As the clinic celebrates 50 years by moving ahead under new leadership and with new goals, what’s the story it will be telling in the meantime–to patients? Partners? Staff? Donors? The broader community? New frames, and the story they tell, will be important for BVHC’s new beginning in 2023.
Framing is the process of communicating to individuals and the public-at-large how they should understand the way an institution works, and the purpose it serves. Put another way— if there was a play or movie about Boulder Valley Health Clinic, what would be the important themes and ideas we would need to get across to the audience? The motifs elaborated on below are the tools you’ll use to build the picture of BVHC peoples’ minds, communicating not only the work BVHC does, but most importantly, the meaning behind that work, and in a concise and relatable way.
While these frames can help staff think and talk about the work they do internally, they’re best used for relating what happens inside the clinic, to people outside of the clinic. Frames can be used to develop ad-copy, videos and commercials, and stand-alone talking points in media interviews and op-eds. We’ve included some examples of how you can use them in the outreach program we’ve recommended, along with a series of associated keywords that can be used to fill out the frames, and make the story you’re telling—whether it’s at a table at a parade or event, a fundraising luncheon, or in an interview–a richer one.
Your positioning explains your brand as it relates to adjacent efforts.
For all those seeking reproductive and sexual health services
Who want warm, personalized care at an affordable price
Our clinic is a shame-free space to take control of your body and your sex life
that offers excellent medical care from deeply compassionate providers
Unlike other clinics, our work focuses on the WHOLE person. While most healthcare facilities treat patients like a collection of parts or symptoms, we prioritize people’s total wellbeing - recognizing that relational and emotional health is just as important as physical.
The Building Blocks of your Brand. These succinctly describe why you do the work, what kind of work it is, how you go about doing that work and who do you it for
WHY (Vision) The reason the organization exists, the world as it should be
By embracing reproductive wellness as foundational to personal health, our community is one where every individual can unlock their fullest expression and vitality.
WHAT (Mission) What the initiative does to achieve its why
We are rewriting the story of sexual and reproductive healthcare – embracing a warm, personalized, and whole-person approach that stems from the belief that true wellbeing encompasses every aspect of a person's life, including their physical, mental AND relational health.
HOW (Differentiator) The day to day operations that make up your what
Our team of skilled doctors, nurses, counselors, and support staff offers the latest in sexual and reproductive healthcare but in a revolutionary way. At BVHC, you will be truly cared for – not just as a client but as a whole person. It’s a place where uniqueness is celebrated rather than questioned, where high-quality services are also affordable, and where people’s voices are truly heard.
Our services include reproductive health services, abortion and gynecology, but we realize individuals need access to even more, such as gender affirming care, personal advocacy, relationship counseling, and community education.
WHO (Audience) The group of people the initiative serves; the principal beneficiary of your work
Anyone, regardless of background, gender, or sexual orientation, seeking low-cost, high-quality reproductive and sexual healthcare, including residents of states where family planning services are limited or illegal.
A concise story that expands on the building blocks to outline the most essential elements of our work in narrative or story form. We break these into a short, medium and long so you can use them based on how much time you have with your audience.
Key: Short (1 min), Medium (2-3 Min, includes short), Long (5+ min, includes short & med), conclusion & CTA (for all.)
By embracing sexual wellness as foundational to personal health, our community is one in which every individual can unlock their fullest expression and vitality. To get there, BVHC is rewriting the story of sexual and reproductive healthcare. We embrace a warm, personalized, and comprehensive approach to create a world free from shame and powered by self acceptance. Ours is a whole-person approach where we attend not only to people’s physical health, but also the well-being of their mind, their community and their relationships.
At BVHC, we believe that true well-being starts with wholeness – that every aspect of a person’s life contributes to their health. That’s why we offer a revolutionary style of care that prioritizes people’s happiness as much as their physical wellness. Our expert healthcare providers are united to reimagine reproductive healthcare. Within our team, we have skilled doctors, nurses, counselors, and support staff who are dedicated to empowering individuals on their unique paths.
This commitment to our patients’ individuality and inherent worth has been the cornerstone to the creation of our clinic space, where people of all backgrounds, genders, and sexual orientations receive exceptional care, tailored to their specific needs. We aim to be a safe haven that allows for vulnerability as well as liberation through learning, so individuals may make the most authentic choices for themselves and their bodies.
At BVHC, our passion for cultivating a community that celebrates sexual and reproductive well-being is more than just a commitment; it's an integral part of our mission. Our services are designed to empower individuals – equipping them with the knowledge and tools they need to navigate their lives in a way that aligns with their unique health and wellness goals.
