From Scattered to Clear: How to define who you are (and why it matters!) in 90 minutes

Written By Claire Bernson

Summary

Shannon Riordan spent decades leading and supporting brand strategy, then had a breakthrough: what if the most powerful business tool—clarity about who you are and why it matters—didn't have to be gatekept behind huge budgets? Her approach shows how to blend human expertise with AI to make real brand strategy accessible - with a DIY tool to get started on your own!

 

What’s in it for you:

  • You're building something but feel scattered about your messaging and story

  • You know clarity matters but brand work has felt expensive, sales-y, or like it pulls you away from being "you"

  • You want to see how defining the "YOU" of your brand actually supports everything else you're building

  • You're ready to get buttoned up without losing your authentic voice—and see practical next steps

 

A Quick Convo

A short follow-up chat highlighting a few key points!!!

Helia’s Perspective

I've always felt a little embarrassed about how much I've avoided thinking about brand. I've grown organizations from hundreds of thousands to tens of millions of dollars, but if you asked me about our "brand positioning" or "brand personality," I'd probably change the subject. It always felt so... expensive and sales-y and pulling us away from just being "us" in the moment. The need to define everything always feels really tricky!!!!!!!!

AND, I know that I'm missing things. And getting the ideas and concepts in our heads down on paper and clear so that when we want to bring others in we can goes SO SO SO far. So, I tested the DIY brand exercise Shannon put together and while it didn't have Shannon's magic to it (AI can only take us so far - hence why this exists!), I could immediately see how having this would be foundational and helpful. It both fed into AND supported Helia's strategic plan - and very much had me wishing I had done this exercise before getting all of those things on paper!

I'm new to brand and while I think it's always better to be just you versus trying to engineer things to sell to a specific audience (which I think being "you" will always do better), defining the YOU of your brand feels really foundational and I am getting on board with the work, even if the word still feels kind of tricky for me!!!

Shannon's Story

Shannon spent 20+ years at the top of brand strategy—Visa's first global brand positioning (foundation for their IPO), BlackRock mergers, running her own successful agency for a decade. By any measure, she'd made it.

But after COVID, something shifted. "I realized I was burnt out and I realized I wanted to do something new. I spent about a year exploring all sorts of things when finally I was like, ‘you know I do one thing really really well and that's branding’."

Here's what was eating at her: "Small companies and startups skip the branding process because it's inaccessible... clarity is the most powerful growth tool and without a solid brand strategy, you can't have that." Her agency charged $25K minimums for months-long processes—discovery interviews, journey mapping, competitive reports. "It took very long. It took resources, took a headcount."  

It was a proven and powerful process - AND she wondered: "How can I leverage this powerful tool [AI] to create something to democratize access to brand strategy?  This doesn’t have to be a luxury for only large corporations, this can be accessible for all of us."

What This Looks Like in Practice

The Equation: Human Expertise + Behavioral Science + AI Equation

"When I first tried ChatGPT, I asked it to generate a brand strategy for sustainable, great-tasting cat food. At first, I was impressed. But taking a closer look, I realized that it checked the boxes—but missed the soul, the spark, the point."

The secret sauce is a unique trifecta: decades of hands-on expertise from Shannon Riordan + the precision of purpose-built AI prompts + the power of behavioral science—specifically, System 1 thinking.

After decades of crafting brand strategy and messaging, Shannon can instinctively know what makes things land. That lived experience shapes every part of the Brand Story Machine process, and makes it ownable. "People ask if I'm afraid someone will steal this. No. They can copy prompts and templates, but they can't copy Shannon Riordan. You're getting decades of strategic branding and facilitation experience, packaged up with help of AI to be made more accessible."

AI can only deliver useful results when it's asked the right questions. Brand Story Machine uses AI-driven prompt sequences designed over months of testing, sharpened by a professional prompt engineer, and based on real-world brand strategy frameworks developed by Shannon over time.

And underneath it all is System 1 thinking—a principle from behavioral science that taps into instinctive, fast responses. "Because important insights usually don't come from overthinking. They come from the gut."

System 1 Thinking in Action

That's the spirit behind the 10-minute, 7-question survey that kicks off the Brand Story Machine experience. It's not asking the client to define their brand personality in abstract terms—it's designed to surface real, intuitive insights.

“I’ve seen a lot of  brand strategy tools that offer only a framework for you to fill in yourself. Brand Story Machine is different—it doesn’t ask, ‘What’s your purpose?’ or ‘What’s your brand personality?’ Instead, it uses deceptively simple questions to draw out unique and defining elements, then delivers clear, actionable recommendations for your purpose, personality, and more.”

For instance, for brand personality, the tool asks "If your brand was a person walking into a room, what would they be like? Just very very colloquial and the direction is don't think, don't worry about grammar, don't worry about misspellings. Just answer quickly what first comes into your gut."

"What you don’t realize is that in your answers, you are actually pointing to things that are much more significant and deeply embedded in your subconsciousness and consciousness. You don't realize you're giving me exactly what I need to create full bespoke content."

