How Elle Romsloe Uses Astrology-Informed Brand Strategy to Create Unmistakable Brands
- ELIZABETH ELLE ROMSLOE
- 12 minutes ago
- 15 min read
What is your name and what do you want the world to call you?
My name is Halldis Elizabeth Romsloe… I go by Elle.
Where are you from and where do you call home now?
I am originally from Philadelphia - but I went to college in Baltimore and then moved to the DC metro area for my first job out of college and never left…until I moved to Colombia in 2023, which is where I run Scorpio Sol Studio, working virtually with entrepreneurs around the world." .
If someone met you for the first time at a dinner party, how would you want them to describe you after the conversation ended?
Fun, confident, eccentric, a little mysterious but totally welcoming.
Take me back. What were you like as a little girl?
I grew up as an only child and it was obvious. I was constantly praised for my extensive vocabulary (THANKS mom) and I think I was always a bit weird. I had a very hard time making and keeping friends and I was honestly the kid that ended up at the butt of everyone else’s jokes. I adored music and art, loved to sing, and I had a wild imagination and I loved building things. Any activity that involved working with my hands dominated my attention.
What did you dream about becoming before the world told you what was realistic?
If am being brutally honest - the dream was singer songwriter - think Jewel, Sarah McLaughlin etc. I am not an extrovert, but I do love the high I get from performance. I also had a desire to be either a music teacher or an art teacher. I’ve been an artist my entire life.
Was there a moment, a person, or an experience early in your life that shaped how you see yourself today?
Oy vey. If we were talking about how I see myself, and how I would describe myself - I give most of that credit to my mother. I’ve been told it's evident I had a “european style upbringing” whatever that might mean. My mother was like a 13th generation American mutt and my father was Norwegian. We lived in Norway briefly when I was very young… and it wasn’t the fact of Norway but simply the variety to which I was exposed from an early age and onward. The food, the culture. Travel was very important to my mother and I had international stamps in my passport long before my first birthday. Portugal, England, cruising the Caribbean, Mexico. Spring break was for culture. Summer break was for Nantucket. We were vacationing there before it was cool. Before people knew about the Hamptons or how “chic” New England can be. Lobster was one of my first solid foods and at age 4 I famously polished off my own mountain of mussels. It wasn’t just food and travel, it was clothes and accessories. My mother obsessed over the delicious details that only luxury brands pay attention to: pleated tissue paper in packing boxes, hand rolled hems, exquisitely formulated perfumes… that kind of attention to detail gets absorbed and integrated… If I see myself in any particular way it's that I am discerning. Not in a snobby way, but in the sense that I have seen enough in my life to know what I like, what I don’t, and be able to articulate exactly why.
I think what she was really teaching me was that details communicate care. It wasn't about owning expensive things. It was about noticing. The bounce of linen. The number of colors that created a single Hermes printed scarf. The difference between something that had been crafted and something that was merely manufactured. I don't think I inherited her love of luxury as much as I inherited her way of perceiving the world.
What is something about your upbringing that explains who you are now, even if it does not seem obvious on the surface?
I’ll continue exploring this thread, particularly because I feel like I have resisted this part of me for so long. The juxtaposition of the kind of luxury my mother curated in her home to the different school environments I participated in meant I never really fit in ANYWHERE I was. At the all girls school I attended from kindergarten to 4th grade, I couldn't relate to the Nantucket crowd because they were the families that were part of the more recent influx… My family was there because we had been but were being phased out, but they were going because they could afford to go and it was the cool place to be seen.
From 5th grade through high school I attended a quaker school, Germantown Friends School, and there I was very isolated - I think in some ways my family was seen as tight lipped and snobby and just kind of politically not aligned.
College was at Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, so I went from high school with a kind of kumbaya hippy crowd to a punk rock completely alternative crowd.
There are aspects of me that totally fit in with all three of these worlds… but especially as I was in college, I realize now, I was sort of hiding the parts of me that really loved expensive, fancy shit. In a place where the resounding chorus is fuck capitalism - it’s hard to get excited about the Hermes purse you got for Christmas.
I’ve always kind of nodded at both - I remember a coworker at Washington National Opera joking about the unlikely combination of my Gucci chain necklace next to my 14 gauge stainless steel circular barbells, stacked by 3 in each lobe and topped with an industrial piercing.