In pursuit of a community free from judgment, where everyone is on equal footing, we actively smash stigmas and proactively address barriers to care for our patients. Because when we aren’t feeling external pressures, we can feel safe in our bodies and connected to our pleasure, unlocking profound joy.
This means our work doesn’t just stop at the clinic’s doors—BVHC shows up to talk and listen to people about health care all over Boulder County. We are part of the civic life of Boulder, seeing it as our responsibility to protect the liberties of residents across the county. The clinic’s commitment to community is plain to see in the community events we attend, the Q&A’s we do with students, and the overall presence we have in all the many places others don't make an effort to show up. We know your health is about more than just what’s happening in your body. Politics, cost of living, the job market— these things can all influence your life. We are here, on the spot, ready to protect you and bring stability to your life.
For too long, healthcare has been dominated by the cold and clinical: a paradigm that says you’re a patient with a problem before you’re a person; that affordable means low quality; and appointments are like a DMV drive through. Patients are prescribed one-size-fits-all solutions that disregard their desires and perpetuate conveyor belt-style medicine. Our mission is to set a new standard for reproductive and sexual health care, rooted in both deep compassion AND technical excellence.
BVHC prides itself on offering an exceptional blend of cutting-edge medical care and personalized experiences that patients can feel truly supported by. Our services extend beyond routine check-ups and contraception, to expert emotional and relational guidance. From our fresh baked cookies to our incredibly kind staff, we redefine what quality healthcare looks like.
Alongside this dedication to redefining patient care, we also proudly bear the responsibility of safeguarding the rights and health of individuals from all walks of life. Because without our comprehensive services, many would be deprived of essential healthcare opportunities. That’s why our unique role of bridging the healthcare gap impacts lives across our community and beyond – serving as both a beacon of medical excellence and a sanctuary for those seeking inclusive, affordable, accessible care.
Above all, we aim to elevate the lives of our patients, helping them towards vitality, fulfillment, and joy. Join us on this incredible mission, where we break down the barriers of shame and enable people to embrace their sexual health with confidence. Because together, we can create a world where everyone thrives, liberated from cultural constraints and full of endless possibilities.
Join us on this incredible mission of reimagining reproductive healthcare. We are breaking down barriers of shame, empowering individuals to embrace their sexual health with confidence. At BVHC we put you first, celebrating your journey as a person before a patient. We are here to champion your well-being, helping you navigate life's challenges with joy and resilience. Together, we can create a world full of possibility.
A Brand Persona is a depiction of you brand as a person, giving a face to the abstract characteristics, values, and voice that businesses cultivate. It gives staff and decision makers a reference point in deciding everything from programs, to outreach to fundraising events. In this case, you can ask the shorthand "Is that something Lydia would do or like?"
Lydia
Background
Lydia is a 63 yr old living near downtown Louisville, Colorado. Lydia grew up in a big Latino family on Denver’s west side. She is the principal at the local high school and has been in the same job and house for around 30 years. She has seen her sleepy little community change, though for Lydia life more or less remains the same. Her family and “family” are mostly still nearby and she can still walk to work. As she tells it, she now has more restaurants to choose from, it’s just that fewer of them are the old style Mexican places that prefers. No bother, there’s a taco truck down the street that does just fine.
Personality
Lydia is a listener. Like a REAL listener. Much of this comes from her subtle vulnerability. Her favorite phrase “sit, tell me about it” and is reinforced by her body language, the questions she asks (or doesn’t ask) and the easy pace of conversation. When she asks how your day went, she really wants to know. And you know she wants the real stuff, not a play-by-play. When you tell her, she never questions your feelings or motivations. There is never any judgment or prescriptive problem solving. She makes you feel seen, heard, and empathized with, but at the same time, like you’re capable of anything. The first couple of times anyone talks to Lydia, people can’t quite put their finger on it, but they can feel this difference and it’s refreshing. By the time you’ve talked to her the third or fourth time, she’s the person you can spill your guts to, AND feel most powerful around.
Part of what makes Lydia such an astute and trusted listener is that she personifies steadiness. You can’t remember the last time she raised her voice. She could be stuck in traffic for hours and be unbothered. She mostly avoids the news – not because she is avoiding the world’s pain, she just can’t stand all the yelling and hysteria. After many decades of watching the world’s challenges cycle through different generations, she’s learned that you have to find your center inside every storm. She has an unbreakable trust in the resiliency of humanity, no matter how dismal things may seem. The most fired up she gets is when the Broncos lose.
