Own Your Lane™ - The Thought Leadership Branding Podcast

How to Define Your Niche for Your Personal Brand and Uniquely Stand Out With Natalie Hales

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Is it hard to communicate what you do so the right people notice? Are you tired of missing out on opportunities and clients that you deserve?

Join host Michelle B Griffin and guest Natalie Hales, a brand strategist for financial advisors, for this deep dive on niche positioning your personal brand to stand out in a crowded field.

Learn how Natalie carved out her differentiation to be the ONLY brand strategist in her field and how you can do the same.

Two brand strategists walk you through the foundational steps to being noticed, known, and remembered. 

We'll chat about her story and how to:

🔍 Narrow Lane for More Visibility
🏆 Brand Yourself for Better Engagement
📈 Tell Your Stories for Optimal Conversions

Ready to Own Your Lane? - The Brand Leaders® Podcast


Michelle B. Griffin is a keynote speaker, personal brand and PR strategist, author, podcaster and LinkedIn® visibility expert who helps high-achieving professionals elevate their visibility and influence for business growth.

As the founder of Brand Leaders® Executive Branding and creator of the Own Your Lane® Recognition Roadmap, she helps B2B founders, leaders and industry experts position their personal brands and leverage LinkedIn + PR to grow influence, increase demand, and become top-of-mind authorities to accelerate business growth.

Book a chat with Michelle to discuss speaking, advising or workshops to scale visibility, influence, and business growth. MichelleBGriffin.com/chat

WEBSITE: MichelleBGriffin.com
EXECUTIVE BRANDING ADVISORY: Brand Leaders
READ: My Personal Branding Books
LISTEN: The LinkedIn Branding Show
CONNECT: With Me on LinkedIn

Show Notes for Standout Women Live - Episode Featuring Natalie Hales

Welcome Back! Welcome back, everyone, to this week's episode of Standout Women Live. I'm your host, Michelle B. Griffin, and I am thrilled to introduce another inspiring woman who is truly standing out and owning her lane. Today, we're diving into a subject that's close to my heart. So, without further ado, welcome to the show, Natalie Hales!

Introduction to Natalie Hales Michelle: "Thank you so much for joining us, Natalie. For those just getting to know you, can you give us a quick overview of who you are, where you're from, what you do, and how you help people own their lane?"

Natalie: "Absolutely! I'm Natalie Hales, a brand strategist specializing in financial advisors. I've been in financial services for the past 14 years and have been running my own business for the last two. I help advisors discover their niche, craft their positioning, and tell their stories to attract their ideal clients."

The Journey of Owning Your Lane Michelle: "Natalie, you really stood out to me when we connected a couple of years ago. You've always known your lane, and you didn't start broad and then narrow down like many do. Can you share that story with us?"

Natalie: "Yes, I started by doing the deep work on myself to understand why I got into this business and what my story is. That led me to brand myself with a clear, focused message right from the start, which I now help my clients do."

Branding, Positioning, and Niching Down Michelle: "I love how you’ve positioned yourself as a top-of-mind brand strategist for financial advisors. Can you tell us more about how you crafted your niche and why it's so important?"

Natalie: "It’s crucial to know your story and who you want to serve. I knew early on that I wanted to work with financial advisors, so I focused on understanding their needs and crafting my own brand around that. I believe in niching down to create a strong, relatable brand that resonates with the right audience."

The Power of Storytelling Michelle: "You've developed your own niche funnel, which flips the traditional sales funnel on its head. How did that come about, and how does it help your clients?"

Natalie: "The niche funnel came from understanding that the traditional sales approach wasn't working for advisors. Instead of broad outreach, I focus on helping them identify their ideal clients and craft messages that resonate deeply, leading to more meaningful and effective connections."

Implementing the Niche Funnel Michelle: "Once you developed the niche funnel, how did you implement it with your clients, and what advice would you give others struggling with niching down?"

Natalie: "I took time to understand the market and test different approaches. The key is to identify a single, significant problem your target audience faces and position yourself as the solution. It’s about consistency, clear messaging, and really understanding the needs of your clients."

