Ep 75. Charge More and Set Boundaries That Work, with Shannon Mattern
Nourish Your Brand · Episode 75
Today I'm joined by Shannon Mattern of the Web Designer Academy, who's been in the online business world for over two decades. She started as a freelance web designer, built a free five-day website challenge, and eventually a ten-year-strong group coaching programme that's helped hundreds of women web designers stop undercharging, set boundaries that actually work, and fall back in love with their businesses.
We get into boundaries, knowing yourself, and the one pricing mistake she sees experienced designers make over and over. Let's get into it.
A brand born from a core value
Shannon's brand was really born the day she asked a question in a WordPress forum and got told she shouldn't call herself a web designer if she had to ask something so "stupid". She decided then that nobody in her world would ever feel that, and "there are no dumb questions" became a brand standard she didn't even know she had. It carried from the free Facebook community (be unkind and you're out, no warning) all the way through to the Academy, where she tells clients their questions are a gift to the whole room.
That's the through-line: a genuine core value, lived consistently, is your brand. It's exactly the foundation-first work I start every project with in Episode 11, and the kind of clarity a Brand Recipe session pulls out of you.
Stop trying to figure it all out alone
For a long time Shannon ran on lone-wolf hustle, assuming it was all on her to figure everything out, until a business coach persistently insisted on helping her. She was resistant (is this a scam? who are you?), but eventually gave herself "the gift of not having it all be on me".
She still works with masterminds and coaches today, because we all get in our own way and can't see it without someone holding up a mirror. The point isn't that they know more than you, it's that an outside eye spots the blind spot you can't.
Discernment: becoming more yourself, not less
My favourite exchange. How do you tell good guidance from bad? Shannon's answer: a one-size-fits-all formula ("do exactly this and it'll work for anyone") almost never fits. The mentors worth keeping adapt their experience to your situation and goals.
The test is a feeling: are you becoming more of yourself, or slowly abandoning yourself to copy someone else's scripts and templates? When you bend into a pretzel to emulate someone, you drift further from what works. When you're shown more of yourself plus some strategy to adapt, things flow.
That's exactly why I insist a brand has to come from the business owner, not a template laid over the top.
Boundaries are guidelines, not barbed wire
Shannon reframes boundaries away from "consequences for the other person". They're guidelines you set for yourself and communicate upfront: clients can contact you however they like, and here's when and how you'll respond. Your job then is simply to follow through.
Clients get to feel however they feel, and you let them, but you've designed a genuine win-win where nobody's left guessing. The unknown is what makes people uncomfortable, so clear expectations actually make the client feel good.
When her clients experience this from her (she's offline the week of Christmas, here's what to expect), it gives them permission to do the same with their own clients, without it feeling punitive.
Design the business to fit you
Rather than start with deliverables, Shannon starts with your vision: what do your days look like, when do you want to be working, when do you not? Want Mondays and Fridays off? You can, and you build the processes and offers around that from the start.
She helps people question the inherited "the client is always right, respond instantly at dinner" expectations, then build offers with boundaries baked in and learn the skill of redirecting clients calmly (here's the situation, here are your options, all of which I'm fine with).
This is the same energy as my own sprint-based way of working, and exactly why your offer has to win you over first (Episode 76). An offer designed to fit you is the whole premise of the Offer Oven.
Your brand has to match inside and out
Speaking of nourishing your brand: a big part of the Academy's brand is the "third space", the Central Perk, home-away-from-home feeling once you're inside.
But Shannon got feedback that the outside didn't feel that way, more like watching her perform through a window than being invited in. Everyone who joined had a third-space experience first and wanted more of it, so when the marketing lacked that feeling, no wonder it wasn't converting.
Now she's deliberately bringing those experiences outside the program too. If the brand looks one way on the outside and operates differently on the inside, that disconnect costs you, which is the whole reason brand consistency across every touchpoint matters, the kind of thing we map in the Brand Kitchen.
You're not selling yourself, you're selling the outcome
Shannon's one big lesson: you can charge far more than you think, because you're pricing the wrong thing. Most designers price like their proposal is a résumé, proving their skill, hours and complexity to justify the cost. But clients aren't buying you or the deliverables, they're buying the outcome and transformation: the time back, the aligned business, the clients they'll win, how they'll feel.
Know what it costs you to deliver and what you need to earn, but when you talk price, don't prove yourself, paint the picture of the value they want. They're not investing in you, they're investing in themselves through you, and that level of commitment makes the project better for everyone.
Ask yourself this week
What core value is quietly running through everything you do, and is it consistent inside and out?
Which "should" about how you work could you redesign to actually fit you?
Are you pricing yourself, or pricing the outcome your client is really buying?
About the guest
Shannon Mattern is the founder of the Web Designer Academy, a group coaching program that helps women web designers stop undercharging and overdelivering, set boundaries, and build businesses they love. She hosts the Profitable Web Designer podcast. Find her at webdesigneracademy.com, and grab her free training on the five proposal mistakes even experienced designers make at webdesigneracademy.com/proposal.
Related episodes
Ep 76: Your offer has to win you over first
Ep 56: Do you have a signature offer?
Ep 11: Brand strategy: how to build the foundation of your brand (Branding Pie Part 1)
Resources mentioned
Shannon Mattern / Web Designer Academy: webdesigneracademy.com – plus the free proposal training at webdesigneracademy.com/proposal and the Profitable Web Designer podcast
Brand Recipe – my 90-minute session to get your brand strategy clear before the visuals
Come say hi on Instagram: @studiocoya
About the host
I'm Aiza, the brand chef behind Studio Coya, a branding studio with a food-themed twist. I help established coaches, creators and service providers brand their signature offers so their best work looks as good as it actually is, and sells like hotcakes.
