Departures

Today marks a day for new beginnings.  It’s about closing the door on one chapter, and opening the door to the next.  The old closing/opening door analogy rears its simple-minded head.  Couldn’t I have thought of something more exciting?  No.  Because truthfully, I’m a little wiped out after the last few weeks.

As some of you may know, today is my last day with my current employer, the brand strategy and design firm Lippincott.  I’ve spent an emotional two weeks saying goodbye to the people who have been like a second family to me.

I’ve worked here for the better part of a decade.  It’s been my home away from home.  Well, here, or Cincinnati, OH, Milwaukee, WI, Bentonville, AK, and all of the conference rooms around this great nation that have welcomed me with open arms. And a frightening display of extension cords and projection screens.  Those, I will happily leave behind.

The life of a consultant is akin to the life of a traveling sales(wo)man, which isn’t the best arrangement for a mother of three young kids.  The time felt right to steer this ship on my own, to venture out and explore the world as an entrepreneur.  Over the summer I’ll be building a business that uses the branding lessons I’ve learned in the field, applied to the blogs, startups and small businesses who often need this advice the most.  Given the number of bloggers who visit this site, some of this information may find its way here.  So stay tuned, lots of exciting things to come.

But what is a celebration without a fabulous new dress?  Well, my dress in this case, is an updated blog design that has much of the same look and feel as its predecessor, but is cleaner, easier to navigate, and just a little bit more fun. 

After all, I couldn’t be preachy about good design when I still had some gripes with the existing look and feel.  That’s the problem with working in a design firm – you ask for an honest opinion, and you get “weeeeelll, it does have mismatching colors, and I can see the repeat in your background which drives me a little crazy, and that menu bar is really the focal point when it shouldn’t be, and those social media icons are just too big….”

And unfortunately, or fortunately, I agreed with all of it.  So here is the first branding lesson of many to come: Know your limits, and know when and where to get the help you need.  It doesn’t have to cost you a fortune, and in one of my upcoming posts, I’ll show you how.

So, here’s to fabulous new dresses.  And fabulous new beginnings.

Photo credit: Creative Commons “Fir0002/Flagstaffotos”