Co-Creating Calm: How We Built Issa’s Wellness Brand Imagery Together

I met Issa at a point of change.

She was in the middle of pivoting from wedding planning into women’s wellness, building Issa Safe Space as a place where women can heal, feel grounded, and find calm through whatever chapter they’re in. Her work had shifted quite profoundly. Her photos hadn’t.

This is a pattern I see often with women who’ve already built one successful career and are stepping into another. The world still sees the “old” version of them, because that’s what lives on their website, LinkedIn, and social platforms. The brand has quietly evolved; the visuals are still speaking an earlier language. In Issa’s case, the existing images carried the energy of weddings and events. They didn’t speak to the big sister energy she brings into her wellness work, or the softness and steadiness of Issa Safe Space.

When we first talked, she was very clear about what she wanted. She didn’t ask for “glam shots” or to be transformed into someone unrecognisable. She wanted to look like herself, in an environment that felt calm and comfortable. She wanted to be part of the process from the beginning – moodboard, outfits, locations – and she wanted the final images to feel like an honest extension of the work she was already doing with her clients: warm, inviting, conversational, and steady. That big sister you naturally end up telling the truth to.

So we began before the camera ever came out. After our alignment call, I built a Pinterest moodboard around the feeling we were trying to capture. One of our anchors was Tracee Ellis Ross – not as a template to copy, but as a reference for a woman who feels grounded, playful, and quietly confident in her body. From there, I sent over outfit suggestions that would sit well with Issa’s energy and the contexts we were shooting for: a new website, Instagram, TikTok, and potential features with places like Soho House.

Issa responded with options from her own wardrobe. We edited together, refining silhouettes, colours, and combinations until we had three looks that felt like her on a good day, not her in costume. It was the kind of collaboration I appreciate: she was willing to do the work, to try things on, to send photos, to trust my eye while still bringing her own sense of self to the table. That trust and willingness tend to show in the final images.

We chose Nai Lert Park for the session. It offers a quiet mix of indoor and outdoor spaces: cafés where you can realistically imagine a coach working from a laptop, writing notes, or having a conversation, and garden paths and green pockets that reflect Issa’s love of nature. I wanted her to sit in spaces that already made sense for her brand, rather than placing her somewhere visually impressive but emotionally disconnected.

On the day itself, neither of us arrived at one hundred percent. I had just come back from a destination wedding and was still recovering from being sick. Issa had a bad knee and was fresh off a trip of her own. We agreed from the start that we’d move at a sustainable pace, take breaks when needed, and treat the session as a collaboration rather than a performance.

She began a little stiff, which is more common than people think. Most clients do. Cameras ask a lot of us. But as we moved through the first sequence – a café table, her laptop open, notebook and pen nearby, a small stack of books she actually uses in her practice – something loosened. We talked, we joked, we adjusted her poses in small increments. By the time we stepped out into the garden, the stiffness had dropped away. What was left was Issa, doing what she does naturally: listening, laughing, taking up space without pushing.

You don’t see tiredness or pain in the final photographs. You see a woman who looks like someone you could sit down with for an hour and exhale around. A woman who feels approachable and grounded, with enough presence to hold a room without needing to raise her voice. That’s the balance we were working towards: not overly polished, not overly casual, but considered. Clothes that move, settings that make sense, gestures that feel honest.

Since the session, Issa has woven the images through her brand. They live on her website, where Issa Safe Space is taking shape as a home for her offers. They appear across her Instagram and TikTok, where she’s experimenting with new content, and they’ve supported a feature at Soho House Bangkok. More importantly, they’ve given her a visual language that matches the work she’s doing now. She’s told me she feels more confident moving forward with her brand, more willing to put herself out there, and more prepared to explore different ways of showing up online.

For me, this is what a personal branding session is at its best: not just “nice photos,” but a considered translation of where you are in your work and where you’re going next. If you recognise yourself in Issa’s story – your work has evolved, your images haven’t, and you’re ready for them to finally match – you can see more of my personal branding work and make an enquiry through the contact form on my website when the timing feels right.