On an ordinary Wednesday, our 6yo son Theo came home from school with a stomach ache. We thought maybe it was a virus or something he ate that didn’t agree with him. I did all the things you do at home to treat an upset stomach — bland diet, rest, lots of checking in. Theo went to bed feeling okay, but the stomach ache persisted. It woke him in the night, and in the morning it was worse.

His stomach hurt more and now he had a fever, was hunching over, the right side of his belly was tender, and it seemed increasingly tough for him to walk and use the bathroom. Luckily, my husband Sam knew early on that something wasn’t right and wondered about his appendix. We took him to Urgent Care, who then referred us to a pediatric ER, and before we knew it, we found ourselves in the same children’s hospital where Theo had surgery to put in ear tubes almost three years earlier during one of the most challenging times in our life.

We watched helplessly through an ultrasound, IV insertion, blood work, and MRI as our little boy grew pale and struggled in pain without understanding what was happening to him.

It all felt too familiar.

The Version of Me Forged in Hardship

Almost two years ago, I shared our story of resilience — the story of managing our son being chronically ill for several months, discovering that mold in our home had been slowly poisoning us for who-knows-how-long, of forging a new holistic path for our family, throwing away most of our belongings, and leaving our home for a summer while we detoxed, remediated, and healed.

To survive a season of trauma like that, I built walls. I put on armor. I closed myself off and focused on overcoming the next hard thing, and no further. Looking too far ahead could pull me down into the abyss and drown me. I became a hard shell of myself, one built to survive.

As you look back, you can begin to marvel at your own strength, how you’ve grown, and how you wouldn’t be who you are today without those dark times.

In that season of trauma, I took one hard thing at a time. One choice at a time. One hour or, sometimes, one moment at a time. And slowly, painfully so, I found my way through. Eventually, our kiddos got better, we made our home safe again, and we began to rebuild our life.

For a long time after, I lived in a state of constant paranoia and PTSD — seeing your child constantly ill and screaming through night terrors every night for months, having to throw out most of your belongings and leave your home not knowing if you’ll ever return will do that to a person.

For a while, every sniffle or cough felt like a signal that we may be on the brink of collapse yet again. But eventually things got better, and stayed better. The kids were healthy most of the time, we were safe in our home again, and our life seemed to find a healthy reliable rhythm.

Finding Softness After Struggle

That strong armored version of myself was the reason I made it through the most difficult days of my life, and I’ll forever be grateful to her, but I realized I wasn’t meant to be her forever. I couldn’t stay closed off from the world. I couldn’t live my life on the edge, waiting to plunge into darkness again. What carried me through that season of trauma wasn’t always meant to sustain me. So slowly, I began to soften and, piece by piece, I began to shed my armor and open up to life and hope and new possibilities again.

I don’t regret our season of struggle. I wouldn’t be who I am today without it. Those years of hardship armed me with the tools to stay strong and not panic with every twist and turn of testing while our Theo was in the ER this time — to focus on the step at hand and not look any further.

Our life after the mold prepared me to hold steady but soft, to trust that we would find our way through again just as we had before.

And we did.

Theo was diagnosed with an appendicitis, which the doctors suspected had ruptured. I built my walls around us, this time to shelter us in the moment and I felt grounded. There was no point in thinking ahead or playing out scenarios we had no control of. We just took it one second at a time, being there together, doing our best to be strong for our little boy, and helping Theo get through one of his own hardest times. We spent a very long night telling our sweet boy how brave and strong he is, and that everything would get better in the morning.

We just had to make it through the night.

And we did.

Theo had surgery the following morning to remove his appendix and thankfully the operation went well. Since his appendix had ruptured after all, we had to stay in the hospital an additional few days, but in my mind that was actually the easy part. Of course it wasn’t actually easy (sleeping in hospitals and healing from surgery never is), but from then on I knew everything would be okay and we could handle things from there.

This time, I found that my armor was lighter, more flexible than before. And when Theo was well enough and we were finally allowed to come home, it was much easier to remove this time. And once again, I saw all the same old things with brand new eyes. And as time passes and he continues to heal, I’ve never been so happy to see my little boy walk or laugh or run without pain — all the little things I took for granted before. Now I have a whole new appreciation for his sweet silly self that I wouldn’t have without the struggle.

The Treasure Hiding in Trauma

It all comes back to my favorite quote from author Rebecca Campbell.

“I believe that your tragedies, your losses, your sorrows, your hurt happened for you, not to you. And I bless the thing that broke you down and cracked you open because the world needs you open.”

Our life is one giant tapestry of struggle and strength, beauty and hardship, darkness and light. And we wouldn’t appreciate the simple joys and beautiful moments without the painful ones. I’ve heard life compared to musical composition on a piano before, and that we need the low notes as well as the high ones to craft the most compelling, moving songs.

I know that not every day will be a good one, but I also know that not all of them are bad. The important thing is to be gentle with ourselves between the peaks and valleys, between the traumas and the triumphs. As you look back, you can begin to marvel at your own strength, how you’ve grown, and how you wouldn’t be who you are today without those dark times.

I would never wish a season of struggle on anyone, but I also know that not all our days will be easy ones. I can tell you that it takes time, but the hard stuff can lead to some of the best times. Sometimes you just need to make it through the night, and trust things will eventually get better on the other side. And that you’ll be better for it.

Thank you to all of our family and friends who have shown up, held space, delivered gifts and food, and wrapped us in love, light, and prayer in our darkest hours. It means more than you know ♥

Back in 2018, I published a post on why I shared pricing publicly for my branding work on my website. At the time, I found it kept things clear and accessible while saving potential clients and I both time in the inquiry process. That said, you may have noticed that I’m no longer sharing pricing for my branding services on my website, and I want to be open about why I removed it.

As I shared recently, I’m returning to client work after a 5+ year hiatus of staying home raising my little ones while turning my attention to my courses for designers. Now that both my kiddos are in school, I’m reviving my business with intention — branding side included.

So why did I remove my pricing? Great question :)

The Purpose Behind the Pause

I'm excited to be making my way back to branding work, but a lot has changed in 5 years (including me). When I first shared my pricing publicly years ago, I had one comprehensive branding package that was the starting point for anyone who wanted to work with me. That holistic branding package was the gateway to me and all my other design services, from packaging and websites to custom icons and templates. After all this time, I still believe in my holistic branding approach, but I’m also open to offering a few scalable options versus exclusively pushing a full comprehensive branding package.

Change is the one constant in life, and it’s okay to shift and pivot and expand as you grow.

I remember my early days of running this beautiful little business, and how branding projects and partnerships would evolve and expand naturally from smaller scopes. In this season, I want to bring that kind of open playful spirit into how I approach my offerings, and I want potential clients to feel good about starting a conversation without a massive sticker price looming over them. To be clear, it’s not that I believe the value of my services has decreased in any way, but more that I’m open curating my offerings to the needs of my clients instead of trying to force them to fit into one concrete unchanging offering.

That said, I've removed pricing from my website for the time being while I test things out in the background and investigate what feels right and exciting for my offerings in this season (as well as what kind of branding packages my potential clients are interested in). Will I share my pricing publicly in the future? Possibly, once I have a more clear vision of what offerings and price points feel good in this new chapter. Only time will tell!

Feeling Into What Feels Right

If you take nothing else from this post, I hope my update gives you the permission slip you may need to make a change when something no longer feels aligned. It doesn’t matter if you used to scream it from the rooftops. Just because something felt right yesterday doesn’t mean you’re stuck with that approach forever. It’s okay to make a change. By the same token, just because you’re making a change doesn’t mean your old approach was wrong. Maybe it’s just not for you in this season. Things change, including you, and that’s more than okay.

