with Cheers Creative
With our Brave Branding Academy,™ you’ll build a solid brand marketing plan (no busywork or pretending to be someone else online — we promise), streamline your business, and create a website that acts as your online booking/cash machine.
Avoid years of branding mistakes with our online training that helps you build your business with income-generating activities
Simplify your brand messaging, systems, and your website to stand out at the top of your industry
You hear it all the time: “A company will thrive with a good brand.” As a matter of fact, as an entrepreneur, you probably hear the word “brand” at least 100 times a day.
But when and how are you supposed to build your brand when you’re overwhelmed and don’t exactly know which part of it needs a tune-up?
Most importantly, how are you supposed to build your brand when you are hesitant to build it around who you are and what you really want to do?
Let’s be real…you don’t need another course to tell you to increase your prices or tell your story more online. You need the bravery to do it, coupled with our guidance to build a solid plan and execute it.
The Brave Branding Academy™ isn’t another cliched “branding is what people say about you when you leave the room” course. This is a comprehensive “know exactly what to leave in the room so that your audience will sing your praises” training program with ongoing online support (it’s like having a brand strategist in your pocket).
In the Academy, we show you how to make brave branding moves as the leader of your company, place systems in your business so that you can spend more time being brave, and combine it all into a website that helps you make money and get clients in your sleep.
What would it look like if business carried on as USUAL for the next few months?
What would it look like if you bet on yourself and did what needs to be done in your business, with our guidance?
The Brave Branding Academy™ is our self-paced online training program that teaches entrepreneurs how to make bold branding decisions in their business, tell their stories in unconventional ways, build ease into their businesses and close more sales with streamlined processes/systems, and have a website that becomes a 24/7 storytelling and customer-booking assistant.
Our private online students-only learning portal, with LIFETIME access.
Our learning portal includes all Brave Branding Academy™ training videos, materials, and resources (and any lessons that we add in the future). Our learning portal is accessible by desktop, laptop, and phone. Go through our training videos in the comfort of your home, while you’re out for a walk, or wherever you choose to learn.
Access to join Dana James Mwangi, lead brand strategist and creator of the Brave Branding Academy™, for weekly “office hours.”
Office hours are live sessions where students can get specific questions answered on a first-come-first-serve basis. Students who attend these sessions tend to experience the most success with our program.
A private students-only Facebook community of energized entrepreneurs.
The Facebook group will also be the place where we make special announcements, post program reminders, and more!
Digital workbooks to help you learn our lessons and build your business at the same time.
Just like our learning portal, our digital workbooks can be accessed from your desktop, tablet, and phone.
“I didn’t think that I could have a booming career as a food scientist.
I originally enrolled in Cheers Creative’s program with the intention of branding another business idea. This program helped me make the “brave branding decision” to push my career and expertise as a food scientist and consultant. I’m so glad I did! What happened next in my life was absolutely amazing.
I was just a few weeks into the program when I landed my first paying client during a speaking engagement. Cheers Creative had taught me how to tell my story! I landed contracts with schools to teach food science to kids. I now have local and national food consulting clients. I also launched a children’s book about food that is now carried in eight bookstores and counting!”
Ali Manning
Food Scientist and Author
Founder of Umami Food Consulting
New Student Orientation and Welcome
In this module, we will show you the best way to prepare for the Brave Branding Academy™ lessons, gather the tech that you will need (which is all free or free to set up) to complete this program, get familiar with the students-only lessons portal and students-only private Facebook group. You will also receive information on how to join our weekly office hours and live website review sessions.
The Difference Formula Framework: Find and Stand on Your Difference + Create Clear Brand Language
When you know what makes your business different, you can stand out against millions in your industry. In this module, we will show you how to identify your brand’s unique difference formula and use it to build a platform as the go-to person in your industry. In turn, you will be in a position to have more partners and collaborators than you have competition. What you develop in this module will be the foundation of your brand story.
