Client Case Study: Seeing What a Running Coach Couldn't See From Inside His Business

When running coach Colin Turner first came to Boss Diplomat, one of his problems was surprisingly difficult to solve from inside his own business: he knew what he did, but he struggled to explain what made his approach distinctive to somebody encountering him for the first time.

This case study comes from an earlier chapter of Boss Diplomat, when my work included brand strategy, positioning and website development. My services have since evolved, but I keep this work in my archive because it shows something that remains central to how I work: noticing what a person has stopped noticing about themselves.

Colin Knew His Work. He Couldn't Experience It as an Outsider.

Colin had already been coaching runners and had developed an online program after COVID-19 changed the way he worked with clients. He was also a teacher in his full-time career.

To Colin, many of those details were simply facts about his life. From the outside, they told a much more interesting story.

His teaching background affected the way he coached. He understood how to explain, encourage and guide people through something unfamiliar. His own relationship with running was not a perfect story of effortless athleticism either: he had loved running, hated it, been injured, stopped and started again.

That gave him something valuable that was difficult to recognize when he was standing inside his own experience: he could understand people who did not already think of themselves as runners.

The Opportunity Was Already in His Story

At the time, much of the running-coaching market Colin was encountering appeared focused on experienced runners and marathon training. Yet his own experiences made him particularly relatable to beginners, people returning after injury and people whose starting position was simply: “I hate running.”

My job was to listen to the material Colin already gave me, examine it from the outside and put language around what was easy for him to overlook.

His identity as a teacher mattered. His history of quitting and returning to running mattered. His lack of judgment mattered. His ability to make running feel accessible rather than intimidating mattered.

Those weren't inventions created by a branding exercise. They were already present. They needed to be noticed and articulated.

What Changed

Because Boss Diplomat offered a much broader set of branding services at the time, the project eventually included positioning, messaging, program development, pricing and a redesigned website. Colin's public-facing business became more focused on helping beginners and people who found running painful, intimidating or simply unenjoyable.

His own words became part of the story too: “I've loved running and hated it. I've gotten injured and quit running at least 10 times, but always started again.”

That made the business more human because it helped people understand not only what Colin offered, but why he was particularly equipped to understand someone starting from that position.

Turner Fitness original logo

Colin Turner

Turner Fitness website redesign

What Colin Said About the Work

“[Talyn] did a great job putting it into words that are clear for someone who's not in the program, which is what I wanted—for it to be accessible and approachable for someone who doesn't run.”

— Colin Turner, Founder, Turner Fitness Coaching

That sentence captures the part of this project I find most interesting in hindsight. Colin had the knowledge. He had the experience. He had the story. What he needed was somebody standing outside it who could see what another person would encounter.

“Her brand analysis brought my vision to a whole new level, and helped me to place my offerings in exactly the right niche of my market. She helped me to focus on the most impactful products and courses, and included images, brand colors, taglines, and so many great ideas for marketing and advertising.”

— Colin Turner

The Work Has Evolved. The Instinct Hasn't.

I would not deliver this project in the same way today. Boss Diplomat has evolved considerably since 2024, and website development, brand colours, pricing structures and marketing strategy are no longer the centre of my work.

But the most important moment in this case study happened before any of those deliverables.

It happened when I looked at a person who knew his own story intimately and noticed what had become too ordinary for him to recognize as significant.

Sometimes what makes you distinctive isn't missing. You're simply standing too close to see it.