Just look at nature. Seeds grow and blossoms bloom and then leaves fall away, only to start the whole process again. Change is the one constant in life, and it’s okay to shift and pivot and expand as you grow.

In this digital era, it’s also okay to not share every single move quite so publicly if it doesn’t feel right. It’s okay to keep some moments and chapters just for you. Honestly, I find myself keeping more and more to myself these days, which makes what I do share feel that much more impactful (despite what any algorithm might say). What you choose still matters, even if the only one who sees it is you.

What your life and business look like, your offerings, what and how you share — all these things may change from one season to the next. And that’s okay. Change shows that you’re growing, taking chances, living, and learning.

As for me, I’m feeling into what feels right in this season, and you can bet I’ll be back to share once the time is right. In the meantime, stay true to you, friend, and if you’re looking to align your own business with branding that feels true to you, your values, and your soul mission, drop me a line. I’d love to help you bring your brand to life.

PS - I miss the days of blog posts being a bridge to conversation and community. So if this resonated with you, please drop a comment below and let me know. Until next time, friend :)

Last week, I took my littlest one to preschool for the first time. I’ve been a working stay-at-home for over six years now, so this was a very big deal. Thankfully my wild wonderful girl and I were both ready — for the new opportunities, challenges, and friends we’ll meet along the way.

My business has essentially been in hibernation mode all this time, and now suddenly the promise of time and space to focus on my beautiful little business stretches out before me. So after almost a decade in business and over six years raising kiddos, I’m beginning again with intention and sharing which strategies I’m excited to try next as I begin to rebuild.

A Decade in Business

Ten years ago, I started my holistic branding business. It was scary to leave the comfort and safety net of working for someone else, but ultimately I knew if I wanted the freedom to choose how I wanted to work and who I wanted to work with, I needed to step out into the unknown and forge my own path. A big part of starting my own business was that desire for freedom — specifically the freedom and flexibility to start a family and be able to stay home with my little ones while also doing work that feeds my soul.

I spent three years building my business by crafting timeless logos and soulful branding for creative small businesses and creating courses to help my fellow designers expand their skills and increase their confidence while saving more of their precious time. My head for systems came in handy and I set the course side of my business during my firstmaternity leave and beyond. 

Making my way back to work after the birth of my son (especially during a global pandemic) was difficult and had me questioning my skills and capacity, but eventually I found that my new role as a mother actually made me better at my work. Over the next three years I took on less branding work and turned my attention to creating and selling my online courses for designers. All the while, I shared the process since it’s part of my soul mission to share my journey to help others along their own.

Then in 2022, everything changed. We were blessed with the arrival of our wild wonderful little girl, and then our whole world fell apart. While I navigated a new baby, my son’s chronic illness, and then being displaced from our home while we detoxed and healed from mold poisoning, my business came to a screeching halt. I only had the capacity to survive and keep my head above water, so for two years I just stopped showing up.

If you’ve read our story of resilience, then you know our hardest years actually led to a beautiful new way of life for our little family, but I’ve found that reviving my business after years of silence has been my newest challenge.

So now — ten years after starting this business — I’m taking an honest look at what’s worked over my last decade as a holistic brand designer and teacher, and what I’m excited to try next. And in my typical fashion, I’m sharing it all openly with you, friend. :)

What Worked in the Past

If I had to attribute my years of business success to anything, it would be sharing honestly, authentically, and consistently. I spent over a year in the beginning of my business sharing weekly blog insights and posting pretty much daily on social media as well.

Now I’m giving myself a full pass for the last few years since our lives were falling apart there for a minute, but my business momentum really stopped when I stopped showing up. After all, it makes sense that I need to be visible in order to be seen, serve my audience, and remind them of the value I have to share.

The online landscape has changed a LOT since 2016, as has my relationship with social media. It hasn’t felt aligned for me to show up on instagram as I once did since it doesn’t feel sustainable to run that hamster wheel d of endless content creation and it’s difficult to connect organically with our people these days. But I’m dipping my toe into some new tactics and mindsets and finding my way back to sharing openly and consistently in a way that feels right in this new season.

After almost a decade in business and over six years raising kiddos, I’m beginning again with intention and sharing which strategies I’m excited to try next as I begin to rebuild.

4 New Strategies I’m Trying This Year

01. Sustainable Marketing on Pinterest

I’ve always loved spending time on Pinterest. I know I’m not alone in this. Over the years, I’ve used it the way most of us do — to save inspiration. Pinterest had my back while I planned my wedding, curated home design ideas, and catalogued branding inspiration.

However, I recently realized that I haven’t been using Pinterest in the most valuable way I can as a small business owner. While saving my own inspiration is nice, it doesn’t help anyone find my branding services or classes for designers. With the help of a great course from Jenna Kutcher, I’ve come to understand that Pinterest is more than a social media platform. It’s a beautiful and intelligent search engine, built to help people find exactly the kind of content that I create.

While most other social media platforms have lost their heart and verge on feeling toxic, creating my own content on Pinterest feels fresh and fun. Best of all, while posts on other platforms die after days or even hours, pins can be just as powerful (or even moreso) years later. Between my branding portfolio, online courses for designers, and my archive of blog insights, I’ve got quite a backlog of Pinterest gold that I can’t wait to tap into.

For a long time, I've been looking to find another way to market my small business that didn’t feel draining and toxic like the rest of social media. With Pinterest, promoting my work and offerings feels fresh and actually sustainable. I’m actually excited to share again, and I love the thought that each pin I publish is a seed I’m planting for the future. I can’t wait to see what grows from them.

If you’re curious about what I’m sharing, follow along on Pinterest.

02. An Intentionally Timely Discount Incentive

As an online course creator, it’s a fine line to motivate potential students to enroll without using too much pressure or scarcity. I’ve always hated the countdown timers, hard sells, and fake LAST CHANCE offers as much as anyone else, so I refuse to use them in my business. I offer the occasional sale, but I believe in the value of my courses at their regular price and don’t want to cheapen them by doing sales too often.

However, I realized that with no timely incentive or touch of scarcity, people don’t buy. There’s always some reason to put it off or some other cost that’s more pressing, and I get it. I have a home and two young children, and everything just seems to keep getting more expensive. But just like my approach to getting clarity by finding alignment first, I’ve realized that I need to prioritize investing in myself and filling my cup first, because something will always come up. And if I don’t put myself first, something else will take that space.

I genuinely believe in the power of my classes to help designers increase their confidence, expand their skills, step into their next level, and save more of their precious time. I’ve seen it with my students time and time again, and now I realize that I’m actually doing others a service by giving them a timely incentive and a touch of scarcity, as long as it’s done with kindness and the right intention. With this in mind, I’ve added that bit of timely incentive in the form of a limited time special discount that’s offered when you sign up for one my free trainings or challenges.

This offer isn’t there to pressure potential students, but to give them that little nudge — the sign they may been waiting for to invest in themselves — if one of my classes feels like the right next step. While most course marketers use offers that expire in a few hours, mine lasts for 3 days to give potential students more time to marinate and feel into what’s right for them. Maybe it will work, maybe it won’t, but finding a new way to offer a timely incentive with intention feels good.

03. Lower Priced Extended Payment Plans

I’m a small business owner with a family, and so are most of my students. I understand the financial pressure of the world we’re living in and that everything really does seem to keep getting more expensive. While I want to make my classes more accessible, I also need to honor the hard work, experience, and value I’ve baked into them.

