If you’re seeking a coach, you’ll come across a million options to choose from and that can make figuring out which one is the right one for you feel like an impossible task. 

This blog post is here to serve as a guide for comparing the differences between personal brand coaches, business coaches, and brand strategists; and to share how working with a coach may be helpful and what to look for when you’re ready to find the one that’s right for you. 

What does a personal brand coach do?

A brand coach focuses primarily on helping you build your brand. Some brand coaches, like myself, take a psychology-driven approach, helping you go deep with self-discovery so you can create a personal brand (a brand that’s built around your personality) that’s authentic to the core of who you are. 

A psychology-driven brand coach might also guide you through other inner work practices, like reconnecting with your inner child, as well as help you dive into the psychology behind your brand visuals so everything about your personal brand flows seamlessly together. 

Brand coaching is important because:

• #1 – It helps you understand what’s unique about your business and your offers, making it easier to position your brand and what you sell

• #2 – Sets you apart from others, allowing you to be recognized as something entirely new, even if you’re offering a similar service or product to others 

• #3 – Allows you to connect to deep within by focusing on important questions like your mission, vision, and purpose so that you can create a brand that reflects the essence of who you are

• #4 – It attracts the people you want to connect with by digging into understanding their desires and preferences and blending those with your own

A brand coach can help you with…

• Setting up a strong business foundation 

Although brand coaches don’t focus on business strategies and structure the same way businesses coaches do, they do help you pour into and solidify your business foundation by defining your brand’s values, mission, vision, long-term goals, and ways to share your brand consistently. 

(Some brand coaches, like me, focus on both brand and business to ensure that you’re working on both strategies and structure and the guiding values behind what your business stands for.)

• Building out your brand strategy

The heart of what a brand coach does is coach you on creating and implementing a brand strategy! A brand strategy starts by unearthing the core of who you are and what your brand stands for. This often includes spelling out your mission and values, target audience, brand messaging, the unique selling points of what you offer, as well as your visuals.

As a coach, they’ll also help you implement your branding. Whether that’s by talking through how to create aligned offers, coming up with a clear marketing strategy, or showing you how to use your brand strategy across different platforms. At the end of the day, a brand coach is there to make sure your brand shows up the same everywhere and in a way that feels good to you. 

• Guidelines to be successful and scaleable 

A brand coach helps you create the guidelines you’ll follow as your business grows and your brand evolves. By having an internal document that details everything about your brand’s mission and personality, you’ll be able to stay consistent and, if you decide to grow your business by bringing in others, you’ll be able to share it with new team members so they have a clear understanding of everything that’s vital to your brand identity.

This builds a strong community within your own business and with those you seek connection with, like your target audience. 

What does a business coach do?

Whereas a brand coach focuses on brand-building, a business coach helps you with the strategy and structure of your business and digs into your mindset.

A business coach can help you with… 

• Strategy, sales, and structure 

A business coach will help you create a business plan, get clear on your business strategy, and set up structure within your business (by implementing systems or refining your client experience). They may also focus on things like helping turn leads into customers, setting up your LLC, or figuring out how to market a course or an offer. 

• Developing a positive mindset

Ever heard of imposter syndrome? Well, business coaches spend a lot of time delving into that with you; going deep within your mindset to uncover what limiting beliefs and blocks you might have around money, feeling worthy of success, or areas where you’re struggling with confidence. 

• Mindfulness and self-care

Because business is impossible to separate from personal life, especially if you’re an entrepreneur, business coaches may also help you come up with ways to pour back into yourself so that you don’t burn yourself out by overworking. 

What does a brand strategist do?

Brand strategists are different than coaches in one key way: they focus less on implementation and more on ideas and strategy. While they’ll dig into the exact same things a brand coach does, they usually don’t offer continuous, ongoing support like coaches do. 

A brand strategist will help you define your…

• Mission, vision, and purpose  
• Target audience 
• Brand messaging 
• Market positioning 
• Marketing strategy 

While a brand coach may take a more holistic approach by guiding you through digging into your strategy while offering ongoing support as you implement everything you’re learning, a brand strategy is solely focused on strategy creation. 

(If you’re looking to do a few brand strategy exercises on your own, check out this blog post.)

Often, brand coaches work closely with those building a personal brand while brand strategists tend to work more with large businesses and corporations. 

Is it worth paying a business coach? When is the right time to hire help?

While there’s no right answer to either one of those questions, there are a few things to consider. 

Working with a business coach, or a brand coach, can absolutely be worth it! Often, we’re too close to our businesses to see the big picture clearly and can get caught up on insignificant details or stuck doing things that aren’t worth our time. Bringing in outside help when you’re looking to gain perspective, try a new approach, or take things to the next level can be worth every penny you invest in it. 

(I know “next level” sounds cheesy, but it’s true! We can’t get to a new place doing the same things we’ve been doing.)

