booking may & june projects now →

A California Dietitian’s Brand Evolution From Private Practice to Paid Speaker

Table Of Contents

Picture this: it’s Friday afternoon, I’m on my third cup of coffee, and my inbox pings with an email that makes me do a little dance in my office chair. One of my amazing clients just booked her second paid speaking engagement in less than three months after our rebrand.

*Cue happy dance*

giphy

This is the kind of message that makes all those late nights tweaking custom WordPress websites totally worth it. Because when you help someone bring their authentic, weight-inclusive voice to life online, magical things happen!

So grab your coffee (or tea if that’s your jam), and let me walk you through this incredible project for a California-based dietitian who was ready to step into her power as a speaker and educator in the weight-inclusive nutrition space.

More Than Just Another Pretty Website

When Lauren Anton (our rockstar dietitian) first reached out, she knew exactly what she wanted: to build a brand that would position her as the go-to expert for weight-inclusive post-cancer nutrition care and eating disorder recovery in California.

But here’s the thing – she wasn’t just looking for a pretty logo or some cute brand colors. She needed a complete transformation that would reflect her expertise, compassion, and unique approach to nutrition counseling.

“I’ve been doing this work for years,” she told me during our discovery call, “but my online presence doesn’t match the depth of what I offer. I want to book more speaking gigs and really position myself as the expert I am.”

Challenge accepted!

What We Created Together

Over the course of our project, we tackled:

  1. Custom Signature Branding & Brand Strategy
  2. Custom WordPress Website Design
  3. Local SEO Audit and Tune-Up
  4. Website Support Plan
  5. Termageddon Setup for Legal Compliance
  6. AND she joined our amazing Clinician Crew community for continued support

Let’s break down each piece of this comprehensive project.

Custom Signature Branding & Brand Strategy – Finding Her Voice

Before we even thought about colors or fonts, we dove deep into brand strategy. This is where the magic happens, folks!

Using my comprehensive workbook method, I guided Lauren through exercises to uncover her brand values, personality, and positioning. We explored questions like:

  • What makes her approach unique in the weight-inclusive nutrition space?
  • Who are her ideal clients and what are they struggling with?
  • What tone and messaging will resonate with her audience?
  • What emotions should her brand evoke?
  • What season would your brand be? (seriously!)

This wasn’t just about making things look pretty – it was about creating a strategic foundation that would help her book those speaking gigs and attract her dream clients.

What emerged was a brand personality that’s compassionate yet direct, approachable yet professional. We identified her core values around connection, curiosity, respect, and courage – values that would guide every design decision moving forward.

“I thought I was writing drivel and then she translated that into copy that will improve SEO,” Lauren later shared about this process. “She just knows her stuff!”

lauren anton local seo and websitelauren anton local seo and website

The Visual Identity is More Than Just a Logo

With our strategy in place, we moved on to creating a visual identity that would truly represent Lauren and her practice.

We carefully selected fonts that balanced professionalism with warmth – no generic Brittany font here! (If you know, you know 😏).

Her color palette was thoughtfully chosen to evoke feelings of trust, compassion, and growth – essential emotions for someone working with clients recovering from eating disorders or navigating post-cancer nutrition.

lauren anton local seo and website2

We created a primary logo, secondary logo variations, submarks, and custom brand patterns that she could use across all her materials. Everything was designed to be cohesive, memorable, and truly reflective of her practice values.

lauren anton local seo and website4

Lauren’s Custom WordPress Website

With branding in place, we moved on to creating a custom WordPress website that would serve as Lauren’s digital home base.

This wasn’t just any template-based site. We built it from the ground up with custom design to ensure it perfectly reflected her new brand while also being optimized for performance and SEO.

The site included:

  • A compelling homepage that clearly communicated her expertise and approach
  • Services pages that spoke directly to her different client needs
  • A speaking page to highlight her expertise and make it easy for event organizers to book her
  • Optimized contact forms to capture qualified leads
  • Mobile responsiveness for perfect viewing on any device
  • Intuitive navigation to guide visitors exactly where they needed to go

But the real magic was in the content. Using Lauren’s workbook responses, I crafted website copy that not only sounded authentically like her but was also strategically optimized for SEO.

“Bonus: Courtney knows my industry and it made it SO EASY,”

“Bonus: Courtney knows my industry and it made it SO EASY,” Lauren commented on this part of the process. When you’ve been a dietitian yourself, you just get the nuances of the field in a way others can’t!

Local SEO Audit and Tune-Up and Getting Found in California

Having a gorgeous website doesn’t help if no one can find it! That’s why we conducted a comprehensive local SEO audit and tune-up to boost Lauren’s visibility in search results.

Our SEO work included:

  • Comprehensive keyword research focused on her geographic area and specializations
  • Creating and correcting 20 online citations (business directory listings)
  • Optimizing her Google Business Profile with keyword-rich descriptions, services, and FAQs
  • Setting up scheduled posts to maintain activity
  • Adding professional photos to all listings
  • Creating consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone) information across all platforms

We also tackled technical SEO on her website, ensuring proper meta descriptions, alt text, heading structures, and schema markup.

