Let's Talk About Brand

We’re continuing the Higher⚡️Voltage speaker party with today’s guest, my good friend Sapna Pieroux! Sapna Pieroux is a brand consultant at InnerVisions ID, the bestselling author of “Let's Get Visible!”, and creator of the VISION branding method. She guides us through all of that today, as well as how she built her own personal brand, what she was doing before, and what's coming next on Sapna’s own brand journey (hint, it's going to become much, much easier for you to work with her!).Sapna will be speaking at my Higher⚡️Voltage event for solopreneurs at Battersea Power Station in London on January 22, 2026! She’ll talk about building your business brand alongside your personal brand–which is something you can also hear more about on today’s episode.Come see Sapna speak at Higher Voltage!In this episode:The differences between a personal brand and business brand when someone is their businessShould I lead with my personal brand or should I lead with my business brand?What Sapna was doing before and how it led to her current business, InnerVisions IDMotherhood, depression, and retraining to be an interior designer“I did his branding and…he came back with seven business cards” Publishing “Let's Get Visible!” in 2020The campaign and award that got Sapna’s book noticedSapna’s VISION methodologyBrandVisions.AIHow to approach creating a business brand vs. a personal brand What Sapna will teach you at Higher Voltage What Sapna ultimately delivers to clients on a deeper levelWhat lights Sapna up in her workWhat Sapna won’t include in her personal brandWhat Sapna would do if she were guaranteed to succeedHow Christine and Sapna initially bondedFind Sapna:LinkedIn Join the BrandVisions.AI betaCome party with The NotWorkers ❤️Get Started on Your Personal Brand Journey with a sampling of Christine's Personal Branding Questions here: https://www.gritmon.com/talkaboutmybrand

I took a little bit of an unplanned hiatus from Let's Talk About Brand, but now I'm getting back into it!Today’s guest, Janine Coombes, is one of the incredible speakers at my Higher⚡️Voltage event for solopreneurs, happening at Battersea Power Station in London on January 22, 2026 (Dani, Sophie, and Teresa are all speaking too, and I’ll be having Sapna and Hannah on in coming weeks!).(Janine’s been on before, but the show was a slightly different format then, so it felt like time for a new episode!)Janine also happens to be someone I actually work with–she’s helped me detangle a lot about my offerings and how I present them! I am one of the "coach shaped people" she helps, and in this interview we get into what that means, how she helps, and how her first book, "The Easy Yes," came about.We also talk about Janine’s personal talents, what lights her up about doing the work that she does, how she came to do the work that she does, and also how she became known for it. Because it's great if you're brilliant, but if nobody knows who you are or what you do, that's not gonna do you a whole lot of good. ​ Come see Janine speak at Higher⚡️Voltage!In this episode:What are "coach shaped people"? Why does Janine enjoy working with “coach shaped people” most?The turning point that led Janine to working for herself“What I missed for an embarrassingly long time was actually having something solid that people could actually buy!”Gaining visibility…but without offers“Perhaps wear a set of pearls…”“The Easy Yes” offer matrix“At the ready point, what does it look like?...create content that calls to that and then you can work back”What's next for Janine What Janine hopes to leave the Higher Voltage audience with in JanuaryWhat Janine truly deliversWhat gives Janine a real sense of satisfaction in her work“The C word” (it’s not cancer…or c**t)What she’d do if she were guaranteed to succeed at it (I love this one! -C)Find Janine:LinkedInJanineCoombes.co.uk easy-yes.com❤️Come see Janine speak at Higher Voltage!Get Started on Your Personal Brand Journey with a sampling of Christine's Personal Branding Questions here: https://www.gritmon.com/talkaboutmybrand

Andrew and Pete became best friends 15 years ago at uni, and have never held a job beyond running their own business together. How did they quickly build to the point where, in under a decade, they’d spoken on huge international stages, amassed a community of thousands, and created one of the largest conferences in the UK?Well, you'll hear it from them, but a huge part of it is sheer gumption. They talk about how they made big asks, swung for the fences, and leveraged other people's kindness in the best possible ways. And of course, the way they received that kindness was by showing up with value first.We’ll also hear about how they went from highly-paid speaking events and growing their global community to now hosting one of the UK's largest conferences for small businesses, ATOMICON.(ATOMICON25 has now passed, but you can grab your early-bird ticket NOW for ATOMICON26! Use my affiliate link and I’ll buy you a drink in Newcastle…)In this episode:“...that very first moment where I walked into the kitchen and Andrew is putting away his Crunchy Nut Cornflakes in the cupboard…”First business (motivational texts!)Branding agency “We'd throw chocolate across the room and we'd do little fun presentations and poems and wraps, and we'd do like, you know, some silly things to get attention.”From local networking meetings to speaking at Social Media Marketing World in San Diego. Big Domino Theory“We stalked those 10 people religiously for about two or three weeks..”Organizing their first big conference (online)“We were just gutsy. We had nothing to lose when we were 24 of putting ourselves out there.”Growing the  Atomic communityFocusing on doing one thing really remarkably at a timeLaunching Atomicon…with an expectation of 80 peopleBeing really deliberate about putting on the best event possible, and never getting complacentTheir current growth plan for the foreseeable futureWhat lights Andrew upWhat lights Pete upWhat people get out of Atomicon beyond what’s on the tinMoving from a personal brand to a brand-brandFind Andrew and Pete:ATOMICON26 (affiliate link)AtomicInstagram❤️Get Started on Your Personal Brand Journey with a sampling of Christine's Personal Branding Questions here: https://www.gritmon.com/talkaboutmybrandSubscribe to theLet's Talk About Brand Newsletter that goes out weekly to ensure you don't miss a beat!

