NewNow

Project Manager

Business & Marketing Consultant

Bonjour Mondays

Transformation Coach

8greenbottles

Social Media Manager

29Bottles

Founder

CORE SE

Manager

Associate

RSG Group GmbH

Project Manager International Business Development / Expansion

T.A. Cook & Partner Consultants GmbH

Management Consultant

Tirendo Holding GmbH

Online Marketing Manager

I craft the creative pathways to your breakthroughs | Creative Strategy Consultant | Intuitive Business Coach | Life Coach | creating beauty since 1989

Oriane Brunel

Progress in 30 days or your money back 💸 Fluff-free fitness to help you drop fat and gain muscle 🤝

Hey, here's my journey in a nutshell...

2020 -started my dream university course 
(dropped out 10 weeks later)
2023 - restarted uni studying marketing
2023 - graduated university with a 1st class marketing degree
2023 - applied for a load of jobs I didn't want
2023 - ignored a load of advice and became a personal trainer instead
2024 - started posting about fitness on LinkedIn.
         - Grew to 30k followers, gained some clients, sold some guides 
2025 - Realised I don't love online fitness coaching. But I do love LinkedIn.

Currently - a 26 year old personal trainer just figuring out what to do. 
(While growing on LinkedIn)
(And aiming to make this my job) 
(So I can work from anywhere)

Say hi!!

Ellie Hines 🍋

I haven’t stopped talking about my dreams…

but I have done this :

Become selective with who I speak about them to.

Harsh but real truth:
Not everyone will cheer you on

- Some people wont understand it
- Some people won’t wanna see you win
- Some people don’t want you to do “better”

As easy as it is to just say “just ignore it”
I think it seeps into the sub-concious”
- It can spark doubt
- Leads to justifying
- It’s just negative tbh

I can’t really be bothered with it. 

So I:
Cut them out 
Or dull their voice 

On LinkedIn I’ve got nothing but:
- Endless and genuine support
- Strangers cheering me on
- People seeing the vision

I LOVE IT.
And that’s how I want to feel. 

Be aware of what people say, and how it effects you. 
Sometimes it’s not that obvious.

Self employed - Learning LinkedIn in public

No alternative text description for this image

I turned down a grad role to chase this dream
2 years on I want out. 
Here’s what I regret:

2022 - Graduated uni - everyone was telling me to get a grad role. 
I spent £2k to become a personal trainer instead. 

The reaction off like 90% of people:
“They’re a dime a dozen”
“Don’t you wanna use your degree”
“What if it doesn’t work out” 

2 years on,

I tried it.
I built it.
I want out. 

So they were right?
Nah. 

1 thing about me is that I don’t believe something has to “work out” perfectly, for it to be worth it. 

Cos here is what I have got: 

1. I became self employed!! 😌- Whatever I end up doing, I know long term I want to be self employed, and this has been the stepping stone into that!

2. I’ve got rid of the “what if” 💭- I’ll never ever wonder “what if I tried that”. I tried it, I don’t wanna keep doing it, let’s move on. So glad I got it out my system.

3. A different chapter! 📘My worst nightmare is coming out of uni, getting a job, and looking back 30 years later with 1 career experience under my belt. 1 life? Why would I wanna do 1 thing?

How actually boring would life be if everything went just as we planned? Like reading a book when you know exactly how it’s gonna go? Yawn 

So here’s YOUR reminder:

1. Something doesn’t have to work out for it to be worth it
2. Lessons, memories + experiences count for a lot!!
3. Do what YOU want, it’s your life not theirs.

“I wanna stay consistent on LinkedIn”

Then this is the biggest overlooked advice:

Find ways to enjoy it. 

Here’s how: 

1. Be YOU
2. Find your voice
3. Pre write content 
4. Chill with the metrics
5. Curate a positive feed 
6. Experiment with content 
7. Share lessons (not just wins)
8. Have genuine conversations
9. Get clear on your goals on here 
10. And make sure they’re realistic!!! 

Well that’s what I do anyway, 
And I genuinely love it on here. 

Do the opposite of that and I guarantee you’ll hate it

What would be your number 11?