So while my classes are not getting cheaper, I have found a solution that feels good. I’m now offering (much) lower priced extended payment plans on all my classes, so you can start learning now for less. Full disclosure, I’m testing this one out and I hope it’s a win win for all, but if it ends up being too much of a headache for me chasing down payments then it might not last. With that in mind, now may be the moment to grab that class you’ve had your eye on if it feels right. The choice is always yours. :)

04. Back to Blogging

Finally, it feels fitting to end (and begin again) on blogging. Blogging is how I started my business journey ten years ago, and it’s honestly the form of marketing that feels best to me. I love writing openly and honestly. I love sharing my experience with you. And I love hearing when my journey helps you on your own path. So with that in mind, I’m bringing consistent blogging back. It may not be weekly like it once was, but you can expect to start hearing from me at least a couple times a month with fresh and balanced brand insights.

After a decade in business and six wild years staying home to raise kiddos, reviving this beautiful small business with intention in this new season is an exciting new adventure. I’m so thankful you’re here and I can’t wait to continue sharing with you, friend!

I remember when the steps I needed to take in life and business seemed crystal clear. When I could see my path stretching out before me like a game of Candy Land — fun and free and easy. Everything felt so certain, and there was no question of what I needed to do next.

These days, that’s hardly the case.

Six years ago, becoming a mom changed everything for me. Then the pandemic did it again. And then our healing journey with mold. These seasons of struggle and monumental change cracked me wide open and made me question everything I thought I knew. And ever since, my path has felt foggy. Scattered. Uncertain.

I can’t see my next steps stretching neatly out before me anymore, but there is one thing I know I can do when I’m feeling lost or stuck in life and business. One thing that helps me find my path again, even if it’s only the next right step from where I’m standing.

Alignment First. Action Second.

When I feel overwhelmed, frustrated, and like I’m floundering for what’s next, my tried and true key to clarity is alignment before action. That means I step away from my to-do list and all those things I “should” be doing, and I align myself first. Before I take action.

Alignment vs. Aligned Action

You might be wondering what I even mean by “alignment.” Alignment is really anything that disrupts your daily grind, gets you out of your head, and gives you the space to find your next right step. I personally find alignment most often through yoga (especially hot yoga). But some days it’s taking a walk outside, a spontaneous dance break, or even just stepping into a room by myself to close my eyes and take some deep breaths. It’s a little different for everyone, but look for the things that get you out of your head and make you feel more like yourself again.

As for aligned action, that’s what you do next — the steps you take in life and business that align you with your goals and dreams. Scattered frantic action has mixed results. Aligned action is focused, intentional, and brings you closer to where you want to be.

Finding alignment first, before moving forward, leads to clarity and empowered action. It’s as simple as that.

How do I know I’m out of alignment?

My telltale signs of misalignment are all the signs of stress, overwhelm, and burnout — shallow breathing, clenched teeth, tight jaw, shoulders up by my ears. Everything feels urgent. I feel frantic and like I’m underwater. I feel like I’m running in circles and getting nowhere. I can feel the pressure rising, and I’m not sure what the next right move is. I’m claustrophobic in my own skin. Any combination of these signs tells me I need some time away to get my head right before I move forward.

Does it really work?

Alignment before action may sound too simple, but it really does work. The days that I dive right into my list without aligning myself first, I find myself pushing ahead blindly, spinning my wheels a lot, and wasting time on things that I later realize aren’t actually that important.

Trying to take action without alignment feels a bit like when kids try to bust open a piñata at a party. Someone blindfolds them and spins them in circles and then says, ”Go ahead! Try to hit that piñata! Candy and treats await!” In this scenario, you’re the kid, your goals and dreams are the piñata, and life is the one spinning you around til you’re dizzy and telling you to go for it. There’s a chance you may make contact, but you’re really just tripping over your own feet, taking shots in the dark.

Meanwhile, alignment before action is more like an archer pausing to focus on the target, see the bullseye, take aim, exhale, and let their arrow fly. The setup takes a bit of time, but the action that follows is focused, decisive, intentional, and often lightning fast because the clarity is there. It’s just a matter of following through.

5 Steps to Alignment Before Action

Finding alignment first, before moving forward, leads to clarity and empowered action. It’s as simple as that. So if alignment is the key to clarity and acting with intention, how do you get there?

Personally, I find alignment through 5 simple steps.

01. Step away

When creative block strikes or you’re staring a hole in your inbox or to-do list, it’s impossible to find the clarity you need to decide what’s next. That’s when you need to take a step back and give yourself some space. Seriously, step away.

02. Take some time (for yourself)

When you’re stuck in the grind of your day, everything feels urgent and it’s easy to waste time on things that won’t actually bring you any closer to where you want to be. Taking some time away and filling your cup has a way of bringing things into perspective so you can see what actually matters.

03. Breathe Deep

This one feels like a no-brainer, but how often do we forget? How often do you find yourself breathing shallow, jaw clenched, shoulders up by your ears? Never underestimate the power of pausing to close your eyes and breathe deep. It’s like a palette cleanser for your brain.

04. Align Yourself

Do whatever gets you out of your head and fills your cup. This could be yoga, working out, dancing, or walking outside. But it could also be a bath, a nap, or a meditation session. I find most days it helps to move my body since this moves stuck feelings and energy but some days when I’m exhausted or burnt out, I need something slower and more focused on self care. Tune into what feels good for you, and remember that it’s okay if what you need changes day to day.

05. Pause

You might be tempted to miss this last step, but I find it’s essential to pause and notice how I feel once I’m back in alignment. It’s all too easy to let the world rush back in, but if you stop — even for a moment — to notice how you feel when you’re in the right headspace, it’s easier to hear that voice of clarity and to feel the warning signs when you need a break to center yourself once again.

Remember, this is a process and like a plant that needs watering, you’re never done. Your wellbeing isn’t something you ever really check off, rather something you continue to check in on. Trust me, you deserve this time.

Finding alignment first — before I take action — clears my head, gets me unstuck, helps me feel better, and empowers me to move toward what matters with focus, intention, and confidence.

What to Do When You Don’t Have Time

Trust me, I get it.

I said this path to clarity was simple. I didn’t say it’s always easy. I can tell you from experience that it’s not.

As a working stay-at-home mom, my free time is in short supply. When I get a window of time to myself, it’s easy to feel this immense pressure to be as productive as possible. The more stressed I get, the more I get stuck in scarcity and convince myself that there’s no room on my list for me.

With so much to do and so little time, I must be the thing that falls off the list, right?

In reality, I find the days that I ignore my needs and push myself to do and achieve first are the days I struggle the most. I spin my wheels. I waste time. I spend my precious hours on things that don’t actually matter. And then I feel worse. I beat myself up for wasting my precious time. And then instead of being fulfilled and excited when I put my mom hat back on, I’m a flustered burnt out ball of stress who’s not able to show up as the soul-led entrepreneur or mother I want to be. Days like this have led to more than a few panic attacks and crying sessions.

The truth is that the days I think I don’t have time for myself are the days I need that time the most. You can’t serve from an empty cup, friend.

When I take the time to align myself before I take action in my life and business, I show up as my best self. And even with less time, I’m able to use the time I have more effectively and end up getting more done that actually moves me closer to my goals and dreams. With the clarity there, it’s just a matter of following through.

As for you, my friend, take a moment to breathe deep. Relax your forehead and the space between your eyebrows. Unclench your jaw. Let your shoulders fall back and down. Feel yourself grounded where you sit or stand. Inhale. Exhale.

Make the time, even if some days it’s only those few brief moments. Your business will thank you. Your loved ones with thank you. And you will too.

