218: Brand World Building: The Untapped Strategy for 2025
Jun 17, 2025
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Most businesses obsess over fonts, logos, and hex codes. But none of those things are your brand identity.
Your brand identity is a gut feeling. It's the emotional connection people have when they think of your company. That feeling doesn’t come from perfect design—it comes from building a world your customers want to be part of.
I learned this lesson firsthand through my experience building Garage Gym Athlete, a brand with tens of thousands of community members. I didn't set out to build an iconic brand—I just lived it. Over the course of 10 years, I built rituals, defined enemies, shared language, and created a mission. And without realizing it, I was building a world.
In this post, I’m going to give you a framework for building your own brand identity—not through visuals, but through meaning, purpose, and culture.
Step 1: Define the Hero
You’re not the hero. Your customer is.
But it’s not enough to say that. You need to give your hero a name and identity. In my Garage Gym Athlete brand, we called our people athletes. With my Better brand, we call them builders.
This subtle distinction matters. It gives people a label to aspire to, something to identify with. When someone sees your content, they should be able to ask, “Am I a builder? Am I an athlete?” That’s how you create belonging.
Step 2: Define Who You Are
If your customer is the hero, who are you?
At Garage Gym Athlete, I was the coach. In Better, I’m the mentor—the guide. You need to position yourself clearly in this relationship. Are you the teacher? The friend? The drill sergeant? Define it, and be consistent.
Step 3: Introduce Jargon (Yes, Really)
Most people say jargon is bad, but used strategically, it builds culture.
Garage Gym Athlete had “MYS” — Meet Yourself Saturday workouts. At Better, we talk about “depth sequences.” These terms may sound confusing at first, but over time, they signal that someone is on the inside. They’ve become part of the world.
Sprinkle in your own unique terms. They should feel earned and familiar to those who stick around. That’s how you deepen brand identity.
Step 4: Identify the Enemy
A world isn’t complete without contrast.
At Garage Gym Athlete, our early enemy was the Globo gym—big box fitness centers with no accountability. Later, it became the fitness influencer with a “monkey-see, monkey-do” program.
At Better, the enemies are zombies (mindless content consumers) and the lesser version of yourself—the one who chooses ease over effort.
Your brand needs something to fight against. It gives people something to rally behind.
Step 5: Define Core Beliefs
What do you believe that others don’t?
At Garage Gym Athlete, our belief was in concurrent training—the combination of strength and conditioning for performance and longevity.
At Better, we believe: Better you = Better biz. That’s the foundation of everything we teach. You don’t need a hundred beliefs, but you need one strong one to anchor your message.
Step 6: Create a Mission
Your brand identity should have a destination.
At Garage Gym Athlete, our mission was to build autonomous athletes—people who trained with us but didn’t need us.
At Better, my mission is to help people become better humans so they can build better businesses. We don’t just talk tactics. We talk transformation.
Once you define your mission, every piece of content becomes part of your larger story.
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.
Time-Stamped Show Notes:
[0:30] Why only one company gets to be the cheapest—and the rest rely on branding
[1:05] What brand identity actually means
[2:00] Real-world example: how Garage Gym Athlete became a thriving brand
[3:15] Step 1: Naming your hero (customer identity)
[4:30] Step 2: Defining your role in the journey
[5:40] Step 3: Using jargon to build connection and culture
[8:10] Step 4: Identifying and naming your enemies
[10:05] Step 5: Defining your brand’s belief system
[11:50] Step 6: Mission—what your brand is really building
[13:30] Why brand identity is about movement, not design
[14:15] Closing thoughts: this is how you build a world for your brand
