I used to think brand building started with a strategy doc. A deck. A name that “converted.”

But I don’t believe that anymore.
Not because strategy isn’t important—it is. But it’s not the whole. It’s not even the start.

A brand begins in the body.
In what we carry.
What we’ve let go of.
What we couldn’t.

It begins in the rupture. The resettling.
The version of you that sat in the quiet after the loss—of a parent, a partner, a place, a path.
It begins there.

Because the truth is—brands aren’t built in brainstorms. They’re built in real life.

Identity-Driven Branding Isn’t About Performance

There’s a lot of pressure in the online space to “know your niche,” to lock in a color palette and call it clarity.

But identity isn’t linear. It shifts.

Who I was when I started this business is not who I am now. And thank god for that.
I’ve lived entire lifetimes inside the span of a few years.
Lost people I loved.
Rebuilt pieces of myself.

Officiated my niece’s wedding with a heart still cracked open from grief.

Every one of those moments changed how I show up in this work.

And I bring all of it with me.
Not polished. But present.

That’s what I mean when I talk about identity-driven branding.

It’s not what you think you should say—it’s what you need to.

It’s not about being “on brand.”

It’s about being real.

What Shapes Expression: Grief, Growth, and the Long Way Home

Some seasons strip us down to our bones.

They make us question if we even want to be here—online, building something, selling something—at all.

I’ve been there.

And I know this:
Those seasons, hard as they are, tend to leave behind a kind of clarity.
Grief will do that.
So will burnout.
So will realizing you’ve outgrown a version of yourself you once clung to.

What you return to after that?

That’s the seed of your brand.
And it’s sacred.

So no—your brand isn’t just about visuals or voice.

It’s about how you’ve lived.

What’s lived you.

A Gentle Invitation

If you’re in a season of change—welcome.

You don’t have to rush it.
You don’t have to rebrand overnight.

But let this be a reminder:
You’re allowed to build something that holds all of you.
The broken bits.
The soft wins.
The messy middle.
The grief.
The growth.

The parts you thought had no place in your business—but were shaping it all along.

That’s the real brand story.
The rest is just strategy.