Trust the Next Right Thing

I can’t see twenty steps ahead anymore in life or business (sometimes I can’t even see two). But when I take the time to align myself first, I am able to hear what my next right step is. When it’s right, I can just feel it. Things click into place and everything feels easier.

Trust that next right step, and trust that the next one will follow after it when the time is right. You just need to be in the right headspace to see them when they arrive.

Even in this foggy season of life, alignment before action is my key to getting unstuck, tapping into my intuition, and finding clarity for what’s next. For me, these days are less of seeing a clear path ahead and more like shining a flashlight into a foggy night.

I can’t see the whole path ahead, but I trust that it’s there beneath my feet, stretching out from where I stand to what’s meant for me. I just can’t see it yet.

How will you find your next right step?

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Six years ago, I was just finding my way back to work after my son Theo was born. I was conflicted and unsure of myself, and wondered if I had lost my touch and some of my magic in my months away on maternity leave.

That’s when I met Angela. We created the Soho Waterworks brand together, and it was the best branding work I’d ever done. I realized that my time away and this new mama part of me made me even better at what I do as a holistic logo and brand designer, especially when partnering with amazing like-hearted souls like Angela.

The years since have been the best and hardest of my life, with the bittersweet result of me stepping back from branding work and leaning into my classes for designers in this unpredictable season. From having our second child to a life-altering healing journey with mold, it’s been one wild ride.

Six years later, in this cracked open space, Angela and I met once again. As it turns out, she had been navigating her own transformative journey over the last few years, and the fates brought us together for a new collaboration — the brand identity for her newest creation, Market St. Mortgage. I couldn’t be more excited to partner with Angela again years later, and couldn’t be more proud to share the branding magic we created together.

Behind the Branding

The Market St. Mortgage brand appeals to modern homebuyers who are overhwhelmed by the mortgage process and need a trusted confidante to provide a personal and tailored approach to find where their homebuying dreams and financial needs meet.

The brand’s style is fresh and fun yet refined, welcoming and warm yet established and trustworthy. The identity reflects the personality, passion, and experience behind the brand while uniquely custom logo and graphic elements set the brand apart and speak to what makes Market St. Mortgage so special.

Inside the Logo Design

The Market St. Mortgage logotype uses a fresh yet timeless sans serif typeface as a base, with a unique typographic twist of the shared “M” between the words “Market” and “Mortgage.” This playful touch speaks to Market St. Mortgage as the meeting point between buyers and lenders, as well as between the homebuyer’s dreams and financial reality.

Meanwhile, “St.” is set smaller in an extended sans serif typeface, perched next to “Market” as a subtle nod to a street sign with a modern and sleek twist.

The Market St. Mortgage logotype is designed to read well, even at small sizes, and be extremely versatile.

The Meaning Behind the Brand Mark

The Market St. Mortgage brand mark depicts a stylized key icon, which blends sleek simplicity with elegant curves.

The circular top of the key holds organic linework inspired by gothic window panes with a modern spin. This linework echoes the center of the “m” letterform from the brand’s logotype where the two halves of the letter meet, just like the meeting of the buyer’s dreams and financial reality. The linework branching out also symbolizes the network of relationships and trust the Market St. Mortgage brand is built on.

While the key is a perfect symbol of homeownership, it also alludes to the wealth of knowledge and experience that homebuyers unlock when they partner with Market St. Mortgage.

The mark pairs well with the logotype and can also be used on its own, both at small and large sizes.

Beyond Branding

I make it a point with my branding clients to include at least one piece of brand collateral in their package for a few different reasons. It gives my clients a head start as they prepare to launch their new brand, offers an example of how their branding should look when used well, and gives my clients a taste of what it’s like to continue collaborating beyond their branding. Everyone wins!

Angela had been through my full Signature Branding process before with Soho Waterworks, but we kept it a bit simpler in this new venture with my Brand Essentials package and just one piece of collateral included.

We started out with creating business cards, but as it often goes with my clients, we had so many amazing ideas for the brand and loved working together so much that before I knew it, we were also designing a thank you card, letterhead, stickers, and the new MSM website too. No complaints here! There’s nothing I love more than continuing to partner with my clients and create more brand magic together.

Since my design career started with print design at a letterpress design house, it’s always such a fun task for me and I love seeing how the branding we created comes to life and begins to live and breathe through each new tangible piece we create.

The Market St. Mortgage website deserves its own day in the sun, and I’ll be back to share more on that very soon. In the meantime, I’ll let Angela’s words on the branding process and our partnership speak for themselves.

“Before working with Melissa, I was feeling a little lost with my brand. I had an idea of what I wanted, but I couldn’t quite nail it down in a way that felt true to my business. I started working with Melissa, and everything changed. She helped me dive deep into what my brand is really about, and it felt like all the pieces started coming together.

When Melissa first showed me the new branding, I was blown away. It was like she brought my vision to life in a way I couldn’t even imagine! Everything just felt right—the colors, the logo, the vibe—it was all so on point. The first time she showed me the website design, I could barely breathe it was so perfect.

The whole process was super smooth, but what really stuck with me was how Melissa listened to every little thing I said and made sure my voice was front and center. Now, whenever I share my brand and website, people are constantly saying how professional and polished it looks—and I owe that all to her!

If you're thinking about working with Melissa, do it. She’s not only talented but truly cares about making your brand feel like you. It was hands down one of the best decisions I’ve made for my business!”

I can’t describe how much I’ve enjoyed partnering with Angela again and getting back into the rhythm of holistic branding work after the rollercoaster of the last few years. After being a stay-at-home working mama for the last 6 years, getting back to logo and brand design feels a bit like coming home as I rediscover these bits of myself that have been laying dormant.

For anyone in a similar boat (especially the mamas), I hope it helps to hear that those pieces of you aren’t lost. They’re just waiting. And when the time is right, you’ll emerge and shine again. Keep the faith, friends.

I’m so thrilled to finally be sharing the fresh, refined, and timeless Market St. Mortgage branding, and you can see more of this stunning brand in my branding portfolio.

I am also pleased to report that I’m booking new branding projects for like-hearted souls once again. It feels so good to be back. ✌️

If you’re ready to partner with a logo and brand designer who can’t wait to translate your unique story and magic into a strategically stunning brand identity that’s aligned to your soul mission and will stand the test of time while building trust with your customers and helping you sell with ease, drop me a line. I’d love to hear from you and help you bring your brand to life :)

Note: This post contains a couple affiliate links for resources I actually use and truly love. Enjoy!

It’s hard to believe that I started my design business in 2016 — over 8 years ago — and that I’ve been teaching online courses for 7 of those years.

I’ve always been the kind of person that enjoys tinkering, experimenting, and figuring things out for myself. When I find something that saves me time and makes life easier, I’m always excited to share in the hopes that I can help light the way for others and save them the headache and hardship of needing to start from scratch or do it alone.

This is one of the core values my business is built on — sharing the knowledge, the wealth, the light, and the love — and so this naturally evolved into me sharing my experience, process, and sacred systems through my own online classes.

Teaching over the last several years has been an amazing journey to share with my students and creative community. So when I made the choice to move all my classes from Teachable to Squarespace — true to form — I knew I had to pull back the curtain on just why I decided to make the switch.

Course Content Page: Teachable vs. Squarespace

Transitioning Away from Teachable

As I mentioned, I created my first online course (Illustrator Essentials) back in 2017 and, at the time, Teachable was the ideal platform to get me started with more robust customization options and a platform focused on the needs of course creators. However, it wasn’t long before I started to drift away from Teachable, one feature at a time.

Stunning Sales Pages with Squarespace

As a designer teaching online courses for designers and creatives, visuals are a huge part of my brand and I need them to be on point. And while Teachable seemed to fit all my online course needs on paper, my course sales pages felt clunky and not up to my visual standards.

