001 - Why Being Everything to Everyone is Ruining Your Brand

July 28, 2025

🎙️ Episode 001 — Being Everything to Everyone is Ruining Your Brand

Are you trying to speak to everyone… and feeling like no one’s really listening?

Welcome to the very first episode of Your Brand Growth Podcast! I’m Melissa Horvat — brand specialist, designer, and your branding wingwoman. In this episode, we’re diving into one of the biggest mistakes I see women making with their brand: trying to be everything to everyone.

When you water down your message, blur your niche, or worry about leaving people out — you end up with a brand that feels scattered, inauthentic, and invisible.

In this episode, we’ll cover:

Why trying to please everyone is holding you back
How to own your space and attract the right people
The power of clarity and confident positioning
Simple steps to start narrowing your brand focus (without fear)
How saying no actually builds a stronger brand

If you’re ready to stop second-guessing, start showing up with intention, and finally build a brand that feels like you — this episode is your permission slip.

Links & Resources:
✨ Learn more about the Brand You course: graphika.com.au
📸 Follow along on Instagram: @graphika__
💌 DM me your biggest takeaway or brand struggle — I love hearing from you!

If you enjoyed this episode:
Please follow, subscribe, and leave a 5-star review. It helps more women discover the show and grow a brand that’s aligned, authentic, and thriving.

________

TRANSCRIPT

001 - Being Everything to Everyone is Ruining Your Brand
===

[00:00:00] Hey everybody and welcome to Your Brand Growth podcast. This is episode one. I'm very excited to be starting and recording this podcast because I have a lot to share as a Brand Specialist and business owner for the past 17 years. This show is for smart service-based women ready to stop second guessing and start building a confident aligned brand that grows with purpose and grows with you and your business as you are on your journey of, business growth.

My name is Melissa Horvat. I'm a Brand specialist, designer, multi award-winning business owner, and your branding sidekick. I'm here as your buddy here to guide you towards building a personal brand that actually feels like you and feels really good to be growing alongside.

[00:01:00] So today's episode is a bit of a truth bomb for so many business owners, especially when you're in those early years of pivoting and of building your brand. I'm very guilty of this, and today we're talking about the trap of being everything to everyone and why that approach is actually sabotaging your brand.

So you may have heard the phrase, if you speak to everyone you speak to, no one.

So what does that actually really mean?

So let's be honest, you are probably super talented. You've got heaps of experience. You want to help people and instinctively, like I did when I started my business, you just want to help everybody. You don't want to turn people away. You're starting your business from scratch. You don't want to miss out on work.

[00:02:00] So yes, look, there are pros and cons to thinking like that initially, but generally that broad approach is actually holding you back. So when your brand tries to speak to everyone, it actually connects with no one. And you may be sitting there trying to create content on social media. I mean, as a business owner, we all know that we're all doing all the things.

And quite often the one thing that comes up for me with a lot of people. In business in particular when in our design studio is people will come to me and say, I don't even know what to post on social media. I don't even know where to start. I don't even know what to post and this usually comes from not being very clear on who you're speaking to.

So generally a lot of these people are. Quite broad in who they're speaking to and they're not connecting with anybody because they are creating content that is not very specific to their ideal client. So let's unpack this a little bit more , and talk about why it doesn't work. And first of all, generic brands just don't stick.

[00:03:00] If your message could apply to any business, generally, it's not going to attract your people, your ideal client. Generally people who are generic in their branding are lacking impact. You're trying to speak to everyone, so your message ends up very weak. You don't have a really strong voice, tone of voice, and there's generally no connection because you don't really know who he's talking to, right.

As a, I mean, me with my branding, I have a very specific person that I'm speaking to. I actually know what they look like. I have that ideal client avatar very, very clear in my mind. So when I'm speaking to them, it's quite easy to connect with them because they are resonating with what I'm, what I'm saying because I under, I've really researched my ideal client and it's not filtered down and watered down for everybody. Some people will walk away Sure, because they are not my ideal client. But the reason it's not working for some is because they're not really clear on who that [00:04:00] person is. So another reason why this approach doesn't work to people pleasing and talking to everybody is that eventually you're going to burn out.

