Your Audience Persona: What’s Her Name?

Kinlee Barron
Apr 29
4 min read

Updated: May 13

Because “women 25–45” isn’t a personality. Get specific or get ignored.

Saying you “work with small businesses” is like saying you serve food. Cool, so does McDonald’s. Who exactly are you for? If your answer starts with “anyone who needs…” stop.

Delete it. Try again.

You should know your ideal client so well it feels borderline creepy. What they care about. What frustrates them. What makes them throw their credit card at the screen. That’s when your messaging cuts through the noise. That’s when your brand starts pulling in the right people without you begging for attention.

Here’s what that kind of clarity actually looks like — meet Elena Cruz: Our fictional “Perfect Client” looking for an interior designer.

Ideal Client Persona: The Cultured-but-Chaotic Creative

Name: Elena Cruz Title: Founder, Solana Candle Co. Industry: Artisan Home Goods / Retail Location: Austin, TX Years in Business: 2 Team Size: Just her, one part-time studio assistant, and her cat Design Budget: $7,000 for studio refresh; $12,000 for retail expansion over the next 12 months

Overview

Elena’s a visual-first entrepreneur with a wildly loyal customer base and a product line that smells as good as her Instagram feed looks. She’s grown fast — mostly through word-of-mouth and organic social — but her retail space? Total chaos. She’s outgrown it, and her vibe is out of sync with the DIY layout she whipped up during launch. She's ready to bring in an interior designer who gets artful retail and can create a space that turns browsers into brand evangelists.

Fun Facts About Elena Cruz

Candle nerd to the core: can ID a fragrance note faster than a sommelier names a grape.
Has a Pinterest board called “Shop Vibe” with 327 pins and exactly zero duplicates.
Orders matcha, not coffee and absolutely judges cafes by their takeout cup design.
Favorite guilty pleasure: obsessively rearranging her own retail displays at midnight.
Once paid extra for a booth at a market just because it had better natural light.
Carries three tote bags — one for samples, one for shipping supplies, and one for “aesthetic emergencies” (yes, she has backup props for Instagram).
Reads indie magazines like Kinfolk and Drift cover to cover — then rips out pages for moodboards.
Refers to her scent profiles like a wine tasting: “This one opens with bergamot, but lands in leather and smoke.”
Thinks Canva is fine for some things… but would rather sketch packaging ideas on a napkin than use a pre-made template.
Probably has “studio cat” listed in her email footer. His name is Pablo. He’s very on-brand.

What Drives Her

Creating immersive, sensory-driven customer experiences
Building a brand that feels warm, elevated, and deeply intentional
Proving that soulful, handcrafted products can scale

What She’s Tired Of

Pinterest-copycat designers who pitch trends, not brand stories
Clunky spaces that kill flow and function
Vendors who don’t listen — especially when she knows her audience
Feeling like she has to explain her vision over and over

What She’s Looking For

A designer who brings her brand to life through space, not just moodboards
Someone who gets her aesthetic: minimal, natural, with a rebellious streak
Solutions that are smart, scalable, and shopper-friendly
A collaborative partner who respects her creative direction

How She Makes Decisions

Emotional buy-in is non-negotiable
Wants to feel creatively seen and personally connected
Needs to believe the designer believes in her product and brand mission
Trusts referrals and portfolios more than polished proposals

How She Thinks

She’s visionary and detail-oriented but has zero time to micromanage
She’s allergic to fluff, obsessed with alignment, and thrives in mutual respect
Would rather pay more to do it right once than cheap out and regret it later
Wants the design process to feel like a collab, not a command center

If You Say This, She’s Out

“Let’s go with something neutral.”
“We’ll show you options next month.” (She needs to see the vision now.)
“We usually work with high-end residential clients.” (She’s not your ‘side project.’)
“We’ll handle it — just trust the process.” (She wants a damn partner.)

How We Can Win Her Over

Lead with soul and systems: wow her with vision, then back it with process
Mirror her vibe with materials, layout, and experience-driven design
Use storytelling to sell the space not just pretty renderings
Show her a project where the design didn’t just look good but it also moved product

These details help us not just work with Elena, but market to more people like her. Pair this with content, tone, and visuals that scream: “I get you!” and you are in a dream scenario.

If you’re still out here tossing spaghetti at the wall with “female entrepreneur” as your target audience, it’s time to level up. Elena isn’t just a made-up profile, she’s a filter. A gut-check. A magnet.

When you know your audience this well, you stop trying to convince the wrong people and start speaking directly to the ones who light you up (and pay you what you’re worth). So go deeper. Get weirder. Name her. Know her.