Description:
What happens when a difficult season forces you to rebuild not only your life, but the way you lead?
In Part 2 of our conversation with T. Christian Helms, we pick up with Christian’s recovery from Lyme disease and the unexpected effect it had on his business. Before getting sick, Christian admits he was trying to do too much himself and micromanaging the people around him. Recovery forced him to accept help, trust capable people, and eventually build a team he describes less like a family and more like an elite sports team… talented, collaborative, low-ego people given the autonomy to do great work.
From there, we dig into Christian’s world of branding and the philosophy behind Helms Workshop. For Christian, great branding isn’t about creating something that appeals to everyone. It’s about uncovering what is genuinely different about a company, product, or founder and amplifying it enough that the right people connect with it. We explore that idea through everything from Yeti coolers to Christian’s work helping rebrand Southern Comfort, where digging into nearly two centuries of history helped uncover pieces of the brand that could become relevant again.
We also talk about choosing clients who fit, building a business around work you actually enjoy, and what AI means for branding and creative agencies. AI can be an incredibly useful research and exploration tool, but Christian argues that meaningful brands still require something harder to automate: experience, authorship, judgment, and a genuine point of view. Because whether you’re building a brand, a team, or a business, being remarkably different starts with understanding who you actually are.
Key Takeaways:
- You don’t have to do everything yourself. Christian’s recovery helped him learn to trust talented people, give them autonomy, and focus his own energy where he creates the most value.
- The people around you shape what you can build. The right team, partners, family, and clients repeatedly emerge as part of Christian’s rebuilding story.
- A strong brand isn’t trying to appeal to everybody. The goal is to understand what makes you meaningfully different and connect with the people who value it.
- History can be an asset rather than baggage. The Southern Comfort rebrand shows how looking backward can uncover authentic ideas capable of making an established brand relevant again.
- Fit matters in client relationships too. Being able to recognize and eventually turn away poor-fit work can create a healthier business and better work.
- AI can accelerate the process, but differentiation still needs a point of view. Tools can research, summarize, and generate ideas, but experience and judgment help turn those ingredients into something distinctive.
You don’t need to build something everybody likes. You need to understand what makes it yours… and build it well enough that the right people care.
T. Christian Helms
T. Christian Helms is the Founder and Creative Director of Helms Workshop, an award-winning branding agency known for building brands that don’t just communicate; they connect.
Over the past 15+ years, Christian has led strategy and creative for a wide range of brands: from bourbon to bone broth, from boutique hotels to craft breweries. He has partnered with household names like Jack Daniel’s and Hershey, as well as cult-favorite startups like Austin Beerworks and Howler Bros, helping them find their voice, shape their story, and bring value to people’s lives.
Several years ago, Christian was blindsided by Lyme disease and Ehrlichiosis that went undiagnosed for over a year. He went from leading a thriving agency to struggling to walk across a room. The healing journey was long, weird, and wildly unconventional. But through it, he had an epiphany: the same tools he used to build world-class brands—clarity, storytelling, design, and purpose—could be used to rebuild his life.
Since then, Christian has spoken across the country, sharing insights on creative identity, lateral thinking, personal branding, and how to find wonder in the chaos. He believes branding isn’t just a business tool, it’s a blueprint for building the career and the life you want.
THE MEAT OF IT!
- Rebuilding After Lyme Disease
- Recovering physically while keeping the business alive
- Finding perspective through a difficult season
- Family as the motivation to keep going
- Learning to Let Go as a Leader
- Recognizing the cost of doing too much yourself
- Moving beyond micromanagement
- Giving talented people room to surprise you
- Building the Right Team
- Finding people who complement your strengths
- Creating a low-ego, collaborative culture
- Why Christian thinks of his team more like an elite sports team than a family
- What Actually Makes a Brand Different
- Helping companies discover what makes them unique
- Accepting that your brand shouldn’t be for everybody
- Moving beyond functional benefits to emotional connection
- Rebuilding Southern Comfort
- Digging through nearly two centuries of brand history
- Finding relevance without abandoning what made the brand distinctive
- How bartenders and other influential audiences shape brand perception
- Building a Business Around Who You Are
- How Christian’s interests naturally shaped the agency
- Choosing interesting work and people you enjoy
- Why the wrong client can be a bad opportunity even when the project looks great
- Branding in the Age of AI
- Where AI can help with research and exploration
- Why differentiation requires more than summarizing what already exists
- The value of experience, process, authorship, and point of view
Check out these related Episodes:
- Episode 289: T. Christian Helms – Building Brands and a Creative Life Through Relationships and Resilience
- Episode 287: Allan Glanfield – Building a Snack Brand by Turning Travel Problems Into Kids Snacks
- Episode 285: Amy Foley – When Growth Stalls or Reverses: Building Through Change Without Losing Yourself
