But it already exists, and now we just have to bring it out.

Lesley Logan 0:13

Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.

Lesley Logan 0:55

Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It interview recap where my co-host in life, Brad, and I are going to dig into the refining convo I have with Nadine Hanafi in our last episode. If you haven't yet listened to that one, go listen to it and come back and listen to this one, or listen to this one and let your podcast just play through the previous one. It's all amazing.

Lesley Logan 1:10

Before we get into it, today is September 26th 2024 and it's Alpaca Day. About this day, Alpaca Day is observed on September 26th each year in the USA. Alpacas are cute, fuzzy animals that have been of help to human beings and agriculture for a super long time. These animals have unique personalities and are highly sensitive to their environment, and are most timid in temperament. Oh, okay, are these the spitters?

Brad Crowell 1:33

They usually I think it's camels that spit or llamas. No, I think it's the

Lesley Logan 1:39

Can you look this up? Because I swear, okay, so let me finish it, because people are waiting for you, and I'll finish it.

Brad Crowell 1:45

Okay, so I literally got do Al, and then Google finished alpaca spit. So yes, they do.

Lesley Logan 1:51

Yeah, I thought so. I thought I saw

Brad Crowell 1:52

Not a cause for concern, but yes it's (inaudible).

Lesley Logan 1:55

I saw a reel where a woman looked like she's trying to kiss the alpaca. And this is why I asked.

Brad Crowell 1:59

Oh, I thought that was a llama.

Lesley Logan 2:00

No, no, it was an alpaca. It was the hair and you remember that, and it like literally spit in her face, yeah, no, that was an alpaca. The llama looks like what's on my arm. So anyways, Alpaca Day raises awareness about the need for conservation of alpacas and their habitats. Human activities have affected alpacas, and like other animals, they too are struggling with the increasing human interference in their daily lives. Find out what you can do to conserve alpacas on Alpaca Day. I don't know where you go for that, so I don't know how to help you understand how you can conserve land for alpacas this day just tells you it is it. But I've also never seen alpacas in the wild, so I'm very curious, like, where in the USA alpacas are in the wild?

Brad Crowell 2:39

Yeah, I don't know that.

Lesley Logan 2:41

We can't help you there.

Brad Crowell 2:42

So you can donate through the National Alpaca Foundation, or there are also local charities or hospitals. There's a Alpaca Research Foundation, A.R.F. or ARF for short, there is the Windrush. Donate to Windrush Alpacas.

Lesley Logan 2:43

If you know where I can see alpacas in the wild I'm in. I want to know.

Brad Crowell 3:02

We're gonna find out.

Lesley Logan 3:03

But also, when we were on winter tour last year, we got to meet Andres the llama, and we also met some alpacas. And the alpacas were a little more timid than Andre. Andre? Andres? I think it was Andre.

Brad Crowell 3:16

Andre. There are no known wild alpacas anymore. They are all domesticated farm animals now.

Lesley Logan 3:21

Okay, well, that's because we took their fucking land. So.

Brad Crowell 3:25

It's true.

Lesley Logan 3:26

Like we did for many people, places and things, we got to be better everyone. You got to do better things. So okay, so thank you for that information. Bet you didn't know you would learn about alpacas today. Was it on your bingo card? If it was, let us know.

Lesley Logan 3:39

We are literally leaving in four days before Cambodia, and unless you signed up, you're not invited. Holy alpacas, there won't be any in Cambodia. Because it's so, so sold out, and so you need to sign up for the February one, where we still have time to put you in there.

Brad Crowell 3:56

That's right.

Lesley Logan 3:56

Also, there's still plenty of time to buy a flight. This is kind of about when you'd buy a flight, it's like three months before, four tops, anything more than that, it's not a good deal. So you want to go to crowsnestretreats.com I have been looking at all these different temple pictures, like, just getting excited for what we're doing. And you guys, we've gone so many times, and it never gets old.

Brad Crowell 4:15

Never gets old.

Lesley Logan 4:15

It never gets old. It's so much fun.

Brad Crowell 4:18

Mind blowing.

