Why a Rebrand Feels Like the First Day of School After a Long Summer Vacation

It’s more than just a makeover, it’s a total transformation! ✨

Have you ever experienced a transformation in your own life?

Maybe it happened early for you, in high school or college. Maybe after you met your person and settled into a life together. Maybe when you went back to school for design, or started your own business, or started working in a company where you truly felt like you belonged.

Do you ever think about how that experience changed you?

Even if it was a personal transformation, it can help us think about what big, fundamental shifts in our mindset and vision for life (and/ or your business!) can do for the clients and customers you serve.

After returning from my own rather transformative summer holiday, it got me thinking.

Isn’t a rebrand (personal or business!) a lot like the first day of school after a long summer vacation?

Of course, you’re still the same you strutting back down the halls, but instead of the shy or awkward or not-quite-grown-into-your-full-potential you, you realize that something inside has changed.

Maybe you’re also a little taller, or you lost the baby fat. Maybe you got a new haircut, or finally got your braces off.

But whether you worked all summer at the mall, or spent it lounging around with your friends, or were fortunate to have traveled, what matters most is that moment you realized things had changed, forever. ✨

You’d witnessed your own incredible potential and as a result, you were more confident and assured of your place in the world.

You knew the external changes to your identity were simply a reflection of the changes you’d made within.

Even if you wouldn’t be able to articulate it for another 20 (30?!) years, you know that this moment in your life was significant. That you’d never go back to being who you were before, and you didn’t care because life as this new you is just so much more interesting.

You’ve moved waaaaay beyond who you were and that old identity that served you before. You know it no longer serves you now.

The sky’s the limit baby!

I believe that’s exactly what a rebrand should feel like.

Renewal.Transformation. A new-found confidence in yourself, your business, your mission and your purpose in this short, magical life.

You’ve upleveled everything, and there’s no going back.

Now, I know you know that I’m going to remind you that your logo is not your brand. You’re more than what you look like, right?

Your logo represents your values. It’s a visual representation of who you are INSIDE your business.

It walks to school hand-in-hand with your brand message—the quick phrase or description that you want people to repeat about your business.

And if those repeatable bits sound a lot like everyone else’s repeatable bits, then how will you stand out?

Attract the tribe of clients that really need you and are looking for someone exactly like you?

That’s the magic of developing a really good brand for your business—your logo, your messaging, your whole identity—it all works together to help people understand exactly what you do and why you do it.

This year, we’ve been hard at work upleveling the brand identities and messaging for quite a few amazing clients. Here’s a look:

• A full rebrand—including a new name, identity, and messaging—for a legacy furniture manufacturer in the heart of North Carolina 🪑🏡
• New logos and identities for design studios across the US wanting to rebrand for the fall
• Crafting crystal clear brand messaging and copy for designers expanding their business into short term and vacation rentals (LOVE this one for the VRD Collective!),
• Revisioning the entire brand marketing launch for a specialized commercial designer (this one’s gonna be SO exciting to share 🚀✨)
• …and a ton of gorgeous website refreshes, signage and collateral designs for showrooms and retail shops.

If you’ve been considering a brand refresh, hit reply and let’s chat. The cost of Brand Camp is going up in November, so if you’re serious about upleveling your brand identity or copy, save your spot now and schedule it anytime this fall! Here’s the link to learn more and schedule your private workshop to work directly with me. ​

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What’s inspiring me after my own transformative summer vacation?

👉 This fascinating article by Fred Nicolaus in BOH regarding the representation of interior designers in movies and on tv. It’s one small step toward elevating our industry and solving the interior design brand problem that makes your marketing message so essential to clients! I’m eager to help solve this essential problem, and in time, I hope to. Thanks Fred!

👉 This bluesy fall playlist 🎶 and some late summer podcasts in case you missed them—including my conversations with psychology driven brand strategist and host Kaye Putnam on the Brand Gravity podcast, why and how to create your brand story with Kate Bendewald on the Designer’s Oasis show, and all things marketing with Eric Hortzclaw on The Claw. 🎧

👉 Pumpkin Spice nothing 🙂 one of the joys of living part-time in the south of France is that summer gets to stay summer until nearly December 😎🍁

👉 Fall HPMKT….oh man it’s going to be a GOOD one….stay tuned for a full calendar of events in my next email (and a revamped Guide to HPMKT too!)

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Thanks for reading. Want to take a deeper dive into the possibilities of your brand marketing? I’ve created this Brand Audit Workbook and video to guide you through the process for evaluating your current brand marketing efforts! See immediately where your current brand message might be confusing or inconsistent, and learn exactly what to do to get your story straight.