Branded | Metamorphosis Fitness by Deanna Kane

I'm a big fan of transformation shows. The Biggest Loser, Chris and Heidi Powell's Extreme Weight Loss on ABC, Revenge Body with Khloe Kardashian on E...chances are if it's a show about radical change, I've either seen it, or it's on my DVR. 

Four years ago, crying over an episode of KK's revenge body as I sat at my most massive weight (282 lbs) stuffing my face with french fries to dull the pain, I knew I had to do something about my weight. So I did. I joined gyms, committed to two-a-day workouts, did CrossFit WODs until I threw up and drank powered smoothies that tasted like chalk. I longed for balance and real food but my mind was set on taking charge of my health. And it worked. Within a year, I was 9 lbs away from officially having lost a total of 100 lbs. 

But then I put my health on hold again when I lost my mom to suicide and decided to quit my job, start a business, and uproot my entire life to the desert of all places. It was hard to get back in the habit of working out. Besides the pressures of running a business, which anyone whose done it knows just how time-consuming it is, and the mental barricades that normal people go through of getting back into fitness, for me, it was such a deeper hurdle. 

The day I lost my mom to suicide, I was at my CrossFit gym, and the guilt of self-care had followed me all the way to Arizona anytime I stepped foot inside a workout facility. Rounding out the first year in Phoenix, as my business slowly established itself, I knew I needed to conquer my fears of the gym and get back into a routine of working out. 

And that's how I met Deanna Kane of Metamorphosis Fitness Coaching.

I had been searching the web for a new trainer in Phoenix when I stumbled onto her Instagram account. Of course, when I saw we were both a part of the local networking group, the "Hustle Hunnies," I knew our passion for business and attitude would align. Tapping to look more closely at her feed, I was especially impressed by her approachable, no-nonsense fitness tips and her fiery entrepreneurial outlook. She was exactly the kind of female powerhouse I needed.

I’m not kidding about her smile. This is her face 99% of the time.

The first time we met, she walked into my office in Old Town Scottsdale with a big smile on her face. That smile never left her face throughout our whole conversation. She radiated positive energy and enthusiasm in a way that fed into my own excitement to work with her. To this day, she might be the most energetic person I've ever encountered. The way she speaks is direct, you can tell she knows her shit, and it almost sounds like she's ending every sentence with an exclamation point. 

When I asked her about her ultimate goal with fitness coaching, she enthusiastically responded, "I want to build a badass community of badass people!" 

Coming from the hospitality industry, Deanna is a people person through and through.

"I was actually forced into training," she laughs. "I just loved fitness so much that everyone around me told me it was my calling, and I denied it for the longest time!" It wasn't until a customer finally convinced Deanna to train him and his girlfriend that she gave in.

"Within 30 seconds of being there, I knew it was what I was supposed to be doing."

That moment, that feeling of purpose drives Deanna to wake up as early as 3 am sometimes and do what she loves. Watching her clients shatter their goals and achieve what they didn't know was possible fuels her fire. 

Building strength while simultaneously building confidence. For Deanna, fitness training goes beyond just physical muscle building. It's a supportive community full of people with a shared goal, tons of determination, and of course, fun! 

By the time Deanna had helped me work through some of my personal reasons for skipping the gym, and I finally scheduled my first training session with her, I realized the bubbly, vivacious brunette was no joke! The first time I worked out at Metamorphosis Fitness, I looked like a baby giraffe learning to stand on its own two feet for the first time as I hobbled out of our session. My legs actually buckled on my way through the parking lot, but the endorphins and feeling of accomplishment made every sore step worthwhile.

It's in the gym, with a client pushing themselves to a healthy limit, most likely breaking a sweat where Deanna is in the zone. Behind a camera, posing a client, possibly breaking a sweat if we're shooting in the Arizona heat, is where I'm in my zone. Between two self-proclaimed badass women, collaborating and hiring each other to reach our goals was like a walk in the park (or on the treadmill in this case).

Her website, like my booty, needed a lift. Hitting the "refresh" button on a custom new Squarespace website, logo, and brand photography, I knew that keeping her down-to-earth and approachable attitude towards fitness and nutrition coaching while infusing a few modern and chic touches would level-up her business. 

