When Dielle decided she wanted to focus on building a $10M vision, I knew she needed a rebrand. With our longstanding relationship, she was not afraid to tell me that she thought I was crazy. Her brand has always worked for her! But I knew that with such a drastic change to her vision, the brand’s presence needed to change with her.
In this episode of Brand Your Way to a Million, I sat down with Dielle Charon, founder of The 23%, to discuss her rebrand journey from personal brand to community powerhouse. After three million-dollar years, Dielle made the bold decision to completely reimagine her business identity. Today, we’re talking about a process that took over a year and resulted in an entirely new business model and vision.
The Decision to Rebrand
Dielle’s journey began with a feeling rather than a concrete plan. “I want more depth,” she told me during a call about her live event sales page. When I suggested a rebrand, her initial reaction was resistance: “You’re out of your mind. This branding has made me so much money.”
But after her third million-dollar year, something shifted. Dielle realized she wanted to create a community-focused brand rather than continuing with her personal brand. “I thought to myself, I think I want a community brand. I think I want to communicate that it’s the community that gets you the result,” she explained.
This decision aligned perfectly with the four key indicators that signal it’s time for a rebrand:
- Expanding your audience or pivoting to a different audience
- Experiencing stagnant or declining sales
- Feeling your audience is disengaged
- Wanting to reposition your offerings
For Dielle, the fourth point was particularly significant. She was planning to launch a membership that simply wouldn’t fit within her existing brand identity.
The Visionary Process
One of the most fascinating aspects of Dielle’s rebrand was her approach to the creative process. Unlike many entrepreneurs who micromanage every detail, Dielle embraced the role of a true visionary, focusing on feelings and business direction rather than specific design elements.
“I had none of it mapped out,” she admitted. “All I had was okay, there needs to be a change. I no longer wanted my name attached to the business. I no longer wanted the more strong, hard branding, the black and white.”
Dielle emphasized that being a visionary isn’t about micromanaging creative decisions: “People think visionary is micromanaging versus visionary is feeling. And if you wanted anything tangible, maybe business model, how do you just wanna make money in the future. That’s it.”
This trust in the process allowed our team to create a strategic brand that would support Dielle’s future goals, including:
- A versatile, more feminine color palette
- Three distinct photo shoot scenes to support multiple offers
- A comprehensive website that showcased both Dielle’s leadership and the community aspect
Finding The 23%
Perhaps the most powerful moment in the rebrand journey was discovering the perfect name. After the disappointment of learning their first choice was trademarked, we spent two days brainstorming alternatives.
The breakthrough came when I suggested using a statistic that would reflect Dielle’s social worker background and commitment to women of color. Dielle discovered that 23% of business owners were women of color according to an American Express study.
“You literally turned at me and said, ‘for the 23%.’… I had like a whole out-of-body experience and I cried,” Dielle recalled. The name was perfect – meaningful, unique, and available for trademark.
The Strategic Rebrand Reveal
Initially, Dielle wanted to keep the rebrand a complete secret until revealing it at her live event. However, after testing a minor name change with her close clients and receiving strong reactions, she pivoted to a more strategic approach.
“I swung the other way. I was like, okay, I’m going to take them 100% behind the scenes with me,” Dielle explained. She created content explaining her reasons for rebranding, renamed her programs, and launched her new membership before the full reveal.
The actual announcement happened at her live event, where attendees found gift boxes under their seats containing the new brand name. “It was a really emotional moment,” Dielle shared. This approach built anticipation while preparing her audience for change, resulting in positive reception.
The Transformation Beyond Visuals
The most powerful outcome of the rebrand wasn’t just new colors or a website – it was the complete transformation of Dielle’s business vision and identity.
“With a rebrand comes a new income goal,” Dielle shares. “I decided I want to go to 10 million, and that’s been very powerful for me.” She’s also expanded her business model to include:
- A membership program
- Her first online summit
- In-person community elements
- A merchandise shop
- A goal of generating one billion dollars in client sales
“I have a completely different business and that’s what I wanted,” Dielle reflected. “I wanted more ways for the community to engage, not just joining two offers. We now have three and a live event and a shop and a summit.”
Key Takeaways
Dielle’s rebrand journey offers valuable insights for any entrepreneur considering a similar transformation:
- Trust the process. You don’t need to have every detail figured out before starting – just clarity about what you no longer want.
- Being a visionary means focusing on feeling and direction, not micromanaging creative decisions.
- A rebrand is a series of identity exercises that help you grow into your next-level business vision.
- Take your audience along for the journey rather than surprising them with dramatic changes.
- A strategic rebrand can completely transform your business model, opening doors to new offers and revenue streams.
As Dielle so perfectly summarized: “The rebrand itself, the process will give you the time to have your identity catch up.”
