The Horses Outside My Office Door Told Me Everything About Why She’s Scrolling Past You…

It was the whinny that stopped me.
The first time I heard it I thought, Did I really just hear what I thought I heard? Was that a horse whinnying??”

Yes- yes it was.

The first thing I noticed when I moved to Belgium wasn’t the beer or the waffles- it was the horses.

Most mornings, if I leave my office door cracked, I hear hooves clapping against the cobblestones in my neighborhood. (And yes, they poop on the street — but that’s a story for another mood, another day.)

It’s as marvelous as it sounds.

I grew up in a teeny tiny 2 stoplight town in Oklahoma and spent the last fifteen years in Texas, and if you saw someone riding a horse down a suburban street there, you’d assume they’d escaped from a rodeo.

Here? Completely normal. Horses are everywhere.

And without meaning to, they’ve tugged me back into memory: brushing manes with my grandfather, loving the smell of hay in my grandparents’ barn, feeling awe and maybe a little fear at their power.

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The Turn – Branding Parallel

And it hit me: this is exactly what so many founders do with their brands.

They put out vague signals. They blend in.

They assume the right people will just “find them, get it” and know when to show up. But the truth? Customers don’t wait around. If the gate isn’t open, if the message isn’t clear, they move on.

A horse is powerful but without clarity and direction, it just runs past you.
A brand is the same.

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5 reasons she’s scrolling past you instead of stopping at your stall…. (I mean shopping with you)

1) You look like déjà vu

What it looks like: beige grid, same 6 hooks as everyone else, “clean” until it’s sterile. Your voice could belong to any brand with a Canva login.

Why this happens: you optimized for “aesthetic” over point of view. Pretty is plentiful; POV is scarce.

Founder fix: define three Signature Signals you’ll use everywhere:

• 8–12 words that are only yours (ex: “hydration-first ritual,” “quiet power,” “boutique-grade”).
• One repeatable detail (ex: velvety macro textures; handwritten marginalia; a black ribbon).
• Angle: your spiky statement about the category (ex: “We don’t chase glow; we engineer barrier health.”)

Micro-experiment :
Pin a POV Reel + POV Carousel + POV Story highlight. Same thesis, three executions. Replace any post that doesn’t echo that thesis for the next 9 tiles.

How you’ll know it’s working: saves/comments mention your phrase back to you (“hydration-first!!”), DMs paraphrase your POV, profile views → follows > 35% on reels.

Swipeable lines:

• “If your ‘minimalism’ erases your personality, it’s not branding—it’s witness protection.”
• “We don’t do trends; we do tells. Here are ours.”

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2) Your message makes her work

What it looks like: About page reads like a memoir, IG bio is vibes only, product pages talk ingredients without outcomes.

Why this happens: you’re inside the jar trying to read the label.
Founder fix: write your Shelf Talker Sentence:

“We help [who] get [result] without [undesirable tradeoff], using [cred/simple mechanism].”

Micro-experiment:

• Replace bio with STS + one next action.
• First frame of every video for 7 days = STS on screen.
• Add a “Start here” Story highlight with 3 slides: who it’s for → what it does → how to try.

How you’ll know it’s working: profile → website CTR jumps, replies like “this is literally me,” fewer “so what do you do?” DMs.

Swipeable lines:

• “Clarity converts faster than clever.”
• “If she has to decode it, she won’t.”

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3) You’re talking to the wrong person

What it looks like: founder-to-founder pep talks, jargon (shelf-life, SKU’s) while your customer just wants less redness by Monday.

Why this happens: content for social proof with peers feels safer than specificity for buyers.

Founder fix: build 3 Messaging Lanes your customer actually lives in:

• Symptom lane: “Flaky T-zone by 3pm?” “Extensions slipping by week 3?”
• Context lane: “Office AC + city pollution = why your moisturizer ‘stops working.’”
• Outcome lane: “Barrier up = makeup sits better + fewer flare days.”