Marketing and Visibility Michelle: "After you've helped your clients niche down and brand themselves, what's next? How do they get out there and start standing out?"

Natalie: "We create a 90-day marketing plan focused on three main areas: social media, thought leadership, and speaking events. It’s about being strategic with your time and resources, ensuring everything you do is aligned with reaching your ideal clients."

Wrapping Up and Where to Find Natalie Michelle: "This has been such an insightful conversation, Natalie. Where can our listeners connect with you and learn more about your work?"

Natalie: "You can find me on LinkedIn, where I love connecting with others. Also, check out my website, nataliehales.com, and my new course, which is launching tomorrow! It’s been a year in the making, and I'm excited to share it with the world."

Final Thoughts Michelle: "Thank you again, Natalie, for joining us and sharing your wisdom. For everyone ready to put themselves out there, head over to my website, MichelleBGriffin.com, for my free audio masterclass on the three ways to get visible and grow your authority. I'll be back next week with another amazing guest. See you all next time!"

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Tune in next week for more insights from standout women!









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Got it! Here's a cleaned-up version of the transcript, keeping all the words and making it easier to read:

Michelle B. Griffin: Welcome back, everybody, to this week's episode of Standout Women Live. I'm your host, Michelle B. Griffin, and I am thrilled to introduce you to another woman who is standing out and owning her lane today. We're going to talk about a subject that's near and dear to my heart. So, welcome to the show, Natalie Hales.

Natalie Hales: Oh, thank you so much for having me, Michelle. I'm so excited to be here.

Michelle: For those who are just getting to know you, Natalie, because we're going to geek out on all things branding, positioning, standing out—hence the name, Standout—can you please give everyone a quick overview of who you are, where you're from, what you do, and how you help people with what you do, owning your lane?

Natalie: Yeah, yeah. Well, I'm Natalie Hales. I'm a brand strategist for financial advisors. I've been in financial services for the last 14 years, and I've had my own business for the last two. I specialize in helping advisors discover their niche, craft their positioning, and then tell their stories for their ideal clients.

Michelle: So, we're going to talk about what you're doing now, how you did it for yourself, and the many lessons that can be learned and applied from what you're doing for clients. You came on my radar—I guess, I don't know, maybe we connected like two years ago—and you just really stood out. Like, this person, Natalie, just knows herself. And I love the fact that you are top of mind. Even if I need someone like a brand strategist for financial advisors, you are so top of mind. You crafted that niche, owning your lane from the get-go. And before we went live, you told me, "Oh, I started this from the beginning." You're not one of those people that were fiddling around, going broad, and then had to find your niche. So, tell us a little bit about that story.

Natalie: You're right. I think a lot of people do start broad and then eventually narrow down, and there's absolutely no problem with that if that's the way you feel comfortable starting your business. Having been in marketing and branding for over a decade now, I just know what works and what doesn’t. I’m a firm believer in, like you say, narrowing down or finding your lane. With advisors, I call it niching. For me, it was about doing that deep dive work on myself to understand, “Why did I even get into this business?” and “What is the story around that?” What were those transformational moments that got me to where I am today? So, I took that step back, did that thinking work, and realized, “Oh my gosh, of course, this is what I should be doing, and of course, this is who I should be doing it for and how I should be doing it.” I did a little bit of that discovery work on myself, then moved into the next step, which was branding myself. I tied that back to my story before developing those different stories—the founder story, the company story, and the client story—that I needed to have in my back pocket. I don’t really believe in pitches per se; I think people resonate more with stories. So that’s how I developed my own positioning, and that’s how I work with advisors to help them develop theirs.

Michelle: I absolutely love that because when I do my Own Your Lane roadmap with clients and when I teach, we start with a story—like, what is the backstory so that you can be absolutely relatable? And if you all want to see an example of a really awesome website talking about her positioning, her backstory, and her big why, go to nataliehales.com. Your story is tremendous—about growing up and what led you to do what you’re doing. I’m sure the right clients just love that and gravitate toward it because a brand, at the end of the day, is a promise and a connection; it’s an intangible feeling, among other things. You absolutely put the stake in the ground with that. I love that you help your clients and that you did the work yourself first. And can we say, as a brand strategist, it’s so hard to do your own branding? It’s so hard! So, props to you, Natalie—you nailed it.

