Staying Authentic

Here’s your obligatory adorable photo of Wren.

I’m learning a lot being in business for myself (things are about to get real in this blog post, y’all).  First and foremost, I’m learning who I am as a business owner, what my brand looks like, and how I’m willing to portray that to the rest of the world.  I’m learning what my boundaries are, what my successes are, and how to better define what a success, failure, and goal might be.

The most important part of this to me is staying authentic to who I am, what I envision the “Misty Saves the Day” brand to be, and who my ideal client is.  Truth be told – I’m so close to booked I can taste it.  My goals for the year, that I once thought were insane, are proving to be far more realistic than I could’ve dreamed.  In all my endeavors, the toughest part that I’ve found is that I want to stay authentic to the original vision for the company: taking on the burdens of social media for small businesses so that they can focus on the things that they really love, while still showing potential clients, current clients, and family and friends what they’ve been up to.

Photo by Leigh Skaggs Photography

I’m fortunate that Morgan reached out to me and wanted an internship.  Her passion for small business paired with her know-how of the social media realm was the perfect fit for Misty Saves the Day.  When you hit your goals, you can’t be complacent with where you’re at – you have to find ways to continue to grow, and exceed even your own expectations.  That level of success has always been something that I strive for, and I’m hoping to impart that to every single one of my clients.

I know it’s early, but I’m also going to do a little mini-rebrand.  Not so much because I think anyone but me would notice – I want to make sure that I’m conveying the part of me that I want potential clients to know.  Yes, my family is a big part of my brand – my family is why I chose down this path; however, the journey that has been the last 4 months (can you believe it’s only been 4 months?) has shown me a lot about who Misty Saves the Day is as a brand, and also who I am as a businessperson.  Be on the lookout for fun things over the next few weeks – they’ll be subtle.  A new head shot, a new color palette, subtle design choices (and if I can convince my husband, a fun new website).

What’s so funny is I can pinpoint anyone else’s brand like a champion – but when it comes to my own, I second guess and question my decisions.  It makes sense because we’re all super self-critical about what we put out into the world – which circles right back to why it’s so awesome to outsource.  I’ll always choose things that fit your brand, but maybe not in a way that you would’ve thought of.  My closest friends have taught me about these things in the last few months – what I’d want to put out into the world.  It’s kind of awesome that I get to do that for so many other people.