How I Started Personal Brand Accelerator
I remember when I first decided to call myself a “Personal Brand Strategist.” I woke up one morning and knew this was the name that felt most aligned with the work I was starting to do. During that time, I was designing Squarespace websites, writing copy, and helping people optimize their LinkedIn and Instagram accounts. I tried my hand at designing media kits, creating peoples’ visual identities, and even helped my clients take pictures for their social media posts. I tried my hand at everything under the sun.
I remember agonizing over my packages and services. What was I going to offer? How much was I supposed to charge? What should the onboarding process look like? I spent hours debating these questions with my mom until we were blue in the face. It was all I could think about. As with most things, my packages figured themselves out over time. There were a few, “Ah-ha” moments, but mostly things simply nestled into their rightful place. It was then that I understood the value of patience and waiting for things to unfold, rather than making an impulsive decision for the sake of moving forward.
I remember the first time someone wanted to hire me as a consultant instead of a freelancer. They hired me for a strategy session and I remember being confused by this. Why would they want to pay to talk with me? After our third session, I began to understand the answer. Intentional strategy, dialogue, and coaching are invaluable. People need people. We need one another to bring our visions to fruition.
After one of our strategy sessions ended, I remember saying to myself, “I love this.”
I like to think that coaching found me. And it did. After my first client, I began to see that it didn’t make sense for me to create deliverables that I could coach people how to do themselves. Most importantly, it’s far more empowering for people to learn how to do these things on their own, especially when it comes to personal branding. (My team and I still help people with copywriting and website design, but it’s not something we openly lead with).
After I had this realization, I began to write the formula for PBA. I knew I wanted it to be a group coaching program eventually, but I had to write the framework and test it with a few special people first. I modeled the framework for building a personal brand after establishing exactly what worked for me months prior... I looked at my personal story, crafted the messaging, created a visual identity, built a personal website, optimized my social media profiles, and began to create content. This was the formula. After I wrote the formula, I created a sales page and pitched my idea as a fully built-out program to anyone who inquired about my services. Instead of pitching my web design services, I pitched PBA. I charged a modest rate and took 2-3 1:1 clients through the program.
People always ask me, “How did you know it would work?”
I always respond that I didn’t know. I had faith that it would. I felt that faith in my body as I conducted my first few sales calls, wrote the sales page, and began to coach with no prior training. When something is meant to happen, it has a way of spilling out of you. I remember thinking how easy it was to write the sales page. I remember being unafraid of my first strategy sessions (it felt like something I was born to do), and I remember feeling confident in my decision to continue taking clients and helping them build their personal brand. It was the most natural thing in the world for me, and I never questioned any of it.
The decision to make Personal Brand Accelerator into a group coaching program was something I always envisioned myself doing.
I knew from the beginning this method was the best way to deliver this information and help people apply it to their lives. Some might say I made the jump to scale prematurely and I probably did. I remember scrambling at the last minute trying to figure out how to use Kajabi the night before the first group class began their session. I had no idea how to scale, but I figured it out.
Some might say I hired coaches prematurely and I probably did. I had no idea how difficult it would be to train people. I had to train my coaches to teach my students, “The PBA way” (after all, what was the PBA way? I had to define it). There were also technical systems and processes that had to be set up correctly in order to keep PBA running like a well-oiled machine. News flash: they are continually being built and optimized.
There is no arriving, there is only becoming.
If there’s anything I’ve learned from scaling a six-figure coaching practice, it’s that relationships are the most important component. Above all else, people want to be seen and heard. If you can make people feel seen, loved, and heard, you have got yourself a piece of gold. I am not the most organized entrepreneur or CEO. I miss emails and deadlines and forget to respond to people all the time. I have my shortcomings and do my best to be aware of them and find savvy ways to compensate for them. But the one thing I know for certain is that I am present. I listen to people. I love them. And I know it’s my job to see them when no one else does. My commitment to seeing people is what I attribute my success to.
Personal Brand Accelerator has seen over 100+ students. Those numbers continue to multiply, and each day we accomplish our mission of helping people build authentic personal brands and live their truth out loud. Have you put your name on the waitlist yet? Enrollment opens next week.