The 90-Minute Workshop Magic

A 10-minute questionnaire informs custom AI-generated content for a 90-minute workshop, finessed and facilitated  by Shannon who brings  decades of real-world experience. The next day: a complete brand story that includes brand strategy and a go-to-market messaging toolkit. From months to days. From $25K to just over $3K.

"My workshop is one of my best practices. And it’s actually very fun! Everyone at the end says wow that was so great. It's galvanizing. I love when you have like three founders in the room for a sweater company and they start debating over "is this about keeping you warm or is this about how we use sustainable wool?”.  The thinking about it together and the evolution that comes from it is magic.  

The workshop always  starts with marketplace context—looking at competitors or admired brands to get people "out of their day out of slack and email and just into the context of what branding is." It's fast-moving, interactive, with exercises and challenges that surface insights teams didn't know they had. As Jacqlyn Hogan, Partner at LevelUp, said, “The workshop was insightful – it surfaced a number of questions and a lot of nuance that we hadn't thought of nor articulated."

Per Shannon, these workshops are learning moments way beyond branding. They often bring up new concepts and challenges that now that they’re known and on the table, can be solved! As always, we only know what we know - and sometimes there’s a long list to discover!

Notebook Snapshot (from Shannon!)

Secret Sauce & Takeaways

  • The transformation isn't just about efficiency—it's about completely reimagining access:

    • Speed and cost that lets you iterate: Traditional brand strategy takes 2-6 months. Shannon's approach delivers in days. "If you're a fast-moving startup that's pivoting like maybe every three months... do this for just over $3,000 a couple times until you get... established."

    • Real democratization in action: "Small businesses account for 44% of U.S. economic output, but too many operate without the guiding power of brand—the framework that aligns teams, attracts customers, and accelerates growth that leads to long-term success. We’re putting that power in the hands of small and early-stage companies - businesses who have traditionally skipped it due to lack of resources.” 

    • Concrete business impact: "When a candidate is interviewing across multiple people in an organization, if they ask a question about the brand and it's answered consistently, the candidate's 80% more likely to take the job because... oh, this company is buttoned up."

    • Content efficiency: Shannon did Brand Story Machine for Brand Story Machine itself. "I gave it to my web designer. Seriously, one round... I did not make one [change to] my website... did not change the font. I did not change the colors. I did not change that little graphic system... it creates efficiencies."

  • Real-world example: Yorkville Highlands wine region—15 years old, struggling to differentiate from Napa and Sonoma. Through Brand Story Machine, they discovered their unique story: "off the beaten path rugged... high elevation... fog and wind and sun and very dramatic weather." Now they're reshaping their entire narrative with new video, website, and social media. "You can now really get submerged into what it's like to be of that place."

When Brand Strategy Actually Matters

Here's what Shannon's learned about timing and impact:

✓ Do this when:

  • Post-MVP, when you understand how people interact with your product

  • Looking to raise money (shows investors you're buttoned up)

  • About to hire significantly or launch major marketing initiative

  • Feeling scattered about messaging across leadership/teams/content

✓ The concrete benefits:

  • Everything gets easier: fundraising, hiring, marketing, selling

  • Consistent candidate experience (they choose you)

  • Efficient content creation (websites, pitches, social media)

  • Foundation for growth and scale

“However you get there, articulating your brand is critical—and it goes beyond just ‘what you do.’ When you are organized  under brand,, everything in your business gets easier. It’s like a team rowing a boat in sync: you move faster and with less effort. Without it, the oars clash and energy is wasted, because there’s no guiding light—no North Star—to keep everyone aligned.”

Questions to Sit With

Here are some questions or ideas to sit with after reading this story...

  • Where do you feel scattered in how you talk about what you do and why it matters?

  • What would change if everyone on your team could consistently explain who you are and what you stand for?

  • When you think about your organization's personality, what comes up first—and how does that show up in your work?

  • Where might you be avoiding clarity work because it feels "sales-y" when it's actually foundational?

  • What would it mean to grow with purpose instead of just figuring out how to survive?

 

Want to Try This?

 

About the Contributor

Shannon Riordan is a brand strategist who believes every business deserves a clear, compelling brand story. After 20+ years building brands for companies like Visa, PayPal, and BlackRock, she saw that strategic branding was locked behind agency retainers most businesses couldn't afford.

Through Brand Story Machine, she's made brand strategy accessible using decades of expertise blended with AI—giving startups and small businesses real clarity without losing strategic depth. Shannon believes that when clarity is no longer gatekept, better businesses get built.

This article comes from a coffee chat with Shannon in June 2025. These conversations form the heart of the Helia Library – because I've learned the most from doing and from talking with other doers willing to share their wisdom. We don't need to start from blank pages or do everything alone.

As always, take what's helpful, leave what's not, and make it your own.

Love this article? Have a suggestion? We want to hear it all. Share feedback on this article here, and on The Helia Collective as a whole here.

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Claire Bernson
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