Olivia Bethmann Fitness
Olivia Bethmann Fitness
Services: Brand Photography, Brand Story, Digital Marketing Strategy, Video, About Page Copy
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story can make all the difference.
Olivia’s approach to fitness is one that we could all use so much more of. After feeling burned out and frustrated with her own experiences within the fitness and healthcare worlds, Olivia Bethmann Fitness came to life. Olivia is a certified personal trainer, pre/postnatal exercise coach, and trauma-informed, and her lofty goals of “making a dent” in our nation’s public health system needed a brand package to match - something with incredible strength, while still remaining as soft, healing and intentional as the important work she does.
From Olivia’s lips / fingertips:
“Like many small business owners, I’m trying to juggle 5000 plates in the air. What started as me thinking I needed just a video to help explain what I do, wound up turning into the brand strategy I didn’t know I truly needed to help elevate my business. Branding is such a beautiful thing, and when done right, transcends the traditional product or service-type business — it builds and secures relationships.
“Embolden reads your soul and creates what you maybe had in your mind but 10x better. The experience has been so valuable to me and eye-opening at the way I view myself as a business owner, brand, and human.”
“It’s challenged me in ways in which I needed to be challenged and is helping me prioritize how I should be spending my time for the most impact. I'm so happy I decided to work with Natalie on the brand strategy work — I would have never highlighted some of the points she has, and it’s given me more confidence as a business owner.
I found my experience during the photo session particularly transformative… It took me a long time to actually open my gallery link once Nina sent the finished images. I think I was nervous in the sense that once I see them, I can’t unsee them. Pictures of myself had been historically uncomfortable. Always focusing on the negative, and always felt like I had physical parts of myself to work on. They were never ‘perfect.’
“When I look at my photos now (having flipped through many, many times) I see someone full of life and, more importantly, happy. I look so comfortable, confident, and calm.”
“They all look so natural, like we were just hanging out, which I guess we ultimately were. Me showing any cleavage is very outside of my comfort zone, but I Iike it. Underneath that man’s style blazer there’s a woman who is not shying away from embracing both.
Thank you so much for helping me feel so comfortable and capturing my true personality. I’m truly blown away. You both have such magic, and I’m just so happy we are working together.
Honestly now I’m trying to think what else can we photoshoot.
Thank you x 3000”
- Olivia Bethmann | Founder & Owner @ OBF
Featured Element // Brand Story
The Problem: Olivia is incredibly eloquent, but was having a hard time seeing things from the outside in. She had such an inspiring journey to becoming a business owner + coach, and while she had a solid foundation and many ideas of what she wanted her brand to look / feel like, she had trouble connecting all the dots in a way that she felt made sense. We knew there was so much more underneath the surface.
The Solution: Everything Olivia was offering her clients (self-acceptance and embracing physical strength AND mental health) needed to be reflected back to her. We dug into her WHY and drew out that personal connection to health + fitness through our signature brand story service. By creating space and allowing her to be vulnerable, asking some higher level introspective questions and leading her through different exercises, we were able to weave together a story that really shines now.
Featured Element // Portrait Photography
Problem: Olivia had never worked with a professional photographer before coming to us, and as she mentioned, had mostly negative experiences being in front of the camera (as most women do, we unfortunately tend to find). She needed photos that would position her as both empathetic and extremely soft, but also authoritative and confident as hell (much like her coaching style).
Solution: Her brand shoot resulted in almost 200 images of portraits, photos of Olivia in action coaching, and shots of some of her tools + branded materials. Her gallery has a sense of calmness and comfort, and you can feel how grounded she is in her portraits. She now has a pathway of creating a strong emotional connection with her audience, and photos she can feel good about having on her website, email marketing and social platforms.
New problem: There are too many photos to choose from.
Here are some highlights:
Featured element // About Page Copy
Problem: The copy on the About page was factually accurate and listed Olivia’s qualifications, but it lacked emotional connection and depth.
About page copy before:
“Located in Rochester, New York
Certified Personal Trainer (NASM) and MHA (Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health). Areas of speciality include:
Trauma-informed
Pre and postnatal
Functional training
Strength training
Cardio movement
Endurance training
I left my corporate healthcare career of 10 years to build Olivia Bethmann Fitness for our community. Fitness has always been a way for me to process my big emotions and intentionally escape from life’s challenges. Now, I use movement as a way to heal and as a foundational component to overall health. I’m creating a brave space for others to feel supported in their own movement journey — wherever that is.”
Solution: Natalie’s brand identity session with Olivia resulted not only in a Brand Values document, but also revealed the true brand story behind Olivia Bethmann Fitness, with her personal connection to the work she creates at its core.
After:
“I’ve always embraced duality. The seemingly opposite callings to which I am drawn to often creates a unique hybrid of creation - something not rooted in “OR” but in “AND”. I love science, and art. Athletics and academics. I’m bougie and crunchy.
Growing up as a high-achieving and competitive high school athlete who was also deeply committed to academics left little room for self-care or balance. Hustle culture paired with diet culture fosters unhealthy relationships with both movement and food, both of which I have suffered from. Healing from these traumas has been a journey in my life, one I have approached with science, research, self-discovery and love. Becoming a mother has only propelled me further in my journey, rooted in a firm rejection of passing my trauma to my children. Fitness had always been a way for me to process my big emotions and intentionally escape from life’s challenges, but I knew it could be more.
The fitness and wellness industries have polarized and distorted the ideas of movement and fitness. Most instruction falls into one of two categories: “get ripped” or “namaste”. I no longer wanted to choose between prioritizing my physical health, OR mental health. As I have always embraced both sides of the coin, I knew I could combine these two modalities to create a unique, more supportive way of life. I have designed programming to use movement as a way to gain strength AND heal, creating a foundation for overall health. I’m creating a brave space for humans to feel supported in their own movement journey — wherever that looks like.
I am humbled daily by the beautiful people that choose to strengthen their minds and bodies with me. Our classes are free of judgment and shame, we have torn down the walls that keep us separate so we can all heal and grow together.
- With love and light, Olivia
Olivia left her 10+ year career in corporate healthcare to commit her full time and energy to bringing healing and strength to the world through OBF. She is a Certified Personal Trainer (NASM) and MHA (Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health) located in Rochester, New York.
Areas of speciality include:
Trauma-informed
Pre and postnatal
Functional training
Strength training
Cardio movement
Endurance training”