Frequently Asked Questions
Find answers below to all of your questions and more!
Figuring out if this program is a good fit
Is this program a good fit for me?
This course is perfect for you if:
- You’re at the end of your rope with tools and resources that aren’t helping you get to the heart of what you need—a holistic vision and planning approach, custom to your business.
- You see that what you’re currently doing is not bringing on enough big change or answers to your questions about where to go next, and you’re excited to learn new, powerful tools and approaches to make big decisions and run your business more effectively.
- You understand that growing business beyond your current state or going in new directions takes hard work. And you are not banking on it all happening overnight.
- You’re motivated and able to complete a guided course, and you’re excited for support, feedback, and coaching in a group setting as you work through the process.
- You’re excited about a live program in a room with other participants and your coach, immersed in work and learning, and with dedicated time away from your day-to-day demands.
- You have an operational small business. (This includes a one-person business up to managing a team of 100+.)
This course is not a good fit for you if:
- You’re looking to make a career move.
- You’re thinking about starting a business but haven’t yet.
- You just started your business and haven’t yet had enough traction to know that people (beyond family and friends) will buy what you’re offering.
- You’re looking for a get-rich-quick plan.
- You’re looking for generic growth hacks, ways to cut corners, or done-for-you scripts that can be applied to your business or marketing.
- You’re not interested in doing the work it takes to learn new skills, create a vision, set goals, and implement.
- You don’t want to do the reflective work it takes to grow yourself as a business owner and the business itself.
- You don’t have the patience or commitment to invest in yourself or your business.
How is Brand Strong different than other courses and training programs?
While there are some great programs out there that teach techniques for achieving specific goals, we haven’t seen any other course that focuses on building a concrete, comprehensive, and completely tailored business vision and model, plus an inspiring plan for you to take your business there.
The Brand Strong course will help you define detailed, long-term goals and plans for your business, rooted in your own values, situation, and picture of what success looks like. Nina will teach you critical skills to help you plan projects and events (e.g. meetings, launches, live events, workshops, etc.) more effectively and creatively so that you’ll make more targeted and powerful impact on your audience (and your team, if you have one!).
In addition to the strategy and skills you will gain for identifying what you truly want, and planning how to bring that to life, you will gain game-changing skills in changing your work habits and mind in order to move from stress and dread to joy and ease as you work each day. While our time spent focusing on this part of the program is shorter than the goal setting and planning parts, the impact on your results is 10x as important. These are crucial skills to being able to grow well beyond where you are now, no matter where you are.
Does this course truly apply to any established business (e.g., in operation for one year all the way up to many decades) and in any industry?
Yes! No matter what industry or how established (as long as you’re an operating business with clients or customers who love what you do), if you put in the work, this course will help you get clear on what you care most about, where you want your business to end up and go next, and how to evolve what’s working while letting go of what’s not. Nina will also walk you through how to create an enduring plan to make it all happen.
Brand Strong is excellent for business owners who are looking to pivot what they are currently doing or expand a new business or project as an offshoot from a current, successful business.
Nina has been teaching the Brand Strong Model and tools to students across industries and who have been in business anywhere from one year to more than 30 years. We are proud to say that everyone who has applied what they’ve learned has shared their unanimous gratitude and feedback about how it has changed them as people, and their entire business approach, skills, confidence, and drive in a way that nothing else has come close to doing.
Can I do this immersive 6-day course if I don’t live in the San Francisco Bay Area?
I don’t live in the Bay Area. Can I still sign up for a Brand Strong Masterclass?
Yes! The Brand Strong Immersive Masterclasses is a six-day experience that takes place online, spread over two weeks. We’ve had participants from all over the U.S. and welcome people from all over the world. All you need is access to Zoom. A computer is best, as opposed to a phone.
The full day and evening schedule gives you time to learn and then work, with time to take breaks to refresh and remain creative and focused.
If you’ve never taken a class this way, it’s bonding, powerful, and fun! You get to learn while being part of a community of amazing business owners who are all as serious as you to get started on this incredible work of professional growth.
WANT TO KNOW MORE? CHECK OUT OUR CURRICULUM OVERVIEW
Support during your learning
Will I have individual time with Nina?
During the month of the program, you’ll be in a temporary Slack group where you can ask Nina questions and get answers and coaching, and the whole group will benefit.
Our six-day intensive program includes plenty of time to ask questions and get coaching as you work. There’s also workshop time during the six-day program when Nina will offer individual questions and laser coaching as time permits.
While the Brand Strong Masterclass is not an individual coaching program, it is an incredibly interactive experience. Nina creates an intimate and safe environment for you to ask questions and get coached in the group environment throughout the program.
We hear from our students that they not only have huge breakthroughs and growth being coached by Nina, but oftentimes, it is even more impactful and eye-opening to watch her coach other people.