I’ve always been able to mix the punk rock, the beach hippy, with the quiet luxury and never as the gimmick, but as the organic evolution of piecing together an outfit because those are genuinely the pieces I own that go together. My home, my environment, and the circle of friends that I keep all resemble this stratosphere of variety… I frequently am the minority in a room.
All of that is to say that I am… always in search for the truth, and revel in challenging my world views with the understanding that it’s impossible to have no blind spots in our perception. Looking back, I don't think I was searching for where I belonged nearly as much as I was searching for a framework big enough to contain all of me. I stopped believing that contradiction was something to resolve. I’m quite comfortable in the gray AND have the cognitive flexibility to accept opposing truths. I think people are ecosystems. That's probably why branding through archetypes and astrology made so much sense to me: it allows people to be complex without apologizing for it.
What was happening in your life right before you decided to build what you are building now?
I’ll preface this by saying that what I am building now, Scorpio Sol Studio, is a shift in focus from a previous version of a very similar business, techAlkymi. I stepped into that from being a personal trainer. The phenomenon that prompted the shift from training to branding saw being in coaching containers and courses learning online marketing and business and seeing other women truly struggle with the things we were all learning that I found fun and easy. Initially I included tech coaching with the branding because part of my success in marketing my personal training business was my complete inhibition around picking up new platforms and frankly, making them my bitch. One coach identified that as a “blue ocean” opportunity, where branding was/is a very flooded industry and I agreed that focusing on helping women entrepreneurs and founders with their tech setup would be a great focus… the PROBLEM … is that talking about this was very confusing for people. The link between what course hosting software you might choose and the brand experience you’re trying to curate for your clients was obvious to no one but me.
Was there a breaking point? A moment you knew something had to change?
With techAlkymi I felt like I was screaming into the void. And, as my ADHD came into further focus, it became obvious that offering to do tech work FOR others was a big mistake. I love systems, I love patterns, I love teaching, and I have a rare superpower to distill a process down to its most universal existence so that it can be applied to ANY business or industry. I already had my Brand Grimoire framework and I was beginning to work in astrology as a method of systematizing my design and brand strategy process. When I had the opportunity to get certified through Vanessa Corazon in her StarBrands system, my own rebrand became part of my thesis work for that certification. Taking myself through my signature branding process (the Brand Grimoire fully integrated as an astrological process is available as the Professinal Presence Process) yielded the branding studio you now see as Scorpio Sol Studio, an astrology-informed brand strategy studio.
Leaning into the mystical, the archetypes, the mercury in scorpio communication style - recognizing that people’s lack of understanding was indeed a feature and not a flaw - because for those that do follow what I am saying - they immediately resonate.
I think it also bears mentioning that the death of techAlkymi coincided largely with conceiving my son and experiencing terrible pregnancy nausea that had me bed bound for months. I basically stopped working… What emerged after birthing my baby, when I was ready to “go back to work” was someone who absolutely refused to shelf the things I find most fun about business in favor of something “more marketable.” My offer stack is a labor of love and fun… every single thing is crafted by first answering: what am I most excited to deliver.”(which incidentally is a question i think most people never ask themselves) I realized that trying to be marketable was slowly making me invisible. The more I optimized for what I thought people would understand, the less recognizable I became to myself.
The more I optimized for what I thought people would understand, the less recognizable I became to myself.
What did you have to walk away from to become who you are today?
This question hits in a trixy way as I am mothering a 2+ year old while pregnant with another. I’d’ve been able to answer this question more clearly before becoming a mother but now… I feel like life is demanding a lot from me that I absolutely cannot walk away from. Who am I today? I am what my son needs from me… a safe place(i hope) for emotional regulation and growing his confidence and independence. I know this is just a season, and it may sound cliche… I’m not lost in motherhood, but I certainly handed over my personal dreams and aspirations, temporarily for a certain timeline, and i am keenly aware of the restrictions that come with this. Motherhood forced me to redefine ambition. I used to measure it by output. Now I'm learning to measure it by intention. That shift has been far more uncomfortable than I expected.
If you could go back and tell yourself one thing in that moment, what would it be?
Dear lord. If I'm being honest? I would have more thoroughly examined what it means to parent a baby and a toddler. I always thought that I wanted to be a mother. I enjoy children. I knew about sleepless nights and gross diaper changes (I highly recommend elimination communication!) but I never knew how deeply I could possibly internalize not being able to sooth my own child, or how so much of parenting a toddler is just mind numbingly ensuring that they aren’t offing themselves while doing something stupid. For people that are neurodivergent, the thick of early childhood development is enough to make you want to gag yourself with a spoon or pluck your eyes out with an oyster fork. I am very much looking forward to the part of parenting that many think is not so cute - having conversations with a mind in order to help it draw its own conclusions about the world it's navigating… that’s a long way off.
