Your logo and brand colors aren't the first thing people connect with when they land on your website or social media. It's your face. Your energy. Your vibe.

And all of that should come through in your brand photos.

In this episode, I'm breaking down why brand photos are arguably the most important part of your visual brand and why most people are doing them completely backwards. If you've ever felt like your brand photos don't quite fit, or you're stuck recycling the same five images over and over, this episode is for you.

I'm walking you through exactly what you need to know before booking a brand photo shoot, including the biggest mistakes I see clients make. I'm also sharing what I'm doing differently for my own upcoming brand photo shoot, and how you can avoid the mistakes I made eight years ago.

If you're considering a brand photo shoot or if you already have photos that you're not using this episode will help you understand how to make your photos actually work for your brand.

👉 In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• Why brand photos are more important than your logo, colors, or fonts
• The biggest mistakes business owners make when it comes to their brand photos
• How brand strategy informs everything from your outfit choices to your photo locations
• Why and how to show up authentically for your brand photoshoot
• The types and variety of photos you actually need
• How I'm planning my own brand photo shoot after 8 years
• The one question to ask yourself when it comes to deciding if you need new brand photos

🎧 Tune in for a practical, strategic breakdown of how to make your brand photos work harder for you—and why they're the missing piece in so many brands.

🔗 Links & Resources:

➡️ Follow me on Instagram @spechtand.co
➡️ Book Your Stand Out Brand Strategy Session (use code SFBPOD for $100 off)
➡️ Learn more about the Ultimate Brand Experience
➡️ Book A Brand Chat
➡️ Follow WorkPlay Branding on Instagram @workplaybranding

The Stand Out Brand™ Audit is an AI powered guided audit that shows you exactly what’s working, what’s not, and how to strengthen your brand using my proven Stand Out Brand™ System.

If you’ve been feeling like your brand needs a little love, but you’re not sure where to start, this tool will give you clear next steps to move your brand forward with purpose in 10mins or less!

Get started here!

Book Your Stand Out Brand Strategy Session Today!

In just 90mins you'll the clarity, tools, and plan you need to build a brand that can grow with your business. From your messaging and audience to voice and positioning, we'll turn the chaotic, jumbled, and half-baked thoughts in head into a polished brand strategy that finally makes sense.

Book Your Session Here
Promo Code: SFBPOD

After nearly a decade of designing brands, I don't think your visual identity is the most important part of your brand.

And I'm not the only one who thinks so.

In this episode, I'm sitting down with fellow brand designer Brannan Arnett of Hone Creative Studio why your logo, your colors, and your "aesthetic" aren't actually the magic ingredients to a successful brand.

We met on Threads over this shared unpopular opinion, and honestly? This conversation went exactly where I hoped it would: deep, honest, and full of the things brand designers talk about when we think no one's listening.

We're breaking down why strategy matters more than a pretty logo, what to do when you're tempted to rebrand out of desperation, and how to actually use your brand once you have it (because most designers don't teach you that part).

If you've ever felt paralyzed by your brand, convinced a new logo would fix everything, or wondered why some brands just work, this one's for you.

👉 In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• How Brannan's background as a preschool teacher shaped her approach to brand strategy
• Why your visual identity isn't the most important part of your brand (and what is)
• The parts of your brand that matter more than your logo
• The biggest mistakes designers make when creating brands
• The difference between rebranding from abundance vs. desperation and what to do instead if you're struggling
• What to prioritize when you're just starting out (hint: don't hire us yet)

🎧 Tune in for a real, unfiltered conversation between two brand designers who care way more about strategy than aesthetics and why that actually makes better brands.

🔗 Links & Resources:

➡️ Visit Brannan's Website
➡️ Follow Brannan on Instagram @honecreativestudio
➡️ Follow me on Instagram @spechtand.co
➡️ Book Your Stand Out Brand Strategy Session (use code SFBPOD for $100 off)
➡️ Book A Brand Chat➡️ Book Your Stand Out Brand Strategy Session (use code SFBPOD for $100 off)

The Stand Out Brand™ Audit is an AI powered guided audit that shows you exactly what’s working, what’s not, and how to strengthen your brand using my proven Stand Out Brand™ System.