Claim and Nurture Your Customer: Laser-Focus Your Branding, Language, and More Around Your Audience
“The customer is always right” if you take the steps to build your business around them. In this module, we will show you how to identify who your ideal customer is, bravely talk directly to them in all of your marketing materials, and invite your customers in to help you build your business (and still get paid top dollar while you are building).
Story Matters: Tell Your Brand Story Like a Pro and Use Storytelling as a Customer Magnet
This is the module where you will learn these two things in detail:
(1) How and when to tell your story, and
(2) How and when to tell your customer’s story.
Gone are the days when you could do business behind a curtain. But how do you tell your story and share your “why” without feeling completely naked and vulnerable? This module will help you create your custom storytelling plan that builds trust, can help you get press, and more. But that’s not all…
As your business grows, you will have more stories to tell outside of your own. In this module, you will also build your Ultimate Testimonial and Feedback system. Learn how and when to collect custom testimonials with ease. Display your customer’s stories in ways that are more attention-grabbing than the standard “testimonial slider” you see on most websites.
“This program had a huge influence on the branding success of my company.
*Business partners and members of family businesses are encouraged to enroll in the Brave Branding Academy™ together. Individual enrollment seats for each team member must be purchased.
Home Improvement Professional
Founder of Handyman Pro LLC
Business Name Magic: Name Your Business, Products/Services, Events, and Programs for Industry Domination
Your business name can either sink you to the bottom or it can give you wings to lift you high above the noise in today’s digital space. Follow our naming strategy to create business names that help you to dominate your market.
Build Your Brand Identity: Use Your Logo, Brand Fonts, and Colors to Claim Your Industry Territory
We are going to teach you the best way to go about choosing a logo, brand fonts, and brand colors for your business without becoming a graphic designer. Learn how to use all of the visual elements of your brand in a way that none of your competitors are doing.
Systems and Automation: Place Your Business Processes on Autopilot, Make More Sales, Do Less Work, and Provide More Value
Branding is the art of telling people what you do and how you can transform your customers’ lives.
Systems help you to back up who you say you are and be consistent with delivering that customer transformation. We will show you how to put redundant tasks on autopilot with tech. Impress your customers in the process, and get your time back to build yourself up as the industry leader in your business. In other words, no more sneaking in admin work while preparing to go on stage for a speaking engagement! Mastering this module will allow you the time in your business to be braver and more creative with your branding.
Power Your Website: Build Your New 24/7 Storyteller, Virtual Assistant, and Sales Rep
The sales clerk at major restaurant chains, offices, and department stores end up being the face of the entire company. In today’s world, your website is the “front sales clerk” of your brand. We’re going to show you how to make your website be your best online asset and the “hardest working employee” on your team.
In this final module, you will take everything you have learned and built in this program to put into a website that converts viewers to customers and clients.
No matter what website builder/platform you choose to use for your business, you will learn:
In the Brave Branding Academy™, you can choose how often to engage with our learning material. This program is 100% self-paced so it’s completely up to your schedule! You may complete all lessons in two weeks or two months – whichever suits best for you.
Yes! After you enroll and pay for your spot in the Brave Branding Academy™, if you are not satisfied, you have 14 days from your date of purchase to email us and request a full refund, no matter which payment plan you choose.
Once you enroll in the Brave Branding Academy, you will have access to the modules, training videos, lessons, and resources for life (all payments must be current to have access to Academy materials).
We encourage business partners to enroll in the Brave Branding Academy™ together. Please note that each person from your company/organization will need to purchase a separate seat/enrollment in the program. (Example: If you are the CEO of a company and you want to complete our program alongside your marketing director and graphic designer, you will need to purchase three separate seats in our program.)
You do not have to participate in the discussions we have in the Academy™’s private student-only Facebook group, but we highly encourage it. Our lessons, videos, and resources are designed for you to become self-sufficient in building your brand, however, there is a communal aspect of the Brave Branding Academy™ to keep you motivated and encouraged. Your next business collaborator may be a student in the Academy!
Our program does not teach you how to run paids ads. It teaches you what you need to know before you run paid ads. The Brave Branding Academy™ helps you to brand yourself organically so that when it’s time for you to hire a marketer, your paid marketing efforts will have a higher return.
