I spent a lot of money on my branding and my website because . . .
I wanted it to be beautiful and convey a message of professionalism, warmth, possibility, and love. And, from what I hear, it’s doing just that. Even I’m impressed when I see it. I think to myself, WOW, who is that girl that has her sh*t all figured out? (I apologize for the curse words, I rarely, if ever, curse . . . but sometimes you just have to let one out.)
Then I realize, “that’s me”.
A moment later, I look in the mirror and wonder “hmmmm, I wonder where she went” as I go back to picking up toys, doing last night’s dishes, and rubbing that stain off my shirt (milk? throw up?).
Branding is intended to create a beautifully tailored and consistent image to the world. It’s intended to create visibility, recognition, and trust. It is intentionally beautiful and deliberately created to show the best version of someone, in this case, me.
Branding can also evoke a whole heck of a lot of emotions from happy to sad to defeated. Why? Let me give you an example. I look at the beautifully curated images on Instagram or Facebook and think “that could never be me” or “she’s so lucky she lives that way”. Or, more honestly, I think, “man, I need to up my game because that person has been to France, Italy, and Antartica in ONE week, and has worked out everyday, eats only organic, and her kids wear only white and NEVER get dirty, AND makes $10,000 in her sleep.”
Sh*t.
Where’s the ice cream and the wine?
Oh, and the chips. Can’t forget those. I haven’t quite figured out the balance between inspiring you with carefully selected words and beautifully curated images and giving you enough truth so that you know that my words and images come from a place of deep understanding, love, compassion, and a genuine desire to help because I truly understand. These words and images are born after moments of incredible highs and profound lows, and every messy emotion in between.
And that sh*t has been really hard.
But, perhaps those images and words are more about me than they are about you, as it’s a way to show myself that things really aren’t so bad and that there is always something beautiful in every messy situation.
Here is my commitment to you: you’ll get to know ME. The me that is plastered all over my branding and the me that stays in bed for ten minutes longer pretending her kids haven’t gotten up yet. You’ll get to know the me that has written over 100 cover letters and has had enough jobs to fill about four pages on her resume, single spaced. You’ll get to know the me that is scared her daughter’s vision may not develop and beats herself up trying to figure out where she got accommodative esotropia from (me?). You’ll get to know the me that learns how amazing life is, then forgets, then learns it again.
You’ll get to see me.
Thank you, Rachel, for helping me see this. I love you so much!