Natalie: Thank you! I had some help along the way from people in the business, especially with getting a little bit of feedback, which I think is super important as you’re building your brand—to reach out and see what’s resonating and what’s not, both with your ideal client and with mentors you trust. So, yes, I did it for myself, but I wouldn’t say I did it in isolation because I really do believe in feedback, and it was a huge part of what I did.

Michelle: Absolutely, and that’s why clients come to me, because it’s just so hard or they’re frustrated. I’m sure they come to you too when they’re just not getting the traction. We need that help. So, you left corporate to start your own business. You told me before we went live that you hit your specialization because you did that work—you did that foundational first focus work, which I highly believe will get us farther faster. You are, as you say, the only one—the category of one—the only brand strategist out there helping financial advisors. That’s a big sticking point because today we’re talking about how to stand out in a sea of sameness. First of all, you’re owning your lane, but the beautiful thing is you now just turn it over and help clients. So, let’s talk about that, because I know we have people struggling. I have friends, clients—everywhere, you see on LinkedIn all the time, people struggle with the proverbial niche, positioning, specialization, narrowing, whatever you want to call it. They struggle with standing out. Let’s get into what you teach and what you believe in. I want to also mention that you have a branded framework or methodology—what is that? Is it your niche funnel system?

Natalie: That’s right. I do have something called the Niche Funnel, and it’s helpful, first and foremost, for myself and for my clients to really identify what they really want and what they’re stacked up against. We talk about the villain, so that could be the proverbial villain. It’s not always a person; it could be a philosophy that’s going around. For me, I knew there was really no one in the industry helping advisors in the way that I thought they needed help. That meant looking around, seeing this very traditional sales funnel, right? Advisors are still doing tons of cold calling, hustling, and some people just love that hunt, but it is exhausting. Building a personal brand can get you there a little bit easier. That’s what’s going to get you a lot more inbound and that notoriety and authority. I knew I wanted to help advisors transition away from this hustle 24/7. I knew they needed to focus on who they were serving. There’s tons of jargon out there about financial advisors saying, “I can help you with your financial future,” but a lot of it just doesn’t resonate. It’s not hitting the mark because they’re speaking so broadly—their words and who they’re targeting are broad. I knew they had to get a lot more specific about who they were speaking to. The villain for financial advisors is really this traditional sales funnel. The new way is the niche funnel—understanding your target audience, who you want to connect with, and targeting your marketing toward that. Targeting your marketing doesn’t mean you need to change your entire business, although that does happen in positive ways. Financial advisors need a lot of help understanding that it’s not as scary as they think. It really is just going out there and changing your marketing to resonate with a specific target audience. That’s where we needed to start—we needed to get more specific.

Michelle: I love the flip of the sales funnel to the niche funnel. You know, the word niche, much like personal brand, gets a bad rap. There’s just so much around it. But it goes deeper—it sounds like what you’re doing and what I have, okay, let’s find where you want to go, who you want to serve, and the problem. Let’s talk in their problem language, not the “build your future financial” jargon and cliché stuff. Let’s just bust that out, clear the path, start fresh, and then get in on their language—the language of the customer’s problem—because you’re positioning yourself as the only solution, just like you are, Natalie. You are truly living this example for your clients. Did you develop the niche funnel right away, or did this come as you got out there? Because that’s another thing I tell clients—when you have that foundation, you’re going to get really clear and confident, but then you’re going to start seeing the market react, and things will start coming to you faster. So, did that come first, or did that flow a little bit later?

