Forgive
my silence.
For
the past few months I have been in a season of rebranding and reevaluating my ten-year old business. It didn’t happen intentionally, I would
never have planned the agony of this process. Ever.
The process was at times exciting and at other times it led me to question, “If a designer can’t capture my essence should I be in business?” Back and forth the images went between myself, my board of directors, my mastermind group and it seemed like no one could agree. Scrapping designs and starting over frustrated me to no end; I used to scream inside when designs I liked were rejected by my team. Then, finally the designer tweaked an image enough to make my soul sing. I mean when I saw it, it literally took my breath away and brought tears to my eyes. My daughter liked it and she liked it and we never liked the same designs. That showed me we were on to something good. As my advisers began to submit positive feedback - finally I had peace.
The process was at times exciting and at other times it led me to question, “If a designer can’t capture my essence should I be in business?” Back and forth the images went between myself, my board of directors, my mastermind group and it seemed like no one could agree. Scrapping designs and starting over frustrated me to no end; I used to scream inside when designs I liked were rejected by my team. Then, finally the designer tweaked an image enough to make my soul sing. I mean when I saw it, it literally took my breath away and brought tears to my eyes. My daughter liked it and she liked it and we never liked the same designs. That showed me we were on to something good. As my advisers began to submit positive feedback - finally I had peace.
Forgive
my silence.
As I
have learned over the past few months, a business owner must be focused, speak
with clarity, have a vision that is written down and be surrounded by a strong
group of advisers who tell them the truth in love. At times I hated to love the
people who hated my designs. I wanted the process to be finished long before I
realized how long it was going to take. It was agonizing to revise, tweak, interview new designers and start the
process all over again. I felt like I was a piece of taffy candy slowly being
stretched out until I broke apart. Stretched taffy doesn’t go back into
its original shape, I had to change while being pulled or slapping a new logo on an
old business model would not move my business forward.
After having been stretched myself, I can say that you can enjoy a piece of stretched taffy much longer. You chew slowly and taste the flavor more than you would if you put a little piece in your mouth. The sweet reward of me being stretched is that I have a better product, new branding and better focus.
After having been stretched myself, I can say that you can enjoy a piece of stretched taffy much longer. You chew slowly and taste the flavor more than you would if you put a little piece in your mouth. The sweet reward of me being stretched is that I have a better product, new branding and better focus.
Hello
world!
Here
is how rebranding changed me:
1.)
I don’t normally splurge on myself. I have been bootstrapping for my business so buying things for fun and not necessity was not on my
agenda. Then my aunt came to visit a couple weeks ago. We went shopping together and she opened a whole new world to
me. In a boutique the sales woman picked out skirts for me that I loved when I
tried on but overlooked when on the rack. The both of them together showed me
the value of having people in your corner who tell you the truth in love and
can see for you what you don’t see for yourself.
For hours my aunt and I poured through several stores looking
for a bag I could carry to work. She taught me about style, pressure points,
cost, leather, and get this, personality. While I was looking for a plain black
bag she got me in line, “Penda, you can be professional and show your
personality too.”
Light bulb moment! My
aunt chose a bag for me that I never would have picked for myself, a butterfly
bag with turquoise and orange wings. “If you don’t buy it I’m going to get it.”
I took that bag and ran to the cash register with my daughter trailing behind
me. When
I carry my bag, my co workers comment on how much they like it and how it fits
my personality. She was right.
2.) The
second thing that rebranding my business has taught me is how to say no to
clients who do not fit my demographic. Rebranding the business was eye opening
in that I had to redefine my niche and speak it out loud had never happened
before. Clients were inquiring into me and I had to turn down business. In saying no to what did not fit my niche,
those who fit my demographic are now able to find me. I feel so much better
about the work I produce.
3.) Finally, I have had to think critically about my
personal and professional relationships. There is a difference between the
people who were critical of my logos while I was rebranding and those who were
critiquing. The critical people could not find anything positive to say, those
with critiques could verbalize (with passion) what they did not like and how it
can be improved. Cutting out naysayers in my business taught me to cut them in
my personal life as well. I am at a time in my life when my relationships have
to be mutual.
To
summarize this experience, losing my mother has been the most critical rite of
passage in my life so far - my mother was in my corner all of my life.
Now her silence speaks loudly. The blessing is that her voice remains through
her journals. These gems from my mom confirmed to me why my business exists and
the rebranding process was necessary to clarify the vision.
My mission is to use writing as a tool to help people break through barriers and inscribe to impact and inspire.
Until
she passed, I had not remembered that she was passionate about recording family
history. All this time we were working in parallel universes and she knew what
I was doing but I didn’t know what she wanted to do. Now I have her tools to
carry on the vision and I must because I am her seed.
As I
was changed by losing my mother her tools and journals reignited my passion to
help people write through pain. In April as my mother was making her transition
from this life I lived through the lessons I was trying to teach. It is
possible to write when you don’t have time, when life is happening, when people die, when you write until you cry and when life is good.
So many of you want to write but find more barriers than opportunities to do the work. Look, I hear you, busy-ness is real. Being married, having children, working full time, serving in the community, balancing all of a person's life responsibilities can be challenging. However, we find time, money and energy to do things that we really want to do. My question to you is, "DO YOU REALLY WANT TO WRITE?" or are you more impressed with the sensationalism that being a writer brings?
If you feel
that it is time for you to break through these barriers so you can inscribe to impact and inspire, you know where to find
me.
Twitter: @penscribed, @scribecoach
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