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Why Your Brand Doesn’t Feel Like You (Even If It’s Working) with Angel Dash
49 Plays15 days ago
You built something that works. People are responding, opportunities are coming in—but something feels off. Not wrong enough to walk away… just misaligned enough that you can’t ignore it.
My guest is Angel Dash and she is a Flamekeeper and Sacred Brand Alchemist, international speaker, and creator of the trauma-informed B.O.L.D. Method™. She helps soul-led leaders turn their story into bold, high-converting brands through strategic messaging, visual identity, and website design that feels like home while driving real results.
Connect with Angel: https://www.instagram.com/angeldashbrandingco/
At The Second Voice, we explore the inner conversations leaders rarely say out loud.
If this episode resonated, it is likely because the second voice is active in your leadership too.
Hosted by Luisa Hogan, leadership resilience strategist and founder of Vermelho Consulting.
Luisa works with founders, executives, and senior leaders who carry real responsibility and want to lead with steadiness, clarity, and self-trust under pressure.
Her work focuses on nervous system regulation, leadership identity, and the inner dialogue that shapes how leaders show up when things are hard.
Work With Luisa
If this episode sparked reflection, here are ways to go deeper:
• Leadership resilience workshops and advisory
• Keynotes and curated live experiences
• The Steady Leadership framework and private sessions
Learn more at: vermelho.com.au
Stay Connected
Follow along and join the conversation:
• Instagram: @thesecondvoicepodcast
• Instagram: @luisahoganhq
Subscribe, rate, and review The Second Voice to help more leaders find these conversations.
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Transcript
Misalignment in Brand Identity
00:00:01
Luisa Hogan
Say you have built something that works and people are responding to it. Opportunities are coming your way but something feels off.
00:00:12
Luisa Hogan
And what if this happens with your brand and it feels off, but it's not wrong enough for you to walk away from it. It just feels misaligned and you can't ignore it.
Introduction to Second Voice Podcast
00:00:25
Luisa Hogan
Welcome back to the Second Voice Podcast, where we uncover the uncover the conversations that leaders don't have out loud. I'm Louisa Hogan, and today we're diving into the identity wall behind your brand, your business brand or your personal brand, and the tension between what performs and what you think should perform and what's actually true about you.
00:00:49
Luisa Hogan
My
Meet Angel Dash: Brand Alchemist
00:00:50
Luisa Hogan
guest is wonderful Angel Dash, and I'm so honored to know this magnificent person. I've met her a few months ago, and I'm so glad to call her a friend and somebody I will continue to know for a long time after today. And she is what she calls a flame keeper, and I'm hoping that she will explain that to you. and a sacred brand alchemist.
00:01:14
Luisa Hogan
She's also an international speaker and the creator of the trauma informed b ol ld BOLD method. And she helps soul led leaders turn their story into bold, high converting brands through strategic messaging, visual identity, and website design that feels like home while driving real results.
00:01:35
Luisa Hogan
She's a disabled veteran, a queer leader and a serial entrepreneur. And i love her background and her story. So I can't wait for her to share that. And she blends strategy, sacred storytelling, and nervous system aware design to turn branding into ceremony.
00:01:51
Luisa Hogan
And at the heart of her work, she fiercely protects the truth of those who were taught to shrink and helps them to remember their fire with sovereignty and care. And she always
Angel's Journey to Entrepreneurship
00:02:02
Luisa Hogan
says, let's burn the box. And Angel, I'm so proud to have you on my podcast today. I'm so happy to have you here. Thank you so much for joining me.
00:02:11
Angel Dash
Thank you so much for having me. It is such a pleasure and I love you to death. so of course, um I had to, i had to be a part of this.
00:02:16
Luisa Hogan
I love you to death.
00:02:20
Angel Dash
So i'm I'm happy to be here and I'd love to talk about burning the box.
00:02:24
Luisa Hogan
Excellent. Well, let's start a little bit with your background because I know your background, but share a little bit of it about your story because it's a wonderful story. Tell us about where you've been, where you've come from and how you've landed up where you are today and calling yourself a flame keeper.
00:02:41
Angel Dash
It is a wild roller coaster of a ride. I'm a small town girl and raised and born and raised in Yuma, Arizona. And from there, I joined the military and went overseas, went to Germany and Turkey. Unfortunately, Afghanistan, I sustained an injury. And so when I came back, i walk with a cane now because of that. And I pimped it out. So it definitely has some snake print on it. um After the military, I realized that I didn't want to be bossed around, I guess you could you could say. i
Personal Loss and Authentic Living
00:03:17
Angel Dash
wanted to be my own boss. And so that started my entrepreneurial journey of all these different creative ventures from from doing hair to um I actually had a ah rage room, which is where people came and break
00:03:32
Angel Dash
came to break things to release stress here in my local area. and then after that, because my injury got worse and my health went down, I had to focus more on being home and working from my desk.
00:03:47
Angel Dash
So that began my virtual assistant journey. um I did insurance for a while and I hated it It was not a creative venture for me. I hated that so much.
00:03:57
Luisa Hogan
can't imagine you doing that at all, knowing you
00:03:59
Angel Dash
but
00:04:00
Luisa Hogan
That would be wild.