Last year I pivoted away from fitness content.
+storytelling became my main driver. 
Here’s a 4 step breakdown :

Before you start ask yourself:

1. Can I make this story relevant to the reader?

Yes? Then I’d suggest this:

1️⃣ Hook:
1. Start with the moment, not advice

Not “Here’s what Iearnt about resilience”

More like :

“I failed 3 business before I was successful”
“2 years ago I nearly quit my business”
“Hiring the wrong person cost me this”

2. Set the scene 
    > Use numbers, timelines, power words
    > Evoke emotions
    > Create curiosity. Breadcrumb the story

2️⃣ Story:

1. Zoom into the moment
2. Paint the picture 
    > What happened, who was involved, how did you feel?
3. Keep it specific + relevant 
4. Follow through with the hook, don’t click bait!

3️⃣ Link (Most often missed one)

1. Link it back to the reader - make it useful 
2. Create some sort of value 
    > Give an important lesson, provide an insight, push a perspective, invite conversations

4️⃣ Add a visual
1. The easiest way to get us there
2. Use a RELEVANT picture.

Became can replicate tips all day long.
But your stories are YOURS. All yours.
Use them right, or you’re missing out.

📌❗️💻 I’m having a laptop day!! Got a story draft and fancy some free feedback? Send it over!

“I just don’t know what to post on LinkedIn”
Here’s 3 places to look - not comments
(Industry irrelevant)

Post about YOU. 

In an era of:
- AI generated content
- Generic how-to lists
- Endless tips + tricks

Show us YOU
Post about YOU 
Speak about YOU

Because industry irrelevant…
THAT is how you stand out.
That’s how people get to know you
And that’s how you make a mark 

Don’t know where to find ideas? Here’s 3 places to look…

1️⃣ Your life - what does it consist of?

    1. What’s your job?
    2. What are you goals?
    3. What’s your routines?
    4. What are your hobbies?
    5. What are you working on?

2️⃣ Your timeline - what’s that looked like?

    1. What past jobs have you had?
    2. Did you go to uni? Why/why not?
    3. Where were you 1/5/10 years ago?
    4. What major events have happened?
    5. Has your version of success changed?
    6. How’ve you got to where you are now?

3️⃣ Your camera roll - what stories do they tell?

1. Significant days in your life 
2. Significant times in your life 
3. Significant places in your life 
4. Significant people in your life
5. What does success look like?

But remember, always: 

- Keep it relevant
- Give it a meaning
- Link it back to the reader

Where do you find your ideas?

“If someone followed you for a week, would they believe you're serious about your goals?” No. 

I saw that question last year, 
and that was the answer. No. 

Context :

I’m a personal trainer,
working to leave personal training.
I wanna work and travel instead. 

An average day would look like:

Wake up @7ish > scroll > make a coffee > scroll > frantically write a LinkedIn post > post that post > breakfast > write a daily to-do list > train or run > PT clients > start a “work block” > faff around for 2 hours > do anything BUT what needs doing > tick nothing off > realise I can’t do it all so do nothing > scroll > tell myself I’ll do better tomorrow > repeat

Then woke up this year.
Got sick of wasting my potential. 
So I took control, in 2 stages: 

1. Accountability 
2. Understanding 

1️⃣ Accountability - Accepting that I am the reason I’m not getting closer to my goals. Big one, don’t think we do it enough - take responsibility, it gives power

2️⃣ Understanding - Why wasn’t I doing the things to get closer?

1. Laziness - scrolling is easier than 100 other things. 
2. Lack of direction - I could picture the end goal, but the journey to get there was a mess 
3. Wasn’t working with myself - so procrastination filled the gap

From that I : 

1. Fully accepted that I am the only thing in between me and that dream life. 

2. Got brutally clear on the next steps 
- Not “make £ or move abroad”
- But actual steps to get there 
    
3. Reduced daily expectations
- Kind of ironic but makes sense to me 
- Less goals, more action 
    
4. Made distraction harder than action 
- Made a very specific vision board 
- Found how to reach flow state:
        1. Get in a cafe
        2. Phone on greyscale 
        3. Work on 1 task a time!
    

Motivation, impressive vision boards and flashy goals mean absolutely NOTHING if you arne’t putting the effort and work in too. 

So what about you?

If someone followed you around for a week, would they believe you're serious about your goals?