Lesley Logan 4:18

And we have several people coming for the second time. So we've had multiple people do this, but it just keeps happening. And so we want you to come. So go to crowsnestretreats.com to snag your spot.

Brad Crowell 4:29

Do it.

Lesley Logan 4:29

And you can bring your friend or family member who doesn't want to do the Pilates classes or the workshops. It's totally fine. There's an option for them. Also, when I get back, somehow on my, on the retreat and everything, I've got to stay in my Pilates readiness, because when we come back, like, two weeks later, I end up in L.A. where I'm doing the photo shoot for the accessories deck, and a lot of them are really going to be totally cool to do and easy to do. And then there's the push up handles and the Guillotine. And I'm like, a little scared, so I have been readying myself for this. So you, if you are interested in the accessories deck, which is going to be like towel exercises and breath a cizer and two by four.

Brad Crowell 4:39

Two by four foot corrector.

Lesley Logan 4:52

Toe corrector. And also, I'm on a mission to make sure that you know how to make at least half the deck. And guess what? Shout out to Karen Fishman, who told me how you can just make the push up handles. And so we have to figure that out, because I want so the only thing you'd have to buy is the Guillotine. And so I'm really trying to make sure that most of this deck is some household things you can make, so that.

Brad Crowell 5:32

My foot corrector is hard to make.

Lesley Logan 5:34

No, you'd have to buy that. The toe corrector, J's favorite toe corrector was a broccoli rubber band.

Brad Crowell 5:40

That's awesome.

Lesley Logan 5:41

I know. He's so simple. I loved him. So you want to go to opc.me/flashcardwaitlist, opc.me/flashcardwaitlist, that's all singular, to get on that, because people on the wait list get the best deal.

Brad Crowell 5:53

Yes, they do.

Lesley Logan 5:53

Then, Brad, what do you have for them? Because I, clearly, am busy.

Brad Crowell 5:57

I am excited to be supporting fitness business owners just like you. So if you are feeling stuck with income for your business, whether that is a small business, a medium business, or even a large business, we have worked with more than 2000 companies, whether you're renting space, you have a home studio or whatever, over the past six years, and we have come to realize that there are three main secrets, three main secrets, that help you grow your income. So if you're feeling stuck at all with your income, this is a free webinar. I'd love for you to join me. It's called the Pilates Studio Growth Accelerator. So go to prfit, prfit.biz, that's profit without the O, prfit.biz/accelerator. Sign up for free. You'll see when the next one is that I'm going to hold. I'm gonna, I'm gonna host. Come join me. We can chat, get to meet each other, and I'm gonna share these three big tips that we have boiled down after, like, I don't know, thousands of coaching calls. I mean, it's been so many years now, so, yeah, come join me. prprfit.biz/accelerator. After that.

Lesley Logan 6:59

We're going on winter tour.

Brad Crowell 7:01

What? We're hitting the road again. This is our most ambitious one yet. Y'all, I know I said that last year. Well, we're topping it this winter.

Lesley Logan 7:08

At some point we have to stop topping it. I'm just gonna say.

Brad Crowell 7:11

We'll see, we'll see.

Lesley Logan 7:12

We'll see? No, at some point we say, there's the last.

Brad Crowell 7:16

I would love for us to go to Europe. That kind of tops a domestic tour.

Lesley Logan 7:20

Well, that, that's true, that's true.

Brad Crowell 7:23

That would be really amazing.

Lesley Logan 7:24

But that's a different tour. That's a different goal. I'm just saying that at some point the winter tour does not get to grow any.

Brad Crowell 7:30

Yeah, this one's pretty. This one's pretty much capping it off. This is over a month and we're gonna be on the road for over a month, 24 locations that we're planning and all across the United States, mostly like along Route 40, and then all the way up to, we're literally looking at Maine right now, and then down to Miami and back through Texas to get back home. So come join us. We are definitely going to be driving to a city near you, even if you're coming like an hour or two. Come anyway. It's so much fun. We love to meet you in person. We do raffles. Balanced Body is going to be doing some raffles and stuff, all the things, and we just love it. So yeah, and it'd be awesome to meet you in person. So go to opc.me/tour, opc.me/tour.

