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There’s a version of this story a lot of business owners know. You put off the brand because you’re not sure where to start, or because you think you’ll sort it out “once things are more established.” And then a year in you’re posting inconsistent graphics and wondering why it doesn’t feel like you yet.

Emily Richardson, founder of Holistic Dermal Clinic, went the opposite way. She joined DIY Design My Biz before she had a single client, with zero brand, a clear vision, and an attitude of “if I’m going to do this, I’m going to do it right.” What she built since then is a brand so cohesive that her suppliers ask who the professional designer was.

The answer? Her.

Here’s what her process looked like, and why it matters for anyone sitting on the fence about DIYing their own brand.

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Learning Design Skills From the Start

Emily didn’t want to start with a rough logo and fix it later. She’s detail-oriented by nature, and she knew that going in with half-finished branding would cost her more time (and confidence) in the long run. So before she launched, she went through the DIY Design My Biz modules properly, learning how to pick fonts, understand brand feeling, pair typefaces, and make design choices that were both functional and felt like her.

“I needed something that really came from the heart,” she says. “Your social media is your face, it’s the first thing people connect with you without actually connecting with you.”

That foundation made everything else easier. Instead of creating graphics and hoping they worked, she had the knowledge to understand why something looked right…or what to adjust when it didn’t.

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Outsourcing Your Graphics V.S. DIY-ing

Emily’s investment has to go into her clients first; the treatments, equipment, products, and services that make up her actual offering. Hiring a professional designer for a full brand, ongoing social templates, signage, website, and everything else would have taken a significant chunk of that budget. Learning to do it herself meant she could put that money where it mattered most.

But it wasn’t just about cost. It was about control. “I’m a bit of a control freak,” she says (her words, and she owns it). She knew what feeling she wanted, she just needed the skills to get it out properly. And that’s the thing about handing your brand to someone else when you don’t yet have the vocabulary to describe what you’re after: you often get something back that’s… not quite it.

With 600+ students through DIY Design My Biz, this is one of the most common things I hear. Business owners who’ve spent $1,000–$3,000 with a designer and come back to the program because the result didn’t feel like them. Learning the skills yourself means you get the outcome you actually wanted, because you’re the one making every decision.

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Why Working with Designers in the Course Mattered

Emily’s clear on this: the online modules gave her the foundation, but the calls gave her the edge. On her own, she could absolutely create something professional and polished. But bringing her work to the group calls and getting a designer’s eye on it…catching small spacing issues, tweaking the sizing of a graphic element, refining the balance of a layout… that’s what took things from “good” to “is this professionally designed?”

“It’s that extra thing where you’re just like, I have all this knowledge but I still can’t work out what’s not quite right about this.”

That gap between knowing the principles and knowing how to apply them in your specific situation is where the calls come in. It’s not generic advice, it’s eyes on your actual thing.

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When Canva stops being a time drain

Before building her skills, Emily could have spent hours in Canva second-guessing herself. Now? She’s efficient. She has her templates, her brand kit, her system. She sits down in the evening (she’s a night person, and very at peace with that), and she gets it done. The only time she spends longer in Canva these days is when she’s intentionally experimenting, trying something new or giving her visuals a subtle refresh.

“I don’t waste time in Canva. You’ve just got your format that you’ve already set out. You just put your ideas over the top.”

That shift, from dreading the design portion of running your business to it feeling manageable, is one of the best things about actually learning the skills. It stops being the thing you put off.

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Building a Cohesive Brand

Emily’s clinic is a physical space, and she’s been intentional about making the in-person experience match the brand people see online, right down to what she wears. When her clients walk in, they notice that it all clicks together. When her supplier called to ask who did her designs, she got to say she did it herself with some guidance, and the response was that this should be shared with everyone in the industry.

“People notice when things click, when things form together. They notice.”

It’s not just Instagram. It’s the website. The signage. The physical space. The overall feeling someone gets before they’ve ever spoken to you. And when that’s consistent, trust builds faster.

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Want to build a brand like Emily’s?

DIY Design My Biz walks you through the exact process… from logo to colour palette to font suite to social templates… so you come out with a brand that actually looks like it was professionally designed, because you had the strategy and skills to do it properly.

Want to join Emily and I inside DIY Design My Biz? Join today:
https://whitedeer.com.au/diy-dmb(DM me “secret squirrel” on Instagram (@whitedeergd) for $200 off 🤫)

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ABOUT GUEST:

Emily Richardson is a Dermal Therapist and owner of skin clinic, Holistic Dermal Clinic located in Townsville QLD. She helps women love their skin with non-invasive, gentle methods that embrace both modern advancements as well as holistic wisdom. This involves treating the skin through getting to understand the person as a “whole” to truly create custom, personalised treatments for the individual. Outside of all things skin related, Emily’s a wife, a dog mum and a former professional dancer. Plus she juggles all things business alongside uni, because life long learning is crucial to stay ahead of the curve!

CONNECT WITH GUEST:

Holistic Dermal Clinic:

Insta: https://www.instagram.com/holisticdermalclinic

Website: https://www.holisticdermalclinic.com.au

Emily’s Insta: https://www.instagram.com/thedermalskintherapist

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WORK WITH JACQUI:

// DIY Design My Biz: The best course for business owners DIYing their own brand and graphics in Canva. Learn more: https://whitedeer.com.au/diy-dmb

// The Co+Creation Design Club: Design WITH the help of a professional designer in this high-touch coaching space: https://whitedeer.com.au/designclub

// Design Studio: If you’re after fully done-for-you design services my studio team can help! https://whitedeer.com.au/designstudio

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