Will there be individual coaching?
How long will it take me to complete the course?
For Brand Strong Masterclass course participants, Nina will be teaching all modules during the live classes. You’ll have a chance to start every element of the work and be able to work all the way through some exercises, and others will be started during class and need more attention between weeks or after the program. With focus and commitment, you should be able to work through a first pass of every exercise included in the program.
The course is set up for you to work through the lessons and exercises in order. The exercises are designed to be reviewed and refined throughout the course and utilized for as long as you’re in business.
What if I fall behind on my course work?
There’s no such thing. All course materials are distributed, so once you receive them and use them during class, you can use them from that point forward, anytime.
How will I know if the course worked for me?
The Brand Strong course will help you create smart goals and a plan to get you to your version of success. We aren’t telling you what to do specific to your industry or business; instead, we’re providing you with the guidance, tools, and skills you need to design and implement your business’s vision, goals and plan in the best way possible.
These results require self-reflection and holding yourself accountable to completing the work and assignments in the order that we give them to you. If you do, then it has “worked” for you if you leave the course with long-term goals you love, milestone goals to get there, and a 12-month plan that provides you with the best short-term strategy for significant movement toward your version of success.
It is critical to complete all of the course elements, and in order. If you skip around or speed through the work without enough thought, the Brand Strong course and teaching style won’t work for you.
About sharing materials with others
Can I share the course content with my team?
Here’s a reminder of our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
To recap:
The course and materials have been licensed to you as an individual. Our materials are protected by copyright, trademark, and intellectual property law…. You can’t copy, reclaim, reuse, repurpose, or retransmit the materials in any way.
We understand the material will help grow areas of your business and that you may want to collaborate or share with an employee. In those instances, it’s okay to talk about what you’ve learned from a particular lesson in a meeting or 1:1 conversation.
What you can share is your own business Brand Strong Model! If you have a team, it is powerful for them to see your values, vision, and goals. We will talk about how you can do this in the course and trust that you will follow our guidelines for how to do this in a beneficial way that does not violate our terms.
We do want to be clear: Under no circumstances can you distribute or share your log-in or use course materials to teach others. We take plagiarism very seriously, and we will formally follow up with anyone caught repurposing Brand Strong content as their own or teaching the course materials to their clients, prospects, or employees.
It is our pleasure to teach you and share this course with you and we appreciate your respect of Nina, You Design You, and all of the course materials.
Can my business partner or associate join me for the Brand Strong Masterclass?
We highly recommend that if you have a co-own a business, you and your partner take advantage of our two people from one business discount. The work you will do in the program and the personal learning and growth is holistic, and you’ll want to create and be on the same page together after the program. If you are considering taking this course without your business partner, please contact us to discuss.
We don’t recommend you include a non-owner associate unless this person operates as a business partner in your business. Feel free to contact us to discuss your specific situation if you’re on the fence.
Payment and refunds
Do you have a payment plan?
Yes, we offer a payment plan. You will see the first charge upon registering and the subsequent charges each month after. There are payment plan details on our purchase page. For those looking to save some money, there’s a discount for paying for the course in one full payment.
What if I pay for and then can’t attend the Masterclass?
Unfortunately, we do not provide refunds for Brand Strong Immersive fees except for emergencies on a case-by-case basis. If you find yourself facing such a situation, please reach out to us as soon as possible so we can discuss options.
Do you have a money-back guarantee?
Please start by reviewing our refund policy on our Terms of Service page.
We offer refunds minus a $250 deposit. Once your Brand Strong Masterclass begins, only emergency refunds are possible, and subject to our discretion. Due to the fact that it is a live event, costs associated with event logistics cannot be refunded (these costs will vary between our different types of programs).
Behind the scenes of Brand Strong
What is the backstory behind the creation of Brand Strong?
Aw, thanks for asking!
I, Nina Kaufman, a business coach, and Nicole Delger, a communications whiz, met in 2012. After working together and seeing what tremendous value we each received from each other, we realized how impactful it would be to offer an incredible, multi-discipline resource to our clients. By bringing together our individual approaches and expertise into one unique, comprehensive learning experience, we could double the value for our participants.
In addition to the years I spent testing the Brand Strong Model™ approach, and Nicole spent testing our marketing approach, I have a background in group facilitation, informal education, and curriculum writing, plus a business degree in Organizational Behavior and Leadership, coaching certifications, and a full coaching practice. So we put this to use as we worked to launch the course. In January 2015, we offered the first full-length Brand Strong course and completed it with fantastic results.
You can learn more about each of us on our individual websites: youdesignyou.com and NicoleDelger.com.
While Nicole has moved on from Brand Strong, she is an integral part of the original design of the program and we are lucky to have her as an advisor for life!