You are constantly pivoting. Your offers are changing, your messaging is just, it's just becoming exhausting. And the f and finally, generally you're attracting the wrong clients. So I mean, it's, if you have a website, if you have social media, all those things, you are going to track people to your pages that are going to inquire.

Generally, if you are really clear, you will know. Initially, if they are the right person that you're going to like working with, sometimes the people that you don't like working with, there are really clear signs and some of them are, they start to drain your energy. When you are working on a project that you are not loving, generally that's because it's not your ideal client.

[00:05:00] They don't value the work that you are putting out there. They're not willing to either pay for it or they don't understand the process and they're expecting miracles that you never promised. We have this sometimes in our business. We all have inquiries and generally, I know I've been in business for 17 years, so I'm a very good judge of an inquiry that comes through our business.

Most of the time our marketing and our, you know, this podcast for example, or our Instagram posts or whatever it is that we put out there, is targeted towards our ideal client. So it's not very often that we attract our non-ideal client really. So when you start making the shift, it starts to change the game when it comes to your brand.

I'm in the process of actually building a course to help you build that brand, but I can talk about that another time. But one of the things or the things that we focus on are [00:06:00] just understanding your niche. Who do you love working with? Why do they need you? Have a think about that from their perspective.

Like what is a problem that, what is a problem that they have that you are trying to solve? And it's all about being authentic. I know that, I mean, even recording this podcast for me, I, you know, sometimes I sit back and think, you know, what should I sound like? Should I try and put on a really. Cool voice or try and say something that doesn't sound like me, and that's an absolute no.

So this is me, this is what you're getting. This is my third take actually. So I have, I did stop it a couple of times because I lost my train of thought. But anyway, you'll hear the quirks, you'll hear the tone, you'll hear all the stuff in the background and me umming and aing, but we are all here to learn.

So, and then the other thing that shifts is [00:07:00] when you're starting to align your offers , and design your service around your dream client's transformation. Not some random request that appears in your inbox. So, when your message messaging speaks to one person really well. That's when the magic happens, you start to build trust, you start to build resonance, and you build momentum.

And that's when your business and your brand starts to really grow and you start to build a reputation around what you do really well. So when I started Graphika, yes, I said yes to everything. Graphika is my, , branding agency. I mean, yeah, I started my business in my garage. I had been working as a graphic designer for 10 years, so I was great at my job.

I thought I was, you know, really good. I'm, I am really good at what I do. I'm just gonna put it out there. But at the beginning, I said yes to everything because it was a fear [00:08:00] based response. I said yes to logos, flyers. I love logos. I said yes to invitations. How bizarre is that? I, I mean, I would not do that anymore.

But you name it, I probably designed it. Things were scattered. I was unfocused, I was busy. I was always busy. Not sure if I was making enough money, but I was busy. I was drained. I was working around my children, but it wasn't until. I would say a couple of years later when I was settled and established in my business, that I got really clear on who I loved helping and who I wanted to work with.

And I broke that down to women in service-based businesses, people who were out there who wanted to build something with heart and meaning. And that's where my brand started to grow. So now I'm known for pretty much one thing, and that is. Branding, [00:09:00] branding for professional service-based business owners.

I love helping women grow confident aligned brands that gives them clarity and freedom, fulfillment. They're in the flow. They are creating content seamlessly because they're really clear on who they stand for as a brand. So that's what I absolutely love. So if you are feeling stretched, if you're feeling scattered or stuck in the whole everything to everyone cycle, I hope you have taken away a couple of little pointers from this podcast.