00:04:02
Angel Dash
i I'll share a story with you some other time about that because that was that was a crazy time in my life. But as I progressed through my journey and figuring out who I was, 2021 was the the catalyst that dropped me. That was...
Breaking Free and Embracing True Self
00:04:21
Angel Dash
the lowest point for me because i had family members in the hospital and my best friend, my soul sister was also in the hospital for an autoimmune disease. And unfortunately she passed away from it and she was only 29.
00:04:37
Angel Dash
nine 28, 29 years old and seeing her be this life of the party and, you know, this, this beautiful badass to completely deteriorating over the course of two years, it wrecked me and losing her was the thing that cracked me open because without her, I wouldn't have,
00:05:09
Angel Dash
Realized that I needed to step outside this box that I had made myself be in. And that was that was the survival box. And I talk a lot about that in when I'm talking about burning the box, right?
00:05:22
Angel Dash
um I
Creating Authentic Brand Agency
00:05:23
Angel Dash
put put up these walls and I'm leaning on them because I think this is what society wants for from me. And I had to learn to get out of that box. And I had to learn that I am who I am. I'm six feet tall. I'm a badass and I walk with a cane and I am who I am because that there's only one life. I only have one life, right? I'm i'm not going to live forever, but I want to make as much of a change and an impact as much as I can positively.
00:05:55
Angel Dash
for the collective. So that's, and now I'm here and now, um, now we do, I'm building the agency that I, that I absolutely love. It's my dream. And now we focus on voice and visuals for our clients and we build it in a creatively somatic way. So we go deep into the soul. We talk about the trauma. We work through that so that we can,
00:06:19
Angel Dash
have our clients show up fully as their beautiful badass self. and And that's what we do now. And it's it's amazing. It's an amazing journey.
00:06:28
Luisa Hogan
So tell me more about that work because, you know, i I'm so intrigued. And like why Flame Keeper and that brand alchemist?
00:06:35
Angel Dash
o
00:06:35
Luisa Hogan
explain Explain more about, you know, what it is that you actually do to help
Client Collaboration and Flame Keeper Role
00:06:41
Luisa Hogan
people find that authenticity in their brand.
00:06:44
Angel Dash
So I'll start with the flame keeper because a lot of people they hear flame keeper and they're thinking, okay, well, she's the keeper of the flame. And, and in short, yes.
00:06:54
Luisa Hogan
Yeah.
00:06:56
Angel Dash
But how that came about was um during that dark point in my life, I remember having a vision and it was a really dark hallway. And at the end of this hallway, there is a very feminine silhouette and there's a glow behind her or around her. And I can't make out what's what she's holding or anything. So I'm walking down this really dark hallway.
00:07:21
Angel Dash
And when I get to her, you know, she has this flame in her chest and she's holding it in her hands and she's holding this flame in her chest. And as she's she's coming towards me and I'm coming towards her, the the flame is getting brighter.
00:07:35
Angel Dash
And she takes a torch and she lights the torch with the flame that's in her heart. And then she passes it to me. And I just remember that vision was one of many sequential visions after that of me having this fire, this passion of caring for people. I've always cared for people. I've always been the cheerleader. I've always been the person that is there for you when no one else is because I've been in those dark shadows. I've been in those dark hallways when I didn't have anybody.
00:08:10
Angel Dash
So the point of the flame keeper is to, you know, with the flame, a flame within our heart and a torch in our hand, we light the way for others.
00:08:19
Luisa Hogan
Mm-hmm.
00:08:20
Luisa Hogan
Mm-hmm.
00:08:20
Angel Dash
Right.
00:08:20
Angel Dash
So I'm, I'm going to walk with you. I'm not afraid of the dark. So I'll sit in the dark with you on those dark days. That's what it means to be a flame keeper. It means that you're there for anyone and everyone that's in your circle.
00:08:34
Angel Dash
I guarantee everyone who's listening to this is a flame keeper for their circle, for their friends, for their family. And that's what it means. and if And if that's what I can share with the world, then yes, we're all flame keepers. And we're all here to help bring that collective up and and bring up the abundance and happiness and joy.
00:08:54
Luisa Hogan
amazing and how do you translate that into yeah you and I get goosebumps around each other all the time how do you translate that into your work then because you know ah I've talked to you lots and then you I mean the other day just for people listening you know um Angel sent me some examples because I'm interested in working with Angel on redoing my 10-year-old business on redoing my brand.
00:08:55
Angel Dash
got goosebumps. yeah who
00:09:02
Angel Dash
yep no
00:09:16
Luisa Hogan
And Angel sent me some examples of some of the work that she does. And it's absolutely beautiful. And I want to know, like, what is the process that you go through to come out with some of that beautiful work that you do for your clients where it just feels so aligned to them, but it also looks absolutely stunning? Like, how does the flame keeper do that?
00:09:38
Angel Dash
So it started with a lot of training on my end, right? So I have the business expertise. I've been in business in, for
Metaphors for Growth: Caterpillar Transformation
00:09:46
Angel Dash
the past 12 years in different ventures. So I've had to do a lot of learning. I have a business degree, but the business side of it, I can do in my sleep. The creative side of it, I'm always wanting to find something new, something fun, something, okay, this is, this is great. I want to incorporate that right now.
00:10:06
Angel Dash
What I noticed about myself is, yes, I can do the the branding. Yes, I can do the web design. But what sets me apart from other brand agencies and brand designers is the fact that I sit with you in the dark.
