The 101: Founder Led Brand Building
Creating Like an Influencer? Or Building Like a Founder. Let's differentiate.
A practical guide to building visibility in formats that energize you instead of drain you. Plus: the self-leadership check-in that creates momentum.⚡️
It’s a bit of HOT topic right now - the era of the Founder Led Brand, the whole “build in public” thing.
Everyone thinks they want to be a founder-led brand, but they think it means they have to act like an influencer.
You don’t.
You also don’t have to become a Capcut pro or document your morning routine or share workout selfies to be successful.
You do need to have and share your unique perspective on the problems you’re solving - in formats that suit you.
👋 Hiya! I’m Sarah Saxty, but most people call me Sax.
Your business guardian angel and brand marketing mentor. I’m in my IFGT (I fucking got this) era and my mission is to pass this energy and my expertise onto as many people as possible with Creating Forward Studio & help you create a brand that people are obsessed with and drive sustainable revenue.
Let’s start here! ↴Everything in this edition of Creating Forward is a tiny taste of what is going on inside The Creating Forward Incubator (my signature Brand Building and Marketing Program for founders), including a sneak peek of one of the Lessons inside Training Track 01, AND one of the exercises that is part of the early stage of the program.
The inspiration for this post actually came from one of a founder’s question inside our Office Hours session this week. I knew I had to share it, and the coaching I gave her to move through it, because I know she’s not the only one.
“I’m unsure whether to begin with founder-led or brand-led content... and I’m struggling with timing - should I wait until I have a product to sell?”
Here are the coaching golden nuggets you might find helpful or inspiring:
“Start now” (simple but true)
“Combination of founder-led AND brand-led” (it isn’t a choice)
“Focus on telling stories, building brand, sharing your journey - not converting to sales” (to remove pressure but also focus on building the brand, not selling to random people who don’t know you)
“Your CTA will be Substack subscriptions and follow on IG for now”(your goal is community building and connection)
We do this so that when you have decisions to make, you have a built-in community to tap into.
You’re building credibility, giving teasers, getting buy in and inviting people to get involved so you have a warm audience before you even suggest a purchase.
I can speak to this closely after speaking and working with dozens of founders in the last 12 months.
I also went through this same block.
It was early 2024 or late 2023 (?) I knew I wanted to put myself out there to build the Creating Forward brand, but I was PETRIFIED.
I wanted that first post to be perfect, I thought “this will set the tone for everything”
Absolutely NOT.
The thing that got me into action?
Knowing the power of content to connect with my audience.
The thing that built my confidence?
Taking action. POSTING.
Here’s one of the first intro posts I did.
And guess what, it’s not perfect.
Who did my branding?
Me.
Who designed and edited the content?
Me.
I honestly learned so much about myself, my brand, my product and my BFF-customer by simply posting, taking - creating forward action.
I always tell founders to “try on” your positioning and language to see how it fits.
Posting content is part of that.
Putting it into action - creating forward action.
Here’s what’s on deck for this edition:
The Reality of Brands in 2025
This is literally a peek into Lesson 1 of Training Track 01 in the CF Incubator, “The Reality of Brands in 2025”, today, you’re getting the high-level takeaways
Your Founder Led Strategy
Here I outline a bunch of different ways you can show up that aren’t just being on camera, and what to say.
The IFGT Self Leadership Check-In & Action Plan
This is one of the early exercises inside the CFI Lesson “You and Your Story are the Scaffolding” in this edition you’ll get a taste of that.
My Favorite Content Coaching Profiles + Tech Tools I Use
These are the profiles I followed to up-level my content game and the tools I use to support me.
The Reality of Brands in 2025
In Training Track 01 of The CF Incubator, I talk about the Reality of Brands in 2025.
More specifically, Humanized Brands that connect.
And, even more specifically, my Sticky Brand DNA framework, because it’s truly the foundation of marketing in 2025.
Guess what number 1 in the framework is?
Your Founder-Led Strategy
Inside that lesson, I take a deep dive into all the pillars of the SBDNA Framework, beginning with number 1:
The Core Elements of Your Founder Story + Big Vision.
This part helps you know what to say, and how your story and perspective play a part in your brand.