Lesley Logan 8:13

All right, before we get into Nadine's amazingness, what is our audience question about this time?

Brad Crowell 8:17

We have a question from mayab487 on YouTube, she said I am 143 centimeters, often vertically challenged, which, I had to look up, is four foot eight inches and change. What Reformer Pilates machine would you recommend, especially for those who are on the smaller side of height, your recommendation is greatly appreciated.

Lesley Logan 8:35

So here's the deal. There was someone who was making Reformers for like kids a long time ago, I, clearly, Maya, you are not a child. I don't know, clearly, you could be, but I'm assuming you're done growing. So there was someone doing this. I can't speak to the quality or the temperament or if it works, but there was someone. That being said, if you were teaching other people or other people are going to use this in your family, then I would suggest you get the 80-inch Contrology. I actually suggest that for all of my five footers, and you're not going to get the deep hip flexion on footwork, but there are other exercises in Pilates that will give you the deep hip flexion. Coordination will give you deep hip flexion. You can use a moon box so you can get deep hip flexion in knee stretches or in stomach massage, you can just sit at the edge like anyone else wouldn't get deep. So just because we can't get you deep hip flexion in footwork doesn't mean you're not going to get it. So the 80-inch is what I use, and that's what I would suggest you use, and what I suggest on my five feet tall. And even if someone in your life is taller than you, I'm five nine and a half, my husband is six one and we use the same Reformer. So that's what I would suggest for anyone. And honestly, like for most people, I want them all to have the 80-inch. It's nice to have an 86 if you have, like, multiple people over five ten just for a couple exercises. Every once in a while, it's really nice to do a short spine with a little bit more room, but not necessary. Not necessary. So that's what I would recommend. You can use my link, Maya, we'll put it in the show notes that will get you a discount on that Reformer or any of the Balanced Body and Contrology equipment. If you want a special color, make sure you reach out to us, though, so we can connect you with someone, because that way you'll get the special color and the discount.

Brad Crowell 10:15

I was looking them up while you were talking, and I did find a 75-inch Reformer and then one that's even less than that. So they do exist. I have no idea about the brand or the company or the quality.

Lesley Logan 10:26

Send me the link. Can you text me?

Brad Crowell 10:27

Right now?

Lesley Logan 10:28

Yeah.

Brad Crowell 10:28

Yeah. Sure. That one's 190 centimeters. This one is 160 centimeters, which turns into 63 inches. So that's definitely for, you know.

Lesley Logan 10:42

This is really inexpensive. That makes me nervous. I don't like ropes. I don't like ropes.

Brad Crowell 10:47

Yeah, it does have ropes.

Lesley Logan 10:49

Yeah? So, you know, I see this, I don't love it. I don't love it, Maya. You do you, but.

Brad Crowell 10:56

She have no idea what Reformer we're actually talking about, we're referring to in this conversation.

Lesley Logan 11:00

Well, I can't, I don't want to put the name out, because I'm clearly saying I don't like it. So.

Brad Crowell 11:03

Well, anyway, I'm with you on that. Totally with you on that. So the 80-inch, aside from the deep inflection on footwork, the 80-inch should, will still be beneficial?

Lesley Logan 11:13

Yeah, because you can use a moon box or yoga blocks for some things, and if you're an OPC member, I can literally tell you where to put your feet, where to put your body, so you can use it. It's totally, perfectly fine, and so that's what I recommend.

Brad Crowell 11:24

Maya, great question. Thanks so much for writing in. If you have a question, you can ask it on YouTube, you can ping us on Instagram, or you can text us at 310-905-5534. Stick around. We are going to get nerdy about Nadine Hanafi's interview in just a minute.

Brad Crowell 11:42

All right, now, let's talk about Nadine Hanafi. Nadine is a branding expert and the CEO of Digital Brand Kit, the world's first full-stack branding company. With over 10 years of experience, Nadine specializes in helping personal brands elevate their visual identity and confidence through innovative brand strategies. Her first business, We are Visual, established her expertise in presentation design. She works with TED speakers and bestselling authors, and now today, she's working with small business owners like us, like you.

