We were lucky to catch up with Olivia Denton Thomas recently and have shared our conversation below.

Olivia, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

I help my clients go from hustling to wholeness! While traditional brand strategies often emphasize catering solely to audience demands, my approach with black woman-founded and run businesses diverges significantly. I prioritize aligning the founder’s mission, vision, and values with audience needs. This ensures that the brand’s core remains authentic and true to the founder’s original inspiration.

Many business owners experience fatigue and confusion because they lose touch with their own motivations, focusing entirely on external demands. This disconnection can be draining. During the early hustle, discovering one’s identity and target market is crucial. However, as the business matures, it becomes vital to root the brand in the founder’s unique personality and inspiration. This foundational integrity fosters genuine alignment with customers, employees, contractors, and investors.

Historically excluded founders often feel pressured to conform to market expectations, which can dilute their authentic message. By embracing and showcasing their true selves, we attract the right customers who resonate deeply with the brand’s authentic narrative. This approach not only differentiates us from the industry standard but also cultivates a more sustainable and fulfilling business growth.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I help Black women innovators and entrepreneurs who are corporate and organizational alumni see themselves beyond societal labels. I empower them to shape fulfilling futures and create transformative experiences for their clients and themselves. Promoting self-care, I encourage them to engage in business with an open heart, fostering authentic and impactful connections.

As The Brand Counselor, I specialize in elevating seasoned founders through strategic branding, crafting compelling brand stories that resonate with their dream clients. My signature offer, the Align & Attract VIP Day, helps founders overcome workplace shame and trauma, aligning their business with their core mission, vision, and values. This unique approach bridges the gap between the founder’s essence and audience needs, bringing diverse perspectives and solutions to the marketplace.

The Align & Attract VIP Day addresses the fatigue and confusion many business owners feel when they lose touch with their original inspiration. By reconnecting them with their core values, we help articulate a brand story that is both compelling and true to their vision. I also have a community for women entrepreneurs called The Busy Girls’ Brunch, where we can gather around the realities of being a growing business owner for celebration, education, and affirmation. In everything we do, our focus on authenticity and holistic growth allows founders to build successful, legacy-creating brands.

I am most proud of the transformations we’ve facilitated. It is incredibly fulfilling to see founders embrace their purpose and thrive. One client, in particular, used her brand strategy to hire aligned employees, achieve financial freedom, and begin positioning her business for sale. Witnessing her journey from leaving her day job to planning her exit has been remarkable.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn shame and embrace the risk of not showing up perfectly because “done is better than perfect.” One profound realization was that the business persona and the personal self are one and the same. The trauma and experiences we carry in our personal lives inevitably seep into our professional lives, often triggering us in unexpected ways.

For me, shame was a constant companion. Growing up with the belief that I was either “not enough” or “too much,” I never felt like I had a safe space to take risks. This stemmed from having my son at 16 and the pressure to appear as though I had everything together. I felt compelled to present an image of success at every stage to avoid judgment for being a teenage mother. This façade left no room for me to be a learning, growing human being.

The turning point came when I realized that constantly striving to prove myself—by getting degrees, achieving professional success, and always looking put-together—was unsustainable. Eventually, I broke. This breaking point was both painful and beautiful because it allowed me to start discovering who I truly was. I began to understand that my story was worth sharing, and that authenticity was far more valuable than perfection.

The concept of being an “uninterrupted masterpiece” emerged from this journey. It wasn’t the pregnancy that interrupted my growth but the societal expectations of who I had to become as a teenage mother. Now, as my son turns 18, we are both entering new phases in our lives. I continue to grow and develop, creating beautiful space and opportunities for my business.

This experience taught me the importance of authenticity and vulnerability in both personal and professional life. It showed me that true connection and differentiation in business come from sharing your unique story and embracing who you are, flaws and all.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

My business model initially required me to be extremely hands-on, spending months with each client to create a brand they could run with. While effective, this approach was time-intensive. Between 2023 and today, my family experienced a series of changes that made me realize I needed a new way to achieve the same results with less time. With my kids entering their senior year of high school, I needed more time with them.

I transitioned my business to offer VIP days as the main service. This shift allows me to provide the same high-quality, transformative branding in a condensed, impactful format. The traditional business world isn’t designed for those who spend the majority of their time nurturing their family. I aim to ensure the businesses we build support the lives we want, not the other way around.

This pivot required a reassessment of my marketing strategies, focusing my presence where it truly adds value and ensuring I show up with a plan. Having been in business for 12 years, I initially designed my work to be around for my son. This is the first time in a while that I’ve reassessed how my business operates to align with my current values. Things may change down the line, but for now, I’m proud of this new model and the balance it brings.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Wintentional.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/thebrandcounselor
• Facebook: https://Facebook.com/groups/busygirlsbrunch
• Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/thebrandcounselor
• Other: https://www.threads.net/@thebrandcounselor

Image Credits

Pascale Lourdes Mobley