I’m sure you can make Teachable sales pages look great with the right coding knowledge, but — while I know enough CSS to be dangerous — I’m no web developer. I’ve been spoiled by Squarespace and missed the design control I had on my own site without the need for much coding.

That’s when I realized I could just build my course sales pages directly on my Squarespace site. So that’s what I did, and I was able to create stunning sales pages I was truly thrilled with. I already had my site on Squarespace, so it wasn’t adding any additional platforms or costs for my business.

Easy enough, right?

Checking Out with Thrivecart

The next nail in the coffin was the checkout process. I was tired of needing to pay for a higher tier of Teachable to avoid additional fees for course sales, as well as having few options for the look and content on my cart pages.

I noticed a couple course creator friends had moved their checkout process to Thrivecart. Thrivecart offers totally customizable cart pages, no additional transaction fees, awesome checkout features like bumps and upsells, and an affiliate program with automatic payouts (I’d been paying my course affiliates manually at this point). In a world of subscription payments, saving time and money with all those benefits for only a one-time fee and a lifetime Thrivecart account made it a no-brainer.

I rebuilt my checkout for each course with Thrivecart and linked to them from my beautiful Squarespace sales pages. It occurred to me that the only things left on Teachable at this point were the courses themselves, but they functioned well enough and I knew migrating my courses would be a big deal.

No other platform jumped out at me as the obvious choice, and while navigating stay-at-home working mama life with my young son and then my daughter on the way, I decided to hold on and wait for more clarity.

Time to Leave Teachable

As time passed, Teachable continued to add additional features and options that weren’t really aligned with what I wanted or needed. Meanwhile, the core features and interface weren’t as visually compelling or on-brand as I would have liked, and the annual subscription was already pretty expensive. So when Teachable announced that my subscription would jump from $1000/year to over $1500/year I knew it was time to make the big move.

My sales pages and carts were already housed elsewhere, and I’d been thinking of moving my courses for some time. I just hadn’t found the right platform to fit my needs.

Then came the launch of Squarespace Courses.

Lesson Page: Teachable vs. Squarespace

Moving My Classes to Squarespace

As expected, Squarespace courses are stunning, flexible, user-friendly, and perfectly on-brand since they’re integrated directly with my website. This means they pull all the same fonts, colors, and styling I already use. My main holdup was that a Squarespace 7.1 account was required, and my website was still on good old 7.0.

Moving from Squarespace 7.0 to 7.1 was something I’d been considering for some time, but I didn’t really have a good reason to take the plunge. As a working stay-at-home mama, my time is super limited and this would definitely take some time, since I would need to essentially rebuild most of my website.

Finally, all my offerings share the same stunning online home with a better, more beautiful experience for both teacher and students.

With the launch of Squarespace Courses, I found my catalyst to make the transition — just as I was just beginning to emerge from a traumatic 2 year hiatus thanks to the mold that poisoned our home and family. After two years of being lost in the challenges of mold and motherhood — struggling to survive, detox, heal, and then find our new normal — the switch to Squarespace 7.1 honestly became a welcome task. It was a slow way to ease back into my business, rediscover pieces of myself as a strong and confident female entrepreneur, and fall in love with my design classes all over again.

My switch to 7.1 came with a little brand refresh that had been on my heart for a long time, and suddenly my business felt fresh and new and exciting again. Though I knew it would be a monumental task, I couldn’t wait to move my courses to Squarespace.

Making the Move to Squarespace Courses

The transition of my course content was relatively easy (although time-consuming). I purchased one of the Squarespace digital product add-on subscriptions so I could host all my video content on my site as well (without needing another third party platform like Youtube or Vimeo). Once my courses were moved over and styled, they felt even more polished and valuable — ah, the power of design and the user experience!

The Dilemma of Student Migration & Payment Gateways

The one true hurdle I encountered when making the switch to Squarespace courses was the question of how to migrate my existing students from Teachable. Since Squarespace courses launched without a streamlined way to import existing students — which honestly seems like a huge hole in the product rollout — course creators need to be a bit more creative.

I considered creating a 100% off coupon for my existing students where they would basically re-enroll in their courses on Squarespace for free, but this seemed like more work on the user end along with being less secure since that discount code could easily be shared (not to mention that I also wanted to avoid a ton of transaction emails as my students made the switch).

Thankfully, Rache from Squarestylist discovered an elegant, simple, and more secure solution to the student migration issue, which she shares in her SquareCourses masterclass on this exact topic. The class also covers other super helpful info like setting up third party payment gateways, which definitely came in handy for me using Thrivecart.

I plan to continue using Thrivecart for the time being, so I can retain the more robust cart options and automatic affiliate payouts. Plus, using Thrivecart for checkout allows me to avoid the additional transaction fees from Squarespace (or needing to level up my Squarespace subscription even more to avoid them). Win win win.

Less But Better

After our family’s nightmare of mold and our journey to making our home safe again — needing to throw away or intensely clean literally all our possessions — my husband and I have become even stronger advocates of the idea of “less but better.” We don’t need a lot, but we want the things we have to be of high quality and last the test of time. Dropping an extra platform I had lukewarm feelings for (along with the extra cost) and having all my offerings in one place felt like a natural extension of that philosophy and the next aligned choice for me as I step into a new chapter for my business.

To Squarespace Courses, With Love

I couldn’t be happier with my classes on Squarespace. They’re beautiful, user-friendly, perfectly on-brand, and look great on every device. I’m even able to tweak the design and colors a bit to coordinate with each individual course’s branding, which is a benefit I didn’t even anticipate. I also love that I can easily add the student login and account access directly to my main site navigation, so it’s easier than ever to hop around my site to whatever content you need.

You can stop by my shop to see all of my online classes along with their stunning sales pages, and even take a sneaky peek at the curriculum for My Brand Guidelines, Icon Family Fun, Balanced Branding, Illustrator Essentials, and Day Rates to Ritual. For a closer look, you’ll just have to enroll and unlock the magic for yourself. :)

Finally, all my offerings share the same stunning online home with a better, more beautiful experience for both teacher and students. I’m beyond thrilled to share this new era of my online classes with you, and I can’t wait to hear what you think. As for what’s next, you’ll just have to stay tuned!

The day I began writing this, our wild wonderful girl, Iris Lee, turned 18 months old. Now she’s almost 2, but sometimes processing (and telling) a story like this takes time. And ours is still unfolding.

My pregnancy with Iris was filled with joyful anticipation and planning. I spent months dialing in my business to work on autopilot during my maternity leave so I could truly unplug. I assumed I’d be out for 6 months like I was with our firstborn, Theo, and I couldn’t wait for the time away — immersed in baby snuggles and priceless (though sleep-deprived) moments with my kiddos.

What has unfolded since has been the most difficult season of my life so far.

One of my all-time favorite quotes is from author Rebecca Campbell, “I believe that your tragedies, your losses, your sorrows, your hurt happened for you, not to you. And I bless the thing that broke you down and cracked you open because the world needs you open.”

Well, here I am — almost 2 years later — cracked wide open and finally ready to tell our story.

New Life & Butterfly Skin

Iris was born on April 3rd, 2022. Her birth showed me what amazing things my body was capable of — what I was capable of — and I just kept repeating, “I can’t believe I just did that.” If I only knew then how much our little family would be tested in the months ahead, and how strong and resilient we would all prove to be.

We were overjoyed at Iris’s arrival. We knew she was the missing piece to make our little family complete. She was everything we’d been waiting for and so much more, our little rainbow goddess, and we were just so happy to finally all be together.

