SUMMARY
Gary sits down with Cat How, CEO, Founder, and Executive Creative Director of How&How, a branding agency with studios in London and Los Angeles that works with challenger brands taking on the giants, and with the giants themselves.
Cat starts with a distinction most leaders blur. Being brave with a brand means making a bold decision backed by strategy, not being loud or provocative for the sake of it. And the safe choice is rarely safe. Companies often come to her pointing at a competitor they admire and asking to look more like them. Her view is that looking like everyone else is the riskiest thing a business can do.
Gary and Cat get into why smart teams drift toward sameness: comfort, large stakeholder groups, and design by committee, which she says always ends up safe. Her boldest work tends to come from founder-led decisions, where the person who built the company knows why it exists and is willing to take the leap. When a client loses nerve late in the process, she takes them back to the strategy they already signed off.
On credibility, Cat makes the case that customers do not trust a brand because it looks like the rest of its sector. They trust it because it shows up consistently at every touchpoint, from its visual identity to its customer service. She treats a brand like a person, with a way it looks and a way it speaks, and builds the verbal and visual identity together.
The conversation also covers what a rebrand should change in the business after launch, how she repositioned a century-old nonprofit institution (Chester Zoo), why an outside perspective makes a complex tech company (Veriff) easier to explain, and why How&How shares every salary openly with its whole team.
This episode reinforces a core principle of the show:
- Client focus is a growth strategy.
- Leadership behavior drives revenue.
- Trust is built through consistency, not conformity.
If you are a founder or leader whose business is strong but whose brand no longer sets it apart, this conversation will sharpen how you think about the decisions that create differentiation.
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WHAT YOU’LL LEARN
- What separates strategic bravery from being loud or provocative
- Why looking like your competitors is the riskier choice
- Why design by committee tends to end up safe, and why founder-led decisions produce bolder brands
- How to keep bold work on track when stakeholders get nervous late in the process
- Why trust comes from consistency across every touchpoint rather than from sector conventions
- Why verbal identity deserves the same weight as visual identity
- How challengers and established companies should approach brand differently
- How to reposition an established brand without alienating the customers who already trust it (featuring the Chester Zoo case study)
- What a rebrand should change in the business after launch
- Why an outside perspective makes a complex business easier to explain (featuring the Veriff case study)
- What open salary transparency has changed for her team
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CHAPTERS
[00:00] Cold open
[00:23] Introduction
[02:37] What strategic bravery means, and how it differs from being loud
[04:24] Why companies choose the comfortable option
[05:30] Career risk and making the brave call
[07:21] When stakeholder feedback makes bold work safer
[09:35] Can a bank, accounting firm or law firm be brave without losing credibility?
[13:20] Verbal and visual identity: treating a brand like a person
[15:03] Challengers versus giants: how the strategy differs
[16:58] Repositioning an established brand without alienating customers
[22:32] What should change in the business after a rebrand
[25:17] Making a complicated business simple to explain
[27:17] Salary transparency: why How&How shares every salary
[30:11] Closer: where a founder should start when the brand no longer stands out
[31:49] Does It Hold Water?
[34:03] Chip Shots
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BOOK RECOMMENDATION
The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene
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CONNECT WITH CAT
Website: https://how.studio/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cat-how-0499b9149/
How&How on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/howandhow/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/how___studio/
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CONNECT WITH GARY MARRA
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gary-marra/
Schooley Mitchell: https://www.schooleymitchell.com/gmarra
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@yourcustomeryoursuccesspodcast
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Book a discovery call: https://calendly.com/gnmarra/30-schooley-mitchell-discovery-call
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PLEASE LISTEN AND SUBSCRIBE
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ABOUT YOUR CUSTOMER, YOUR SUCCESS
Your Customer, Your Success is a leadership and business growth podcast built on the idea that client focus is not just a service philosophy, it is a growth strategy. Hosted by Gary Marra, the show sits at the intersection of customer experience, employee experience, leadership, and operational discipline. Each episode features practical conversations with executives, advisors, and business leaders on how better experiences drive loyalty, trust, retention, and sustainable growth.
ABOUT GARY MARRA
Gary Marra is a Schooley Mitchell Franchise Owner, business advisor, and host of Your Customer, Your Success. Drawing on thirty years in investment servicing with institutional clients, along with deep experience in client management and cross-functional leadership, Gary helps organizations think more clearly about how service, trust, and execution shape growth. His perspective combines client-centric strategy with practical business discipline, making the show especially relevant for founders, operators, and leaders responsible for long-term client relationships.
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#BrandStrategy #Branding #Differentiation #Leadership #BusinessGrowth #CustomerTrust #Rebranding #SMBGrowth #Founders #GrowthStrategy #podmatch