We recently connected with Daniela West and have shared our conversation below.
Daniela, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?
A few years ago, I had the vision for launching an online website template shop as a way to both make passive income and to provide a product for people who weren’t yet ready to invest in hiring a designer for a fully custom website i.e. more early stage entrepreneurs and creators. Through my own entrepreneurial journey, I realized that I wanted to create a product that I wish I had when just starting out, because I had invested very early on in hiring a web designer before I actually had a strong understanding of my brand and audience. This early investment ended up being disappointing because I had hired someone to create a brand for me that I didn’t yet have the full vision for, and so the end result ended up being confusing since my own vision wasn’t yet clear to be able to communicate that to a designer.
This early experience was very eye-opening because it helped me realize that early stage business owners and creators need the right tools and understanding of how to actually create their own brand first, before they can understand how to communicate that vision to anyone else in the process. So I knew I wanted to create a product that would both educate people on the essential brand foundations (identity and strategy) first, along with the technical education of actually creating a website from start to finish and incorporating the branding along the way.
I realized this wasn’t something I had seen in the market yet, and it was exactly the type of product I wish I had starting out. Trying to design a website without first understanding how to both give it a brand identity AND target it for a specific audience ended up being a confusing, difficult, and ineffective process for me when working with a designer. So I was determined to create something that guides others along this process.
But beyond that, I also had the vision to combine two worlds that I had not yet seen in the online space, either. My vision was to combine my love of spirituality, specifically astrology, along with the expertise I had gained as both a brand strategist and web designer over the past few years. Because my niche became conscious and spiritual entrepreneurs, I had a feeling that layering design with spirituality would be an innovative solution in the digital world.
After learning all things astrology over a few years of self-study, I started out simply designing websites for my own creative enjoyment. Following my own creativity and curiosity, I asked myself, “If the archetype of Aries were a website, what would it look like? What kind of colors would it use? What kind of imagery and language would it showcase to express itself?” And with those questions in mind, I started to create a website branded in the style of all of the signs of the zodiac. Within just two weeks, I had designed an entire collection of astrology-inspired Squarespace websites!
I knew I was onto something special. So from here, I started to put myself in the shoes of my past self—younger Daniela who was just starting out as an entrepreneur and wanted to create her very first website. I started to ask myself, “What kind of tools and resources did I need at that time that would help me clarify my brand identity and audience? What type of education and knowledge would have been most helpful at that time to help me launch my first website?” I realized I had already created all of it while working 1-1 with web design clients over the years! I had guided workbooks and an entire signature branding framework that I created to help guide our projects.
So I decided to package everything that I used to guide my clients into an online course that would complement these newly created astrological website templates. I realized that this was exactly how I could fill the gap in the market that I had seen in the website template space—while some online shops offered some email support, I had never seen a website template that also offered an entire in-depth course to guide customers along their design journey.
And that’s when I decided to create it. I knew that early stage entrepreneurs needed the type of DIY support that took me several years to learn myself as a web designer. And because they weren’t yet at a financial place to invest in 1-1 guidance, I decided to create video tutorials to walk them through every step of branding, building, and launching their websites on their own without the help of a designer. I spent another few weeks coming up with the course curriculum, planning and recording the video modules, and putting it all together in a digital package to complete the product suite.
By the end of this process, I had put it all together into beautiful astrological website templates that also granted customers access to my signature online course (I called it Squarespace Savant) along with a brand bundle of guided workbooks, checklists, and an entire curated collection of premium stock photos that they could browse through and use for their own website imagery.
I had found a way to translate the work I had been doing with 1-1 clients into a do-it-yourself experience that combined branding, web design, astrology, and online education to put it all together into a cohesive iconic identity experience to help customers create entire online ecosystems that could evolve with them for the long-run. My goal was to empower customers to learn how to create their online identities themselves and feel confident in making updates to their websites on their own, without having to rely entirely on hiring someone else for help.
As technology continues to evolve rapidly, I feel it’s essential for entrepreneurs, brands, and creators to equip themselves with at least the basic knowledge of personal branding and design so they know how to grow and pivot when needed. That builds resilience, empowerment, and confidence in today’s digital world, two qualities which will take you far as a leader in this era.
