Ahh, I'm excited to be writing today. I've got that going-back-to-school vibe going on. Not the sucky one, but the good feeling, of lining up your new notebooks and sharpening your pencil crayons.
It's been an interesting summer for me. Jam packed with work, so I definitely couldn't call it a summer break, but I've been lucky enough to spend big chunks of it in the ocean, so I'm stoked :)
I made a semi-conscious decision to step back from social media this summer. Not completely, but enough to recognise what I love about it and what I don't. I realised that it's really easy to get kinda obsessive about it all and assume that it's absolutely vital for your business to be active on social 24/7. But it turns out it's not. It turns out you can pull back when you need to and re-engage when you are ready. Some things are more important than Facebook.
But the main reason I wanted to email you today was to share a couple of updates I'm stoked on :
The first is something I've been planning to do for ages... one of those things that sits somewhere near the bottom of your to-do list for months until you get so sick at looking at it, that you just make it happen.
I've struggled a bit this year when people have asked me that oh-so-popular question of 'What do you do ?'. Mainly because right now, I'm running multiple businesses and on top of that, involved with a bunch of awesome collaborations & projects. It's meant that answering the question either requires me to pick one thing to talk about and say 'oh and I'm working on some other stuff too' at the end or ramble on for 20 minutes and hand out multiple business cards (neither of which are good options !).
So I finally got my sh*t together and built this. A home for everything. A jumping off spot. A choose-your-own-adventure site. I resisted at first because there are heaps of folk creating 'personal brands' that just seem a bit self-serving, and let's be honest, pretty narcissistic. But I also know of plenty of smart entrepreneurs who've built personal sites that act as portfolios for all the rad stuff they're up to.
Here's the interesting thing: Doing this made me really step back and reconnect to my vision. Where I'm headed and where I've been. The kind of work I love and the kind of work I'm excited to lean into. It turns out building a website is a really good way of mapping out what's important.
And I guess that leads me perfectly to my second bit of news. Another task that has been lingering on the to-do list for a verrrrry long time. Super Stoked online.
My 6-week branding process is something I've become super proud of. I've been taking clients through it 1:1 for the last four years. Every client, every organisation, every start-up I've worked with have helped shape it into what it is today. I'm often asked what branding really means, and for me, good branding is the foundations upon which you build your business.
So often people get excited about colours and logos and fonts and presume that really, that's what branding is. But the work I do comes waaaay before that. The work I do helps my clients get laser focused on the work they are doing in the world and how best to communicate it.
But here's what's changed in my business in the last 12 months.
My two worlds have collided. In the very best of ways. I've been spending more and more time exploring this concept of using business as a force for good. In purpose driven business. In conscious capitalism. That I noticed something interesting happening in my branding work - I realised that the clients that I was most excited to work with were those who were working towards something bigger than a paycheque. They were organisations who were making an impact - who were using their work to help important social or environmental causes. They were entrepreneurs who were doing epic work in the world and just needed help crafting it into an awesome brand.
Working with this incredible bunch of clients has helped me refine Super Stoked even further. It's pushed me to up my game and dive deeper into a world I feel truly privileged to be working in. I finally feel like all the dots are connecting. My gut instinct told me that all these random paths I've been walking down would make sense one day, and now they do.
Here's what brand strategy with me means today: Tell your story. Build an experience. Do good.
And so this is where I'm at: A new (much simpler, more focused) website. Plus the online version of Super Stoked will be launching soon. A DIY version of the branding process that will walk you step by step through the program.
And an application process for 1:1 clients. To ensure we're a good fit. To guarantee you get everything out of the experience that you want & need. Two options (see how much I love the choose-your-own-adventure format ?!) so you can decide which suits you, your budget and your requirements best.
Super excited for this next chapter!