From Gut Health to Brand Health

I remember standing in my kitchen, staring at a jar of raw honey that cost £9 and thinking:

“This is ridiculous. It’s so expensive for honey.”

Until that point, my mindset around food was basically:

• Cheaper is sensible - I'm saving money
• Expensive is indulgent, and a bit ‘bougie’

But at the same time, my health wasn’t great:

• Gut issues, cramps, bloating
• Feeling rough more often than I’d like to admit

The 9-quid honey came about because I’d started working with a nutritionist. And to be honest, I expected her to just hand me a list of “good” and “bad” foods.

But instead, she challenged how I was thinking about what I put in my body. This £9 honey was helping me have more energy, better immunity, and a calmer body.

Once I saw it like that, the price didn’t magically get cheaper – but it did start to feel worth it, like an investment. Quality honey meant improving my health for the long term.

So what does this have to do with brand?

I see the same thing happen with brand work all the time.

On the surface, branding looks like:

• A logo
• A colour palette
• A nicer-looking website
• Some better words on a page

So when someone sees the price of a proper branding, the first thought is often:

“That’s a lot for a logo…”

But when branding is done properly, that’s not actually what you’re paying for. You’re investing in things you can’t always see:

• Being able to clearly explain what you do in one or two sentences
• Attracting people who genuinely value your work (rather than trying to haggle you down)
• Feeling confident sending people to your site or deck, instead of cringing a bit inside
• Making decisions more easily because you know what fits your brand and what doesn’t

Like the honey, nothing has changed. It’s still branding, but the story you tell yourself about it is completely different.

If you’re reading this and thinking, “yeah, my brand feels a bit like your old gut health, Danielle – it needs improving, and it’s not really working for me,”

I’m running 1–2 hour brand discovery sessions where we sit down (in person or on Zoom), dig into what you actually do, and start untangling how to talk about it clearly.

• Questions that get under the surface
• Clarity on what you offer and to whom
• The beginnings of a story you can actually use on your website, proposals and LinkedIn

If that sounds like what you need, hit reply with “discovery session”, and I’ll send over a couple of options for how we could work together.

P.s I want to say thank you and hello to my newest subscriber, Jane!

Speak soon,
Danielle