The doctors noticed Iris had tongue and lip ties at birth. They told us they were nothing serious, but could make eating and speech harder for her. They recommended we do a laser surgery as soon as possible. So at 4 days old, we took Iris to a specialist who used a small laser to cut her tongue and lip tie. She bled and cried, but we held her close and she was safe.

Our homework was these awful exercises where we’d have to push her tongue and lip back multiple times a day to keep them from reattaching. Not fun by any means, but we could handle this for our girl, and it did improve her eating and seemed to make things easier for her before long.

We had a little birthday for our then 3-year-old boy Theo amidst the newborn excitement (6 days after Iris was born). We were exhausted and still finding our new rhythm as a family of 4 (plus one large fluffy pup), but we were together and that’s what mattered.

Then as Iris started teething and moving around more, we noticed blisters starting to appear on her hands and feet.

I’ve had epidermolysis bullosa my whole life, and thankfully a relatively mild case of it. I essentially have very delicate skin (they say delicate like a butterfly’s wings), mainly on my feet and ankles, and the slightest friction can create blisters. Like I said, I’ve had this my whole life. My mom has it too, and she always did an amazing job of never making it a big deal. She managed it, she taught me to manage it, and we know we’re stronger for it.

But then it happened to my baby. My beautiful, innocent baby Iris who had already been through too much in her little life.

I knew there was a 50/50 chance our kids could have it, but that didn’t really prepare me. As a parent, you do everything you can to protect your children and shield them from pain. New blisters appeared despite all our best efforts and now here was this constant and relentless reminder that I couldn’t protect her. All I could do was to teach her how to manage the pain and be strong through it all — a lesson I knew would come for my kiddos, just so much sooner than expected.

This was hard, but we could handle it together. One day at a time.

Starting School & The Cycle Of Sickness

We shared a beautiful summer together as a family, tired new parents again but happy and thankful. Meanwhile, Theo — our sweet, smart, silly boy — was getting ready to start preschool. He was nervous but excited, and after all of the pandemic isolation I couldn’t wait to get my little boy some social time with his peers (and hopefully some space and time for mama too).

We had Theo’s “Meet & Greet” with his teacher and a couple students, and he immediately got sick. He didn’t even make it to the first actual day of school unscathed, but we figured this was normal.

I’m a stay-at-home working mama, so Theo had never been to daycare. Plus, he was a pandemic kid, and this was the first school year people weren’t wearing masks. Theo was usually pretty healthy, but this was a big change and we knew he’d get sick more when he started school.

It all checked out.

We were disappointed he missed his first real day of school, but it wasn’t a huge surprise either and it was only preschool. We treated the symptoms, got him back on his feet and sent him back to finish out the first week.

We had no idea what was making our son so sick, but we knew this was not normal… It was time to find a more holistic way forward for our family.

Things went downhill quickly from there.

Theo developed this awful gunky congested cough. Every morning he would have these sneezes that sent yellow-green gunk shooting out of his nose (cute, I know). We started having tissue boxes within reach no matter where we were in the house. He had fevers, complained of ear pain, and just didn’t seem to have his usual energy. He wasn’t himself.

The worst were the nights. Theo would wake up screaming and crying, and when we'd rush in he was still in this groggy state where he’d be speaking nonsense we couldn’t understand. Our boy, who was usually so sweet and snuggly, didn’t want to be moved or even touched. Anything we said or did set him off. He was mean, defiant, and just kept screaming. And in the morning, he didn’t remember any of it.

Many nights, he’d get so worked up that he’d send himself into a coughing fit where he couldn’t stop and had trouble breathing. The pediatrician told us to take him in the bathroom, run the shower on the hottest setting, and let steam fill the room because steam would help his cough. So that’s what we’d do. We’d sit there in our bathroom, holding our coughing, shrieking, gasping boy as he writhed in our arms and we prayed that the episode would end (and that he wouldn’t wake up his baby sister).

These were not nightmares — we now know they were night terrors — and it’s hard to explain just how heart-wrenching and terrifying they are unless you experience it firsthand. But we didn’t know what it was at the time, and we assumed Theo was in pain. We thought, it had to be his ears, right?

We came to expect this nightly — putting the kids to bed, finishing the dishes and cleanup, showering, finally collapsing on the couch, and waiting for Theo to start screaming.

This was our new reality.

Theo just kept getting sick over and over again, except he never got better. Not really. He rarely made it through a full week of school (and he was only doing 3 half-days). We were in and out of the pediatrician’s office constantly, getting script after script for ear infections. For months.

The doctors told us this was normal.

First year of school. Pandemic kid. First year without masks. They assured us it was the toughest respiratory season in years, and we were doing the right thing. They explained to us again and again how little one’s ears aren’t designed well for drainage, so frequent ear infections happen. They’d hand us a script and we’d be on our way. Time to start another 10 day course of meds that wreaked all kinds of intestinal havoc on the kids, since poor Iris got sick every time Theo did (amidst growth spurts, teething, more blisters, and a rash from the diarrhea the meds gave her).

The doctors told us that were doing all the right things for our kids, but it didn’t feel like it.

As the holidays dawned, things weren’t getting any better. The congestion settled in, Theo’s cough persisted, and the night episodes intensified. The doctors talked about starting injections since the oral antibiotics weren’t working anymore, but decided having ear tubes surgically implanted was the right next step for Theo. They told us it was great because we wouldn’t even have to bring Theo in when he got an ear infection anymore. We would just have steroid ear drops on hand that we could use anytime his ears seemed to be draining.

We definitely weren’t excited to put our 3-year-old boy through surgery and anesthesia, but if the tubes would vent the pressure of the ear infections and help our sweet boy sleep, as the doctors promised, we thought it must be worth it.

This was really hard, but we could handle it. Together.

We quarantined from everyone — even family — over the holiday to keep Theo healthy, and his ear tubes went in 2 days after Christmas. We started the necessary drops and it did seem to help Theo be more comfortable. The night episodes weren’t quite as terrible. But they kept happening. And Theo kept getting sick. So we did the drops, as instructed, for 10 days. Except after those 10 days, Theo would come off the drops and his ears would start draining again within a day or two.

The doctors still kept assuring us it was all normal. First year of school. Pandemic kid. No masks. That time of year. Stay the course. Start the ear drops. Rinse. Repeat.

Finally after 5 months, we’d had enough. We had no idea what was making our son so sick, but we knew this was not normal. We didn’t know the right way forward, but we knew it wasn’t this endless cycle of sickness, treating the symptoms, and pumping our kids full of antibiotics. It was time to find a more holistic way forward for our family.

This is only the beginning of our healing journey, and there’s still so much more to tell. Tune in when you’re ready for Part 2.

I’ve never been a “fast” designer. I like to take my time and think things out, and I don’t like rushing the process. Now the little voice in my head (hello, imposter syndrome) might tempt me to see this as a bad thing — that I’m wasting time and not being efficient enough.

To be perfectly honest, I used to be self conscious about needing more time. After all, if I design faster I can take on more clients and isn’t that how I make more money and become more successful? Not necessarily.

Embracing Slow

I know other logo and brand designers who turn things around in a matter of a weeks. Meanwhile, my branding process takes at least 3 months. That timeline may sound absurd to clients who want a new brand yesterday, but that’s just a red flag that we’re not a good fit for one another.

The branding process is an amazing journey full of a thousand little decisions and details that make it a success, and in my opinion that just can’t be rushed. Between brand designers there are differences in pricing, experience, approach, timeline, and what’s included. In the end every designer and client needs to figure out what’s right for them.