Lesley Logan 12:13

Yeah, she's super cool. One of the things that I love, that she said is that branding is energy. It's definitely not just your colors or your fonts and your website, it's that your branding encompasses the messaging and the voice and visuals, the overall presentation. So you can, like, focus on your fonts, and you can pick some beautiful colors, but the consistency and the energy that you bring and the way that you talk about things, and even the words that you use, and all of that, that is, it's all of it. It's like when certain people walk into the room, we went to this in the last episode, like charisma, it's the energy of the person that just walked in. And it encompasses, yes, their outfit and what they're saying and how they're standing and what they're doing and how they talk to you, it's all of that. So, I really appreciate that because I really think people just said, oh, I can't start my business until I have a logo and I have this. It's like you can start sooner than that, and your branding is already starting before you pick any of those things.

Brad Crowell 13:09

That's right. I mean, you have a brand, even if you don't realize it. Right? You know, you are your brand. And then you can begin to define these things and hone that, that stuff, and make adjustments to it, but it already exists, and now we just have to bring it out.

Lesley Logan 13:22

Well and also, like, one of my favorite things that anyone's ever said about me is, like, why you're the same in person as you are online. I'm like, yeah, because it's the energy that I bring is not made up. It's not forced. It is in everything that we do. What did you love?

Brad Crowell 13:36

She said seven or eight years ago, the online business world was less saturated, and entrepreneurs could succeed with messy, unpolished content. There was less competition, fewer experts sharing valuable insights. Today, the online space is definitely more crowded, especially with business coaching, with many individuals, some knowledgeable, and others not, trying to sell and teach. And so definitely your branding and the presentation that you are, you have, plus all the things that Lesley was just mentioning, you will use those things to grab people's attention. And she said, if you're somebody who actually knows what you're talking about, you owe it to yourself to brand yourself as the expert that you are, and to make that brand, that, the whole thing, cohesive. So it is helpful to be, it's important to be intentional about your branding as you're going, as you're beginning to see your business taking shape. But I do agree with what you said just a minute ago, that you don't need it. You won't even know your brand when you first get started to be honest, y'all, it took a long time for us to like, figure out how we, you know, saw ourselves being and acting in the space. Because it's not just colors and text fonts. It is the energy you bring to the table. It is the transformation that you're creating for people. It is the language that you use, your posture, and those things aren't very clear right away.

Lesley Logan 14:58

Yeah. Yeah. That is just, you kind of have to grow into it.

Brad Crowell 15:01

Yeah, yeah, I love it, but that's where Nadine's saying she can help you grow into it. So, I love that.

Lesley Logan 15:05

She can, we have a special link for that.

Brad Crowell 15:07

Yeah, yeah, we do. All right, stick around. We'll be right back with some Be It Action Items.

Brad Crowell 15:12

All right, let's finally, let's talk about those Be It Action Items. Say with me, what bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted action items can we take away from your convo with Nadine Hanafi?

Lesley Logan 15:21

I love how you always ask that, and I've never said it with you. I'm like, you must be talking to them.

Brad Crowell 15:27

I'm talking to everybody who's listening.

Lesley Logan 15:28

Yeah, it's not me, apparently.

Brad Crowell 15:30

Yeah, yeah, no, no. She said brand your higher self.

Lesley Logan 15:34

That's a be it till you see it right there.

Brad Crowell 15:36

That's be it till you see it. Brand your higher self. When it comes to branding, there's a way to show up as the next version of yourself. So even though you may be who you are this moment, it might not be where you see yourself down the road. So you can definitely create the branding for where you're going, and that will help you act the part and to grow into those shoes. And I do, I do agree that is really it's a, be it action item, if there ever was one. Specifically, one of the things I know you've mentioned on previous pods is like, what would a 10-figure business owner do in this situation? What would a seven-figure business owner do in this situation? Right? That is the same concept here, except we're talking about branding instead of, you know, decision making. Which, they go together. She said make them want to meet you and learn from you and create that attractive energy with your branding. So, love that. What about you?