00:10:23
Angel Dash
ah One of the first meetings that I have with my clients, we talk about where, where they're at. Right. And what their vision is for their, for their business. And so I asked them, okay, if your vision is to impact the world with, let's see, um, the, my, my most recent client, she's a therapist, a licensed therapist.
00:10:49
Angel Dash
And she came to me and she's like, I don't see images. I don't see images in my head, which I, being NeuroSpicy, had no idea that that was a thing. I thought everybody, i thought everybody saw images in their head, but no, that's that's that's not a thing.
00:10:58
Luisa Hogan
That exists. That's a thing. Yes. Yeah.
00:11:06
Angel Dash
um
00:11:06
Luisa Hogan
Yeah.
00:11:07
Angel Dash
Some people don't see images. Some people also only see words. And so that kind of like helped me to learn through that, right?
00:11:11
Luisa Hogan
Yeah.
00:11:13
Angel Dash
And and to to take the time to explain words in a way that they could understand. Right. So this client, she came to me and she's like, I, i don't know how to put this in words.
00:11:31
Angel Dash
I want my, my brand to encompass the light and the dark. Um, and she has a little bit of some butterfly, images and imaging, but she's like, I don't want it to be like fantasy and, and all these like pretty girly like things. Right. And I was like, okay, so let's, let's delve into this.
00:11:53
Angel Dash
when When I'm doing the somatics with my clients, it's more of a, okay, we're going to meditate. We're going to come up with a couple of words, things that are coming to mind for you right off the bat, right?
00:12:05
Angel Dash
no No hesitations. I want you to just right off the bat, what do you think about, right? So for you, one of the things that you and I have talked about, right, is a hummingbird. I know that that's going to come for you, right?
00:12:14
Luisa Hogan
Mm-hmm. hundred percent. Mm-hmm.
00:12:17
Angel Dash
Right. Only because I also know you so well and it and it resonates so well with you.
00:12:20
Luisa Hogan
Yeah.
00:12:23
Angel Dash
With her, she she said butterfly, but when she said butterfly, she's like, but it's not the butterfly that has come out of the cocoon. It's the transformation. So I don't know if you know this. And for your listeners, I don't know if any of anybody knows this because I had to do my research.
00:12:41
Angel Dash
But when a caterpillar goes into a cocoon and they're transforming into the butterfly, their entire atoms and cells completely disintegrate.
00:12:50
Luisa Hogan
They're going to goo.
00:12:51
Angel Dash
and turn And they turn into goo.
00:12:54
Luisa Hogan
Yeah.
00:12:54
Angel Dash
I had no idea. And I was like, oh my gosh.
00:12:55
Luisa Hogan
And june do you know what's wild? Can I tell you one sec? When they become butterflies, they remember things that they did when they were caterpillars.
00:13:00
Angel Dash
Yeah.
00:13:06
Luisa Hogan
How? When they became goo. Nobody knows how they do that.
00:13:06
Angel Dash
Right.
00:13:09
Angel Dash
Right.
00:13:12
Angel Dash
That's probably a scientific thing from ancestral trauma. We probably know this too.
00:13:15
Luisa Hogan
Yeah. Yeah.
00:13:17
Angel Dash
But I didn't know about the goo. But if you think about it, like we all have to go through some point in our life that was tragic for us. And that could look different and will look different for everybody. So when it comes to my clients, we will sit and we will take the space. I hold the space for them. We'll meditate on things that come to mind when it comes to colors, when it comes to their images that they want to bring forward, the feelings that are coming forward. So I focus a lot on the feelings.
00:13:51
Angel Dash
Excuse me. I also focus on where in the body they're feeling Maybe they're feeling tension around something. They really want to have hearts in their brand, right? But as they're saying hearts, i can so I'm watching how their body just kind of like, ah, hearts.
00:14:11
Luisa Hogan
Mm-hmm.
00:14:11
Angel Dash
So there's tension there.
00:14:12
Angel Dash
So
Overcoming Imposter Syndrome
00:14:13
Angel Dash
there's a lot of intuitive. There's a lot of body language. There's a lot of feeling into. And then if they that my client wants to talk about it, we can delve into more of their shadows. We talk about, okay, well, what do you want your clients to feel? What do you want your audience to feel with your brand?
00:14:38
Angel Dash
And based off of that, we will I start to form images. And it's it's so crazy how it happens for me because i will finish with a client After we had our our session. And if you ever look at like one of my, I'll have to send you a picture of my scrap paper that I have when I'm doing this because there's words and drawings and things all over this page, right? It looks chaotic as hell.
00:15:05
Angel Dash
But when when I look at this and then i I meditate afterwards and then it's like the images just come right out to me and then I create it and I've had so many of my clients tell me, how did you pull this out? This is exactly what I wanted.
00:15:21
Angel Dash
And I was like, because my spirit guide was talking to your spirit guides. Like i that's what that's what's happening. It sounds great, but that's what it is.
00:15:27
Luisa Hogan
They know, they know.
00:15:31
Angel Dash
so
00:15:31
Luisa Hogan
yeah
00:15:32
Angel Dash
it's a lot of intuitive work. um There's trauma-informed work involved as well. um I've gone through my own trauma therapy. One of my partners, she's also a licensed therapist as well. And so there is a lot of constant learning around that and constant holding of the space, right?