Daniela, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I’m an iconic identity expert, heart-led thought leader, creative director, entrepreneur, spiritual guide, brand and systems strategist, speaker, and emerging author. To be honest, my work didn’t come from a linear career path or a polished origin story. It came from my own intense and challenging lived experience, starting from childhood. I grew up in a home environment shaped by chaos, abuse, neglect, divorce, and bullying. On top of that, I also experienced an entire upbringing of psychological and emotional suppression of my voice, identity, and self-expression by being raised in a restrictive religious cult. As a result, from a young age, I witnessed how these disempowering systems of control fracture identity, silence truth, and disconnect people from their inherent worth. But rather than turning away from that painful reality and trying to forget about it, I chose to face it, heal from it, and transform it into the foundation of my life’s work: helping others reconnect with their voice, their own sense of personal power, and their core identities to express that out into the world through their brands.
I am the Founder of The Humanista Co., a conscious brand and cultural platform devoted to humanizing brands, systems, and societal narratives in an increasingly automated, disconnected world. It’s clear that authenticity has become this era’s new social currency, and my goal is to uncover and amplify what makes people unique and authentic above all else. I created The Humanista Co. to ensure that, no matter how advanced technology becomes, we never lose sight of what makes us uniquely human: our self-awareness, creativity, emotional truth, integrity, and purpose. But most of all, our soul, which is something AI will never be able to replicate.
To complement this work, I also created and host The Sacred Style Podcast, a safe space for artists, empaths, intuitives, healers, and conscious founders to explore the transformational journey of building a brand with soul. My work lives at the intersection of spirituality, strategy, and service to humanity, blending intuitive wisdom with sharp pattern recognition and systems thinking.
What sets my work apart is my ability to see both the macro and the micro at once. I hold a bird’s-eye view of humanity while remaining deeply grounded in the emotional and psychological realities of individual lives. I don’t speak solely from theory or academia. I speak from embodied wisdom earned through lived experience, deep self-inquiry, and years of inner work. This allows me to analyze patterns of dysfunction at both the personal and societal level and trace fear, disempowerment, self-erasure, and internalized abuse back to their roots.
Through art, speaking, writing, coaching, brand strategy, creative direction, and thought leadership, I help people reconnect with themselves so they can stop living on autopilot and start living with intention. I focus on root causes rather than surface-level symptoms. My work supports individuals, founders, and creatives in healing trauma, dismantling limiting narratives, reclaiming personal power, and transforming pain into purpose. When the self becomes whole, everything built from that self changes too.
My content is known for cutting through noise and abstraction and going straight to the heart, leaving audiences with clarity, emotional resonance, and a lasting shift in perspective. I’m extremely proud of my signature talk, “The Hidden War Within,” which explores why the world feels so fractured by revealing how global chaos mirrors the internal conflict within the individual. We are often at war with ourselves through self-doubt, self-criticism, and a lack of self-worth, and that inner instability inevitably manifests externally. When we heal the internal landscape, we create the conditions for stability, clarity, and transformation in the world around us.
What I am most proud of is my ability to create spaces, products, and experiences where people feel fully seen, fully accepted, and fully human. My philosophy is simple yet radical: we are all human beings being human—let that be enough. At the core of my work is an invitation to drop the masks, integrate the parts we hide, and bring our whole selves to the table. My message is one of hope and responsibility: that a better world is possible, and it begins within. Once we shift the internal, the external has no choice but to follow. More than anything, I want to leave you with my brand’s core message: Be real. Be you. Be human.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
A big lesson I had to unlearn as a business owner was the belief that I am responsible for other peoples’ feelings, and that my sense of worth comes from how helpful I am being to others. These beliefs came from a traumatic upbringing, where I was always trying to make sure everybody else was taken care of, essentially putting the needs and emotions of others before my own to keep the peace and avoid more conflict. This belief led me to a lifetime of people-pleasing, self-sacrificing, and perfectionism that ended up often sabotaging my own sense of self, my growth, and my dreams.
I saw these beliefs show up many times throughout the journey of building my business, especially when it came to working one-on-one with clients. During the second year of my business, I encountered several back-to-back “nightmare” clients. I can look back and laugh now as I share this story because I think many service providers know exactly what I mean by this phrase. You know the type—they are demanding, uncompromising, perfectionistic, and impossible to please no matter how much you give to them. They are the kind who keep demanding more of your time, energy, and attention, obsessed with achieving the “perfect” result, which makes them extremely draining, inflexible, and difficult to work with.
When encountering this type of person in business, I realized that having these unconscious beliefs of mine running in the background caused me to behave in a way that completely neglected myself in the process of working with others. I ended up internalizing every complaint, every frustration, every demand from this type of client as me simply “not being good enough.” I internalized this relational dynamic as me not being good enough to make them happy, to meet their expectations, and therefore, me not being good enough to be a successful business owner overall. I noticed how allowing this belief to run my life was causing me to shrink after encountering difficult clients and setbacks in my business, and it caused a constant inner tension of wanting to grow the business but at the same time, feeling terrified to take on more clients to grow it. So it created this yo-yo experience for several years of attracting new clients to my brand, and then me subconsciously pushing them away at the same time out of fear and not feeling worthy of the success I desired. It was a constant contradiction, and it was exhausting to operate this way.