The results started showing quickly. Within weeks, we saw increased impressions and clicks to her website, with particularly strong growth in January and February. Her website visits from Google searches increased significantly, with her about page and speaker page seeing the most growth.

screenshot 2025 04 06 at 1.28.13 pm

Website Support Plan & Termageddon

To ensure Lauren’s new digital presence stayed secure and up-to-date, we set her up with a website support plan that includes:

  • Regular WordPress core updates
  • Plugin updates and compatibility testing
  • Security monitoring and protection
  • Regular backups
  • Performance optimization
  • Monthly website health reports

We also implemented Termageddon, a dynamic legal policy generator, to ensure her website remained legally compliant with privacy laws and regulations – something especially important when working with clients in healthcare!

The Results – From Website to Speaking Stage

The true measure of a successful project isn’t just in how pretty the final product looks – it’s in the tangible results it brings.

And wow, did this brand transformation deliver!

In less than three months after launching her new brand and website, Lauren booked two paid speaking engagements – exactly the goal she had set at the beginning of our project.

Her online presence now perfectly positions her as the expert she truly is, making it easier for conference organizers and event planners to say “yes” to booking her as a speaker.

But beyond the speaking gigs, Lauren now has:

  • A cohesive brand that truly represents her practice values
  • A website that attracts her ideal clients
  • Improved visibility in local search results
  • A secure, legally-compliant online presence
  • The confidence to fully step into her role as an industry expert

The Client Experience is More Than Just Design

One of the aspects I’m most proud of in this project wasn’t just the visual outputs – it was the experience of working together.

“LOVE COURTNEY,” Lauren shared in her testimonial. “She truly cares and puts her heart and soul into her work. I love the workbook method and she works magic with that!”

declet designs review

Using my client portal, Lauren always knew exactly where we were in the process. No confusing email chains, no lost files, just a streamlined experience from start to finish.

“No leaving me hanging ever,” she mentioned. “Also, she’s just a super nice person.”

When you work with weight-inclusive providers, there’s a special kind of understanding that comes from being part of that community. My background as a dietitian means I truly get the unique challenges and opportunities in this field.

The Secret Sauce is Industry Knowledge + Design Expertise

What made this project so successful wasn’t just good design skills – it was the combination of industry knowledge and design expertise.

As a dietitian-turned-designer, I understand the unique needs of weight-inclusive practitioners. I know the language, the philosophy, and the challenges these providers face.

This deep understanding means I can:

  1. Ask the right questions in the discovery phase
  2. Create designs that truly speak to their ideal clients
  3. Write copy that balances expertise with accessibility
  4. Optimize for keywords their potential clients are actually using
  5. Build websites that support their specific business models

It’s this combination that allows for truly transformative brand projects like Lauren’s.

Why This Matters

Working with Lauren reminded me exactly why I transitioned from being a dietitian to a designer for weight-inclusive businesses.

The world needs more voices speaking out against diet culture. We need more practitioners helping people heal their relationships with food and body. And these amazing professionals deserve websites and brands that match the life-changing work they do.

When weight-inclusive practitioners have powerful brands and websites, they can:

  • Reach more people who need their services
  • Book more speaking engagements to spread their message
  • Position themselves as the experts they truly are
  • Stand out in a sea of diet-focused messaging
  • Create sustainable, profitable practices that allow them to continue their important work

That’s why I do what I do. That’s why spending hours perfecting a WordPress template or tweaking brand colors feels meaningful. Because it’s not just about design – it’s about amplifying important voices in the nutrition world.

Your Turn

If Lauren’s story resonates with you, if you’re a weight-inclusive provider whose online presence doesn’t match the depth and quality of your work, know that transformation is possible.

Like Lauren, you deserve a brand and website that:

  • Truly represents your values and approach
  • Positions you as the expert you are
  • Attracts your dream clients
  • Opens doors to speaking opportunities
  • Makes you proud to share your website link

Whether you need a complete rebrand like Lauren or just some strategic updates to your existing presence, taking this step can be transformative for your practice.

So, are you ready to stop DIY-ing your website and start truly showing up online as the expert you are? I’d love to help you make that happen – just like we did for Lauren.

Until next time, keep fighting the good fight against diet culture. The world needs your voice!

|| vickery ||

Hi, I'm Courtney

Dietitian turned web designer who helps private practice dietitians create websites that actually convert (without the tech headaches).

When I'm not building sites, you'll find me reading fantasy novels with a giant mug of tea and my dog Oliver at my feet.
free website red flags for dietitians

Discover the 10 critical website fixes that could double your inquiry rate!

Recent posts

info
Declet Designs is a brand and web design studio for weight-inclusive private practices and organizations. Founded by Courtney Vickery, MS, RD, LD, a dietitian turned designer, we provide strategic branding, websites, and local SEO.

Located in Athens, GA, and serving businesses nationally.

Declet Designs is a welcoming space built on the belief that every body deserves dignified, affirming care. We're committed to weight inclusivity, LGBTQIA+ inclusion, neurodivergent-affirming practices, and anti-racism. If those values don't align with yours, we're probably not the right fit, and that's okay.

690 N Hwy 29 Ste 115, #123 Athens, GA 30601

COPYRIGHT 2026 DECLET DESIGNS LLC