00:15:53
Angel Dash
So once the transformation begins, I'm never going to just drop and walk away from you. I'm always going to stand by your side and we're going to continue until we do the launch.
00:16:05
Angel Dash
And once we do the launch, then then the feelings are like, oh my God, we did it. It's great. It's great. So um yeah, it's just, it's a wonderful experience. And um yeah, I love turning the voice into visuals.
00:16:18
Luisa Hogan
amazing well angel i love your story and i love the work that you do absolutely you have to if you're listening check out we i'll put a ah Angel's, you know, links on the on the show on the show notes and everything.
00:16:32
Luisa Hogan
Go check out her work. It's beautiful. But I want to know like the self-talk. This is a self-talk podcast. You know, I want to know the inner talk that you've had through that amazing journey because you've tried different things.
00:16:44
Luisa Hogan
You're a veteran. You have a disability as a result of that. You know, you've you've come through a lot of change yourself.
00:16:49
Angel Dash
Yeah.
00:16:52
Luisa Hogan
I know you've talked to me about the inner change and the inner work that you've done. Talk to me about how you've come to having this beautiful, successful brand yourself that is helping others with their brand. And, you know, the inner talk that has led you to where you are, like were there moments of doubt? Was was it all like moments of awakening? tell Tell me more about that. So other people who may be going through something similar and looking for the thing that they they do, like what does that look like for somebody?
00:17:27
Angel Dash
I am just like everyone else. I struggle with with imposter syndrome. i'm I'm still working through that. there are There are days that I have that are worse than others.
00:17:41
Angel Dash
And i think it's a matter of finding the right support system for you first and foremost. whatever that looks like. My support system looks like my partner's. My support system looks like really close friends of mine.
00:17:59
Angel Dash
um my My overseas Aussies that I love so much.
00:18:03
Luisa Hogan
I'm happy to be included in one of those.
00:18:05
Angel Dash
Absolutely. Because I also realized that having different people in my life from different walks of life also gives me perspective on where things are and where they could be and where they're going.
00:18:23
Angel Dash
Right.
Intuition and Client Interactions
00:18:24
Angel Dash
And so during that really traumatic year of my life, I struggled with my spirituality. I struggled with religion and trying to find something that worked for me when my best friend was just here a second ago and then she's gone.
00:18:48
Angel Dash
And so having that battle within myself, there was a lot of deprecating thoughts. There was a lot of negativity. There was a lot of, should I be here?
00:19:02
Angel Dash
Should I continue? and at the end of it, there, there was always this little voice and I, and I feel like it's her. I feel like it was her flicking me on the back of the ear. Um, but there was always something that
00:19:14
Luisa Hogan
Probably it was.
00:19:17
Angel Dash
um In the beginning, it was very light, so I never i didn't feel it as... blunt as I feel now. Now it's a full on flick in the ear. And I'm like, okay, all right, I'm doing the thing.
00:19:29
Angel Dash
But before it was just like this, like, you've got to keep going. There's more to this. There's more to you. You're not showing your your whole light. You're not sharing sharing your fire as you should be.
00:19:44
Angel Dash
There was just something that kept coming up in that.
00:19:47
Luisa Hogan
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:19:49
Angel Dash
throughout those years. And it wasn't until that point that I was like, oh shit, like, yeah, I need, I need to do this. I need to stand for myself. I need to unblock my throat chakra essentially because it was blocked.
00:20:05
Angel Dash
I, I had been under a rock thinking about, thinking that others wanted to see me, hear me, view me in a certain way, right? I had this thought that people needed to see me professional in order for them to work with me, right? And so I would i would start taking on any client that would come my way. Any client would come my way and by the end of it, I was completely drained. I i was irritable, i was angry,
00:20:40
Angel Dash
I took the time to realize that all of these things that were happening for me weren't happening to me, right? They were happening for me.
00:20:53
Angel Dash
So
00:20:55
Angel Dash
I lost my train of thought. That happens often with my neuro spiciness. So with
00:21:01
Luisa Hogan
That's absolutely fine. No, that's all right.
00:21:02
Angel Dash
like
00:21:03
Luisa Hogan
I mean, I have questions there that might get us back onto like a thing, you know.
00:21:06
Angel Dash
Oh, sure. Hmm?
00:21:08
Luisa Hogan
What strikes me with that is often the very thing that we are, that we have to learn ourselves becomes the thing that we teach others, right?
00:21:19
Luisa Hogan
And I love that you're talking about like that, that, that doubt, but things happen for you and you learning that process and trusting that process because it's a, it sounds like it's a journey of trust.
00:21:32
Luisa Hogan
Right. And, you know, I, and, and I'm, I'm with you. Like I used to take on any client that I could. And then only later when I trusted in my work and in myself, did I go, no, that's not how I work because that's just not fulfilling for me.
00:21:47
Luisa Hogan
And there needs to be some values there, right? So, you know, i love that you do that. Like you did went through that process yourself and now you sort of help other people to do the same thing, right? You know, find that authenticity.
00:21:58
Angel Dash
I do and in ah in a different way. do.
00:22:02
Luisa Hogan
Mm-hmm.