When she’s breaking down a situation with someone, she doesn’t flinch if it’s tough. This groundedness comes from knowing it’s not usually her job to fix the problems of those around her; instead, she sees her role as helping you figure out how to fix it on your own and she is more than confident in her ability to do that. Mostly listening is enough for those around her. But she can dispense advice too, and when she does, it’s potent and matter-of-fact. You know she’s thought through what she’s telling you and that it’s what she honestly believes will be best.
Lydia is as welcoming as she is steady. She calls you “hun” or “sweetie” and you know she means it—you are already dear to her. She’ll put her hand on your shoulder or your knee while you’re talking. More than once, someone’s cried enough on her shoulder that she’s had to change her sweater. When her friends stop over, she’ll drop everything to sit with them, though you’d never guess it. She’s graceful in that way. She makes it feel like she was waiting for you, that you’re not interrupting her in any way. She’s always ready with a meal, tea or coffee. Often, when one of Lydia’s nieces has come over, she’s told her “I knew you’d be hungry so I made your favorite pastry,” and handed her a full plate. (,Lydia could hear it in her voice on the phone that she needed to visit, and that she was hungry and sad).
Career
Lydia was one of the first Latinas to get a masters in education from the local university she attended, not that it’s a fact she would ever share with you. After college she taught for awhile around the Denver area, but didn’t feel like she found her calling until a family friend helped her land a job as an assistant principal at Louisville High School. That was in 1990. She’s happily been working that job ever since.
Lydia feels like she was born to be a principal. She loves the kids and families she helps and she wants to continue serving them as long as they are in the neighborhood. She loves how no two are exactly the same. She stays in touch with many of her students long after they graduate and loves seeing them at the library or rec center when she visits. Many have remained close, becoming adopted children almost.
Lydia is very hands on with the students at her school. She handles most disciplinary actions, even though a typical school might use vice-principals and/or counselors for that. She always makes sure to stay on top of new trends in education and isn’t afraid to try something new to help her students and teachers.. In fact, she’s been offered many different jobs, as district administrator, running education nonprofits and once someone even suggested she run for the state board of education.. But she’s never interested. It would move her out of the community and the direct, hands-on support that she feels is her biggest contribution.
Hobbies and Interests
Lydia reads a ton. She prefers fiction to anything else, though she’ll dive into a particularly interesting book about history or something scientific if someone (like a teacher at the school) recommends it. She’s a regular at the library and both of the main librarians consider her a close friend, making sure they are always ready with a recommendation for when she next asks. She occasionally dips into Colorado Hometown Weekly or YellowScene to see what’s happening around her and see if she knows anyone in any of the stories. She particularly likes reading at a coffee shop, restaurant or park, where she is surrounded by the life of her neighborhood, but can still slip into the stories of her book or magazine.
There might not be a better baker in Louisville than Lydia, and that includes the pros. She learned to bake from her mother and abuela when she was tiny and never stopped. Her colleagues tease her, because she’s always saying “Those baking shows on TV don’t know what they’re doing,” and that she could do as good as any of them (“But without all the hurrying and fussing”). But those same friends, coworkers and former students who tease her will also ask she bake for special occasions - showers, birthdays, even a wedding once - and nothing makes her prouder.
Lydia is always taking local adventures with her long-time friends. When she talks about these, you get the impression she’s had all her friends at least 20 years or longer. “Oh, last weekend I went to see that free concert with my friend Julia, I’ve known her for 32 years.” Or maybe it’s Bruno who she’s known 26 years. The kinds of adventures Lydia goes on varies: sometimes it’s a weekend in Fort Collins with a college friend (40 years) or going to Denver for the day to help her sister take care of her three grandkids. And she never misses the stock show. She goes with the first family she ever secured a loan for (33 years). Most of these keep her in Colorado and generally along the Front Range, though occasionally it’s a visit to an old friend in California or her brother and his family that now live in Chicago. Even though her travels may not take her too far, she never seems like she is lacking for adventure.
But what Lydia does most - what she's known for among friends, coworkers and a surprisingly large number of folks in her community - is just having people show up at her house. She’s the first call for most of her sobrinos and sobrinas, before they take their problems to their parents. It’s the same for former students. She’s become such a trusted ear for many of the families and individuals she helped in her early years of being a principal,, they’ll swing by if they’re feeling stuck. And it feels like she never runs out of time for any of them. Whenever anyone stops by, she’s ready to sit on the couch and listen. “Sietate, digame” followed by an offer of baked goods.