I used to crave Steven Bartlett’s life. 

Today, I’d hate it. 

I thought that was the definition of success:

- Working with/for huge companies
- Calendar packed with meetings
- Endless responsibilities
- Prestigious job titles
- Loud “success”

Went to uni 
Studied hard
Starting applying 
Then realised that isn’t what I want. 
That isn’t my version of success. 

Mine looks something like:

- Having control over my working hours
- More living than just working
- Deep work>constant work
- Projects I truly care about
- Location freedom

So I started chasing that instead. 

Not what looks impressive.
But what feels impressive.

Not what sounds good enough.
But what feels fulfilling. 

I could have wasted 10 years chasing someone else’s version of success because of what school taught, family expect and society says. 

Scary. 

There is absolutely no 1 version of “success”
It can look so so different for everyone. 
But whatever version you’re chasing.
Make sure that’s YOURS. 

Go on then, what’s yours?

Call me daft but I don’t have a 5 year plan.
And I don’t want one. 
Here’s why:

In the last 10 years I’ve wanted to be a:

- Vet
- Paramedic
- PE teacher
- Marketing exec
- Personal trainer

I’ve wanted to:

- Move in with a mate
- Live with a boyfriend
- Rent in City Centre
- Move abroad
- Travel freely

5 years? 

I’ve changed what I’ve wanted every year mate

Today I don’t want to be any of those things. 

I’m building my own thing so I have as much control over my life as possible. And what I want might change in the next 3 months

Or 12 months. 

Things change. 
You meet people.
Your learn things.
You realise things. 
Your perspectives shift.

5 years is a longg time!!

And I refuse to be held hostage by 21 year old me, with 5 years less experience, lessons and knowledge.

So in case you needed reminding too: 

It’s okay to change what you want!
It’s okay for priorities to change!
It’s okay for perspectives to change!

I’m interested - do you still want what you wanted 5 years ago?

Most hooks are: basic, dull and generic. 
Here’s a tweak to go from ^that^
to hooks that stop the scroll: 

Go deeper. 
Get specific.
Make it personal.

Here’s how:

- Use numbers
- Add timeframes
- Play with adjectives

If the person next to you can probably use that exact same hook, it’s generic. 

Here’s 5 examples from what I’ve seen this week:

🤷🏻‍♀️Instead of “Last year I experienced burnout”
📢 “In December, I averaged 3k steps, lived off ready meals and had 0 energy”

🤷🏻‍♀️Instead of “I struggled with public speaking”
📢 “I used to spend 30 minutes trying not to back out before public talks”

🤷🏻‍♀️Instead of “I cut my screen time down”
📢 “I gained 2 hrs a day, my creativity and ambition back by doing this…”

🤷🏻‍♀️Instead of “l just had the best month of business”
📢 “I just hit 2x my monthly revenue target for February”

🤷🏻‍♀️Instead of “Here’s how to write faster”
📢 “I used to waste an hour writing 1 post. Now it averages 10 minutes. Here’s what changed:”

Here’s why it works: 

Vague = forgettable 
Specific = memorable 

1. Specifics make it more personal to YOU. 
(And it’s a personal brand so)

2. Emotions live in the detail. 
> “Burntout” is a concept”
> “3k steps and no energy” is experience.

3. Specifics build trust

> Vague statements are opinions 
> Detailed ones feel like reality

Our brains want to scroll as fast as possible.

Give them a reason not to.

This year I’ve spoke to over 70 people on LI. 
Here’s the top 10 beliefs that hold people back.
(And why they shouldn’t)

1. “It’s cringe/embarrassing”
Deal with it until you see the benefits
👉 Drop the ego, it’s freeing

2. “I don’t know what to post”
You just need to find it
👉 Look at comments, timelines, experiences

3. “I don’t have time for it”
You’re skipping the systems 
👉 30 focused minutes can get you far

4. “I don’t understand it properly”
Then you never, ever will
👉 Post, comment, learn as you go 

5. “I can never stay consistent”
Sounds like your targets are to high 
👉 Posting 5x a week, 10 comments a day is still consistency 

6. “I don’t feel successful enough”
I’m a 26 year old, learning, living with my Dad
👉 There’s genuinely a place for everyone

7. “I feel like I’ve missed the boat”
LI’s growing but less than 1% of users post often!!
👉 Nothing to lose, everything to gain 

8. “My knowledge isn’t special”
What’s obvious to you, isn’t to others
👉 Share your knowledge, perspectives, tips

9. “I don’t know how to get engagement up”
No one does before research 
👉 Keep it relevant, be unique, invite convos 

10. “I’m not looking for a job”
LinkedIn offers SOO much more!!!
👉Connections, clients, options, perspective!