Natalie: It flowed a little bit later, but not too much later. I knew I wanted to speak directly to financial advisors, so I knew who I was talking to right off the bat. I knew what problems they were going through. I wanted to personify this villain—the traditional sales funnel—and look at those internal and external problems. What is this translating to? It’s translating to exhaustion and everything that looks like. Internally, what does this feel like? It feels like they’re constantly spinning their wheels and it’s never going to end. Philosophically, what does that look like? What is the larger problem? It’s not just about constantly networking or never feeling like enough on the inside; there are bigger impacts. You also have to speak to the bigger reason you’re here, and that led back to my story—wanting to make sure as many people as possible understood the value of financial advice and had the opportunity to understand what good financial advice could actually do for them. Everyone needs to have that higher mission, and that’s what led me to develop my niche funnel—understanding those things, getting out there, and testing that. Is this working? I always recommend this to financial advisors too. Once you know who you’re targeting, get out there and start talking about the problems they’re experiencing and see what resonates most. You’re going to want to eventually pick one villain that you want to start developing your processes around. It took a few months to get those problems out there, understand where they were having challenges, and see what was working in terms of messaging. Then, I doubled down on one main villain, one main problem, one main thing, and developed a solution around that. That’s why it took a few months for me to develop my process—once I understood that I needed to position myself as a guide, talk to them about my authority in the marketplace, and share that with them, but at the end of the day, they want to know how I’m going to solve their problem and that I have a plan to do that.

Michelle: This is another way to stand out in the sea of sameness. Let’s go along with what we’re talking about here. So first, find the ideal person you want to serve. That makes a lot of sense if you’re equipped to do it. You spent 10-15 years in marketing and financial services; you’re so equipped. You saw a market need, knew you were equipped, and really wanted to help these people. You married it with a beautiful backstory from your childhood that just helps with that big brand North Star. All these things just fit together. So, pick someone, pick the problem, get out there, and see what lands. Get the feedback. You have to get out there to get the feedback. You can’t just keep planning and doing stuff. At some point, do the work, get the guardrails, as I say, and get out there. Then, create a solution, but instead of just calling it “the XYZ,” you branded it. Guess what? Now, you’re even more top of mind because you have the niche funnel formula. It flips the status quo on its head, where people are going out, doing the endless handshaking, business cards, even the LinkedIn DMing—oh my goodness. I get that too. People are still mass DMing us on LinkedIn in financial services, and there’s a better way. You’ve got to go see Natalie. I love that you branded it. Find and claim it. There’s nothing stopping us from finding a really cool name because it not only sticks as an anchor point in my mind, but it also helps me think you have even more expertise because, “Oh, she has a framework.” That’s thought leadership—that’s what thought leaders do. You have a framework. It’s so important for those pieces to fall into place, but I think to be seen as an authority, as a specialist, or someone with expertise, you do need to have this methodology of your own. You want to be able to tell a story around it, and you want that story to be interesting. Even your framework needs to have a story. I’ve tied that back to the villain—the traditional sales funnel—and the solution being the niche funnel. Back in the day, you’d talk to everybody under the sun, and eventually, maybe a few of those people would become clients, but that’s a whole lot of work, time, energy, and money for not as much payout. Versus, when you flip that traditional funnel around and start with understanding who will actually resonate with you, talking to them about the problems they have and the solution you provide, you don’t even need as many people in that funnel. You end up with a whole lot more people at the bottom of that funnel becoming clients because you’ve not only told them a story, but you’ve spoken to them about their problems in ways they care about in everything you’re doing. Just showcasing how you are the guide, the authority, every step of the way. Not only does your founder story need to have those elements of authority and your company story, but even your process can make you a thought leader by tying your process into this niche problem or narrow lane. If everything is succinctly put together against this greater problem you’re trying to solve, it just feels so cohesive that people can’t help but see you as an authority in your field.

Michelle: That’s exactly how I teach the Own Your Lane roadmap because once you develop this, then it’s time to get out there with it. We’ll talk about LinkedIn in a minute because you do a really good job on that. You can get on social and start sharing your expertise. Down the road, if you want, you can go speak to the right audiences. You can write a book, or all of the above. You can do a lot of things to get out there, be well-positioned, and stand out in that smaller, granular way. You’re just expediting yourself—your impact, your profit, and all the things—so much faster. It just makes life so much easier because then you’re known not only for what you do but for this branded thing that takes you farther, faster. You land on podcasts; people want to hear about your framework. You describe all that on podcasts in your industry, and it keeps snowballing your effect, getting you in front of the right audiences. When you do this cohesive work, this roadmap, the outcome goes farther, faster, and you get out there and get traction instead of the exhaustion of, “Oh my goodness, if I have to go to another networking event…” Don’t get me wrong, networking events are good, but you’ve got to be very intentional and strategic and arm yourself with the right words. We could talk about that as a whole other thing—people go to networking events and they don’t have any cohesive message or know how to say it. How do we stand out? You’ve got your branded ideas and frameworks. It doesn’t even have to be that complicated—just something to help people anchor. Now let’s get out there with it. What do you teach? What is your next step to get out there and stand out?