If you’ve been feeling like your brand needs a little love, but you’re not sure where to start, this tool will give you clear next steps to move your brand forward with purpose in 10mins or less!

Get started here!

Book Your Stand Out Brand Strategy Session Today!

In just 90mins you'll the clarity, tools, and plan you need to build a brand that can grow with your business. From your messaging and audience to voice and positioning, we'll turn the chaotic, jumbled, and half-baked thoughts in head into a polished brand strategy that finally makes sense.

Book Your Session Here
Promo Code: SFBPOD

Building a team wasn't part of the plan. For years, I was convinced I'd stay solo forever. Just me, my dog, and my laptop. But as my business grew, so did the overwhelm. And eventually, I had to make a choice: burn out or bring in help.

Spoiler: I brought in help, and it changed everything.

In this episode, I'm walking you through my entire journey of growing a team from my scrappy freelancer days in 2016 to where I am now as a creative director leading a small but mighty micro-agency. I'm sharing the mistakes I made (like hiring based on vibes alone), the lessons I learned the hard way (hello, burnout), and what finally clicked when I got the hiring process right.

If you've ever felt torn between wanting support and fearing the responsibility of being someone's boss, this one's for you.

👉 In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• My evolution from solo freelancer to agency owner (and why I resisted it for so long)
• The emotional roller coaster of that first year in business full-time and how it affected my early hiring decisions
• Why I hired a VA first (and why that was the right move)
• The mistakes I made with my first graphic designer hire—and what I'd do differently
• How preparing for maternity leave forced me to build systems and hire strategically
• What my team structure looks like now (and why I'm not trying to build a massive agency)
• The mental and emotional reality of being a leader when you have zero formal training
• My top 5 takeaways for hiring and growing a team that actually supports your life

🎧 Tune in for an honest, behind-the-scenes look at what it really takes to grow a team including the messy parts, the wins, and why it's worth it even when it's hard.

🔗 Links & Resources:

➡️ Follow me on Instagram @spechtand.co
➡️ Book Your Stand Out Brand Strategy Session (use code SFBPOD for $100 off)
➡️ Book A Brand Chat➡️ Book Your Stand Out Brand Strategy Session (use code SFBPOD for $100 off)
➡️ Connect w/ my VA Agency, Prestridge & Co.

The Stand Out Brand™ Audit is an AI powered guided audit that shows you exactly what’s working, what’s not, and how to strengthen your brand using my proven Stand Out Brand™ System.

If you’ve been feeling like your brand needs a little love, but you’re not sure where to start, this tool will give you clear next steps to move your brand forward with purpose in 10mins or less!

Get started here!

Book Your Stand Out Brand Strategy Session Today!

In just 90mins you'll the clarity, tools, and plan you need to build a brand that can grow with your business. From your messaging and audience to voice and positioning, we'll turn the chaotic, jumbled, and half-baked thoughts in head into a polished brand strategy that finally makes sense.

Book Your Session Here
Promo Code: SFBPOD

Investing in your business isn’t just about spending money. It’s about making intentional decisions that shape the direction of your growth.

Over the years, I’ve shared openly about the investments that paid off and the ones that absolutely didn’t, and today I've invited two friends and fellow business owners to join me for a roundtable conversation:

✨ Jenn Green – Funnel strategist and copywriter
✨ Maddie Aucoin – Website copywriter and messaging strategist

We’re sharing our best and worst business investments, and more importantly, what we learned from them.

From horror stories with marketing agencies…
To retiring a husband and moving to Mexico…
To falling for shiny object syndrome and FOMO-fueled event tickets…

This conversation is honest, nuanced, and full of practical takeaways about how to invest in your business without letting fear, ego, or hype drive your decisions.

👉 In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• Why shiny object syndrome costs more than just money
• What to look for before hiring an agency or contractor
• Why “the right team” vs. “the wrong team” changes everything
• How outsourcing in your personal life can be a business investment
• The real cost of unaligned communities and events
• How FOMO influences your spending decisions
• Why clarity in marketing matters when you’re buying programs
• How to become more discerning with your investments moving forward

🎧 Tune in for an honest conversation about business spending, regret, growth, and how to make smarter investments for the season you’re actually in.