Speak to aaaanyone that’s posted on LinkedIn consistently for over 6 months and engaged a a decent amount that says it wasn’t worth it and I’ll give you £100

You won’t 🙂

So what’s holding / held you back?

“I love how you take control of your life, 
where did you get that from?”
This is my Dad. He’s 72

- Is 1 of 4 siblings
- Grew up on rations
- Only has one kidney
- Just finished radiotherapy
- Raised 2 kids as a single dad
- Grew around mental health issues

He’s also:

- Owned businesses on cruise ships
- Travelled all around the world
- Self employed for 40+ years
- Moved abroad with lil me
- Still works 4 days a week
- Trains 3 times a week
- Swims twice a week
- Travels every year

He taught me this:

You get dealt cards in life. 
Sometimes they’re shit. 
And you can sit with your shit cards,
and worry, complain, give up.

Or you can play with them. 

And get out what you can. 
And a lot of the time, 
it’s more than we think. 

I’ve seen that everyday for 24 years.

In case you haven’t.

Here’s your reminder:

- YOU are the author of your own life.
- You decide what happens
- Act like it

I’m a procrastinator with big goals…

Every time I’m slacking, I see this…

(Allow for some variation)

Me:

1. Waking up somewhere other than the UK 
2. A couple hours of deep work/LinkedIn 
3. Breakfast at a beach / mountain / city
4. Head off for a morning workout / run
5. Laptop out - deep productive work
6. Laptop away - do something cool
7. Eat good food, stay well hydrated 
8. Evening walk with my furry friend
9. Do something with mates 
10. Journal. Read. Sleep well

Somewhere along those lines, 
is pretty ideal,
for me. 

Freedom. 
Health. 
People.

But we get so caught up in routine, consistency, habits, autopilot that it’s easy for those dreams, visions, goals to disappear.  

I don’t want that to happen.
So I won’t. 

When I feel doubts 
When I procrastinate
When I want to play small

I remember the bigger picture.

Write it down
Visualise it often
Build towards it daily.
Keep the dream alive!! 

Life really is too short to wake up at 70 and think f*ck I should have tried it. 

P.S - Would you rather wake up on a mountain or a beach?

Everyone wants to “build a personal brand”
But here’s what over 50% of people miss…
(It’s crucial)

I’m on LinkedIn everyday. 
Spend a couple hours on here.
Reading, analysing, learning, writing. 
This is what people miss:

The flip side. 

No one hesitates to show:

- The wins
- High revenues
- The best months
- A stack of awards
- Cool pictures in the wild

And listen, I love it. 
It’s interesting, inspiring, cool.
But only when they show the flip side too:
(this is what people skip)

The:

- Things that didn’t go to plan
- True transformations A-B
- Mistakes that were made
- Reality before highlights
- Timelines of the journey

Because only then, 
can you truly appreciate all the wins. 

Context creates credibility. 
And *that* is exactly how you build
engagement, connections + trust. 

If you’re struggling for ideas:
If your brand doesn’t feel personal 
If your engagement feels stagnant 

Stop skipping chapters, 

we wanna see it all. 

P.s - Check comment for 10 ideas.

8 years ago I failed my A-levels
6 years ago I dropped out of uni
My Dad’s reaction taught me this…

I did my A levels 8 years ago.
Business, Psychology and PE. 

Was predicted BCC, to study Psychology.

But after a year of:

- Horrendous anxiety
- Undiagnosed OCD
- Sleepless nights

I opened the sheet to DDD. 
Honestly thought it was a joke. 

A good, smart student,
who just missed out on all uni offers. 

Went home, told my dad in tears
He said:

“Well it’s not the end of the world”
“It really doesn’t matter that much”
“Let’s just figure out the next step”

Some would say he didn’t care.