Natalie: After I’m done helping advisors niche down and then branding them with these messages, tying everything together—company story, who they’re serving, their key messages, and their process or signature framework—I then help them with that roadmap. We do a 90-day marketing plan to really get out there with this new messaging. I always recommend three main keys for financial advisors: one being social media, the next one being thought leadership. What kind of thought leadership platform are we going to get you on? What makes sense, not only for your ideal client but also for you? Thought leadership could mean blogging, email marketing, podcasting, that sort of thing. The third key is speaking events. It’s really important to get out in front of your audience with things like this—events like this—and also key conferences, industry events, and things like that, where your ideal clients are going to be. Everyone says you need to be on social media, you need to be doing this, you need to be doing that. But the way you should be doing it should be very targeted. All your decisions need to revolve around who you serve unless you have a ridiculous marketing budget and want to spend all the money in the world. If you don’t and you want it to actually be as effective as possible, I’m very keen on those three keys for financial advisors and tying them all around their ideal clients and what they have the capacity to do.

Michelle: We are so aligned because I just love the 90 days. We set our goals in 90-day chunks too because that seems far out enough to make a difference but not so overwhelming. I especially like to have them do their 30-day, then we break it up into quarters. But that is so good because you really need to, I like to say, diversify your visibility streams. For most of my clients, I would say 97 percent, LinkedIn is the place for them. And the beautiful thing about LinkedIn, as you know, is that it is a personal brand-building thought leadership platform. It’s like no other social platform. Now, if your ideal client isn’t there, we want to rethink that, but it has to align with where your client is. If they’re not there, that makes no sense either. Occasionally, if they’re not on LinkedIn, come up and show your stuff, but you need to be in front of your audience. I love that you have that set because it seems manageable. You also didn’t mention any paid ads or spray-and-pray type marketing that, sadly, a lot of the industry is still doing, right?

Natalie: Yeah, that’s right. I do not believe in spray and pray. I think that’s such a waste. And you’re right, LinkedIn is a fantastic place for financial advisors, especially because they’re building their brand authority. They have to be on at least one platform. Whether they have their own business or not, or whether they are targeting executives, they usually have a LinkedIn profile as well. And regardless if they don’t, they’re looking you up. So, your LinkedIn profile, even if it’s not super optimized, still gives the gist of your resume. People want to know, “What have you done? Where have you been? Who’s advocating for you? Who are you communicating with? What’s your message?” They’re going to go to your website and they’re going to go to LinkedIn essentially for those things. As a financial advisor, you can’t always have your own website, so LinkedIn is a key platform for financial advisors to optimize.

Michelle: I’ve had clients that are financial advisors, and they found their own way. I know there are regulations too—we won’t even talk about all that—but having a presence is key because even the media, when they want expert quotes, because I bring a lot of personal branding and PR together in what I do, they’re going to check you out to make sure you are the expert source with all this expertise that would be the perfect quote for the story. That’s another reason to treat your profile like a personal brand website, an extension of your website, and keep updating it regularly. Don’t let it gather digital dust. Make it look good because that’s social credibility, social proof. That’s a huge part of this whole roadmap to stand out. When you work with your clients, as I do, we get our headlines and all that stuff really dialed in. We don’t just say “financial advisor” and that’s it. Specificity sells, is what I like to say all the time.

Natalie: For sure.

Michelle: As we’re wrapping up, I want to bring everyone along the system that you and I are so aligned with on how we do our brand strategy and branding work to stand out because, for me, my whole core mission is to help women experts become thought leaders and not just be visible. Be seen and stand out. That’s everything that I’m here to do. And for you, it’s to help financial advisors hone in on who they’re trying to serve and stand out, not blend in, because there are millions and millions. Let’s talk about some of the last few steps they need to take to continue this whole evolution and process because it’s not one and done. It’s a constant journey.

