Why Do We Resist ReBranding?

Today I had it with the lamp in the corner.?

I live and work in a 2 bed, 2 bath condo along the St. John’s River with a newly retired husband. He’s upstairs. My workspace is downstairs shared with a kitchen, dining, bikes, and a painting studio.

The Tall Lamp was getting on my last nerve.?

We need light in that corner, but the angle always bothered my eyes when I sat to write. Today it occurred to me to switch it around with my favorite table lamp. The swap worked beautifully.

I have never heard a woman judge herself for moving her furniture around. (It’s something we naturally expect people to do.)

We don’t judge when a restaurant changes its menu. (In fact, we’re usually excited to try something new!)

We don’t judge people when they get a new job or move to a new home. In general, we applaud moves and new beginnings.

So WHY is there (unspoken) JUDGMENT or reluctance from ourselves or others when it comes to rebranding businesses?

I think it comes from feeling like we’ve failed, or the story that someone doesn’t know who they are, or is possibly just chasing cash and being inauthentic.

TBH, I’ve been it- I’ve done it.

I've been judgmentally curious and shocked as colleages radically changed their titles, personal image, target markets, and branding over the years. That judgment came home to roost as I just couldn’t figure out how to best explain the deep identity work I do to the exact people who would benefit from it.?

I’m very successful and confident at the services I provide but marketing them??

Quelle horreur!!

Marketing and Branding

If I was a plumber it would be easy. But for those of us who work in esoteric or transformation fields, the search terms that people understand are often 10 years behind how we would describe them.

For example, 20 years ago I would have been called a 'Wardrobe Consultant' and sometimes that's the only choice on dropdown menus. Now, the most-known term is 'Personal Stylist.' A 'business coach' is very different from a 'life coach,' etc. The terms 'Marketing' and 'Branding' can almost feel interchangeable.

The word and term 'coach' feels like it's been worked to death. I've gotten negative reactions from people because they've had bad experiences with other people who called themselves 'coaches.' I think the term feels now the way most people feel about the word 'lawyer.'

Wording what we call ourselves VERSUS what other people understand our services to be can feel like walking a search-term tight-rope. Even 'health coach' has now expanded to be a list of many varied services.

In an attempt to find the words and terms that felt authentic to me, I've reworked my brand description at least 20 times over the last 20 years. (Think of it akin to trying on jeans.) You just can't know a term is right until you SEE IT ON THE PAGE or TRY IT ON.

My challenge - and why I’m so good at helping others with naming and rebranding - is that I’m a multi-passionate entrepreneur. I've been struggling with the exact terms to describe what I do to attract my perfect customers on and off since 2004. Not the entire time, but moreso since the pandemic.

Most traditional business advice doesn’t apply to me and my gifts. There was no college or high school course on how to be all the things I am and do and get paid for it when I grew up. So how in the heck do we expect ourselves to launch these service-based companies without a hitch?

Dealing with Cultural Change

As things changed in our world business changed dramatically. In 2021 few clients had interest in buying new clothes when they were working primarily online and at home. All of a sudden quality was nowhere to be found- even at old standbys like Nordstroms! I hate Trendy and Trash Fashion that ends up in landfills. I wanted better for my clients and their closets.?

I also realized I had no desire to help style clients who had no interest in personal development work. My work is a journey in consciousness and self-identity. I wasn’t attracting the right clients who wanted what I was serving up. It was time for a serious shift.

Becoming More Friendly with Change

My colleagues have been: remodeling their houses and websites.

Changing their names and changing them back.

Marrying, Divorcing, Marrying and Divorcing again…the same guy.

Going on and off social media. Changing channels.

Trying all kinds of new things and paths of marketing.

There has never been more freedom and options for ways to make money on and offline. It's thrilling....and overwhelming! Small business owners are often completely exhausted from examining all the options as new ones emerge every week.

So....why must we judge making necessary changes to our brands and businesses?

WHAT IF, as my mentor Dr. Gay Hendricks suggests, we gave up using the words, “Good, Bad, Right, Wrong?”

WHAT IF we just adapt, make moves, keep swimming??

Our goal could be that we find a BETTER way of being in this world that is COMFORTABLE and AUTHENTIC to us while attracting the people who want and need our help and services.

The Solution

We get to try, and try again, and look at all the new models and tools for making money that arrive daily to our attention radar. There ARE better ways to make the wheel!

I make sure to run my clients through personality tests and the genius work of the great Dr. Gay Hendricks.

We look at Yeses and No's in the body.

We examine what we REALLY want to offer at the heart and soul of our businesses, so there's no inward resistance or self-sabotage in offering something that just doesn't align with who we are anymore.

We name and rename accordingly, with several nods to search engines and terms and strategies that feel easy to do.

We make sure our image, colors, wording and taglines reflect back the expertise of our services instead of repelling our perfect clients.

I think we should be a lot more generous with ourselves in how we think.?Let’s start approaching our businesses through the lens of self-growth.

Are you happy doing what you do?

Are you providing value you feel good about?

Do you feel personally expressed in your life and business?

Does your business serve YOU while it serves others?

Are there places that feel out of alignment?

What would feel better?

Over the last 2 years, I pondered and finally arrived at something that feels right for me and inclusive of all my gifts. ClarityPurposePower.com will be launching soon. I’m fully integrating the work I’ve been doing all along with new keywords and new offerings. I don’t have it all figured out yet, but I’m still moving forward and writing as I go.

I invite you to release judgment from the need to pivot, remodel or redesign your life, relationships, business, or branding.?

Finding YOU and offering your GENIUS GIFTS to the world is a worthy pursuit.?

We’ll land on that perfect expression of our offerings (AKA branding) - sooner or later - if we keep upgrading our lives, learning, and choosing what feels best to us along the way.

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Auretha Callison is dedicated to Empowering Remarkable People?

to find Clarity, Self-identity, Power, and Purpose.?

She has spent the last 20 years as a holistic stylist, intuitive healer and coach, providing the inner and outer work necessary to match a person's inner self to the outward expression of their style, message, and purpose.

https://linktr.ee/empoweredbyauretha