When I start designing a new brand with a client, the first visual presentation I prepare for her is a Creative Direction. Which is a collection of ideas that come together to show the mood and tone my client is going for; along with her Brand Essentials, the written statements that define her brand values, mission, audience, and unique offering.

Do you want to grow your social media following or increase traffic to your blog or website? Do you want to attract followers and visitors who are most likely to buy what you are selling? Then consider making your values clearly available for all to see!

Yep, I get it, branding is confusing and marketing is overwhelming. There is a lot of information out there and it’s hard to know what is important for where you are at right now on your entrepreneurial journey. Where do you even start if you are brand new? It can be really scary to put your dream business out there into the world, what if you get it all wrong?

A Brand Doc holds all of the essentials of what your business stands for and what you are all about. It's the foundation of your business's marketing plan. Spending the time to create a Brand Doc will give you so much clarity and actually propel you forward in marketing your business.

Sometimes it feels counterproductive to take a break. But no matter what kind of work we are doing: a corporate job, entrepreneurship, motherhood… taking a break usually leads to better productivity than if you just keep powering through.

We are meant to balance our energy between work and play, that is something that our ancestors have done for thousands and thousands of years, we have evolved to need and desire balance in life.

Do you envision yourself starting a business someday or maybe you have already started? Do you have a solution to a problem that you know will help others achieve their goals too? Do you dream of sharing your vision with the world? If you said YES to any of these questions, Carrie Green’s She Means Business book is for you!

I’m so excited to share with you some highlights from this book. The entrepreneurial roadmap that Carrie lays out aligns so perfectly with my Brand Design & Coaching program, that it completely validates all that I believe a business can be.

You might be at that point where your scale is tipping and you want to take action too! If so, I know it can be super overwhelming with so much out there in the online business world, where do you begin? How do you take action and what should you do first? You might ask, what did taking action look like for me in the beginning? Because even though this can look different for everyone, it’s helpful to learn through the lessons of how someone else did it. So here are the steps I took to start my business…

I’m not just a designer who expects you to know these answers, I have that deep conversation with you and guide you through questions, it’s emotional and about the feelings. It’s the way I do things, and maybe the way is not unique, but I know one thing for sure...I am certainly unique. And so are YOU!

How I understood my body and food completely changed after reading this book! As a carbo-holic at the time, I grazed on food all day long, packing at least 3 snacks every day to eat at my desk at work, plus snacks in the evening while I prepared dinner and then again before bedtime. If I didn’t eat every two hours, I became hangry…

What is the key to making it work? Answer: get super clear on your WHY! Because your WHY will keep you going, it will keep you from giving up and keep you open to receiving that next idea or opportunity.

When I think about how this fits into my branding, I decided that one of my biggest values is believing in myself and GOING ALL IN with whatever I am doing. Facing fear and making the decision to do it anyway. Making BIG decisions is my forte, I want to help others do that too.

I want to share my story of becoming an entrepreneur. The 3rd part in being authentic for me is about not being afraid to be yourself, and getting rid of the self doubt and negative self talk that so many of us experience. I think I can best illustrate this message with a story about how I learned this lesson. When I started out as a designer I held on to a lot of doubt in my abilities.

Most of our thoughts and ideas are not original, but are placed in our minds from influences around us: conversations with other people, books we read, podcasts we listen to, the news and media, etc. But what is original, is our life and experiences. So if you share from your heart with your words, you are taking knowledge from sources and authentically giving it out from a point of view that no one else has.

Understanding how to be authentic doesn’t come from a book, a classroom or job experience, it comes from your heart. Only you can find your own authenticity. One way to do that is to share stories about your life with others.

It’s easier to claim your purpose without really understanding where it comes from. But that aspect, “the why,” of your purpose is usually where you discover what makes you unique, so it’s really important to dig deeply here.

I had to dig a little deeper into what lights me up, what my favorite visuals are and why. Sunsets, sun shining and beautiful light! That made me smile. I realized I love light, in college I majored in Photography, the art of using light. I loved painting and free-flowing artistic expression.