Hello,

My name is Linsi Brownson and I help creative entrepreneurs love their business and own their life.

About Me

Over 15 years as a designer, brand strategist, creative director and coach, I have worked with hundreds of small business owners to align their business with the lifestyle they want to have.

I combine mindset, business strategy, leadership, operations, sales, branding and marketing. This is the whole shebang, a holistic coaching approach that meets every business owner exactly where they are at, and supports them in getting to where they want to go.

My Story

Storytelling is a powerful way to create connection. I have lots of stories to share about my entrepreneurial roadtrip, and I often share little tidbits on My Podcast. Here are a few chapters of my life that led to where I am today.

Two Parts.

I’m going to keep it honest here. I’ve spent most of my life in conflict with myself. 

In a lot of ways, I’m a textbook rule follower. I’ve never broken the law, or an arm, or a promise. I like to please people. I’m very diplomatic, not just in communication but I genuinely connect and empathize with both sides of anything. I like things to be clean, organized, and everything needs a purpose (or why waste the space?). That rule applies to business models too. 

And, I’m also a rebel. If someone (especially me) uses the word “should” on me, it’s an automatic HELL NO. 
A lot of clients come to me wanting accountability, and I always think “really? You want that?!” Because it would never work on me, I’m not motivated that way at all. 

I can sniff out nonsense pretty quickly, too, and don’t hesitate to call it out when I think something is wrong.
These two sides of me have taken a lot of work to reconcile. My inner conflicts have created problems with my health, my well-being, my business, my relationships my whole life. 

And in learning about these parts, through years of studying the brain, cognitive psychology, personality typing like Enneagram, Myers-Briggs, The Four Tendencies, NLP, the Self-Coaching Model by Brooke Castillo, spiritual works like Ram Dass and Wayne Dyer...so many incredible influences that really helped me tie all these parts together to feel whole.

Key Themes.

My life journey has had a few key themes: Connecting to Myself (subtitle: learning self-love, self-trust and self-discipline), Finding Purpose, Battling Perfectionism and the Inner Critic, and Taking Big Leaps.

 


The Bio.

I went to college for Interior Design (also studied Norwegian language, unrelated but I thought you might enjoy that) and for Visual Communications, both in Southern California. I worked for a few years with an incredible small design firm where it was just the Principal Designer and me - I learned so much about “real world” interior design and the business of design - neither which are taught in school!

In 2008 I was laid off during the recession and decided to strike out on my own. For my first design practice I wrote a kid-you-not 20-page business plan. It was an amazing business plan. I also started a blog called Inspired Design Daily. If I had stuck with that blog it would probably be successful now. But that blog and business didn’t succeed. Because neither business plan nor blog are what make a small business successful.

My next business was a partnership with my husband, an ecommerce company called Redefine Home. I could share so many lessons learned from this business. In fact, I used to write a blog series called “52 Business Lessons I learned the hard way” and a lot of the lessons came from this business. This business was successful, based on how I measure success. Because I learned and practiced so many skills that have served me for the rest of my life. And, when we decided to close the store, those skills parlayed perfectly into my next business.

Spark Collaborative started as a social media agency and quickly grew into full-service branding and creative agency. This is also when I started coaching, because I realized early on that great marketing requires a deep connection to your purpose and the people you serve- and most business owners really struggled to define their unique approach to the marketplace. Our coaching is what informed our creative work, and it was definitely my favorite part of the job!

In 2016 I hired a life coach to help get out of a major rut I was in. I was completely burnt out in my business and in that sucky spot where your life looks great on paper, but feels hollow and inauthentic. He helped me reconnect to myself and my purpose as a coach, which kickstarted a big leap for me. I decided to scale back and focus on coaching so that I could really walk my talk by doing what I love most instead of what looks good on paper (or a tax return).

Today I am coaching business owners in a similar way, helping them reconnect and realign their business so that it supports the life they truly want.

Fun Facts.

  • I’m an Enneagram 3 (The Performer) which means that my ultimate creative expression is sharing my self with others. This is why I have a podcast ;)

  • I’m an MBTI INFJ (That’s Introvert, Intuitive, Feeling, Judging) which is a very purpose-driven personality. I don’t like to do things unless I believe they are valuable. This is helpful in work as a productivity coach.

  • I’m an empath, which means that I pick up on energy before words or actions. This is helpful in coaching because it helps me get to the root of what people need and want!

Connect With Me.

  1. If you’re new to me, I think the best way to get to know me is to listen to a few episodes of my podcast. In my first 100 episodes I cover a lot of ground - my best concepts and teachings are here.

  2. Come find me on Instagram. I don’t share a ton of new content these days but it’s a nice way to personally chat via DM if you’d like. If you are looking for motivation or inspiration, there are some awesome older posts there too.

  3. And, of course, if you are looking for a coach please visit my coaching page and apply for a coaching session to see if we’re a great fit to work together.

Cheers,

Linsi