Just imagine. What if an intentionally slow branding process can actually make the designer more desirable and successful? Here and now, I’d like to make a case for embracing a slower branding process and all its benefits.

What if an intentionally slow branding process can actually make the designer more desirable and successful?

1. More Time to Marinate

The first essential part of my branding process is research and discovery. I take the time to learn as much about my client’s brand vision, dream customers, and goals as possible. I then distill all this information down into our brand strategy, which guides the rest of our work together.

By intentionally creating a longer design process, I leave more time to let this research marinate and hence more time to create a versatile, strategic, and cohesive brand that’s packed with meaningful details. A slower process means more time to research, more time to design the brand, and more time for my client and I to refine it together.

Three months might sound like a long time, but branding is such an immersive experience and my clients have told me they loved the pace of our work together, they loved not feeling rushed, and couldn’t imagine the process going any faster.

2. Digging Deep on Details

Many designers wish they could get clients who want more comprehensive brands and more than “just a logo.” They wish that they could get higher paying clients and not feel so rushed or burnt out. Meanwhile, I’m blessed to have these things because I took a stand on how I work.

My clients sign on for a holistic branding process — crafting a strategically stunning brand together from the ground up. They sign on for in-depth discovery, a flexible brand identity packed with meaningful details, at least three pieces of versatile collateral, and a comprehensive set of brand guidelines that shows them how to use their beautiful new branding.

I’m blessed to have the time and space to dig deep on all these details because I stand firm on my process, my timeline, and the value I deliver to my clients. Having the time and space to make that magic happen makes all the difference.

3. A Luxury Client Experience

While some designers think a longer process could be a deterrent, I actually find it adds to the luxury experience I deliver to my clients. Customers expect to invest more for a luxury product or designer brand. Shouldn’t that same reasoning apply to the brand designers of those luxury brands?

Psychology dictates that when people invest more in something (time or money), they tend to value it more. Since what we’re creating is entirely custom, it makes sense that a bespoke brand identity is worth investing more and waiting a little longer. I also only take on one new branding client at a time, hence my clients know they have my undivided attention during our work together.

The custom nature of my work, the financial investment, the longer timeline, and the fact that I only take on one new brand at once all contribute to the luxury nature and allure of my branding services. So I’m able to charge more and take my time creating my best work for like-minded clients who, in turn, value my services even more.

4. Limited Edition

Working with one new client at a time also means that I work with fewer brands each year, making my time more limited and hence more valuable. With fewer client spots to go around, they also become more desirable. Instead of rushing my work to fit in more clients at once, I find my limited availability is a selling point that adds to the luxury tone of my services.

I’m able to focus on one brand at a time, giving my clients my devoted attention while we make magic together. Meanwhile, I’m able to take my time and let the price of my services reflect the level of attention and intention my clients receive from me during our work together. This way, my clients and I both benefit from embracing slow.

Remember, you have all the time you need. You just need to ask for it.

5. Better for Balance

As if the first four selling points weren’t enough, my slower timeline is better for my own work-life balance. By working with fewer clients every year and spacing them out with a generous timeline, I’m able to work less and avoid the “hustle and grind” lifestyle that leads so many of my peers to burnout.

Meanwhile, since my availability is limited and I’m devoting more time to each of my clients, I’m able to charge more for my branding services. Working less while making more sounds pretty nice, doesn’t it? Having more time to do meaningful work for like-minded clients and to also take time away with loved ones is a no-brainer for me.

Slow for The Sake of All

As you can see, working slow isn’t just in my own best interest. It’s for my clients who get my undivided attention during their luxury branding experience, and it’s also for my loved ones as I’m able to work less and be fully present in my personal life.

Selling a slower design process where I have time to focus on all those meaningful details has also rewarded me with the time to be there for life’s most precious and meaningful moments. Remember, you have all the time you need. You just need to ask for it.

Note: For designers interested in stepping into their power through their own branding process, stay tuned for the launch of my Balanced Branding course. Cheers!

As a new mama, I've been slowing down more than ever before. I’ve shared before that it's been really triggering for me to see amazing creatives and business owners launching things and ramping up — meanwhile I'm pumping the brakes.

Hard Work = Success...?

Since I started this business journey over 4 years ago, I've hinged its success on showing up consistently with quality content in service of others. Subscribing to the age-old mindset that hard work is the key to success.

So as I slow WAYYY down in this new unknown season, it's scary. And it's not even about the money.

I'm scared that I'm not doing enough. I'm scared that I'm abandoning my people. I'm scared I'm disappointing them. I'm scared that everything I've put so much heart and intention into over the last 4 years won't wait around for me.

Support for Slowing Down

I've built my brand on honesty and transparency, hoping to be a light for others on their own life and business journeys. So sharing all of this openly, I've been blown away by the love and support that's risen up to greet me. That has truly been a light for me.

It's okay to step back. It's okay slow down… It's okay to hold space for what you need in this season.

Ironically enough, my slowing down and stepping back seems to be just as inspiring to all of you as all the creation and sharing and posting was — perhaps even more so. I suppose it makes sense since I'm so focused on keeping a healthy balance between life and work.

But even I need the reminder sometimes. That it's okay to step back. It's okay slow down. It's okay to take a nap. It's okay to watch a movie over breakfast on Monday morning because you're not ready to handle the week yet. It's okay to hold space for what you need in this season.

Last January I set an intention instead of a resolution, and this year it remains the same. Less force, more flow.

As I enter this unknown space between business owner and new mama and eventually evolve into some unique mix of the two, there's more than a little surrender involved. It feels like a giant trust fall into the unknown.

But maybe that's where you find true success. In letting go. In surrendering control. In trusting intuition to guide you. In knowing you can be your best self, regardless of what gets done. In trusting that whatever is meant for you will find you. ✨

Note: This post was adapted from one sent to my newsletter subscribers several months ago, since they receive all my content first. If my insights resonate with you, subscribe and I'll happily pop in your inbox every so often with posts like this one. Cheers!

Like just about everyone else in the world, recently I've been tuning into Tidying Up with Marie Kondo on Netflix. And besides cringing at how much junk people collect, picking up some new folding tips and wondering how I can incorporate more long skirts into my wardrobe (jk, leggings forever), what really resonates with me is the value of less stuff and more intention.

These days you can integrate every appliance in your house, use your home security system to spy on the delivery man, and tell Alexa to turn down your thermostat from across the room. And yet we have less time than ever. In a world that champions more, bigger, faster, busier, blah.. it's refreshing to see people go the other way. It's the same reason I can't get enough of all those tiny house shows on HGTV.

In a world of more more more, I’m embracing less but better. Simple but intentional.

The Blurry Line Between Want & Need

This culture of more gets really tricky in business, especially with new apps and tech emerging all the time. When I started my business in 2016, I felt behind before I even started. Besides the actual necessities of starting a business, all these fancy extras kept creeping in.

I NEED Typeform so I can have beautiful questionnaires for my business. I NEED If This Then That to push my instagram posts automatically to Twitter. I NEED Zapier to send potential customers to specific groups on my Mailchimp list. I NEED to segment my Mailchimp list so I know what people want to hear about and only email them about those things.

But do I? Do we really?

Now, believe me, I love automating things wherever I can to save time. My time is precious as a one-woman business and soon-to-be mamapreneur, and so is yours. This is why I created Illustrator Essentials, my Brand Guidelines Template and Balanced Branding — to save creatives and designers precious time while running their businesses and days with less effort and more intention.

Yes, there are absolutely times when learning shortcuts and getting fancy with your business tools can really benefit you. But there are also times when adding additional layers just makes things more complicated. And what you thought would help you level up and make life easier just adds more to your ever-growing to-do list.

