The Identity Problem I've Been Avoiding
And the five questions that forced me to get clear on what I'm actually building
Last week, I welcomed you all officially to CHAMP CAMP.
If you haven’t done so yet, I would love for you to go check out the Instagram here.
At the tender age of 37, it seems a little strange/scary to be pivoting (ever so gently) away from the only thing I have built success with (Savilian).
It has been a little taxing and stressful.
But it has been exciting, because I know that what I am building here is guaranteed to last the rest of my life.
Due to the burden of this challenge (one that I asked for), I decided to ask for help.
I reached out to a buddy of mine who is a creative professional with many years of experience in branding, designing, UX/UI, and just being generally creative. This was a monumental change, and I needed some human oversight (Claude is not enough).
He sent me 5 questions to ponder on at this moment.
Questions to help me think about what it is that I am trying to achieve in this moment, that will shape the future of both voices.
So, typically, I decided to turn them into content.
Doing so would ensure I got it done in a timely manner, but also allowed me to open up with my responses, and hopefully give you some ideas, too.
Here are my answers.
Question 1
What problem are you hoping to solve by separating the visual identities of Sav/Savilian and Matt Savelberg?
Right now, I am posting everything under one umbrella.
Music
Podcasting
Rap content
Frameworks
Stoic content
Mental health
Self-improvement
All of the above are posted and communicated as Savilian.
Savilian is a rapper who keeps it real and tells stories. He is a raw entertainer.
Matt Savelberg is a thinker/teacher who practices Stoicism, thinks about mindset and loves to write about life’s challenges.
The 2 identities have very different content and attract different people.
Rap fans + friends and family don’t want to have Stoic essays and reels about self-improvement thrust upon them, and vice versa.
Mixing them creates noise, confuses the algorithm and stunts growth.
This separation is purely to give both voices room to breathe, allowing me to freely post both types of content without affecting the core idea of the page/brand.
The change is to enable clarity, refine direction and plan for growth.
Question 2
How separate should these two identities feel to the audience?
Very different in terms of branding and types of content, not at all different in terms of authenticity and values.
Savilian: darker colours and themes, raw, using #fa5807 as brand accent—more photo content, rap only reels (no educational content or podcast clips). It’s all about me and my journey as a lifelong rapper and performer.
Matt Savelberg: lighter and more inviting, using #c0a0ff as brand accent—carousels, educational reels, brand-centric memes.
They know it is the same guy, but now the content is more consistent across the page/channels. They know what they’re signing up for.
Different colour palettes, content pillars, themes, and branding, same authenticity.
Question 3
How would you describe the personality of each identity in 3–5 words?
Savilian
Raw
Resilient
Courageous
Matt Savelberg
Stoic
Fearless
Empathetic
Savilian creates for the love of the game; he keeps it real but loves to show the work that he’s still here doing. Matt Savelberg communicates, unpacks and solves problems. He loves to think deeply, notice things and share his thoughts.
Savilian shows. Matt Savelberg tells.
Question 4
Describe the average audience avatar for each project (in a nutshell).
Savilian
People who are fans of me, whether they are people I have met, performed with or collaborated with. They are my friends and family, and random stragglers I have encountered on my path.
Savilian/Sav is my core identity, a rapper who has overcome a lifetime of self-doubt to be here creating.
They are also fans of rap.
I want to be discovered by new fans. I want my music to be heard by those who haven’t heard it yet. I want the stories to be understood and cherished (although this is not a priority).
Matt Savelberg
This content is a personal brand, a vessel for me to share the way I think and help people just behind me to get through life’s challenges. This is for people in their 20s-40s who are either rebuilding, starting something or levelling up.
Ideally, I want this to become a movement and potentially a business.
These are tools, frameworks, products and ideas to help people become the highest version of themselves, let go of fear and learn to live the good life.
Question 5
What does a successful redesign look like (in terms of metrics), and what changes?
There are a few ideal goals/outcomes:
Remove the internal block from creating—right now if I want to post, there is an internal tension between rap vs teacher. I want to be able to create freely for Matt Savelberg without worrying about the Savilian brand. I want the freedom to ship work daily.
Grow my Substack to 1000 subscribers by the end of 2026—this is really hard at present due to the discoverability limitations from Substack, having separate brands will attract the right type of audience and increase the likelihood of reading my writing.
Content shared more easily—I want my ideas to be shareworthy, I want people to get enjoyment and glean insights from the way I see the world, this can only happen if the messaging is clearer and more targeted.
Monetise my creations—asking for money for the things I build has always been difficult. For example, I have 250 gratitude journals just sitting in boxes because it felt weird pushing them on a rap page. Removing that barrier will allow me to create things with purpose and get them into the hands of people who need them without worrying about contaminating my friends, family, fans and supporters. Having this clarity will allow me to more actively pursue turning my creations into a supplementary source of income eventually.
Help people—the blockages I have placed on myself from not being clear on my brand and content strategy, lead me to post less and therefore reduce any chance of my writing/products reaching the people that need it. There’s a lot of fear and pain in the world, and I believe I can help some people overcome their fears and push through their pain through my writing, podcasting and content.
I do not wish to stop posting as Savilian (because I do have an album planned for this year), but I do want to give both voices space to find their audience.
Savilian will be a lot freer and more casual. Updating fans and followers on the new music I am creating, showing them the process of making new music and just posting what I want, when I want.
Matt Savelberg will be posting consistently, building systems and optimising for growth and impact.
Alright, that’s a wrap!
These questions were meant to help my mate understand my brand.
They ended up helping me understand myself.
If you’re in the same boat, trying to work through who you are and how you want to show up in the world, steal these questions and try them for yourself.
Ask the questions. Write the answers. See what comes up.
LESGO CHAMP!
SAV
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