Good marketing, good PR (public relations), a good social media strategy – they all start with a good story, clear brand messaging, clear products and services, clear pricing structures, and a clear promise. The Brave Branding Academy™ makes sure your branding foundation is solid.
There will be students in the Academy who run businesses that are similar to yours. We teach you how to stand on your brand’s difference so that you can stand next to anyone. The willingness to be different is what eliminates competition, and our teaching equips each student with what they need so that they’ll want to have a business that’s different from yours, even if it’s in the same industry as yours.
Founder and Chief Brand Strategist, Cheers Creative
Creator of the Brave Branding Academy™
Hi there! I’m Dana. I’m an award-winning brand expert, website strategist, and career life coach for creative professionals.
I founded Cheers Creative to help bring attention to the businesses, artists, and organizations in my community who deserved it. With over 15 years of expertise in graphic and web design, I show business owners how to make a powerful, confident statement with clear messaging, visuals, and websites.
In my career, I’ve noticed a pattern after working with, coaching, and delivering talks to thousands of entrepreneurs:
The most successful entrepreneurs are the ones who don’t wait on perfect conditions to get started in their business. They have this one ingredient in abundance: bravery.
What do you get when you mix bravery lessons with proven brand strategy? An unstoppable business owner.
This is why I created the Brave Branding Academy™; so you can get the mind work and the tech work needed to truly stand out in today’s digital space.
Dana James Mwangi is an award-winning brand expert, website consultant, and public speaker with a passion for empowering entrepreneurs to stand out online. With her unique blend of confidence lessons and brand design techniques, Dana has helped countless businesses reach their highest potential.
Growing up in Memphis, Tennessee, Dana was always drawn to the power of art and design. She decided to pursue graphic design at the University of Memphis during her undergraduate years. While attending college, Dana became a freelance print designer for local small businesses.
After graduation, Dana began working in corporate America as a graphic designer while continuing freelance work. She designed marketing materials for SunTrust, Wells Fargo, and home storage items sold in major retail stores like Walmart and Target. These experiences motivated Dana to realize that great design has the potential to safeguard a company and help it grow into a powerful brand.
Dana launched Cheers Creative in 2012 with the goal to help businesses grow through consistent brand and web design. Since then, she’s become a sought-after designer and consultant across many industries including fashion, music, and entertainment. Her expertise has made her clients more visible online while also giving them the confidence needed to reach new heights within their respective fields.
Dana quickly created a name for herself by developing attractive websites for her clients through the use of WordPress, the most popular website builder in the world.
In 2015, Dana’s progress was reinforced when she became an official partner of ThemeCo, creators of the popular “X” WordPress theme. Through this collaboration, over 220,000 customers on the ThemeCo platform were able to quickly create attractive websites using templates designed by Dana.
Dana’s entrepreneurial path, writings, design work, and advice have been highlighted and referred to in over 70 publications including Essence, Forbes, AfroTech, HubSpot, the official U.S. Chamber of Commerce blog, and .Net Magazine (the world’s largest publication for web designers).
In 2020, Dana was named the Grow with Google Digital Coach for Memphis, Tennessee. Her role ultimately extended to include the entire state of Tennessee. As one of 20 successful entrepreneurs in the United States chosen to serve as Grow with Google Digital Coaches, Dana provided free workshops to help Black and Latinx small business owners in her region learn Google tools, reach new customers, thrive online, and grow. As an experienced educator and digital marketing strategist, Dana helped Grow with Google reach over 100,000 business owners and contributed to its recognition in Fast Company’s Innovation by Design Awards.
Throughout Dana’s 15+ year brand design and consulting career, she noticed that her most successful clients at Cheers had simple business models. She wanted to see more business owners succeed with a foundation of simplicity and clarity.
