She liked the work. Just not me.

I still remember her face.

It was my first year running my own studio.

She was a dream client on paper — funded founder, clear vision, great product. And she found me. Said she loved my style and wanted me to “take the reins.”

Naturally, I went all in. And to be honest, I had a little crush on her too. (nothing of the weird kind)

So I pulled three all-nighters. Sent 17 concept options. Wrote poetic copy. Design so slick it could slide off the screen.

She replied with one line:

“I think we’re not aligned.”

No feedback. No call. Just that. And poof — gone. I stared at the screen for an hour. Then paced around the house convincing myself she didn’t “get” me.

But if I’m honest… I didn’t “get” her either. Because I never actually listened.

Here’s what I believed back then:

If I did great work, people would automatically love the brand.

Turns out, people don’t buy into branding the way designers buy into Dribbble shots. They buy into relationships. Into resonance.

They want to feel seen. Heard. Understood.

And all I had done was dump a bunch of good-looking slides and expect loyalty. That’s not how friendship works. And it’s not how branding works either.

Here’s what I didn’t realize until later:

People don’t want a performance.

They want presence.

A friend isn’t someone who dazzles you with monologues. A friend listens. A friend remembers your birthday. A friend replies to your weird texts at 1AM.

That’s how trust is built.

And branding is the same. It’s not “how loud can I be” — it’s “how often do I show up with empathy?”

So now?

I write before I design. I talk to users before I pitch. I don’t show clients what I made. I show them what I understood.

And slowly, something happened. Clients started sticking around. They didn’t just “like the work.” They liked how it felt.

Like I got them. Like I gave a damn. Because now I do.

Branding, at its core, is behavior. It’s not a viral post. It’s not your font pairings. It’s the small, consistent, boring, magical things you do to show people: “I see you.”

That’s what builds a brand. Not the performance. The presence.

If this clicked, let me show you how to build that kind of presence. The Brand Engine is my system for creating brands people don’t just notice — they trust.

You can grab early access for a stupidly good price for 5k until June 13th. This isn’t another Canva template. This is the clarity you build friendships with.

→ Grab your spot inside The Brand Engine (note: the course will be launched on or before 19th)

Or just reply and tell me — what’s one client you misunderstood?

Let’s learn from the ghosts.

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