In it, I outline a bunch of different ways you can show up that aren’t just being on camera.
I’ve had founders in my programs launch in all kinds of formats.
You don’t need to document your morning routine or share your workout selfies to build a magnetic founder brand. You need to share your unique perspective on the problems you’re solving and a BTS on your journey always helps :)
Here are some of the formats I share in the lesson beyond on camera on IG and examples for each:
Written
Creating a branded newsletter (you can use Beehiiv, Flodesk, Klaviyo)
Substack diaries building your brand
(past CF client Lauren Sudeyko, the Founder of Sleep or Die does this really well - we worked on her launch strategy together)LinkedIn thought leadership and BTS posts
Written + designed carousels and stories on IG
Getting your thought leadership featured in the press (or on another Substack!)
Voice Audio
Host a podcast
(Primally Pure founder Bethany pictured)
Podcast guesting
Create audio content to share with the community
(past CF client, Amber, the founder of Modern Mind does this with meditations from her app and coaching)
In Person
Speaking at industry events
Hosting workshops (live or digital)
(Past CF client, Bridgitte Mallinson the founder of Gut Personal is a business leadership queen and does both of those things well, we worked on her founder brand strategy together)Curating panel discussions
Hosting community meet ups (live or digital)
(Carry, the brand in the image above are nailing this)
My suggestion for the “what” to post?
Here’s what I suggested to the founder (a design brand launching Q1 2026) in the CFI program right now:
Where you’ve been, and where you’re going
Behind the scenes of building your business
Visual inspiration
Storytelling about pivotal characters that are part of your inspiration
Learnings as you develop your skills as a founder
Asking for weigh-in from your community on colors, packaging, etc (make it a 2 way dialogue)
Product development, sharing all the steps, including the blocks :)
The IFGT Self Leadership Exercise
These 5 questions are part of a little 5-Part Sense Check Exercise I give founders in the very first Training Track inside the CFI Program as a sense check.
But today, this first one, it’s yours:
What’s one area where you’ve been holding yourself back?
What decision are you avoiding that would create momentum?
What do you believe “being visible” has to look like — and what version actually suits you?
What would “showing up like an IFGT founder” look like for you this week?
What level of showing up feels good to you? Rate each 1 - 10
Written (email, newsletter, blogs, substack, social content like carousels)
Verbal (podcast, on stage, guest panels)
Visual (on camera video or stills, designing graphics)
External (interviews, quotes, features)
When founders realize they can be incredibly influential in their industry without forcing themselves into content formats that drain them, we get momentum.
Your Founder Led Action Plan
This week, instead of trying to shoot, edit or design something that rivals the level of quality that Alix Earle would create:
Pick ONE format that energizes you
Share ONE unique perspective you have on your industry
Connect it back to your business’ journey
My Favorite Content Inspiration Sources + Tools
Like I said, I was in your shoes back in 2023, I was trying to work past my “OMG I’m so nervous about posting” block.
Lucky for us, there are people who are really great at this, and they create content, about creating content :)
From the basic stuff like, what settings to have my video on to what “hooks” or “scripts” are. (sorry, no escaping that content is not just posting anymore, it’s a production play)
Here a few content creator accounts I really found helpful:
A more recent inspiration is Alex Manderstam and I was lucky enough to collaborate with her on my next chapter of content as we speak :) Yes even coaches need coaches.
What tools I use:
My Multi-Channel Marketing Calendar + Content Planning Template
My Biz Metrics Dashboard to track numbers (this template is part of the Biz Building Toolkit inside CFI)
My Notion Content Calendar
Claude for caption and hook pressure testing
GPT for strategic thought partnership (inside the CFI program we develop your very own, super custom Brand GPT to support your marketing and founder journey)
Canva Whiteboard for organizing inspiration and Canva editing
Cap Cut for editing (and IG Edits)
A simple tripod - there are so many on Amazon
I hope this helps you and your founder buddies too.
Which format energizes you most?
Who are your favorite founder-led brands?
If you’d like a copy of the IFGT check-in sent to your inbox, drop a comment below and I’ll send it to you.
This is great, thank you!!