From Playing Safe To Showing Up Real

If showing up online feels hard, even when you’re doing all the “right” things, there’s a good chance it isn’t your strategy that’s broken. In this episode I dig into the hidden cost of filtering yourself for approval, the kind of low-level friction that makes you post regularly yet still feel bland, disconnected, or like you’re looking at a watered-down version of yourself.
I talk candidly about why this happens, especially for UK chiropractors trying to stay within professional guidance. Yes, the rules matter, but they limit claims, not connection. You can still tell the truth of your story, share your values, communicate your passion, and let people meet the human behind the clinic. That is where trust is built, and trust is what drives sustainable visibility, word of mouth, and the right patients finding you.
I also get practical through a branding story: the shift from a “safe” look designed to appeal to everyone, to a bold, recognisable identity that actually feels like home. It’s not about picking the perfect colour. It’s about choosing alignment, letting the outside match the inside, and realising that people follow people, not logos.
If you’ve been hiding behind polish, a curated grid, or the promise that you’ll start when it’s perfect, this is your reminder: done is better than perfect. Listen, then take one small step towards showing up as yourself. Properly yourself.
Subscribe, share this with someone who might need to hear it, and leave a review so more people can find the podcast.
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About Philippa:

Philippa Wilmot is a chiropractor of 16 years and the founder of ChiroVisibility, a membership community helping chiropractors build real visibility through social media and marketing that actually feels like them. In 2026 she was recognised by Women in Chiropractic with the Impact Award - "an exceptional chiropractor creating IMPACT in the lives of others." She's also the host of the ChiroVisibility Pod, where chiropractic finds its people.

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Transcript

A Personal Reason For This

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Welcome back to the Claire Visibility Podcast. I'm Philippa, and today I want to talk about something a little bit personal. In real time, I've just launched this podcast, and as I sit down to write this episode, I started looking back at some of the original branding I had. Some of it's still cooking around, some of it was attached to this podcast actually. Bits and pieces, and something hit me.

The Hidden Cost Of Filtering

SPEAKER_00 0:29

I wasn't happy getting visible before, and I'm sitting with that trying to work out why. The answer, when I got honest with it, is pretty simple. It wasn't really me. Everything was slightly edited, slightly dialed down, slightly pulled back, like someone had taken the actual me and run it through a filter. It was like a Teemu version of myself, showing up to do the work. It looked vaguely like the real thing, but it wasn't quite right. And that's a strange thing to live with, actually, because I was showing up, I was posting, I was putting content out, I was getting other people to share their content too. But there was this low-level friction every single time. Like something was slightly off, and I couldn't name it. I'd post

Rules Versus Human Connection

SPEAKER_00 1:17

something, instead of feeling good about it, I'd just feel bland. Or I'd look back a day later and think, that's not really me, is it? That's a version of me that I thought people would find more acceptable. And I think that's why I filtered myself. And it wasn't just the branding. I actually launched a podcast before this particular one. Same name, but very different brand. And when I look back at it now, I can see exactly what happened. I didn't really know what to say, or maybe more accurately. I knew, but I wasn't saying it. I was sharing what I thought people needed to hear, or maybe what they wanted to hear, what felt very safe to put out, what wouldn't ruffle any feathers. And the thing is, I get why I did it. We're in the UK, we have guidance around what we can and can't say as chiropractors, and I think sometimes that guidance becomes a reason, or possibly an excuse, and I say that really kindly, because it's my excuse, to hold back on everything. To play it safe so that your actual voice disappears entirely. But here's what I know now. The guidance covers claims, it doesn't cover connection, it doesn't stop you from being a human, it doesn't stop you from sharing your story, it doesn't stop you sharing your passion, your why, your personality. There is so much you can say, so much that can help bring people to you, build trust, and help them find chiropractic and find you specifically. But I hadn't found the courage to say it yet. And I can show you exactly what I mean, because I've got some really good examples of this.

Branding That Tried To Fit In

SPEAKER_00 2:55

When I first set up chiropisability, I spent hours, and I mean hours, getting my branding to where I thought it needed to be, and I ended up with this muted but beautiful green, soft, very neutral, very safe, and I chose it because I thought it would appeal to everybody. But that sentence right there tells you everything. I thought it would appeal to everybody. I wasn't thinking about what felt like me. I was thinking about what wouldn't put anyone off, and that, in a nutshell, is exactly the trap because when you try to speak to everybody, you end up speaking to nobody. The green was lovely, it just wasn't mine. And deep down I think I always knew that. I just didn't have the language for it yet.

Choosing Pink And Standing Out

SPEAKER_00 3:38

I'm very lucky to be friends with an incredible woman called Jen Channa. You might know her as Liberty Lady. She's a photographer with the most extraordinary eye, and she redid my branding for me. And she chose pink. This pink. The pink that I now feel is so completely chirovisibility. When people see that colour in the background of a photo, they assume it's me. Sometimes, even if it's not. But how cool is that? I even have someone who sends me beautiful pink things when she spots them in my brand colour, and it makes me genuinely happy each and every time. The difference between the green and pink isn't aesthetic. The green was me trying to fit in. The pink is me deciding to stand out. And once I made that shift, once the outside started matching the inside, everything felt different. Posting felt different, showing up felt different, the friction was gone. The brand is me and I'm the brand. The pink lights me up. And you know what? It never did. It never repelled anybody who was meant to be here. People who weren't right for the membership, they moved on. And the people who were, they stayed. That edited, toned-down version of you doesn't connect with anyone. And it's not about colour necessarily or about your logo necessarily. It's not really about anything but you. You have to be the person who you want to be. Because people don't follow a brand, they follow a person, someone they recognize, someone they trust, someone they feel like they actually know. So when I really started this, this version of Cyrovisibility, I made a decision. I was going to show up as me, properly me. It wasn't the version that hedges everything or softens the edges, just me doing the thing I believe in, in the way I actually talk.

Done Beats Perfect Every Time

SPEAKER_00 5:25

And if I'd waited till it was perfect, I would never have shown up at all. That is the honest truth. There's always a reason to wait. A better mic, a better setup, a better plan, a better version of yourself that feels ready. But that version will never come because readiness isn't something that arrives. It's something you build by doing. Done is better than perfect. I genuinely, truly believe that. I've listened back to some of these episodes already, and I can hear things, moments where I stumble, where I think, oh, I could have said that so much better. Things that feel like mistakes when you're the one who made them, but the feedback has been incredible. And the things I hear as mistakes, other people don't notice them at all, or they hear them for exactly what they are. The real me, I'm an edited and I'm present and I'm trying my best. Your people don't want perfection. They want to feel like they're talking to an actual human being who gets it. So if you've been hiding behind the polish, behind the shared post, behind the perfectly curated grid, behind the I'll start when I've got a better photo, a better bio, a better plan. I want you to hear this. The thing that's missing from your content isn't a better strategy. It's not a better camera or a better hook. It is you. It has always been you. Because done is better than perfect every single time. You can refine as you go, but you have to go first. You are the strategy. Now go be it. Thank you so much for being part of the chiropisibility pod where chiropractic finds its people. I will see you next time.

You Are The Strategy

SPEAKER_00 7:04

And if you want to come further into the chiropisibility world, the membership is open. It's there whenever you're ready, and the link is in the show notes. Get on the mailing list, follow me on my socials, come and say hi. You are always welcome. See you in there.