A business coach also brings years of experience to the table and can show you new ways to structure that you may not have thought of on your own. 

Benefits of working with a brand and/or business coach

• Clarity 

You can’t chase after your dreams if you aren’t clear on what they are. Coaches are there to ask questions and help you understand and define exactly what you’re working toward. And when you’re clear on what you’re ready to go after, the path begins to unfold in front of you. 

• Connects you to your vision 

When overwhelm starts piling up and burnout starts rearing its head, it can be easy to forget why you started your business in the first place. A coach is there to reconnect you with who you are and the passion that inspired you to begin. And when you remember your inspiration, it revitalizes the joy and excitement you felt in the beginning, making not only your business journey more enjoyable but also… life. 

• Support through overwhelm 

Building a brand and business is not an easy task on your own and a coach is there as a support for when self-doubt creeps in or overwhelm comes up. They can help you process your feelings, prioritize what’s important, and plan what next step to take. And that can be incredibly challenging to do all by yourself.

• Holds you accountable 

When you’re building your business by yourself, it’s easy to slip into a state where you download guides, attend classes, and read books—all without putting any of what you learned into action. A coach won’t let you get away with that; their continuous support also serves to hold you accountable, by checking in to make sure you’ve done what you said you would. The accountability piece can be huge for those who need a deadline or a little push/support from someone else. 

• Get to your goals faster

By doing those four things above, the most important thing a coach does is help you get to your goals faster. So you can spend less time weighed down by imposter syndrome or feeling uncertain of what next step to take and more time feeling empowered to charge forward and chase after your dreams. 

It’s important to note, be wary of coaches that promise you the sun, moon, and stars. 

In other words, be mindful of picking someone who promises a lot while telling you that you won’t have to do any of the work. While brand and business coaches can help you reach unbelievable goals, they are only there to guide you. To reach those unbelievable goals, you must be willing to do the work. 

How the hell do I figure out if a coach or strategist is best for me?

• Think about the way you learn best

• How much support do you want?

If you’re looking for personalized one-on-one support to hold yourself accountable, coaching is the better option. But, if you’re great at implementing on your own and would rather have someone hand over the strategy so you can do it by yourself, a brand strategist is a great way to go.

• Prioritize what you want to focus on 

• If you’re only looking for support with the business side of things and want to focus on strategy, mindset, and sales, look for a business coach. 

• If you want someone to help dig into your brand strategy and then leave you alone, look for a brand strategist.

• If you want a little bit of everything from business strategy and foundations to brand messaging and visuals, look for a coach (like me!) who blends brand and business coaching.

How do I find the right coach?

Once you feel in your bones that you’re ready to invest in coaching, you want to find the right coach. Here are a few ways to go about looking: 

• Get busy on social media

Before you can pick who’s right for you, you might want to start by seeing what options are even out there. You can follow different coaches on social media, check out their websites, and get a feel for the different types and styles of people to help you understand what you gravitate toward. 

• Have a meeting

Once you find someone you like, inquire! If they offer discovery calls or coffee chats, have a meeting with them. A coach is a serious and personal investment, so take the time to feel out whether or not you click with them before you decide to go all in.

• Ask them some questions

A few helpful questions to ask a coach so you can better understand their style and expertise are:

• What type of business owners do you usually coach? What stage of business are they in? Are they service providers or product-based businesses?
• Are your clients working on their own or do they have a team of people? 
• How would you describe your coaching style?
• What level of support do you like to give your clients? 

The answers you’re looking for are answers that are aligned with what you want and match your business needs.

(You wouldn’t go to a corporate business coach if you have an online boutique shop.) 

So make sure you’re clear about what you’re looking for before you start asking questions.

• Consider these things

Same as above, get clear on what you want by considering four things:

• How long is their coaching program? How many months of support are you looking for? 
• Do they offer payment plans? What’s your budget?
• Do they have testimonials? What kind of results do their clients share? What kind of results are you hoping a coach will help you achieve?
• Are you being realistic? Or are you expecting a lot and only willing to invest a little?

And no matter what, always, always, follow your intuition. 

My coaching style 

Now that we’ve covered a little bit about everything when it comes to coaching, I want to share with you my style of coaching which combines brand, business, and life coaching all driven by a psychological approach.  

(If you didn’t know before, I’m a multi-passionate… I can’t help myself! I want to know and teach about so many things!)

By approaching everything from a psychology-driven standpoint, we’re able to unearth the very core of who you are, connect that to your vision, and build a personal brand and business that’s rooted in your purpose. And of course, because business and life are inseparable when you’re an entrepreneur, the inner work will not only impact your business, it will ripple out into your personal life. 

If that sounds like what you’ve been seeking, you can learn more here. 

Whether or not it’s me, what’s important is that you find the support that’s the perfect fit for you so you can stop wasting any more time and start chasing after your dreams.