00:22:03
Angel Dash
And it you just sparked ah a memory that just popped up recently. So previously, I would work with almost anybody that would come my way. Now I'm very, I'm very selective with with who comes into my space, because this isn't just
00:22:16
Luisa Hogan
Mm-hmm.
00:22:22
Angel Dash
This isn't just branding. This isn't just branding and web design. This is I'm holding the space for you and I'm letting you into my inner world.
00:22:30
Luisa Hogan
Mm-hmm. Hmm.
00:22:35
Angel Dash
So, and you're going to let me into your inner world. So there has to be a level of trust there. So there has to be, we have to get along right away. Right?
Intuition vs. Professionalism
00:22:43
Angel Dash
So, It's funny that you mentioned it because i had a, um, an interaction with somebody recently, right? And this goes along with the, the inner thoughts that are happening.
00:22:57
Angel Dash
So I had an interaction with somebody recently and I thought it was going to be great for myself. I thought it was going to be lead to wonderful opportunities and it, and it still may, but,
00:23:09
Angel Dash
um
00:23:12
Angel Dash
during this interaction, I felt very closed off. I didn't feel my normal bubbly self.
00:23:23
Angel Dash
Excuse me. um
00:23:24
Luisa Hogan
Yeah. Yeah.
00:23:27
Angel Dash
I didn't feel my normal bubbly self and I couldn't figure out why. i was like, what is happening? Like normally when I'm talking to people, when I'm talking, even through the screen, I'm like using my hands and I'm very like uppity and like talking and happy, right?
00:23:39
Luisa Hogan
yeah
00:23:41
Angel Dash
You've seen that. You've witnessed that. Well, during this interaction with this person, I was like,
00:23:43
Luisa Hogan
yeah
00:23:47
Angel Dash
And I was like, Angel, stop it. Like I had to mentally tell myself to stop like crossing my arms. But that was my, that was my body telling me, I don't like this. I don't like this.
00:23:58
Angel Dash
And I was like, Oh, after this interaction with this person,
00:23:58
Luisa Hogan
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:24:03
Angel Dash
everything around me just kind of like got really dark and all of the negative thoughts that normally I can keep at bay and I can work through were just like on on my chest, in my head, pushing down, pushing me down, trying to get me to be smaller.
00:24:24
Angel Dash
And I was like, what is this? What is this?
00:24:26
Luisa Hogan
Hmm. Hmm.
00:24:27
Angel Dash
Like i i I was mad because I was like, this is not me. What is happening right now? So I literally got up from my desk and I was like, okay, because I'm a spiritual baddie.
00:24:39
Angel Dash
Okay. I was like, I'm going to go light some sage and I'm going to go light some dragon's blood and I'm going to dance around my office with these little things. And I'm going go, you're going to get the F out because I'm not doing this.
00:24:50
Angel Dash
We're not having this energy. So I turned on some music and I'm like, okay, we're going to dance it out. It's fine because that's what needs to happen. You have to move your body to get that stagnant energy out.
00:24:57
Luisa Hogan
Yeah.
00:25:02
Angel Dash
And, and that's where people get stuck because they're like, well, I don't want to, I don't want people to think I'm crazy. I don't want people to think I'm, I'm i'm silly or they don't want to take me personally, professionally.
00:25:14
Angel Dash
Right.
00:25:14
Luisa Hogan
Yeah.
00:25:15
Angel Dash
And I'm like, who cares if, if they're going to take any of that from you and they're going to take, oh, well, you're silly.
00:25:17
Luisa Hogan
Yeah.
00:25:22
Angel Dash
You're this. I can't, I can't see myself having a conversation with you. Okay. Well then you weren't, you weren't here.
00:25:26
Luisa Hogan
They're not the people for you.
00:25:27
Angel Dash
Yeah.
00:25:28
Luisa Hogan
They're not the people for you.
00:25:28
Angel Dash
it
00:25:29
Luisa Hogan
But also like what strikes me about what you just said is how many people would feel that yuckiness and like feel this and ignore it and continue to interact with this person for the sake of clients or that for the sake of not looking bad or not disappointing people.
00:25:45
Luisa Hogan
And there's this is what I like talking about. It's like we we all have that internal, that intuition, that guidance that comes to us, that feeling, and we we ignore it.
00:25:57
Luisa Hogan
And ah in entrepreneur entrepreneurs especially do this, people who work themselves, looking for clients, They go through this panic phase of it's important that I have the money and the work coming in. Otherwise, my business is going to fail and do all of that.
00:26:10
Luisa Hogan
And they ignore all of those feelings for the sake of looking professional.
00:26:13
Angel Dash
hu
00:26:17
Luisa Hogan
And it actually doesn't serve them or their business at all, does it?
00:26:17
Angel Dash
Yep.
00:26:21
Angel Dash
Nope. The thing that I have noticed in the most recent years, ever since that thing that happened in 2020, because I don't know if we can talk about it. it
00:26:30
Luisa Hogan
It's probably safer not to say it.
00:26:33
Angel Dash
Right.
Embracing Individuality in Business
00:26:34
Angel Dash
So, you know, that thing that happened, right?
00:26:34
Luisa Hogan
Yeah. That thing. Yeah.
00:26:37
Angel Dash
So what I noticed about that is there there was a lot of a lot of masks came off, right?