I would say he just relieved me of years of pressure and “everything is over if you don’t get this right” mentality from the education system

I rejected the 1 foundation offer I got 
Decided to re-sit my A levels 
Got BBB

And got onto my dream course!!!
Happy days!!!

2 weeks in I started to doubt it,
Told my Dad.
He said:

“It’s not the only option you have”
“If you’re not happy, it’s not worth it”
“Give it a chance, but don’t force it”

10 weeks later, I dropped out. 
Took a gap year,
Re-studied marketing + graduated.

I’ll be forever grateful that instead of piling on the pressure, he taught me: 

1. When things don’t go to plan, it feels like the end of the world - it’s not!!! 
2. You’ll never be defined by a bad period of time if you don’t let it. Let the comeback be stronger!
3. Not everything goes to plan but trust yourself to figure it out anyway 

and if no-ones ever told you that, then there you go. 

Failures can be a chapter,
but don’t let it be the rest of the book.

I joined LinkedIn on 8th February 2022
Here’s a snapshot of my journey..
+ what I’ve learnt. 

1. 2022 - Joined LinkedIn as a 2nd year uni student, looking for a placement year. COVID left them scarce so didn’t end up happening

2. 2023 - Returned as a third year uni student to look/apply and hopefully get a grad job. Posted about general marketing and found it so boring and forced.

3. Actually started reading the feed and found loads of self employed people building their own thing + talking about it 

4. Started to look/apply and hopefully get a grad role. Went for interviews but realised I didn’t even want the jobs 

5. Stopped looking and decided to try my own thing. Got a PT qualification, got a job in my gym, became self employed

6. 2024 - Started posting fitness content on here. Stayed consistent, found my flow, gained 30k followers and earnt high engagement 

7. Made and launched my own fitness guides. Loved it, sold many. Launched online coaching, gained clients

8. 2025 January - Set a goal to become fully online in 2025 

9. 2025 December - realised online PT coaching didn’t give me the fulfilment I wanted, but LinkedIn could. Dropped my clients, and fully stopped online coaching

10. 2026 - Ended an era that got me to 30k and pivoted towards personal branding, learning Linked properly 

And here we are :)

And here’s what I learnt :

1. Your ego is the biggest hurdle 
2. If you hate it, consistency is impossible 
3. There’s ALWAYS something to gain here
4. You have to be patient in finding your voice 
5. Community goes way further than comment
6. Nothing feels as forced as copying others
7. Comments are like mini posts  - use them 
8. Focusing on fully optimising usually fails 
9. Committing to always learning is a hack
10. No one cares as much as you do

Wbu? 

Does your LinkedIn journey look how you expected?

Who knew the best productivity hack is working WITH your brain, not against it?

I’m not diagnosed with anything but I:

- Get distracted stupidly easily
- Want to do 10 tasks at once
- Either fully locked in or out

Here’s what working with myself looks like: 

1. Working out of the house often ☕

My ultimate personal productivity hack. Changing scenery helps me SO much. I just seem to lose my habits of getting distracted by Youtube or my phone when I’m in a coffee shop? Honestly magic. 

2. Phone in another room 📵

It’s so bad. And I’m a little embarrassed. And I’m trying to break it. But I’ve built an addiction to my phone. If it’s within reach I’ll pick it up and go on it without even noticing. Even just putting it in a draw does great things

3. Setting 1 very clear and doable task at a time 🗒️

I’ll work on this. Let me just reply to this email. Actually I’ll write this LinkedIn post. Or maybe I should reply to some comments. Ugh my braaaaiiiin. I’ll write 1 very clear measurable task down e.g “write tomorrow’s LinkedIn post” and that is ALL I can work on until it’s done

4. Background noise 🔊

Put me in a still room with no noise and trust me my mind will create some (+ not in a good way). I love cafe background noises but at home I’ll have either music or a boring tv show on in the background

5. Short, intense work blocks ⏰

Give me a 6 hour work block and I’ll do the same as I’ll do in 1 hour. So now I just give myself 1 hour. Then have a break, do something, then another hour. Actually saves time lol 

So writing a 10 step to-do list, working in silent in my cute little office 7 days a week doesn’t work like I thought it would. But that’s fine. 