🔗 Links & Resources:

➡️ Jenn's Website and Instagram
➡️ Maddy's Website and Instagram
➡️ Morgan's Website and Instagram
➡️ The Threads post that sparked this conversation

The Stand Out Brand™ Audit is an AI powered guided audit that shows you exactly what’s working, what’s not, and how to strengthen your brand using my proven Stand Out Brand™ System.

If you’ve been feeling like your brand needs a little love, but you’re not sure where to start, this tool will give you clear next steps to move your brand forward with purpose in 10mins or less!

Get started here!

A couple of years ago, I officially ditched my to-do list… and I’m not going back.

Because here’s what I realized: to-do lists work great when you have long, uninterrupted work blocks and predictable days. But if you’re working in 10–60 minute chunks, juggling kids, running a household, managing a business, or navigating a season where life is just a lot… a running to-do list can start to do more harm than good.

It assumes every day is going to be an ideal day.
And most days… aren’t.

So I started doing something different: I keep a done list.

Instead of tracking everything I didn’t get to, I track what I actually did — and it has been a complete mindset shift. In this episode, I’m walking you through what a done list is, how to start one (it’s seriously simple), and why it’s been a game-changer for feeling productive even when your days feel fragmented and chaotic.

👉 In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• Why to-do lists can feel never-ending (and honestly demoralizing) in certain seasons
• What a done list is and how to keep one in a way that’s fast and low-effort
• Real examples of my done lists so you can see what “counts” (hint: everything counts)
• How this practice helps you see needle-moving progress you’d normally overlook
• The unexpected bonus: how sharing your done list can also keep you top of mind with ideal clients (without being “look at me” about it)

🎧 Tune in for a simple, sanity-saving productivity shift that helps you feel proud of what you did, even if your work day was a bunch of tiny pockets of time.

🔗 Links & Resources:

➡️ Follow me on Instagram @spechtand.co
➡️ Book Your Stand Out Brand Strategy Session (use code SFBPOD for $100 off)
➡️ Book A Brand Chat

The Stand Out Brand™ Audit is an AI powered guided audit that shows you exactly what’s working, what’s not, and how to strengthen your brand using my proven Stand Out Brand™ System.

If you’ve been feeling like your brand needs a little love, but you’re not sure where to start, this tool will give you clear next steps to move your brand forward with purpose in 10mins or less!

Get started here!

If you’ve been posting like crazy and still feel like you have nothing to show for it… this episode is for you.

I’m sitting down with content writer and self-proclaimed “writing wingman," Dana Herra to talk about the biggest trap business owners fall into: creating more and more content… without a strategy behind it.

We unpack what actually makes content useful, why consistency alone won’t grow your business, and how to build a simple, sustainable content strategy that moves people toward working with you (without burning out and rage-quitting Instagram).

👉 In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• The difference between content vs. copy (in a way you’ll actually remember)
• Why “post X times per week” is not a real content goal
• How to set content goals that connect to your actual business goals
• A simple approach to picking platforms you’ll actually stick with
• When it’s time to hire content support — and what to have in place first
• What working with a content writer really looks like (and why Dana’s process is refreshingly low-effort for the client)

🎧 Tune in if your content has been feeling random, scattered, overwhelming, or just plain ineffective, and you’re ready for a strategy that gets you off the hamster wheel for good.

🔗 Links & Resources:

➡️ Connect with Dana on Linkedin
➡️ Visit Dana's Website

The Stand Out Brand™ Audit is an AI powered guided audit that shows you exactly what’s working, what’s not, and how to strengthen your brand using my proven Stand Out Brand™ System.

If you’ve been feeling like your brand needs a little love, but you’re not sure where to start, this tool will give you clear next steps to move your brand forward with purpose in 10mins or less!

Get started here!

Book Your Stand Out Brand Strategy Session Today!

In just 90mins you'll the clarity, tools, and plan you need to build a brand that can grow with your business. From your messaging and audience to voice and positioning, we'll turn the chaotic, jumbled, and half-baked thoughts in head into a polished brand strategy that finally makes sense.

Book Your Session Here
Promo Code: SFBPOD

We talk a lot in online business about your ideal client.

Everything you do should be with them in mind. And while I agree with that… I also think this conversation is missing some very important nuance.