Anytime there's an update to Facebook (or even a rumored feature!), thousands hightail it to Mari Smith's profiles to see what she has to say about it. But how did Mari establish such authority in the world of Meta marketing? How did she build her name professionally to become “the” Facebook guru? Why was Facebook the platform she chose to build her career on?What did she do before Facebook⏤and what might she do after?  As with all good, aligned personal brands, the same motivating forces have guided Mari throughout her journey. Primary among those forces is her fascination with human relationships. Relationships got her to the United States to begin with. Relationships enabled her to explore a variety of career paths. Relationships have always been the core of her interest in Facebook; she does love tech, but the thing that has always fascinated her most about Facebook is its power as a connection tool.But as you'll hear, Mari's also looking more at the impact of social media on mental health, relationships, and society⏤for better and for worse.This is definitely an interview that you have not heard Mari give before. We delve into her personal story, her varied professional background, and her unfiltered takes on Meta, marketing, and what’s next.In this episode:Leaving Scotland for San Diego (with no money or job)Saved by the Cake!Bartering for legal help“From cakes to lawyers to a mobile disc jockey…”SEO Master“My love and my tech”“Mari, you, you can't be Miss Email Marketing, technology, internet and relationships⏤you gotta pick a lane!”Discovering FacebookHer first Facebook Marketing for Professionals courseThe power of early Facebook networking (and the DMs!)“I just love to teach and to explain!”Human Design and 10-year cycles“I'm going all in with this.” Mike Stelzner and Social Media Marketing WorldWhy Mari has remained focus on organic social mediaFacebook vs. other platformsMari’s current career transition“Mental wellness, mental health, and specifically, ironically, social media's impact and isolation and loneliness and depression…”“I just know how to market!”What has driven Mari in all phases of her life and careerWhy people trust herThe public, the personal, and the privateFind Mari:WebsiteFacebook InstagramMari Smith’s Superstars community❤️Get Started on Your Personal Brand Journey with a sampling of Christine's Personal Branding Questions here: https://www.gritmon.com/talkaboutmybrandSubscribe to the Let's Talk About Brand Newsletter that goes out weekly to ensure you don't miss a beat!

Today I'm talking to a fellow personal branding person (which means so many different things to so many different people!): Sophie Lee, founder of Electric Peach! Sophie doesn't just want to help people who are interested in making money. She’s putting the powerful brand storytelling tools she’s learned how to leverage over her career into the hands of people who are trying to change the world for the better: mission-driven, impact-driven businesses and female founders with something to say.(She is also a fellow disco-ball-loving, collaboration-not-competition, sparkly badass; you can see why we get along!) ❤️One of the themes we discuss over and over in this episode is about what it means to use one's voice. Sophie is all about empowerment of people's voices, specifically people who want to make positive changes in the world, and helping them harness the power of communication to do just that. Hearing Sophie’s journey makes it clear not only that she really knows her stuff, but also that she’s finely honed her personal values, her sense of self, and her own commitment to using these tools for good.In this episode:Teaching English to the Czech governmentJoining the Disney “cult” in Shanghai“Journalism” in ChinaThe UK press’s misery machineAccidentally becoming a marketerThe entrepreneurial bugA toxic relationship, and a new business partnershipBecoming known for UGC (user-generated content)Building The Joyful for actual purpose-driven businessesBecoming Sophie Lee and Electric PeachCommunication instead of polarizationEmpowering people to communicate their messages with passion and clarityWhat Sophie sharesFind Sophie:InstagramLinkedInElectric Peach❤️Get Started on Your Personal Brand Journey with a sampling of Christine's Personal Branding Questions here: https://www.gritmon.com/talkaboutmybrandSubscribe to theLet's Talk About Brand Newsletter that goes out weekly to ensure you don't miss a beat!

I’ve known Amanda Webb of Spider Working for years. While she started as a digital marketing generalist, Amanda has really built her name for data and analytics in recent years, especially Google Analytics (for which she is a certified trainer with Enterprise Nation).But, like many of us, Amanda didn’t start out in marketing, and she shares how her time in the film industry and a small business owner helped her build the tenacity and skills that eventually helped her launch her own successful consulting and speaking business, becoming globally known as an expert on how to make sense of analytics and succeed with data-driven marketing strategies.Of course, we also discuss what lights Amanda up, what she truly delivers beyond just marketing insights, and what cats have to do with any of it (spoiler alert: not much, and she likes it that way!).In this episode:“That's me: I am going to be the next Mike Lee!”Hustling to get those union tickets signed (including in the pubs)The importance of persistence“Let's face it…I'm never going to be the female Mike Lee.”“I know! I'll start a business!”Death of a Saleswoman“You’re not coming up on Google…”Facebook, LinkedIn, bloggingAn opportunity in recession“I was everywhere”Getting more widely known via videoIrish Blog AwardsAgorapulse, Social Media Marketing World, Meta and Google (via Enterprise Nation)Helping people feel cleverCats, knitting, film, and boundariesFind Amanda:LinkedInWebsiteThat Analytics PodcastThat Analytics Show❤️Get Started on Your Personal Brand Journey with a sampling of Christine's Personal Branding Questions here: https://www.gritmon.com/talkaboutmybrandSubscribe to theLet's Talk About Brand Newsletter that goes out weekly to ensure you don't miss a beat!