Eventually, through a lot of self-work, therapy, and finding the right support groups, I was able to get to the root of these beliefs and recognize how they were quietly sabotaging my own success and visibility. I started to recognize all the ways I was holding myself back, not just in my own business, but actually in every area of my life. I started recognizing how staying small out of fear was the biggest reason I was unsatisfied in life overall. I had to learn what my own needs and boundaries were, what I was and wasn’t willing to tolerate from others, and most of all, I had to learn how to pour into my own cup first before I could pour into the cups of others. I had been pouring from a total state of depletion for so long that it led to many cycles of burnout and wanting to completely give up on my business altogether.
Most of all, I learned that we are all adults, and the only behavior, feelings, and needs I am responsible for are my own. I dropped the savior/martyr role I had been playing my whole life once I realized that I can only control my own thoughts and behavior, no one else’s. We are all doing the best we can, and some people are simply impossible to please because of their own patterns and wounding. But this is absolutely no reflection on the quality of my work or my own sense of worth. This has been a game-changer for every area of my life, including my business.
Now, becoming aware of those limiting beliefs, and recognizing how to rewrite my own narrative, how to put systems, boundaries, and policies in place that protect and support the growth of my business, and daily self-care practices and routines have truly helped me to finally believe I am worthy of my desired success and more than I could even imagine.
Finally I tell myself, and everyone I work with, “If other people are able to achieve success and happiness, why not you, too?”
And now, finally, I truly believe it.
Have you ever had to pivot?
I’ve had to pivot in my business, career, and life so many more times than I can even count! When you’ve lived a global nomadic life like I have (I’ve lived in four countries and traveled to about 30 so far), you start to realize that the journey of life is one constant pivot, as the global landscape continues to evolve at such a rapid pace. I try to stay resilient, open-minded, and flexible to the constant shifting of the online and physical world, and to stay open to experimenting in all areas of my life. I’ve learned that while a certain strategy may have worked in my business at one point, for example, it may not work a year or so later as technology, the market, my audience, and my own sense of identity continue to evolve as well.
To give an example of how I have had to pivot, my own marketing strategy comes to mind here. For about two years, I felt a constant disconnect between how I was marketing my own brand and digital products (astrology-inspired website templates) because I hadn’t seen anything quite like it in the world of web design and online creators. For a year or so, I tried to market in the typical way I had seen other designers do so—showcasing visuals of the products, talking about all the value they include, showcasing testimonials of happy customers, etc. But marketing in the way I had seen others do it never felt right for me. My intuition told me that something was off the entire time. I knew it especially whenever I’d feel resistance to promoting the products.
Instead of resistance, I wanted to feel the passion and joy I felt when I originally created the products in the first place. After much trial and error, I decided to STOP marketing in the way that I had seen others do it because it never felt right for me. And I was determined to find out why. Along this process of experimentation and self-discovery, I started deep diving into systems like astrology and human design, both of which help individuals uncover their unique blueprint i.e. the unique way they are designed to operate in this world. To my surprise, I found that the key to my own way of marketing and increasing visibility was not to focus on showcasing my products or work itself, but ME as the founder and face of the brand itself. The key to marketing was to inspire people through my own journey and through stepping into a larger role, not just as a web designer or digital creator, but as a founder, speaker, and thought leader. I discovered I am designed to share my own embodied wisdom, opinions, stories, and beliefs and unique perspective about this world, which is what I am most passionate about.
Once I let go of the old role of web designer, and stepped into a leadership role that required more courage to let myself be fully seen, I finally felt aligned with myself. For years, I had been feeling like I was meant to do more in business than simply promote digital products. I realized that my brand wasn’t simply one product—it’s meant to be an entire ecosystem. It’s not meant to be just one branch—it’s meant to grow into the entire tree itself, with many different branches and channels of income and impact.
This more expansive perspective has changed everything for me, and has now become my own signature methodology that I share and teach to others as well.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thehumanista.co/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thehumanista.co/
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thehumanista.co
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniela-west/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheHumanistaCo
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@thehumanista.co
Image Credits
These beautiful premium product mockups are from Moyo Studio. They are a great way to elevate your digital products and increase their perceived value to attract more customers. If you want to they them for your brad, you can use my affiliate link to get 15% off your first purchase: https://www.moyo-studio.com/?ref=359