How did you land in this specific field? Was it intentional or did it find you?
My first job out of college was a direct application of my Bachelor of Fine Arts in Fiber degree, sewing costumes at Washington National Opera. I went seeking income opportunity and financial independence through selling insurance with Aflac and then after my own weightloss journey found a very solid career as a personal trainer. I loved it AND ALSO desperately wanted something that gave me more location independence. As I was trying to bring my business online, learning the in’s and out’s of online marketing, other women in my cohorts kept asking who designed my website, my visual identity, my branding:
“Thanks! I did!” The look of sheer disappointment and overwhelm from so many of the women who thought they were getting a referral really struck me. This was something I found easy… and fun. What do you mean you can’t do this yourself? So in a way - i stumbled back into a field that is at the very least adjacent to what’s always come naturally to me.
What is the real reason you do this work? Not the polished answer. The true one.
I HATE seeing otherwise formidable women brought to their knees by the fact that their professional presence online is just “not up to snuff.” There is a certain mentality required and perhaps imposter syndrome to overcome in order to simply move forward and tell the world what you do and how you can help with no website or a shitty, unappealing one. I don’t believe the world should have to wait for you to get over yourself in order to experience your gifts. Is hot branding and a banging website a prerequisite to earning a million dollars? Absolutely not… but if NOT having those things is preventing you from making moves at all… I want to fix that. It’s not actually about the website. It was about witnessing intelligent women outsource trust in themselves to people they assumed knew better.
I've realized I don't actually build brands. As a brand strategist and designer, I identify patterns and create a tangible visual identity. The visual identity simply becomes evidence of something that was already there waiting to be recognized.
What is the transformation you are actually trying to create in the people you serve?
My hope is that the brand I create for someone introduces them to the future version of themselves that was just waiting to be recognized. I don't think personal branding is about becoming someone new. I think it's about removing enough noise that the person who has always been there can finally be seen. Whether someone calls it brand identity, personal branding, or brand strategy, my work always begins with understanding the person before designing the visuals.
I want to gift every client the experience of having a brand they are so proud of they brag about it to everyone, including family and other moms at the PTA. it’s no longer “my little business” but “This is what the fuck I do.” The world spends so much time telling women who they should become that many of them lose sight of who they've been all along. I don't think branding is about inventing an identity. It's an act of remembering.
If your business disappeared tomorrow, what is the one thing you would want people to remember it stood for?
Authenticity - but not in the make-up free #wokeuplikethis performative way that so many of us think… in the "perfection is achieved not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away” kind of way. My brand design and strategy aims to be so authentically unique per client, absolutely nothing is templated. Many women I take do are buried under layer an layers of courses, coaches, copy&paste formulas that never bothered to ask the deeper questions about why these women are in business to begin with. What I find are women who are following advice simply because it worked for someone else, and they are so far removed from the truth of what would be business by their own design - my job is to peel that all away.
When you are not working, who are you? What lights you up that has nothing to do with your business?
The details that make me an excellent brand designer are the same that make me who I am. In the split seconds that I have to myself - quality is more important than ever… pampering myself with the proper bodywashes and body oils, impeccably smelling perfumes. When I'm feeling good, I do a full face of makeup, contour, cut crease eyeshadow with colors inspired by whatever my numerology app tells me to wear that day (no color is off limits - have you tried purple shadow with brown eyes???) I am a life long dog lover currently mothering a husky, who just turned 7 - she came with us to Colombia from DC. Before moving to an ironically salsa free zone in Colombia, I was a regular on the DC salsa scene for about 15 years, with a brief stint on a cuban style salsa performance team. I love good food, and exploring DC’s restaurants. I love tequila and mezcal. I also adore water - the beach. The smell of sunbleached towels. My mother's brother owned a house a block and a half from the Jersey boardwalk and I am so fortunate to have been able to spend a week with my parents there almost every summer of my adult life. I've realized over the years that I don't experience these things as luxuries. I experience them as regulation. Beauty, scent, texture, good food, the ocean—they're how I return to myself.
What does a perfect ordinary Tuesday look like for you right now? Right now?