The success of Cheers Creative allowed Dana to expand into training budding entrepreneurs on how to successfully brand a business. This led to the creation of the Brave Branding Academy™, an online education program based on the principles of simplicity and clarity. The Academy offers guidance on making courageous branding choices, simplifying brand designs, creating effective business processes and systems, and combining them with powerful websites so that entrepreneurs can achieve maximum results in their undertakings.
Brave Branding Academy™ students have established themselves as industry leaders with lucrative clients, five-figure speaking engagements, government and school contracts, and brand partnerships. Academy students have successfully landed featured in places like the New York Times, Essence Magazine, Huffington Post, Fast Company, HGTV, OWN Network, and Good Morning America.
Dana was recognized as a Memphis Business Journal 2021 40 under 40 honoree for her entrepreneurial creativity and success.
Dana is a highly sought-after national speaker on branding, design, and entrepreneurship. She has spoken at events and conferences for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Momference, Women’s Business Center South, Awwwards, and other notable organizations.
Aside from her professional life, Dana loves spending time with her husband and children. And when she is not doing that, she has dedicated herself to helping others achieve their full potential by teaching them how to lead with courage and bravery, no matter what challenges may come their way.
As Seen and
Referenced in:
As Seen and Referenced in:
Hi there! I’m Dana. I’m an award-winning brand expert, website strategist, and career life coach for creative professionals.
I founded Cheers Creative to help bring attention to the businesses, artists, and organizations in my community who deserved it. With over 15 years of expertise in graphic and web design, I show business owners how to make a powerful, confident statement with clear messaging, visuals, and websites.
In my career, I’ve noticed a pattern after working with, coaching, and delivering talks to thousands of entrepreneurs:
The most successful entrepreneurs are the ones who don’t wait on perfect conditions to get started in their business. They have this one ingredient in abundance: bravery.
What do you get when you mix bravery with proven brand strategy? An unstoppable business owner.
This is why I created the Brave Branding Academy; so you can get the mind work and the tech work needed to truly stand out in today’s digital space.
Dana James Mwangi is an award-winning brand expert, website consultant, and public speaker with a passion for empowering entrepreneurs to stand out online. With her unique blend of confidence lessons and brand design techniques, Dana has helped countless businesses reach their highest potential.
Growing up in Memphis, Tennessee, Dana was always drawn to the power of art and design. She decided to pursue graphic design at the University of Memphis during her undergraduate years. While attending college, Dana became a freelance print designer for local small businesses.
After graduation, Dana began working in corporate America as a graphic designer while continuing freelance work. She designed marketing materials for SunTrust, Wells Fargo, and home storage items sold in major retail stores like Walmart and Target. These experiences motivated Dana to realize that great design has the potential to safeguard a company and help it grow into a powerful brand.
Dana launched Cheers Creative in 2012 with the goal to help businesses grow through consistent brand and web design. Since then, she’s become a sought-after designer and consultant across many industries including fashion, music, and entertainment. Her expertise has made her clients more visible online while also giving them the confidence needed to reach new heights within their respective fields.
Dana quickly created a name for herself by developing attractive websites for her clients through the use of WordPress, the most popular website builder in the world.
In 2015, Dana’s progress was reinforced when she became an official partner of ThemeCo, creators of the popular “X” WordPress theme. Through this collaboration, over 220,000 customers on the ThemeCo platform were able to quickly create attractive websites using templates designed by Dana.
Dana’s entrepreneurial path, writings, design work, and advice have been highlighted and referred to in over 70 publications including Essence, Forbes, AfroTech, HubSpot, the official U.S. Chamber of Commerce blog, and .Net Magazine (the world’s largest publication for web designers).
In 2020, Dana was named the Grow with Google Digital Coach for Memphis, Tennessee. Her role ultimately extended to include the entire state of Tennessee. As one of 20 successful entrepreneurs in the United States chosen to serve as Grow with Google Digital Coaches, Dana provided free workshops to help Black and Latinx small business owners in her region learn Google tools, reach new customers, thrive online, and grow. As an experienced educator and digital marketing strategist, Dana helped Grow with Google reach over 100,000 business owners and contributed to its recognition in Fast Company’s Innovation by Design Awards.
