Building Intentional Brands with Robyn Young

In this episode of Adventures in Business, Amani and Mandi chat with brand master Robyn Young, founder of Young & Co, to talk about what it really means to build a brand. The surprising truth? It’s not about your logo, your colors, or chasing the next social media trend.

Robyn has built her career around reinvention – helping founders create focused, magnetic brands that attract the right people. And now she’s on a mission to help small and medium-sized businesses stop thinking like corporations and start building brands that actually last. Read on to learn how to grow your brand intentionally. 

About Young & Co.

Young & Co. is a strategic creative branding partner working with senior level independent talent to connect strategy with creative execution, bring unconventional ideas to the table and pull in your die-hard fans. Not just to buy products, but to buy-in to your brand mission.

A Brand Is Not a Logo

One of the biggest misconceptions Robyn sees is that founders confuse their product – or even just their logo – with their brand.

Your product isn’t your brand. Your vibe isn’t your brand. Your logo isn’t your brand.

A real brand is built from the inside out. It’s the emotional pull, the clear point of view, and the bigger story behind why your business exists. Customers may experience your brand from the outside in, but the work has to start with you, the founder.

Less Is Actually More

In today’s business world, growth often feels like a race: more marketing, more content, more products. But Robyn argues that the answer is usually the opposite – less.

Instead of spreading yourself thin trying to compete with corporations who can outspend you, focus on building a smaller, stronger, more intentional brand universe. That’s where the magic happens.

As Robyn puts it, “We don’t actually want more – we want less. But we want it to be special.”

The Power of Small

Take your favorite neighborhood café with warm, fresh croissants. It offers something Starbucks never can: a personal experience.

That’s the kind of loyalty and emotional connection small businesses can build when they lean into what makes them unique. Big corporations optimize for scale, but small businesses can optimize for experience. And in a world where consumers are craving authenticity, that’s a major advantage.

Slow Growth, Strong Roots

Robyn sees a shift happening in the marketplace. For years, “unicorn” companies were idolized for scaling at all costs. But now, more and more people are attracted to businesses that choose intentional, sustainable growth instead.

She highlights brands like Fern, a London perfume company that doesn’t sell products online or in-store. Instead, customers must join a waitlist for seasonal drops – making each purchase feel exclusive and meaningful.

Learning from Taylor Swift and Influencers

Robyn compares strong brand building to what successful artists do. Taylor Swift, for example, has mastered the art of world-building – creating a rich, layered brand experience that fans can immerse themselves in, long after the music stops.

The same is true for influencers. People don’t just buy their recommendations. They buy into who they are and the world they’ve created.

That’s the goal for businesses, too: to create an identity that’s bigger than any single product or service.

A Point of View is More Important Than a Brand Story

Robyn made an important distinction between a brand story and a brand point of view. A story can feel static, like a neat beginning-middle-end. A point of view is fluid. It evolves with you, keeps pace with a changing market, and allows you to adapt without losing your identity.

This flexibility is what makes your personal brand resilient, even when your job title or industry shifts.

Start Now

Too many people wait until they’re laid off or angling for a promotion to start thinking about their personal brand. But as Robyn pointed out, your brand is something you need to “feed along the way.”

And no, you don’t need to launch a podcast, write a book, or start a Substack tomorrow (though if that lights you up, go for it). Your brand can be as simple as consistently showing up online with a strong point of view and sharing what you believe about your industry.

Connect with Robyn Young and Young & Co.

🔗 Grab Robyn Young’s book, Build Your Brand Universe

🔗 Take Robyn’s course, Build Your Brand Universe

🔗 Approach your brand with a spirit of improvisation, embracing new ideas and building on them in unexpected ways. Click to read Yes &, by Robyn Young, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers. 

🔗 Join Robyn’s free webinar, Put Your Brand to Work, early-stage founders to learn the Brand POV Framework, attract customers, and grow sustainably without burnout or overspending