People don’t seek Lydia out just when they have a problem, however. She’s become a fixture at family gatherings (and not just her own), neighborhood cookouts and more. When her circle has good news to share, Lydia is near the top of the list (new babies! New jobs! New business!). The amount of Christmas cards she receives can make her blush.
A Brand Tone describes the actual stylistic choices you'll make when communicating your brand. If "Lydia" is the persona, then the tone helps you understand how to write, speak and design to capture her essence.
If Boulder Valley Health Center were a person, we’ve identified that they would be a community-focused listener, someone who shows up for the ever-growing circle of people around her by listening authentically to their situations and offering pitch-perfect advice when called upon. She shows up in ways both big and small, but she’s always there and never flustered. The tone of voice we will use to project this personality in our written materials is:
Warm: To best serve our clients, we need them to feel comfortable. Everything we do is in service of fostering that comfort. Thus, our instinct is to treat them the way a family member might. We invite them in. We greet everyone with a smile and a hug, when appropriate. Because we see our clients as whole people, we ask how life is and we mean it, talking about things that go beyond the services we offer. This means using language that is personal and open while avoiding clinical terms or “movement” language that might signal activists but not the people we actually want to serve.
Example: We’re here for you. If you’re thinking of how to get into a relationship with that special someone or trying to figure out how to start a family, our circle of providers will sit down with you to get whatever support you need.
Instead of: Boulder Valley Health Center provides cutting-edge Reproductive and Sexual Health services. Whether it’s STI screening, pap smears or even advice on abortion, our medical team has what you need.
Unflappable: We’re steady, not letting anything throw us off our game. We know that conversations around sex, bodies and family planning come with deeply ingrained stigmas, which often show up in personal interactions. We also know there are myriad outside factors (work, family, even news coverage) that can play into our clients decisions. But nothing is off limits to us because none of it is wrong in our eyes, just all part of the sometimes beautiful, sometimes trying landscape that make up our sex lives. The more our clients understand that our advice comes without judgment or even hesitancy, the more likely they are to open up, making it easier to serve them. So we should choose language that lets our clients know that nothing is off the table and we avoid anything that could convey judgment or pre-held assumptions.
Example: Good on you! You finally hooked up with that guy from work that you’ve been flirting with relentlessly. Things moved quicker than you expected and now you’re thinking it’s probably worth getting tested. But you don’t want him to know, especially because you hope it happens again soon. Worry not. Come on in, we’ll get you what you need and can even come up with a game plan for the next time. And because we’re rooting for you, we hope that’s pretty soon too.
Instead of: Are you having problems in your sex life? Come talk to our professionals to see how we can help you overcome your barriers to a fulfilling sex life.
Understated: It’s easy to think that sexual empowerment means being proud and out-loud about the topics and terms that have been hidden behind centuries of stigma and cultural judgment. But we’re not the “shout it from the rooftops” sorta crowd. Instead, we’re the “intimate conversation with your favorite aunt on her comfy couch” type. Those same things that may have kept our patients from talking about their genitalia or sex lives at all, will likely continue to keep them from talking about them publically or in ways they may see as vulgar. We care that they feel safe and confident about their sexual health, not that they become players in an ongoing battle for the public discourse around this. Reproductive issues are not always related to sex and our patients are not always sexual people, so we want to make sure that those people feel represented and see us as the right person to talk to as well. Our outward facing materials don’t use profanity or images that our audience may still see as unfit for public conversation.
Example: BLOOM is all about bringing together mothers and daughters in a safe and inclusive space to celebrate the beauty and magic of the female body. You both have questions that you aren’t quite sure how to answer together. Instead of tip-toeing around it at home, come join us for lunch and we can help work through them together.
Instead of: Pussy Power! Got questions about your lady bits? We’ve got Boulder County’s best OB-GYNs on call to help you navigate anything from your period to dental dams.
Proactive We don't just want our clients to know we are there for them. We want to be proactive in letting them know we are a resource. We want to ask questions in a way that will get them to trust us and open up. We want to show up in other conversations they may be having. In our own quiet way, we want to be assertive.
Example: Think your job doesn’t impact your sex life? Think again. From the time we spend at work to the stress it creates, our jobs can have a profound impact on our best selves. Thankfully, BVHC has you covered. Our counselors are the best listeners we know. They want to know everything about you so they can come up with a plan for you to live your best life.
Instead of: Come to our clinic to hear more about our professional, best-in-the-industry healthcare.