You're not supposed to be everything to everyone. You're supposed to be, you authentically you and doing the things that you love. I'd love you to, have a think about. Being clear on your brand your ideal client avatar, I do have heaps of [00:10:00] resources that may be able to help you if you visit our website at www.Graphika.com.au.

G-R-A-P-H-I-K-A. There are lost lots of resources. There's tools. I'm creating a brand new course. There is a membership portal coming. So there are, there is lots of exciting things, but I'm here to help you grow a beautiful brand that feels aligned with you and your business. And I'm excited that I've just completed my first podcast episode.

So there's heaps more to come. And I will see you in episode two.

Episode Transcript

001 - Being Everything to Everyone is Ruining Your Brand
===

[00:00:00] Hey everybody and welcome to your brand Growth podcast. This is episode one. I'm very excited to be starting and recording this podcast 'cause I have a lot to share as a. Brand specialist and business owner for the past 17 years. So this show is for smart service-based women ready to stop, second guessing and start building a confident aligned brand that grows with purpose and grows with you and your business as you are on your journey of, business growth.

My name is Melissa Horvat. I'm a. Brand specialist designer, multi award-winning business owner, and your branding sidekick. I'm here as your buddy here to guide you towards building a personal brand that actually feels like you and feels really good to be growing alongside.

So today's episode is a bit of a truth bomb for so many business owners, especially when you're in those early years of pivoting.

And of [00:01:00] building your brand. I'm very guilty of this. And today we're talking about the trap of being everything to everyone and why that approach is actually sabotaging your brand. So you may have heard the phrase, if you speak to everyone you speak to, no one. So what does that actually really mean?

So let's be honest, you are probably super talented. You've got heaps of experience. You wanna help people and instinctively, like I did when I started my business, you just want to help everybody. You don't wanna turn people away. You're starting your business from scratch. You don't wanna miss out on work.

So yes, look, there are pros and cons to. Thinking like that initially, but generally that broad approach is actually holding you back. So when your brand tries to speak to everyone, it actually connects with no one. And you may be sitting there trying to create content on [00:02:00] social media. I mean, as a business owner, we all know that we're all doing all the things.

And quite often the one thing that comes up for me with a lot of people. In business in particular when in our design studio is people will come to me and say, I don't even know what to post on social media. I don't even know where to start. I don't even know what to post and this usually comes from not being very clear on who you're speaking to.

So generally a lot of these people are. Quite broad in who they're speaking to and they're not connecting with anybody because they are creating content that is not very specific to their ideal client. So let's unpack this a little bit more , and talk about why it doesn't work. And first of all, generic brands just don't stick.

If your message could apply to any business, generally, it's not going to attract your people, your [00:03:00] ideal client. Generally people who are generic in their branding are lacking impact. You're trying to speak to everyone, so your message ends up very weak. You don't have a really strong voice, tone of voice, and there's generally no connection because you don't really know who he's talking to, right.

As a, I mean, me with my branding, I have a very specific person that I'm speaking to. I actually know what they look like. I have that ideal client avatar very, very clear in my mind. So when I'm speaking to them, it's quite easy to connect with them because they are resonating with. What I'm, what I'm saying.

'cause I under, I've really researched my ideal client and it's not filtered down and watered down for everybody. Some people will walk away Sure. 'cause they are not my ideal client. But the reason it's not working for some is because they're not really clear on who that [00:04:00] person is. So another reason why this approach doesn't work to people pleasing and talking to everybody is that eventually you're going to burn out.

You are constantly pivoting. Your offers are changing, your messaging is just, it's just becoming exhausting. And the f and finally, generally you're attracting the wrong clients. So I mean, it's, if you have a website, if you have social media, all those things, you are going to track people to your pages that are going to inquire.

Generally, if you are really clear, you will know. Initially, if they are the right person that you're going to like working with, sometimes the people that you don't like working with, there are really clear signs and some of them are, they start to drain your energy. When you are working on a project that you are not loving, generally that's because it's not your ideal client.