00:26:46
Luisa Hogan
Mm-hmm.
00:26:46
Angel Dash
So people, when when you go into work, when you go into your job, your your office, you're in a specific space, you're around specific people, you put up a mask, whether you realize it or not, because you're wanting to be liked.
00:27:05
Angel Dash
You're wanting to be accepted in this area of your life. But What I've noticed more so recently is that the right people are naturally going to be just attracted to your energy and it's just going to be a magnet. And so the right people are just going to find you and it's going to emanate the way it should.
00:27:27
Angel Dash
I spent years trying to be professional, but still have that little bit of quirk, right? So in high school, we had,
00:27:38
Angel Dash
um we had uniforms that we had to wear and it was very like white and white polo and like a khaki pant kind of thing. I would put on rainbow beads or a rainbow scarf around my, my waist. Like I was always finding a way to dress it up.
00:27:58
Angel Dash
And I was still doing that also in business prior to 2021, because I was like, people think that if I have colored hair,
00:28:09
Angel Dash
or if I have tattoos that I can't give them the beautifully professional services that that they're looking for.
00:28:14
Luisa Hogan
Professional service.
00:28:19
Angel Dash
But who i am doesn't, has nothing to do with, well, I mean, it does have everything to do with, but at the same time, what i look like is not going to affect the amount of service that I provide for those people.
00:28:34
Angel Dash
right And so it comes back to, talked about this earlier today too, it ah it comes back to a visibility wound versus an exposure wound.
00:28:35
Luisa Hogan
Mm-hmm.
00:28:45
Angel Dash
right So a visibility wound is, I don't want to be seen or, oh, I don't i don't want i don't want to go out in public or I don't want to go with those friends because I haven't seen them in a bit.
00:28:46
Luisa Hogan
Mm-hmm.
00:28:55
Angel Dash
or That's the visibility wound. The exposure wound is is the emotion underneath it. It's the, the judgment that you're afraid you're going to see or receive.
00:29:08
Angel Dash
It's the projection that you have, that you're putting on them, that you think they're thinking. And that's confused. It's a confusing statement. But what I mean by that is whenever I would walk outside my house with my cane, I would say prior to doing my work, prior to doing my, my shadow work, I would say, Oh, people are going to look at me funny. They're going to to think, well, why does this person who is so young have a cane?
00:29:38
Angel Dash
why why Why do they have a cane? Why are they walking with a cane? When in actuality, they could be thinking, wow, I really like her shirt today. Wow, look at her cane. It's got that cool little bedazzle on it, right?
00:29:51
Angel Dash
But that's that that was me projecting what I thought others were going to think of me.
00:29:55
Luisa Hogan
Mm-hmm.
00:29:57
Angel Dash
So it's a matter of the exposure when you are feeling exposed. versus you being visible. And so we talk about that with my clients. I talk about that with my clients.
00:30:08
Angel Dash
We work on the exposure wound and the visibility wound, and then we transmute that into their their business, their brand, and then it starts to feel like home because it's exactly who they
00:30:13
Luisa Hogan
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Risks of Misaligned Branding
00:30:20
Angel Dash
are.
00:30:20
Angel Dash
It's who they are becoming. And they're like, yes, this is me. I've been waiting for somebody to get it. I got you. I listen pretty well.
00:30:29
Luisa Hogan
Yeah, you you do. I mean, having seen your work, like it's amazing. It looks beautiful. I so relate to that because like early on in my career, i i mean, I consider myself edgy and, you know, I got tattoos, and you know, I've always been a little bit edgy, a little bit like like dressing up a little bit rocker, you know, like rock kind of vibe.
00:30:35
Angel Dash
Thank you.
00:30:42
Angel Dash
isnt them
00:30:49
Luisa Hogan
I love that vibe. And as I get older, It's like, I have to find age appropriate rock vibe, but it's still there, right?
00:30:54
Angel Dash
Nope. No age appropriate.
00:30:56
Luisa Hogan
It's still there, but no, but it's like, you know, like it It has to look good to me, like to me, it has to still look good, right?
00:30:56
Angel Dash
No. See, you're doing it. Don't do it.
00:31:05
Luisa Hogan
And early on in my career, i know my first proper office job and I'd go in and I'd dress a little edgy and an older lady that I worked with put in a complaint against me saying that I wasn't professional coming into work with that clothes and I had got spoken to and I was terrified. I was 23 years old. So I'm like, oh, nobody is going to think I'm professional. So I changed how I dressed at work and just wore like the normal corporate gi stuff And it was only later on, you know, when I, that I started like finding myself again, and then I'd wore like, I'd wear the corporate gig stuff with really edgy shoes.
00:31:30
Angel Dash
Mm-hmm. Yep.
00:31:39
Luisa Hogan
And then I've always had, like, I got more and more edgy with my hair. And now in my own business, right? Like I, like this is what you get. And I come to meetings and I dress in like Japanese style, rock style, like always really, really edgy.
00:31:53
Luisa Hogan
And you know what? It's actually the thing that people remember and love.
00:31:56
Angel Dash
yeah
00:31:57
Luisa Hogan
And if they don't love it, they're not the right clients for me. Right. And, but people remember it and I go and I speak on stages too. And they remember me from like my edgy app and like, wow, you always look so edgy.