Lesley Logan 15:42

Of course, I love this one. Book a professional photo shoot. Book a professional brand photo shoot and actually do it properly. So we talked about this, and she actually has, like, a blog post about this. But when Monica and I do photo shoots, you guys, Monica and I are like, two little hummingbirds that, like, run around all the time until photo shoot time. And then it is like, which brand, what photos we need. Like, here's the list. It's like, oh, headshot, here, this here. And like, I look at the list. She looks at the list. We have the clothes put out the night before everything is ready to go. So it's just, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. And she said, you want 50 solid shots. At least.

Brad Crowell 16:29

We have a full-blown checklist of the photos that we know we want to take before it even starts.

Lesley Logan 17:07

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Brad Crowell 17:08

So yeah, we'll go in with, like, all right, we got 100 we want to hit, go.

Lesley Logan 17:12

Yeah. And we do an annual shoot. So if you've never had any shots, like, photo shoots done for your business, you might have to do a couple a year or a few a year to, like, get.

Brad Crowell 17:22

I think the first year we did three.

Lesley Logan 17:23

Three. So really build the library up, you know? So now we can go down to like, one a year, and we pretty much do a two-hour shoots. We could just, like, it's almost like two shoots at one time, but we have a checklist, because you will forget or you'll get distracted. I mean, I will, I literally saved this one checklist. I was like, hey, babe, I just need a few shots in this outfit for my birthday invitations. Thank God it was at the end, because I think we did 50 shots just in that.

Brad Crowell 17:48

I remember which one you're talking about.

Lesley Logan 17:49

I was like, I was like, oh, let's add this. Let's add this. Oh yeah. So you want to stay on, you want to stay on. And also, like, may, I also suggest you have a third person there to help with the checklist. Hey, did you get this one? Hey, do you get this one? Because while you're changing clothes, they can be talking to the photographer and making sure you got the different shots. Also, you need someone there to make sure that your shirt's tucked in or not tucked in, or.

Brad Crowell 18:09

Yeah, because the photographer is they're definitely trying to look at everything, but as having another set of eyes to be like.

Lesley Logan 18:15

Do you remember when, so this is, photographers are amazing. And I'm not throwing one under the bus, because I've used a lot of photographers, and I've been like, how they not catch this? They're so focused on the lighting and the shot and how good you look. We did a bunch of shoots with the deck upside down.

Brad Crowell 18:28

Oh, did we?

Lesley Logan 18:29

Oh yeah.

Brad Crowell 18:30

Well, I missed that.

Lesley Logan 18:30

We had to Photoshop the cover of the deck on correctly.

Brad Crowell 18:35

I didn't even know that.

Lesley Logan 18:36

Oh yeah, no, there's a bunch.

Brad Crowell 18:37

That is really hilarious.

Lesley Logan 18:39

You guys, go book your shoot.

Brad Crowell 18:41

Yeah, yeah. Get yourself a shoot. It's worth. It's worth doing a photo shoot.

Lesley Logan 18:44

And of course, we recommend Monica. She's been on the show before. We've had two episodes with her, so you can listen to her and check her out. She has pop-ups everywhere, you can go to L.A. if you want. But she does do pop-ups at a lot of places.

Brad Crowell 18:53

Having professionally done shots will make you excited to use them.

Lesley Logan 18:57

And make sure they're a branding photographer, and not a family photographer. They're very different things.

Brad Crowell 19:02

We're not doing headshots here. That's not what we're talking about.

Lesley Logan 19:05

Yeah, I'm Lesley Logan.

Brad Crowell 19:06

And I'm Brad Crowell.

Lesley Logan 19:07

You're fucking amazing. You are.

Brad Crowell 19:08

Yeah, thanks for being here.

Lesley Logan 19:09

And we're so grateful for you. We love that you listen. Please leave us a review. If you could leave us a review that really helps the show continue to go and show this to a friend. One friend. Just pick one friend who's like, trying to kick their business off the ground. They're stuck on the logo, send them this and until next time, Be It Till You See It.

Brad Crowell 19:24

Bye for now.

Lesley Logan 19:26

That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.

pod.

Brad Crowell 20:09

It's written, filmed and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.

Lesley Logan 20:14

It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.

Brad Crowell 20:18

Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.

Lesley Logan 20:25

Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.

Brad Crowell 20:28

Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally, to Meredith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.

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