Staying true to the theme of girl power and will power, we selected fundamental scenes to fully capture Deanna's brand. Drawing attention to movement and the body, we started our full day brand shoot at the Arizona Science Center's geometric and all-concrete courtyard. Our models, all but one, were real clients who actively train with Deanna at Metamorphosis and were ecstatic to participate in her brand photoshoot. Head to toe in black athletic wear, the focus was on the form of the body and fitness expertise, but each girl's fun personalities couldn't stay too serious for too long. By the end of shooting at our first location, the number of candid laughs captured and spur of the moment handstands were already growing. The hugs are real, and the friendship between Deanna, her clients didn't require any posing on my end.

Moving the party to the next spot, on time, I might add, we took the brand narrative beyond the gym. Working on physical strength is only one aspect of the wellness lifestyle Metamorphosis extends into. To showcase a day in the holistically healthy life, we highlighted her nutrition coaching at one of my favorite personal kitchens in the Valley. 

Since we ended up shooting Deanna's brand session right in the middle of the first state shutdown due to COVID-19, Deanna's plan to rent out an Airbnb for the second location came to a screeching halt. Luckily my favorite local designer and friend Kalen, graciously opened up her personal home to photograph the kitchen storyline.

Most people think of brand photography as an updated headshot. But it really is so much more than that when done right. When I work with branding clients like Deanna, one of the things I do is to get them thinking outside of the box regarding brand photography. A personal brand is a collection of stories. To highlight that uniqueness, I work with clients like Deanna through a series of questionnaires, phone calls, and emails to co-design a photography shoot with 3-8 mini "day-in-the-life" lifestyle stories that accurately represent their brand and who they are.  

Deanna made sure to purchase all the products she touched

… and subtly flexed her arms for the shots.

For our third location, we headed to the one place I actively enjoy spending money at, the grocery store. Playing around with fruits and veggies at Sprouts was a memorable moment for both of us since it was during the pandemic's height, and both of us were hyper-aware and sensitive to that fact. Timid at first, both our tensions subsided as we nailed our collective vision for that location. By the time we made it to the ice cream aisle, Deanna was in her element. I'd like to note that we not only sanitized our hands before and after every location, but Deanna took EXTRA precautions at Sprouts to collect every item we touched, paying for them, and doing her part to stop the spread of COVID. 

In total, we hand-selected six locations to tell the narrative of what Deanna does. Her private apartment was the perfect spot to invite viewers and potential clients into an intimate, raw look at her three adorable pets' life. Maximum Fitness gym, where she trains her Metamorphosis clients, was another location we choose to shoot at for obvious reasons. But it was the parking garage in Gilbert where we hauled out tractor tires and fitness ropes to end her brand session that brought all the moving parts together in a fresh, edgy, contemporary way. 

The next step was designing a site to house all the pretty pictures we created with the photos complete. I work a little backward from most website designers and find the process of creating websites and copy to go along with it is so much easier when I have a plethora of content as inspiration and a guide. I had a vision for how I wanted to revamp the logo for Metamorphosis fitness coaching, and I hired Jeanette Sandoval of JDesigns, who created the logo for a few past clients of mine to truly transform Deanna's logotype. Honestly, she nailed my vision so hard on the first try that I didn't even have notes for revisions or improvements. 

While the heart of Deanna's business is her female clientele, it was essential to sprinkle in a dash of masculinity. Her site's primary color was dark grey (almost black), speckled with lighter feminine pastel shades and bold fonts to balance out her brand. Every branding client of mine completes a Brand Archetype quiz where we both discover what characteristics make up their brand. If you know anything about Brand Archetypes, it was no surprise that one of hers was "Girl Next Door." Writing the copy after spending months working with Deanna and having her voice echoing inside my head, it was apparent what her brand voice was: personal, laid-back, and authentic AF. 

I focused the copy around connecting Deanna with women who would be more interested in hiring her because of her personality rather than explaining complex workout terminology, which she is also really good at.

After every website reveal, I get a flutter of excitement, but unveiling the new look and feel of Deanna's website, logo, and how I tied in her personalized lifestyle photography truly gave me butterflies. I'm pretty sure we both teared up. 

If you're looking for your own metamorphosis and ready to transform your body, Deanna Kane just might be your girl. (You might even see me grinding away at my lunges.) And if you're looking to transform your brand, I might just be yours. 

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