00:32:07
Luisa Hogan
People stop me all the time over what I'm wearing. And it's funny when you let go of the fear, it's it's like, there's going to be one or two people who don't like it. So be it. But the 23 year old me was so afraid and 45 year old me is like, whatever, you know, and perhaps it takes age.
00:32:17
Angel Dash
Yep. Mm-hmm.
00:32:24
Luisa Hogan
and I'm interested to know, like, how does like that, that nervous system, you do somatic work. How does the nervous system regulation stuff impact people's decisions on a brand in terms of tone and visuals and messaging?
00:32:39
Luisa Hogan
You know, like, does it have a huge impact in what you see? Yeah.
00:32:44
Angel Dash
oh Oh, absolutely. um when i can immediately tell when somebody is making a decision based off of chaotic energy versus making a decision off of something that feels good in their heart. They've sat with it. They feel into it.
00:33:02
Angel Dash
um A lot of my clients, they have had... I don't know. I don't know if trauma is the right word around them working with specific service industry or so specific people in the service industry.
00:33:20
Angel Dash
But I've noticed that a lot of the people that come to me, a lot of my clients, they're always like, well, um, could you, I'm not really sure if I should change this. Right. So there's, there's always that little bit of hesitation. So when I talk to them, I'm giving them the confidence to be able to also speak their truth because I'm not making it a hard time by changing the things that they want changed.
00:33:45
Angel Dash
So I walk them through, Hey, this is what I was thinking about for your logo. And here's, here's how we came up with that. Here's kind of where I was thinking, and we kind of delve into this part and I, and I explain it.
00:33:58
Angel Dash
And so when I explain it to them and I give them the power to be able to hold their own space and hold their own voice, they feel more confident so then they can speak up better. Right? So when your nervous system is chaotic, when you have things going on, when there's tension in your chest and your shoulders and your heart,
Building Brands from Inner Truth
00:34:20
Angel Dash
that's going to be a decision based off of scarcity.
00:34:25
Angel Dash
So when you're making a decision based off of scarcity, especially within your business, well, then now your business is going to be centered around scarcity. And you don't you don't want that. Nobody wants their business to be focused solely around scarcity. You want it to be focused around abundance. So when you are focusing on the moments of tenderness, the moments of like, okay, we're going take some breaths. We're going to ground ourselves and we're going to go into this session. Like this is just two friends talking about what you want to do with your business. And then and then we work through that. And i we do a little bit of a meditation to figure out what is what is stuck up here in their head.
00:35:04
Angel Dash
And then I put it down on paper and I bring that to life. I ah had somebody tell me the other day, it was, it's like you're taking a bunched up ball of yarn that's like all disheveled and and then you're just pulling out the string just so easily and it just begins to unravel and it just turns into these beautiful visuals and I was like oh wow well I'm glad that I could help because I've never I've never heard that before so it was a wonderful experience to be able to to hear that too
00:35:33
Luisa Hogan
Yeah, yeah.
00:35:38
Luisa Hogan
You're speaking my language, because as you know, I do all, it steady leadership for me, resilient leadership, steady leadership. And my work is solely around, you know, when you are steady, you make calm and clear decisions. And I love how you've extrapolated that into you're going to be building a brand from a calm and clear place. And that is only going to be helpful to your brand because then it isn't something that it's not. i mean, what's the risk of people staying? Anybody listening is thinking, oh, well, I've got my brand. It doesn't really matter about who I am inside. My brand works. It's making me a lot of money. So it doesn't matter. Like what's the risk of staying with a brand that doesn't align or no longer reflects who you are? Like for me, you know, my brand for Vermello, started 10 years ago and I'm ready. I'm ready to
00:36:22
Luisa Hogan
not rebrand, not not change the name or anything, but it needs visually needs to look different for me. I know what the personal risk for me is is. just not going to resonate with me. But like, what, what is the risk to those listening? If you don't ah realign it with who you really are,
00:36:39
Angel Dash
In short, you're putting a cap and a limitation on yourself and your business and your brand. If I'm speaking corporate, that's the way I would say it, right?
00:36:50
Angel Dash
If I'm speaking in a creative tone, think about all the times that you're wanting change or you're going through a change. And you know that in order to pass this test, in order to go to the next version, you have to do the training, you have to to do the work to get there, right? That's with anything in life, whether that's trauma work, whether that's doing a um ah course that you're wanting to do, whether that's for your school studies, like you have to train for it. You have to go through the work and the inner work of doing things
00:37:24
Angel Dash
You have to do the inner work in order to get to where you're trying to go, right? And so
Closing Thoughts on Authentic Branding
00:37:29
Angel Dash
when you are sticking with a brand that just works, right?
00:37:34
Angel Dash
There is, yes, it may be successful, but what happens when now the brand you go through the change, you find a designer that works with you, that pulls out the the images that are stuck in your head and actually does the work with you, alongside of you.
00:37:54
Angel Dash
And now the brand begins to fully encapsulate and embody who you are and who you're becoming and the people you want to help. So now when somebody looks at your brand, now they're going to feel that.
00:38:06
Angel Dash
It's not a matter of like, okay, well, here's the brand. Okay, well, I trust that brand because I've worked with them before. Whereas if you send an a a past client your new branding that you've done, they're going to see, oh, no, this is exactly you. This is who you are. I can see it. It's about the emotional connection that you're having, not just with yourself, but also with the people that you're going to interact with within your business.
