From Marketing Maven to Wellness Advocate: How One Leader is Bridging Brand Strategy with Holistic Health
In a world where wellness brands are multiplying faster than morning meditation apps, standing out requires more than just sleek packaging and aspirational messaging. It demands authentic understanding—of both the market and the deeper human need for genuine wellbeing.
This month, we sit down with Florence Crush, a marketing strategist at Wellverse whose journey exemplifies this evolution. With over a decade of experience helping brands find their voice in crowded markets, she's now pursuing nutritional medicine alongside her full-time marketing role—a combination that's giving her unprecedented insight into what wellness brands are getting right, and more importantly, what they're getting wrong.
Her story is one of continuous learning, authentic growth, and the courage to question conventional approaches. From navigating the ever-shifting landscape of digital marketing to discovering the profound connections between mind, body, and brand messaging, she offers a refreshing perspective on how brands can show up authentically in the wellness space.
In this candid conversation, she shares hard-won wisdom about agility in marketing, the importance of understanding your customers' real pain points, and why the most successful wellness brands are those brave enough to show their full journey—struggles and all.
1. You've been in marketing for over a decade now - what's the biggest shift you've seen in how brands need to show up?
Always be agile and open-minded. Digital marketing, particularly social media, is ever-changing, so it’s essential to always adopt a learning mindset. Never assume you know everything, and stay aware of what’s happening in the wider world rather than focusing only on your industry - otherwise it's easy to “put the blinkers on” and become siloed. Remember that what worked a year ago may not work now, so brands should find reliable resources so they can stay up to date with the latest announcements and algorithm updates, stay flexible and proactive, and don't forget to use your intuition. Never shy away from experimenting with new software or processes, especially with the explosion of AI tools, I think they have their place when the timing is right, but be careful not to outsource your creativity and mind to them - remember that you're marketing to humans, not robots, so the human touch is even more prevalent.
My biggest tip would be to keep exploring and stay curious.
2. If you had to give one piece of advice to a brand that's struggling to stand out in a crowded market, what would it be?
First, understand who you are as a brand, beyond your visual identity. What do you stand for? What are you here to do? Make sure you truly understand your customers’ pain points; don’t just guess. Then, use creative storytelling to amplify that. Don’t limit yourself to inspiration within your own industry, if you do what everyone else does, you’ll just be another voice in the noise. Look at wider trends, research classic campaigns, and create a saved folder of posts you love from creators to fuel your inspiration. That cross-pollination of ideas can be a real game-changer.
3. What's something you wish you'd known when you were starting out that no one talks about in those glossy “women in leadership” articles? And what's your take on the whole “authentic brand purpose” thing — are companies actually walking the walk, or is it mostly just good marketing?
That nobody has it all figured out. Most people only share the good side of themselves, and that goes for both businesses and our everyday personal social media. The reality is that success is rarely a straight, steady upward trajectory. There are always peaks and troughs, but it’s about adopting a positive mindset and reframing the difficult moments as “what can I learn?” instead of “what went wrong?” Comparison can be your worst enemy and fuel imposter syndrome. The sooner you truly get to know yourself, e.g. what you really want and need, and become comfortable with practising the art of self-awareness and self-compassion, the more you’ll start to understand your place in the world. You’ll stop worrying about other people’s opinions, which is when it stops being a race and starts being a celebration. You know when a brand is showing up authentically when they show all sides of the business - the behind-the-scenes, the journey, the struggles, the successes, and I think that’s what truly resonates. It’s not about being slick and polished all the time any more.
4. You're currently studying nutritional medicine alongside running your full-time role — that's incredibly ambitious! What drew you to dive deeper into the wellness space personally, and how has that insider knowledge changed the way you approach marketing for wellness brands? Are there any common mistakes you see wellness companies making when they try to communicate with their audiences?
I’ve always been interested in movement, healthy eating, and, in some sense, spirituality, although I wasn’t always sure what that truly meant. It was a gradual journey, but things really shifted for me about three years ago when I started working with more clients in the wellbeing space. Because of their nature, I had to research everything from mindful sleeping habits and nutrition to the latest studies on medical cannabis and data on psychedelic therapy trials to treat mental health conditions. To say the least, it was varied! But it opened my eyes to the holistic connection of treating the whole person, compared to what traditional Western healthcare often does - focusing on single symptoms instead of root causes and the whole mind x body self.
A helpful analogy is: if there was a leak in your house, would you mop the floor first or fix the crack? You'd fix the crack (unless you have no idea what you're doing). It's the same for your health, and the mind and body are so interconnected you need to address what's happening inside both.
I became interested in functional medicine after discovering content from people like Dr Mark Hyman, Dr Jeffrey Bland, and Dr Khush Mark - and then found that Dr Mark runs her own two-year integrated nutritional medicine course here in the UK, which also includes integrative coaching. After feeling burnt out about a year ago, I booked a holistic plant medicine retreat in the Spanish mountains, which I genuinely believe rewired my brain somewhat. It finally gave me the headspace to think about how I wanted to progress in both my life and career, and how I could genuinely be of service and leave a positive impact on the world. So last summer, I signed up for Dr Mark’s course, was lucky enough to be accepted, and here I am a year later with one year to go. It’s so fascinating learning about how everything in the body and mind connects (albeit humbling at times), but I love every minute of it.
As for wellness brands, my advice would be: don’t overcomplicate your proposition or your communications. Think about your end goal. It’s hard to see the label from inside the bottle, you might know your business inside out, but your audience doesn’t. So focus on their pain points and simplify your message. Can you explain what you offer in under 30 seconds? Is your communication consistent and universal? If not, you may need to revisit your positioning. That’s one of the reasons I love what I do: my team and I get to hold up a magnifying glass to a business, take a deep dive into what the audience truly wants vs what the brand needs, and build an identity system that forges genuine connections. And that's the sweet spot, where the magic happens.
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