I’m interested - do you work better in silence or with noise?

Last week I offered storytime feedback for free
These were the top 3 mistakes:
+ 32 ideas for YOU…

12 different people. 12 different stories 
These were the top 3 mistakes… 

1 - Lack of relevance to your brand ❓

You could tell a story about a bad uber ride, a funny moment in the gym, a bad holiday 5 years ago but if it doesn’t reinforce what you want to be known for/as - it’s kind of a waste of time. 

- Choose stories that strengthen positioning
- Go for moments that support your values
- Ask does it inspire, educate, or relate?

2 - Too surface level ♠️

Some stories have GREAT potential, but are wasted by the way their told. Don’t just describe an event, add emotional depth, and internal experience. Make us feel it.

- Get specific so people relate
- Use powerful words
- Make the reader FEEL.

3 - Fail to link back to the reader 🖇️

Yeah the stories about you but let it be me me me, THEM. People read to get something out of it. So give it them. 

- Add a valuable take-away
- Share an important lesson
- Give some genuine advice

Listen, you can tell any stories you want.

But if you’re struggling with the reach/engagement/ connections that they’re bringing….maybe think about those 3 things. 

Before you hit post ask:

1. Does this reinforce a message I’m trying to get across?
2. Does it feel more like a description of what happened or a story that shows insight, emotion, perspective?
3. Is there a link to the reader? And is it clear?


PS - Wanna add storytelling to your content but struggling with ideas? 

I’ll give you ‼️32 storytelling prompts for FREEEE‼️
Industry irrelevant, age irrelevant, gender irrelevant.

Comment or message me ‘STORY’ and I’ll send it ya

The life I thought I wanted :

- Jam packed calendar everyday
- Working for a huge business
- Endless responsibilities
- Prestigious job title
- Impressive salary
- Loud “success”

The life I do want :

- Full location freedom
- A salary I can enjoy life off
- Deep work > constant work
- Having control over my time
- Living more than just working
- Working on things I care about

A reminder to stop and actually think about what you want out of life.

Not what you wanted 5 years ago 
Or what societies pushed you into
Or what your parents thinks sound best

What do YOU want out of life? I wanna know

Quick + honest recap of Feb:
(Self employed, learning LinkedIn, marathon training)

1. Did February even happen? Feel like we just skipped to March 

2. Just breaking autopilot by doing little things makes me (and probs you) happier

3. Running away from a road makes it 1000x more enjoyable

4. Getting to the phase of marathon training where I can justify eating anything, it’s great 

5. Staying inside makes the world feel small - GET OUT 

6. Flying through my books this year. Crime/psychological thriller recs? 

7. Had like 4 really good nights sleep - needs sorting 

8. A creme egg with a cuppa has been the highlight of the day

9. Making so much more use of DM’s on here, can confirm it makes it better

10. I’ve finally got into espressos, I feel so mature

Your turn, give me something

2025 me could never get my dream life.
But I KNOW 2026 me could..
Here’s why:

For years I’ve been in a trap of:

- Visualising my dream life
- Making vision boards on it
- Watching other people doing it
- Telling everyone around me about it
- Speaking about how I would get there

Felt motivating
Felt inspiring 
Felt productive

It’s wasn’t

All the focus on the imagining the life.
None on the action to get me there.

I’m not doing another year of that. 

I’m doing this instead:

1. Prioritising what moves the needle 🪡

Not what sounds cool, not what looks fun, not what feels busy, but what actually moves things forward.

2. Setting my own deadlines ⌛

Parkinson’s law. It’s easy to let things drift when no-one’s on your back, so I’ll get on my own back. Set them, write them down, add to the calendar 

3. Lead with initiative 💭

Asking myself “are you showing initiative” puts me in my place FAST. The world rewards audacity, more than talent and if I want something it’s my responsibility to go and get it 

My word for 2026 is ACTION.
Because that’s what gets results. 

Your turn - can you honestly say you’re doing what needs to be done to get to your goals?

taplio

The Battle

Oriane Brunel

Ellie Hines 🍋

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreEllie Hines 🍋's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Oriane Brunel

Ellie Hines 🍋

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Ellie Hines 🍋's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreEllie Hines 🍋's LinkedIn Performance