00:38:34
Luisa Hogan
Yeah, I love that. And I love that your personal journey reflects exactly that. You know, like you are you are talking, walking the talk.
00:38:40
Angel Dash
It does.
00:38:44
Luisa Hogan
You walk the talk, Angel. And that's one of the things I absolutely love about you, that you are super authentic and vibrant and wonderful to talk to and spiritual and quirky and all the fun things. And then you produce like... exquisite work too and and knowledgeable too, right? so But it's funny also going against the grain because like all the things that you hear about, you know, tone and brand voice, you understand all of that but people take that as face value and they just go like their inner voice is saying, no, I have to do this because, you know, you know
00:39:11
Angel Dash
Mm-hmm.
00:39:19
Luisa Hogan
pink is a bad color for brand color because in, you know, this country, it's an offense of color. And like people just overdo that kind of analysis. Right. And what you're saying is get rid of the analysis and do something that's authentically you and the rest will come.
00:39:28
Angel Dash
They do.
00:39:35
Luisa Hogan
Right.
00:39:36
Angel Dash
Mm-hmm. Absolutely.
00:39:36
Luisa Hogan
Yeah. Yeah.
00:39:37
Angel Dash
When it comes to... feeling into your brand, when it comes to feeling into yourself, right? So with me, I remember, i love telling this story.
00:39:51
Angel Dash
um When I did the rebrand of my logo, right now, the my logo, it's my name, but in the middle of my name is my cane, a skull and a snake, right?
00:40:04
Angel Dash
And there's
00:40:04
Luisa Hogan
I love it, by the way. It looks so cool.
00:40:05
Angel Dash
Thank you. Thank you. There was some stargazer lili lilies in there too, because those grow in the moonlight and they always grow up.
00:40:07
Luisa Hogan
yeah
00:40:12
Angel Dash
But when I... went through this journey. She's ah a friend of mine and she's a shaman here locally. And we went through a journey.
00:40:23
Angel Dash
This journey led me to outer space on a broom with Merlin. And when I say Merlin, I'm thinking of the goofy Merlin from Disney, right? That's who's dancing next to me in space while I'm doing this. But this journey was about creativity and I had it blocked.
00:40:43
Angel Dash
And after I went through that journey, I remember just starting drawing and I was drawing my logo for for my brand. And I was like, oh, okay, this is what it is.
00:40:54
Angel Dash
Well, if you also look at that, the staff, um it also looks very similar to, I believe it's the the rod of Asclepius, which is the original medical signal.
00:41:09
Luisa Hogan
Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:41:10
Angel Dash
So, and I was,
00:41:10
Luisa Hogan
Which has also got the two snakes wrapping around it, right?
00:41:14
Angel Dash
Mm-hmm. um and I was a medic in the army. So that's why it just all like came together on the paper.
00:41:18
Luisa Hogan
Yeah.
00:41:21
Luisa Hogan
Amazing.
00:41:22
Angel Dash
And I was like, oh, this is what it means to actually like fully embody me. And it's been a journey.
00:41:29
Luisa Hogan
Yeah.
00:41:31
Angel Dash
It's been a journey.
00:41:31
Luisa Hogan
Amazing. Wow. Well, Angel, the time has flown. i want to keep talking to you.
00:41:37
Angel Dash
Oh, it has. Ooh.
00:41:38
Luisa Hogan
We might have to have an episode two of us chatting in the next season or something because I absolutely adore talking to you. You always inspire me. I get goosebumps talking to you because you you have such wonderful insights that are not just, you know, the normal business the normal business talk, which is why I was so happy when you booked in to speak to me on this podcast because just get a different perspective entirely.
00:42:03
Luisa Hogan
um And i'm I'm so happy to have had you on this podcast. So um where can people reach you? So I can't rave enough about Angel. So where can people find you? How can they connect with you? How can they just follow you or ask questions? Where can they find you?
00:42:19
Angel Dash
that The place that I am at most is Instagram and you can find me at angel-brandingco.com and spell out my last name, D-A-S-H, don't put the hyphen. And I'm also on all the other socials. You can also find me going to Google, angel-flamekeeper, that should also come up as well. so um And just just send me a message.
00:42:42
Luisa Hogan
Excellent.
00:42:44
Angel Dash
i love hearing from all different people. give me a follow. I'm working on some grand, awesome, cool new things up this next year. So I'm excited to see where it goes.
00:42:55
Luisa Hogan
Awesome. Well, I'm excited to see where it goes to. And I know that you are going to have amazing success with it. So thank you so much. And to everyone listening, what I took away from this episode, besides all the joy that Angel gives me, is that the strongest brands aren't built with perfect strategy or with perfect communication.
00:43:14
Luisa Hogan
external visuals that you think everyone's going to want. It builds from what works for you and what's true for you inside and what finally stops being at odds with who you are. And Angel has certainly embodied that in her journey and building her business. And it's something that I'll definitely take with me into building my business um as I continue to grow that over the next few years is is finding that authentic voice inside of me. So I know that you have enjoyed this episode as much as I have. We will see you next time. And thank you, Angel. Bye.
00:43:48
Angel Dash
Bye.