Rotate lanes in your calendar; every post must live in one lane.

Micro-experiment:
Run a Story Quiz Funnel: Day 1 symptom poll → Day 2 context myth-buster → Day 3 “choose your outcome” with a DM keyword. Tag respondents; send the right guide/offer.

How you’ll know it’s working: DM keywords trigger, replies use everyday language, not founder-speak; saves on symptom posts > any BTS.

Swipeable lines:

• “Talk to the woman at 7:14am in her bathroom, not the founder on a panel.”
• “If your best friend couldn’t repeat it at brunch, it’s not buyer-facing.”

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4) You’re giving side-project vibes

What it looks like: erratic cadence, mixed fonts, random off-brand reposts, link-in-bio is a scavenger hunt, no pinned proof.

Why this happens: you’re shipping when inspired, not when intended.
Founder fix: install Credibility Architecture people can see in 8 seconds:

• 3 Pinned posts: (1) Why us / STS, (2) Proof (before/after, case study), (3) Try me (hero SKU or starter session).
• Story Highlights: Start, Ritual/Process, Proof, Press/Notes, FAQs, Offers.
• Cadence Contract: 3 formats you can sustain (e.g., 2 reels + 1 carousel + 5 stories/wk).

Micro-experiment :
Audit link-in-bio → make one path for each job: try / learn / buy. Remove everything else.

How you’ll know it’s working: fewer “how do I buy?” DMs, more “bought!” screenshots, CTR up, bounce down.

Swipeable lines:

• “Luxury is consistency. Chaos reads cheap.”
• “If she has to hunt for it, she’ll keep hunting—on someone else’s site.”

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5) You don’t make her feel anything

What it looks like: facts, not feels. Education with no texture. Here’s the thing beauty & wellness buyers buy on feeling.

Why this happens: fear of being “too much,” plus an allergy to specificity.
Founder fix: bake Resonance Triggers into every asset:

• Sensory detail: replace “hydrating” with “your skin drinks and stays dewy under office AC.”
• Recognition moment: “For when your face logs more Zoom hours than you do.”
• Meaning: “We make routines you can keep on your worst week.”

Experiment :
Rewrite 3 highest-traffic pages + 2 top reels with Feel → Fact → Finish:

• Feel: “You know that mid-afternoon tightness?”
• Fact: “It’s TEWL—transepidermal water loss.”
• Finish: “Here’s how to plug the leak in 2 steps.”

How you’ll know it’s working: comments like “omg this is me,” shares to Stories with “seen,” DM replies to your prompts, longer caption dwell time.

Swipeable lines:

• “If nothing tingles, nothing sticks.”
• “Make it felt. Then make it make sense.”

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Founder Checklist: to run before you post

• Would my customer screenshot this for later?
• Could a stranger tell this is mine with the logo removed?
• Is there a single, obvious next step?
• Where’s the feeling? (underline the sentence that makes her nod)
• Does this echo my Signature Signals?

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Non-cringe, boutique CTA menu

• “Want the 2-step version? Reply ‘CALM’.”
• “If your T-zone taps out by 3pm, save this.”
• “Ready to stop patchworking routines? Start here.”
• “Need receipts? Check the Proof highlight.”

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The algorithm isn’t broken. It’s just convenient to blame.
It’s the scapegoat for vague messaging, recycled visuals, and content that doesn’t actually say anything.

Because if we’re honest—

• It’s not Meta’s fault your captions read like everyone else’s.
• It’s not TikTok’s fault she can’t figure out what you sell.
• It’s not the algorithm’s fault your posts make her feel… nothing.

Algorithms don’t hate you. They’re neutral. They amplify clarity and bury static. That’s it.

So the real question isn’t “why won’t the algorithm push me?”
It’s “what signal am I actually sending?”

You don’t need another hack. You don’t need to post 3× a day.
You need the guts to stop blaming the feed and start owning the signal.

Because presence isn’t about being everywhere, it’s about being unmistakable when you show up.