Throughout Dana’s 15+ year brand design and consulting career, she noticed that her most successful clients at Cheers had simple business models. She wanted to see more business owners succeed with a foundation of simplicity and clarity.
The success of Cheers Creative allowed Dana to expand into training budding entrepreneurs on how to successfully brand a business. This led to the creation of the Brave Branding Academy™, an online education program based on the principles of simplicity and clarity. The Academy offers guidance on making courageous branding choices, simplifying brand designs, creating effective business processes and systems, and combining them with powerful websites so that entrepreneurs can achieve maximum results in their undertakings.
Brave Branding Academy™ students have established themselves as industry leaders with lucrative clients, five-figure speaking engagements, government and school contracts, and brand partnerships. Academy students have successfully landed featured in places like the New York Times, Essence Magazine, Huffington Post, Fast Company, HGTV, OWN Network, and Good Morning America.
Dana was recognized as a Memphis Business Journal 2021 40 under 40 honoree for her entrepreneurial creativity and success.
Dana is a highly sought-after national speaker on branding, design, and entrepreneurship. She has spoken at events and conferences for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Momference, Women’s Business Center South, Awwwards, and other notable organizations.
Aside from her professional life, Dana loves spending time with her husband and children. And when she is not doing that, she has dedicated herself to helping others achieve their full potential by teaching them how to lead with courage and bravery, no matter what challenges may come their way.
“Dana has shown me how to work smarter and not harder.
Three weeks into the program, I tripled my rates and landed out-of-town clients. Before my shift into the land of television, I learned how to rearrange my website to handle all requests I knew would come in. Also, media outlets are incredibly impressed with the structure of my press kit! I get compliments on it all of the time. Dana’s program made sure I had structure and systems in my business to be ready for my big moment. Listen to what Dana says and buy everything that she sells!”
Carmeon Hamilton
Interior Designer and Influencer
Winner of HGTV’s “Design Star: The Next Gen”
Star of HGTV’s “Reno My Rental”
“Before Cheers Creative, I couldn’t quite figure out how to build my personal brand with a common first and last name.”
Cheers showed me how I can still carve a lane for myself in my industry and dominate that lane!
Using my real name in my business is one of the best decisions I could have made, and Cheers walked me through concrete steps to get there! I just spoke at a national conference, right where Cheers told me that I would be!
Using my name was one of the biggest mental hurdles I faced before the program. I was able to overcome that hurdle with Cheers Creative’s help and fly! Most of all, I’m walking in the full truth of who I am in my business as I coach my clients. My name is a big part of that.”
Michelle McKinney
Success Coach
Creator of The Vision Playbook™
“Since the program, I’ve been featured in Forbes and the New York Times (twice), opened my first physical location, and hired my first two employees.
Business was extremely difficult for me in 2020 as the world closed down due to the pandemic. Dana’s program showed me how to pivot my business and bring my business experience to my customers! What I learned in the program helped me to restructure my website and I started bringing in more online orders. I have one of the most recognized charcuterie companies in my region and I’ve even catered for Google!”
Cristina McCarter
“Food”preneur
Founder of Feast and Graze
Founder of City Tasting Box
“Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.
Tequilla Daniels
Co-Founder and Partner, the Row Salon
“Cookie Johnson handpicked me to do a speaking engagement with her about HIV, in part because of the way my website looked.
If you are not satisfied with the Brave Branding Academy for any reason, you can receive a full refund within a 14-day period after your purchase. All you have to do is email us!
Are you a good fit for the Academy and will you be the next Academy success story? Schedule a discovery call with us below.
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Get Full Access to the Brave Branding Academy™
A one-time payment of
Or, 4 individual payments of
$249.25 with Klarna
Buy now and pay later with Klarna. No interest fees.
Or, payments as low as
$63/month with Affirm
Includes:
Special Enrollment Price for my Power Your Calendar Masterclass Attendees:
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(50% off the regular price of $1,497!)
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Buy now and pay later with Klarna. No interest fees.
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$68/month with Affirm
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