Email Groups Gone Awry

This recently came into focus for me with my email newsletter list. Before when people would sign up, I asked them what they wanted to hear about from me and I provided options like free brand insights, Illustrator Essentials, Balanced Branding, etc etc. Whatever options they chose would add them to a fancy little newsletter segment. Then — in theory — I would email all the right people about only the things they cared about.

Pretty cool, right?

That little gem took me a while to figure out and I was pretty pleased with myself once I finally got it working. Except it didn't work — not for me.

In a world of more more more, I’m embracing less but better. Simple but intentional.

What ended up happening is I'd get all paranoid not wanting to bother people. And after I launched something and didn't have anything else to say about it, people kept signing up to hear about it. And I just ignored them. What it really came down to was me not talking to half my subscribers because I couldn't wrap my brain around all the groups and segments and combinations.

It was all too much. I'm one just one person. And maybe this whole strategy would work well in a larger company with a dedicated copywriter and marketing team, but my business is as small as they come—just me—and I just don't have the capacity or the need to make talking to my people so complicated.

Let It Go

So a strategy that felt so advanced and professional and noteworthy ended up not serving me well at all. I was wrong. It happens. Granted, sometimes we need these missteps to realize where the right path is for us. So channeling Marie Kondo, I thanked those email segments and I let them go. I just deleted them all. Permanently. Poof. Gone.

Taking that massive step to simplify was terrifying and cathartic all at the same time. The whole time I had all those “but what if I need them??” thoughts, but I pushed through. Constantly reminding myself, less but better. Simple but intentional. I'm feeling so much lighter now. And now I can wrap my head around communicating with my people in a way that's better for all of us.

All this to say, if you realize you were wrong about something in life or business, it's okay. If you see that something you once cherished isn't serving you anymore, it happens. Thank it and let it go.

We're all learning and growing here. Realizing your missteps helps reveal your true path. Getting rid of the wrong stuff makes more room for what matters. Simplifying is a beautiful thing, especially when it helps us save time and take back our precious sanity.

Note: This post was originally sent to my newsletter subscribers a few weeks ago. They receive all my content first, along with other exclusive goodies. If my insights resonate with you, subscribe and I'll happily pop in your inbox with posts like this one. Cheers!

Remember those glorious days of youth when your calendar was a simple thing? The only schedule you had to worry about was your own. Either you were free, or you weren’t.

In the last few years, so many wonderful things have unfolded in my life. My husband and I got married and bought our first home. In 2016 I started my business and we brought home our beloved pup, Hero. This year, we’re expecting our first little one.

So many blessings and things to be thankful for. But also, a lot more to contend with on the calendar.

The Old Way

The way we handled all this before is personally, my husband and I both used Apple Calendars and shared our calendars with one another. He could see what I had scheduled and vice versa. Easy peasy.

Meanwhile, for work I would handle all of my scheduling through my Google calendar. My clients book meetings with me via Acuity Scheduling, which looks to my Google Calendar for my availability and then pushes any appointments to Google to block off that time. I book all my project timelines via my project management software, Asana, which I then sync with my Google calendar too.

Too Many Calendars

Our old system worked great for a while, but the second I got pregnant everything changed. All of a sudden I had all these doctor’s appointments in the middle of the day I had to keep in mind when booking projects and client calls. I’d add appointments to my personal calendar, then I had to go and block that time off in Google or Acuity to make sure clients couldn’t double book my time.

All of a sudden, I was doing everything twice and booking client projects was an absolute nightmare. Here I was spacing out a logical timeline in Asana with two other calendars open, constantly needing to readjust and basically losing my mind in the process.

Not to mention, my husband has been talking about eventually getting rid of his iPhone and switching to Android, so our synced Apple calendars were just waiting to be obsolete.

Switching to Google Calendars

Between work meetings, client deadlines, personal events, vet appointments, doctor’s appointments and my husband’s calendar, I knew things couldn’t continue this way. Once our little one arrives, our schedule is only going to become more complex and I’d prefer to maintain as much of my sanity as possible through it all.

The solution?

We decided to abandon Apple Calendars and switch everything over to Google. My personal Google email account now houses my personal calendar, my business email has my work calendar, and my husband now keeps his personal schedule in his Google account.

We shared each of these accounts with the other two and color coded them, that way we can tell at a glance what everyone has going on every week both personally and work-wise.

Having a handle on our calendars makes me feel a bit more prepared for the wild ride ahead.

We designated my personal calendar as the family calendar since I do most of the scheduling, so when I shared that calendar with my husband and my work account I gave them both permission to edit it. I also did the same giving my personal account editing access to my work calendar.

This way no matter which account I’m logged into, I can schedule the events I need on the proper calendar and my husband can modify and add our schedule as needed. We even added a separate “Birthdays” calendar we both have access to.

Better yet, I realized that Acuity Scheduling allows me to add a secondary calendar for scheduling under their “Sync With Other Calendars” section. This way when someone wants to book time with me, Acuity looks to both my work and personal calendars for my availability and I can breathe a sigh of relief knowing I only have one place to be at once.

Looking Ahead

It’s of course been a process making this transition, but the more settled we get with our new system the more I love it. Whether you’re growing your own family or just want to streamline your scheduling to make your life a bit easier, this system is working really well for us.

I know that life is about to get a whole lot more complex and exciting, but somehow having a handle on our calendars makes me feel a bit more prepared for the wild ride ahead.

Note: This post was originally sent to my newsletter subscribers a few weeks ago. They receive all my content first, along with other exclusive goodies. If my insights resonate with you, subscribe and I'll happily pop in your inbox with posts like this one. Cheers!

I can't tell you how many interviews with creatives I've listened to/watched over the years, and somehow the themes of hustle and never being satisfied always seem to rear their ugly heads. Although the word “hustle” is enough to make me gag these days, it's the idea of never being satisfied that puts a seriously bad taste in my mouth.

Granted, most of those creatives were probably referring their positive drive to always continue learning and improving—honing our skills and expanding our horizons. I'm all for that, but the “never satisfied” phrasing is particularly troubling to me.

Our words have a lot of power, and “never satisfied” all too often translates to “never good enough.” I believe this stems from the tendency for creatives (myself included) to equate our self worth with our work. Unfortunately, many believe that their work is never up to par, and that as an extension neither are they. This just isn't the case.

Your Worth ≠ Your Work

I believe there's a healthy balance between working to create something you're proud of and not getting caught in the quicksand of perfectionism. In case you need reminding, you are not your work. You have innate value and gifts that you bring to this world. Yes, your creative talents fall into this category but they're not all you have to offer.

You are not your work.

I think it's important to be honest here. Sometimes I settle. Not all of my clients are dreamy. Not every one of my projects makes it into my portfolio—some never see the light of day. I have off days and bad days and I get it wrong sometimes just like everyone else.

But you know what? I'm still satisfied.

Sure, I want to keep learning and improving. I want to be the best version of myself that I can be, but I also believe there are shades of success. As a recovering perfectionist, I believe we can learn and grow while still practicing satisfaction. And I believe we're happier, better versions of ourselves when we cultivate gratitude—even if we never get it 100% right. No one does, so stop beating yourself up.

We can always do better. We can always be better. But that's a goal we chip away at with each new day. For today, it's okay to settle. It's okay to be satisfied with where you're at. Enough is more than enough. And believe me, you're enough exactly as you are.

Note: This post was originally sent to my newsletter subscribers a few weeks ago. They receive all my content first, along with other exclusive goodies. If my insights resonate with you, subscribe and I'll happily pop in your inbox with posts like this one. Cheers!