[00:05:00] They don't value the work that you are putting out there. They're not willing to either pay for it or they don't understand the process and they're expecting miracles that you never promised. We have this sometimes in our business. We all have inquiries and generally, I know I've been in business for 17 years, so I'm a very good judge of an inquiry that comes through our business.

Most of the time our marketing and our, you know, this podcast for example, or our Instagram posts or whatever it is that we put out there, is targeted towards our ideal client. So it's not very often that we attract our non-ideal client really. So when you start making the shift, it starts to change the game when it comes to your brand.

I'm in the process of actually building a course to help you build that brand, but I can talk about that another time. But one of the things or the things that we focus on are [00:06:00] just understanding your niche. Who do you love working with? Why do they need you? Have a think about that from their perspective.

Like what is a problem that, what is a problem that they have that you are trying to solve? And it's all about being authentic. I know that, I mean, even recording this podcast for me, I, you know, sometimes I sit back and think, you know, what should I sound like? Should I try and put on a really. Cool voice or try and say something that doesn't sound like me, and that's an absolute no.

So this is me, this is what you're getting. This is my third take actually. So I have, I did stop it a couple of times because I lost my train of thought. But anyway, you'll hear the quirks, you'll hear the tone, you'll hear all the stuff in the background and me umming and aing, but we are all here to learn.

So, and then the other thing that shifts is [00:07:00] when you're starting to align your offers , and design your service around your dream client's transformation. Not some random request that appears in your inbox. So, when your message messaging speaks to one person really well. That's when the magic happens, you start to build trust, you start to build resonance, and you build momentum.

And that's when your business and your brand starts to really grow and you start to build a reputation around what you do really well. So when I started Graphika, yes, I said yes to everything. Graphika is my, , branding agency. I mean, yeah, I started my business in my garage. I had been working as a graphic designer for 10 years, so I was great at my job.

I thought I was, you know, really good. I'm, I am really good at what I do. I'm just gonna put it out there. But at the beginning, I said yes to everything because it was a fear [00:08:00] based response. I said yes to logos, flyers. I love logos. I said yes to invitations. How bizarre is that? I, I mean, I would not do that anymore.

But you name it, I probably designed it. Things were scattered. I was unfocused, I was busy. I was always busy. Not sure if I was making enough money, but I was busy. I was drained. I was working around my children, but it wasn't until. I would say a couple of years later when I was settled and established in my business, that I got really clear on who I loved helping and who I wanted to work with.

And I broke that down to women in service-based businesses, people who were out there who wanted to build something with heart and meaning. And that's where my brand started to grow. So now I'm known for pretty much one thing, and that is. Branding, [00:09:00] branding for professional service-based business owners.

I love helping women grow confident aligned brands that gives them clarity and freedom, fulfillment. They're in the flow. They are creating content seamlessly because they're really clear on who they stand for as a brand. So that's what I absolutely love. So if you are feeling stretched, if you're feeling scattered or stuck in the whole everything to everyone cycle, I hope you have taken away a couple of little pointers from this podcast.

You're not supposed to be everything to everyone. You're supposed to be, you authentically you and doing the things that you love. I'd love you to, have a think about. Being clear on your brand your ideal client avatar, I do have heaps of [00:10:00] resources that may be able to help you if you visit, uh, our [email protected] au.

G-R-A-P-H-I-K-A. There are lost lots of resources. There's tools. I'm creating a brand new course. There is a membership portal coming. So there are, there is lots of exciting things, but I'm here to help you grow a beautiful brand that feels aligned with you and your business. And I'm excited that I've just completed my first podcast episode.

So there's heaps more to come. And I will see you in episode two. Okay.

001 - Why Being Everything to Everyone is Ruining Your Brand

🎙️ Episode 001 — Being Everything to Everyone is Ruining Your Brand

In this episode, we’ll cover:

Join The FREE Challenge