Natalie: You’re right. After you’ve been through the process of understanding who your target audience is and branding yourself and your key messages, there is a phase where you need to flip over your marketing materials and make sure your messaging is public-facing. Prospects are visiting those websites and LinkedIn profiles, so it’s important, even if some people are nervous about having that honed-in messaging. I think it’s so important because that’s where prospects are checking you out—that’s the most enticing place to go. You really do need to take some time after you’re done branding to flip over your marketing materials to be targeted toward who you’re trying to attract, regardless of the clients you have—who you’re trying to attract and who you want more of. Take some time and flip over all those marketing materials. Then, as I said, it’s the 90-day sprint, and that continues. You don’t ever jump off the social media train. There are always opportunities to showcase your thought leadership on the social media platform that you’re on. There are also opportunities to showcase speaking events. One really does collapse into the other.

Michelle: That’s one thing I know we all get busy with, but no one’s going to do it for us. You might have a team, but someone needs to continuously keep updating and show your evolution of thought leadership—how it is growing—because when you’re staying in these 90 days, you’re going to keep getting opportunities. You’re going to keep getting all these things that add another notch to the social proof, social cred, the trust factors—the trust tokens, as I call them. That’s so important because the more people see, the more they’re like, “Oh, you’re the person for me.” Some people think if they just say it, they can forget it, but it’s a constant thing. I tell clients and teach this: look, when you are absolutely crystal clear and getting this visibility, it just, like you said, it’s a wheel effect. It keeps growing and evolving, and you like it. It’s fun because you’re not on the struggle bus anymore. You’re making lives better in your zone of genius, owning your lane with what you love to do, and you see the difference. That makes you want to keep doing more.

Natalie: Yes, absolutely.

Michelle: I’m sure you see that as well with your work. Once you get started, it’s about continuing this type of work, getting the feedback along the way, which is inevitable with those three things. You really do start to develop your own points of view, and that’s also something really key to becoming an authority and showcasing your expertise—having those and being able to speak to them eloquently on platforms or at speaking events. Not just pushing your company, your product, or whatever it is, but helping people by adding value with your points of view, helping them either learn something new or take a stand on something, and being known for something. I think that’s what’s most important. Those three keys really do help you develop a point of view, but then over time, you become known for those points of view. That brings you even more inbound requests. That goes a long way toward building your authority. When you have other people coming to you, not only for business but for opportunities, those things spiral into more. It just becomes a lot easier.

Michelle: I call that owning your lane. You’re truly fulfilled in the work you’re meant to do, love to do, and you see that impact—making a difference, making a statement, and making that bottom line pop. Natalie, I’ve already mentioned your incredible website, nataliehales.com, where everyone should check out a perfect example of a really well-positioned website. Props to you. Tell us a little bit more about where we should connect with you—LinkedIn—and I know you have a new course coming out.

Natalie: I love connecting with people on LinkedIn, so feel free to connect with me there. Shoot me a message and we can chat. You’re right—I have my niche course coming out tomorrow, so this is just serendipitous timing. The Power of Niche course is launching, and I’m excited to get that baby out in the world. It’s been a year in the making—talking about this, developing these points of view, coming up with these frameworks for my advisors. So, yeah, nataliehales.com/course.

Michelle: We’ll go check it out, everybody, because Natalie is a tremendous giver in all she does, especially on LinkedIn. Before we close today, thank you again, Natalie, for being here and for your course. Absolutely. Before we close today, I just want to remind everybody, if you’re ready to put yourself out there, get visible, build that authority, head on over to my website, MichelleBGriffin.com, and look for my free audio masterclass on the three ways to put yourself out there, get visible, and grow your authority. That’s going to be a great first step. So, go check that out at MichelleBGriffin.com. Alright, everybody, I’ll be back next week with another amazing Standout Women guest. I just want to thank you again, Natalie. I’ll catch you next week, everybody.