Sarah Mariano built The Stretch Therapists into a global fitness certification business while traveling the world as a digital nomad. She grew her brand on Instagram, landed celebrity and pro athlete clients, and became the face people associated with stretch therapy. Then she made a decision most founders dread: she stepped back. Not because it was failing. Because she had a bigger goal in mind.
Building a Brand Beyond the Founder
The shift from personal brand to company brand does not happen overnight, and Sarah is the first to say it is still happening. She describes handing her celebrity clients to her team as a genuine grieving process — one she worked through with her therapist. There was an identity crisis. There were questions about what it meant for her if she gave those relationships away. What kept her moving forward was returning to the end goal: building something that could grow without her in every room, and giving her team, especially women of color in the fitness and wellness space, a real platform to lead.
Paid Ads for Service Businesses: The Four-Year Hard Lesson
Sarah avoided paid ads for years. She tried to learn them herself, hired the wrong coach, shut down, found the right one, spent six months running her own Meta campaigns, and then hired an agency. The whole arc took the better part of four years. What she learned: you have to test at a small budget first, understand your metrics before you scale, and find a coach who matches how you learn. She also shared something rare — a real-time look at what happens when ads stop converting the way they used to, and how she is diagnosing it right now with help from a data analyst in her community.
Representation in the Fitness and Wellness Industry
This is not a footnote in what Sarah is building. It is the mission. Her team is predominantly women of color. Her courses are designed so that every student, especially those who have sat through workshops where they did not feel seen or acknowledged, leaves feeling like they belonged there. She talked about students coming up to her instructors after courses and saying they had never seen someone who looked like them leading from the front. That is the thing she is building toward.
If you are a founder trying to figure out what comes after the personal brand, or trying to build a team that can hold the vision without you in every room, this episode is worth your time. And if you are still figuring out what your brand is communicating, start with the Brand Audit Scorecard at lyoncreatives.com/brand-audit-scorecard.
For brand strategy support in Morris County and across New Jersey, see what we do at Lyon Creatives: lyoncreatives.com/services/branding-agency-morris-county-nj/
Connect with Sarah:
- Website: thestretchtherapists.com
- LinkedIn: The Stretch Therapist
- Instagram: @thestretchtherapist
Tools I Love
Some of the links below are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only share tools I actually use and believe in.
- Flodesk — beautiful email marketing for creative businesses: flodesk.com/c/LYONCREATIVES
- HoneyBook — client management and contracts: share.honeybook.com/svenja7629354
Audio Production
Huge thanks to Mike at Nielsen Audio Solutions for editing this episode. If you have a podcast and you are doing your own editing because you cannot find someone you trust, Mike is the answer. He has been editing every episode of This Might Get Creative and the difference shows. Reach out to him at nielsenaudiosolutions.com
Not sure if your brand is the thing holding you back?
Take the Brand Audit Scorecard. Ten questions, an honest score, and a clear picture of where your brand is working and where it isn’t. No call required, no sales follow-up. Just the assessment.
Takes about 5 minutes. Built for established businesses ready for a brand that matches where they are.