I build brands that make complex things legible.
Electric cars. Wearable robots. Clinical AI. A neighborhood sourdough bakery. Whatever you’re building, I figure out what makes you different, say it plainly, and make it look like nobody else.
Open to:VP / Head of Brand roles and a few new client projects.
Healthcare AIMedical roboticsConsumer techTeslaCategory designZero-to-oneEkso BionicsPositioningDemand & pipelineVave HealthNarrative systemsCalmWave
$0→$174.5M
Pipeline built from scratch at CalmWave, a healthcare AI startup.
45→20 MIN
Sales discovery calls, once the story got clear. Turns out clarity saves time.
70×
Revenue growth in 35 months at Vave Health, maker of handheld ultrasound. Yes, seventy.
$50M
Pipeline from Tesla’s LA Auto Show debut in 2017. 120+ people on the floor, 20K leads.
Services
Two ways to work together
Two ways in, same brain. Hire me to lead your brand from the inside, or bring me in to build yours.
For hiring teams
Bring a brand leader in-house
Fifteen years in brand and marketing, including executive leadership team roles at three companies reporting directly to their CEOs. I’ve built marketing functions, hired and developed teams, and led strategy through commercial execution across AI, robotics, health tech, and consumer businesses.
See the work → My background →For businesses & founders
Build a brand worth remembering
Names, identities, and positioning for local businesses and startups. Or a fractional brand lead, for when you need one but aren’t ready to hire one.
How we’d work together →East Bay branding →Hard to explain? Perfect. That’s where I start.
* New categories, tricky products, and brands that have outgrown the house they were built in.
Selected work
Other case studies
Credibility in a skeptical category
Vave Health took on the incumbents and grew revenue 70×.
Medical devices
→
A car into a cultural moment
Tesla’s LA Auto Show: $50M in pipeline and 20K leads.
Consumer · Auto
→
Close to home, worth the wait
A home bakery, named and branded from scratch: Next Dough Bakehouse.
Consumer · Food
→
Making technology worth looking at
Jupiter Co., a concept home-tech brand, from one insight to four objects.
Home tech · Concept
→
So, what are you building?
FAQ
What does a brand and narrative strategist do?+
I figure out what makes a company different and how to say it, then build the positioning, messaging, and brand system everyone works from. It’s the thinking underneath the logo. I’ve done it for early startups, enterprise teams, and one very good bakery.
What is narrative architecture?+
The blueprint for how a company talks about itself: positioning, message hierarchy, and the core story. Every team builds from it, so sales, product, and marketing stop telling three different stories.
What is category creation?+
Naming and defining a market that doesn’t exist yet, so people judge your product on its own terms instead of comparing it to something it isn’t. It’s the work behind the CalmWave and Ekso Bionics case studies.
What's the difference between branding and brand strategy?+
Branding is what people see and hear: logo, colors, voice. Brand strategy is the decision-making underneath it: who you’re for, what you’re not, and why that’s true. I start with strategy, and most projects include both.
What's your approach to brand and narrative strategy?+
Every project starts with a working session that compares what you’ve actually built with how you describe it. The gap between those two is usually the real problem. From there, a Positioning Sprint takes 4–6 weeks and a full Category & Narrative System takes 6–10. The Services page has the details.
Where are you based?+
Walnut Creek, California. I work with Bay Area businesses in person and with companies across the US remotely.
Are you available for full-time roles, consulting, or both?+
Both. I’m open to Director, VP, and Head of Brand roles, and I take on a few client projects at a time. Services covers the projects, and About covers my background.
How do I get in touch?+
Use the contact form or email ashleylynnpola@gmail.com. I usually reply within a couple of business days.