How Do I Create a Brand When I Have Many Passions?
“I have so many passions and interests I don’t know which to form my business and brand around!”
It's not a surprise that this is a great dilemma for many "multi-passionate" creatives. Do I create a business under one hub, or keep them separate? How do I do this? Where do I start? Omg!
With creativity often comes curiosity, exploration, excitement, and passion—which can lead us to a path full of exciting options. But, my friend, there's a russian proverb: "If you chase two rabbits, you will not catch either one."
Same goes for chickens.
Do you find yourself spreading yourself too thin by going after too many things at once? Don't be like this poor man. If you're unable to choose one thing, it can be frustrating and cause a painful strain on your mental health.
Hi, my name is Sara &
I'm a recovering multi-tasking addict.
I'm a designer, sure, but I'm also a yoga instructor, web-coder, and a brand strategist. At one point, I was an independent associate for a health company. It was quite a handful, and often I was left feeling confused, frustrated, and spent many nights in tears.
2014 was a year of getting myself out there—and soon, I realized that people were getting confused with my brand. When 2015 arrived, I made the choice to remove the things that were no longer serving me. First, I stopped teaching yoga—and became a student again. I no longer code websites or design from a pre-made template. Shortly after, I left my position as an independent associate to entirely focus on my career as a digital strategist (which is both designer and brand strategist).
By focusing all of your attention on one thing, you can give it the attention it needs.
It didn't happen overnight. It happened in the span of 9 months—most likely, it took about a year.
As a business owner, entrepreneur, or freelancer, you often hear that you need to focus on one thing, a niche of some-sort. It's not bad advice, and following that advice pays off. However, if you're starting out and you have multiple passions and interests, the advice can feel limiting.
Instead of choosing one passion to focus on, instead choose one underlying theme to focus on.
Branding shouldn’t make you feel like you’re going down a long dark tunnel. In fact, it can actually be a very effective tool to provide you with the space and direction you need to explore your interests and evolve over time.
By building your brand around YOU.
I speak to creative entrepreneurs all the time, and they're looking for this one thread that will ultimately connect all of their passions/interests. They try to come up with the most perfect name, or tagline—only to find themselves frustrated.
Why? Because they’re focusing on the external rather than the internal—the connection is YOU.
YOU are the one who is passionate about these different interests—so passionate that you won't sacrifice any of them to focus your brand on just one.
So now, the question is:
What is it IN YOU that finds each of these passions/interests fascinating?
What belief IN YOU relates to these things?
What emotions IN YOU do you feel when you do these things?
Recognize the emotions inside you, and how they can be shared with others. Maybe, it gives you the feeling of freedom, creativity, and insight. These feelings IN YOU—the theme—allow you to create your brand, not just one interest.
Your brand could be about expressing emotions or about the freedom to create. For example: I have a yoga/health background—I bring these practices in when I work with creative entrepreneurs, because working on your brand is a spiritual journey. You're on the quest of discovering your purpose, and although it can be fun—it's overwhelming. Although I may not teach yoga, I bring the "yogi" vibe to my business as I introduce effective tools like letting go of overwhelm, and gaining more of the good stuff like clarity, purpose, and creativity.
More or less, I'm here to hold your hand—to let you know that you’ve got this. I also let you have the confidence to let go of my hand, and take the leap on your own.
In a nutshell, branding is a concept that is perceived as an emotion. It’s that relationship that your tribe has created with your organization, service, or product. It’s not a physical object like your logo, marketing plan, or your website.
Discover what moves you in your business, and make that into a foundation of your brand.
Refrain yourself from looking only at WHAT you do and focus on WHY you do what you do. I encourage you to dig deeper and find that thread that moves you.