Wake up with my bed sharing toddler and though he’s mostly weaned, he still asks for “mimis” first thing in the morning. We’ll go down for a “merienda” because my pregnancy demands I eat immediately. After breakfast I leave Elias in the care of his nanny and slip away into my office in a different part of the house. We’ll usually eat lunch as a family around 1 or 2pm and If i’m feeling ok, i continue working in my office until our nanny leaves for the day. From 430/5pm to about dinner time Elias is either with me watching Moana or with his dad visiting and playing with a cousin who is close in age and lives a block away. We’ll eat dinner and then commence the bedtime routine with a bath, pajamas, and nighttime mimi’s to sleep. And I usually crash right behind my son. It’s… not ND friendly at all - no novelty for my ADHD and the routine is demanded by someone else’s necessities which taunts my autisticness.
What is something most people do not know about you that you wish they did?
Most people think I'm opinionated. I am. But what they don't realize is that my opinions are almost never where my curiosity ends—they're where it begins. I care far less about winning an argument than understanding the assumptions that produced it. .
What I'm actually obsessed with is understanding the invisible patterns that shape people: the beliefs they inherited, the assumptions they never questioned, the contradictions they can't quite name. Whether I'm talking about branding, business, relationships, politics, or astrology, I'm almost always asking the same question: What's the underlying pattern that's driving all of this? I don't just like making beautiful things. I like making sense of things. Design just happens to be the language I speak most fluently.
What are you most afraid of, and how has that fear shaped the way you move through the world?
I'm afraid of regret. Maybe it's fomo. I'd rather regret doing the thing than wonder what would have happened if I hadn’t done it. I am afraid of letting fear dictate how I move.
If you let yourself dream without limits, what does your life look like in five years?
Multiple five figure months, living in a development with beach access and a kick ass gym. Ample time spent enjoying Mama Mar and practicing muscle building movement. Focused time homeschooling my kids while planning periodic connection trips with world schooling communities.
What is the legacy you want to leave behind, separate from money or titles?
That quality, craftsmanship, and details matter. Details communicate respect. Respect for your craft. Respect for your clients. Respect for the people experiencing what you've made. Excellence and competence don't have to be used as a gatekeeper and shouldn't be. They are values accessible to anyone.
I hope I leave people believing that details matter because people matter. Craftsmanship is respect made visible. Whether it's a Hermès scarf, a website, a conversation, or the way you parent your children, attention communicates care.
What is one thing you are still working to become, even now?
I mean - i think if you think you’re done you may as well be dead. I’ll always be learning and searching and improving. I think the biggest brain fuck was late ADHD diagnosis as a 39 yo. Having the question of “why does everything look so much easier for everyone else?” finally be answered, and then beginning to build awareness of all the tiny ways being neurodivergent messes with your ability to do the simplest most mundane things is a dimension of metacognition that quickly leads to burnout. Where people-pleasing and over-accomplishing were major motivators before diagnosis, I am still, almost 5 years later, trying to equalize without meds, without hormonal birth control, and without antidepressants. My capacity and “number of spoons” is so much smaller than it used to be and I suppose, if I am working toward any ONE thing in particular, it would be the ability to comfortably function with this awareness AND also reconcile with the very high standard of productivity I have held myself to in the past, and unlearning the belief that my worth is proportional to my output.
If a woman reading this is standing exactly where you stood before everything changed, what do you want her to know?
Stop trying to become the version of yourself you think the market wants. The life you're looking for is built the moment you stop editing out the parts of yourself that other people don't immediately understand.
Your weirdness isn't the obstacle. It's the breadcrumb trail. Every time I've stopped trying to be more understandable and started becoming more honest, the right people found me.
There comes a point where accumulating more advice becomes another form of procrastination. Eventually you have to trust your own pattern recognition enough to build something no one else would have told you to build.
The things that make you difficult to categorize are probably the very things that make you impossible to replace.
What is the one sentence you want people to remember about you?
Please don’t admire my resilience when all I did was exactly what needed to be done.
Meet the expert:
"Elle" Romsloe is the founder of Scorpio Sol Studio, an astrology-informed brand strategy and design studio. Her proprietary Brand Grimoire framework underpins every offering at the studio, translating natal astrology into strategic brand development and cohesive visual identities. She creates deeply individualized brands for multidimensional entrepreneurs who want their businesses to reflect the full complexity of who they are and how they move through the world.
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