In this episode, I’m breaking down the difference between your ideal client and your broader audience, and why being too rigid about who you focus on can actually limit your growth, your referrals, and your opportunities.

Not everyone in your audience is meant to convert. That doesn’t mean they aren’t valuable.

We’ll talk about why obsessing over a perfectly defined “ideal client avatar” creates unnecessary pressure, how it can cause you to overlook incredible-fit clients, and why some of your best opportunities may come from people who never actually hire you.

👉 In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• The real difference between your ideal client and your entire audience
• Why not everyone in your audience is meant to convert (and why that’s normal)
• Where traditional ideal client exercises go wrong
• How to define your ideal client using real data, not imagination
• The danger of being too rigid in your messaging and marketing
• When flexibility does make sense and when it doesn’t
• The true non-negotiables to stand firm on
• Why some of your best clients, referrals, and collaborations won’t look how you expect
• How to let brand strategy guide you without letting it box you in

🎧 Tune in for a perspective shift on ideal client messaging, audience relationships, and the “90% fit” opportunities you’re probably overlooking.

🔗 Links & Resources:

➡️ Follow me on Instagram @spechtand.co
➡️ Book Your Stand Out Brand Strategy Session (use code SFBPOD for $100 off)
➡️ Book A Brand Chat

The Stand Out Brand™ Audit is an AI powered guided audit that shows you exactly what’s working, what’s not, and how to strengthen your brand using my proven Stand Out Brand™ System.

If you’ve been feeling like your brand needs a little love, but you’re not sure where to start, this tool will give you clear next steps to move your brand forward with purpose in 10mins or less!

Get started here!

Networking can be one of the biggest lead generation tools in online business but when not done strategically, it can quickly turn into a calendar full of conversations that go absolutely nowhere.

And when you’re already short on time (hi, fellow online business owners), that’s not just annoying. It’s expensive.

So today’s episode is from the Six Figure Brand Society vault, and it’s one of my favorite trainings we’ve ever hosted.

Sarah Gemmell is the queen of networking. She built her previous global fitness business using networking as her main lead generator, and now she helps business owners generate real revenue through quality connections, introductions, and referrals, without turning into the used car salesman of the Zoom room.

In this training, Sarah breaks down the four adjustments you can make to your networking strategy so your time spent “putting yourself out there” actually turns into leads, referrals, and aligned opportunities.

She covers how to show up in rooms with the right energy, how to stop winging it, how to make your messaging referral-friendly, and how to nurture relationships in a way that keeps people above profit (without letting yourself become a doormat).

👉 In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• The 4 tweaks that make networking worth your time: intentions, strategy, messaging, and nurturing
• The key difference between networking and sales
• How to stop winging it and start making data-based decisions about which rooms you’re in
• What makes a referral partner actually refer you (the 3 C’s: confidence, clarity, connection)
• How to tighten up your intro so people remember what you do and who to send your way
• How to pre-qualify coffee chats so you stop wasting time on misaligned conversations
• Simple ways to nurture your network without being fake, spammy, or transactional

🎧 Tune in if you want networking to become a real lead gen channel, not just a weekly time-suck with good vibes and zero ROI.

🔗 Links & Resources:

➡️ Follow Sarah on Instagram @sarahgemmell_
➡️ Check out Sarah's Website
➡️ Follow Morgan on Instagram @spechtand.co
➡️ Learn More About The Six Figure Brand® Society (Use Code FIRSTMONTH for $50 Off Your First Month or FIRSTQUARTER for $100 Off Your First Quarter)

The Stand Out Brand™ Audit is an AI powered guided audit that shows you exactly what’s working, what’s not, and how to strengthen your brand using my proven Stand Out Brand™ System.

If you’ve been feeling like your brand needs a little love, but you’re not sure where to start, this tool will give you clear next steps to move your brand forward with purpose in 10mins or less!

Get started here!

Book Your Stand Out Brand Strategy Session Today!

In just 90mins you'll the clarity, tools, and plan you need to build a brand that can grow with your business. From your messaging and audience to voice and positioning, we'll turn the chaotic, jumbled, and half-baked thoughts in head into a polished brand strategy that finally makes sense.

Book Your Session Here
Promo Code: SFBPOD