Brand Nature Outdoor Coaching Program Review

brand story transcript

C: So, welcome to Susan, and and could you share a little bit about why you decided to join the forest? 

S: I really like the connection to nature that Charlotte had presented in working my way through The Forest because I make all of my own products and they’re all natural. I use essential oils, so nature and the products from nature are obviously very important to me and my product line. So that really resonated a lot with me. 

I feel like I’m a pretty much a solopreneur. I do have one girl that works for me one day a week helping out, and then my son helps me some when I’m pouring soap and my husband helps me a little bit, but I have a lot of plates spinning and so it’s easy for me to get off course, distracted or forgetful of the way forward in terms of continuing to put my brand message out there. I feel like going through The Forest, and working with you in general, has really helped me drill down better and to not be so afraid of nicheing down to what I’m really about, why I do what I do, and what I hope to bring to my customers. 

I’d love the idea that she had talked about in the information she put out about what The Forest is gonna be like, that she was actually gonna have sessions where we were gonna go out into nature.

C And did any of the out in nature activities surprise you or bring you a moment you can think of when you were out in nature that really helped you transform something?

S: Well, just really all of it. The experiences or the assignments I guess that she had for us in the forest pushed me to go out to the state park I think either two or three times, which was great. And then also to take walks here on our own property. So it made me realize, just in general, how calming and how much more centered I would feel when I was out in nature and particularly in the parks.

I would combine the assignment from Charlotte as well as taking videos. I would take some of my products and do pictures. I was multi purposing of course, but it was great and it just really helped me realize how important that is to me on a personal level to continue to feel balanced overall and feel more grounded and calmer and just really beneficial all the way around.

And it helped me focus on ways to try to bring that into my business. I have my product images on my product pages, but now I’ve also started trying to incorporate an actual image of lavender plan on my pages that have lavender soaps, for example, or peppermint leaves which I feel like just adds an extra zing to the overall product page, as well as helps reinforce to people that our products really do incorporate nature and bring the benefits of nature to them. There were multiple benefits from going through this. 

C: I was super impressed by just seeing you, when you had the assignment and then you’d share it, really on top of it and I felt like you brought everyone everyone along on the journey.

So interspersed with the ask me anything sessions. How did you find the and how did they help you? 

S: I loved them. Absolutely loved them. If it were up to me, I would’ve had one every week. I really enjoy Charlotte’s insights and her perspective. She’s very personal, I think she really makes the effort to try to understand your business and where you are and where you’re trying to go. And of course, part of why I wanted to work with Charlotte in the first place is she’s very much on the same page as me. She’s very much into nature, into sustainability. She’s probably further down that path than I am, which makes her a great mentor and a great resource.

So, the ask me anything part was one of my favorite parts. And I really liked the fact that each week she also had the video. I don’t think it would’ve worked near as well without having the video talk through in addition to writing stuff down. So having the worksheet was great, but being able to watch the video was also very important.

C: Oh, that’s amazing. Yeah. I try and make sure everyone’s way of learning was met. And, what did you bring? Because we had an intention for the forest, what was your intention and where do you feel you are now with that intention? 

S: To better able to convey the enjoyment that I feel in nature to my customers and how our products help them also experience that in a small way.

And that’s what I was mentioning, to me it was like a little light bulb, with bringing the images of nature onto the product pages was something that I was like, why hadn’t I thought of that before? So that was one thing. And then I started doing the videos. Like I took a little video of me walking through the park and talked about that. I’m doing shots of our walk in the woods soap laying there on the oak leaves or the hill country out there, or the fur and cedar actually on the cedar tree. I’m really trying to incorporate plant material and nature itself into the images that I’m putting out on my website and on my social media.

I think going through this course really helped push me in that direction to be able to try to bring nature visually better onto what I’m putting out for my customers. 

C: Definitely go and have a look at some of Susan’s photography over on her website. She’s been sprucing it all up and it looks amazing.And have you had any response to the changes? 

S: I get really good feedback usually from my newsletter and the images of my soaps with the plant materials usually tend to do well. Images of me tend to do well. So I’m just kind of focusing more on what I was already doing that people liked, but I’m doing more of it and so that’s a good thing.

The other thing is going through The Forest has helped me get more confident in terms of focusing on the path that I wanna be walking with both my business, my products, my own personal life, and realizing that, you know that no, I’m never gonna make strawberry scented soap, it’s just not gonna happen and I’m okay with that. And if somebody wants strawberry scented soap, there’s plenty of other people out there that make it. It’s really helped me. Charlotte has really been great in terms of helping me look more at nature and how she she just does her own thing. She’s got quiet times and busy times and she has a calm overall strength that is hers.

And I think we can draw on that and learn from that. And that is a big part of the takeaway that I got from The Forest. To help me feel more grounded and rely on my own strength and not be so swayed by the latest trends that may not work for me. 

C: I love that, it feels like a perfect place to end. And testament to Susan, who’s been in business 20 years Is it 20 years? 

S: Well, this is 23. I actually did my DBA back in 2000. So it’s going on 24 years

C:. Wow. It’s been amazing and it’s been amazing to see journey and share the practices of The Forest. So go and visit Susan Soaps and more, and see what she’s doing and follow her over on social media as well if you want to stay connected.

Thank you so much, Susan, for sharing your experience of The Forest. It was wonderful to share it with you. If you’d like to find out more and join the next round of The Forest, then click here. There’s also a link below where you can sign up to keep updated and join the waitlist for the next round.