How It All Started
Did you know my business started under the name "Simple Vintage Photography"? Even writing it now makes it feel like a decade ago but it wasn't that long ago that I went through a complete rebrand.
About a year ago, early 2025, I sat in a coffee shop with my friend Jess and said something out loud that I had been feeling for a long time.
I didn’t have a logo problem.
I didn’t even really have a name problem.
I had an alignment problem.
The only way I know how to explain it is with this analogy: your brand is like a three-legged stool. If one leg is off (even a little bit) the whole thing wobbles. For a long time, mine was wobbling.
How I Got Here (The "Accidental" Brand)
I’ve been a hobbyist photographer for 20 years. It wasn't until early 2022 that I took the step to turn my hobby into a business (a good move when you have an expensive hobby)!
Because my heart was as a hobbyist, my first priority after starting my business was to learn as much as I could by dabbling in everything. Families, children, mini sessions, indoor and outdoor photography, real estate, product photography. Those early years were both fun and educational.
Then I learned about brand photography.
I’ve always been a communications nerd. I’ve done nonprofit communications for 15 years. I was a commercial copywriter for seven years. I love words. At my core, I am obsessed with communicating things well.
And great communication involves more than just words.
When I started doing brand photography, it combined my love for words with the artistic expression of images. The challenge level was just right: These images can't just be pretty. They need to produce ROI for a business. Something *clicked* in my brain and I was hooked.
But my business name? That was a holdover from a totally different season of life. It was an accidental DBA from a business idea that never happened. I made it make sense. It was cute. It worked well enough.
The deeper I got into brand and commercial photography, however, the more it felt like a pseudonym. I was proud of the work I was creating and I was ready to put my name on it.
The Three Legs of the Stool
When I finally had that coffee shop conversation with Jess, I realized why things felt off. There are (at least!) three core pillars to your brand:
1. Your copy – the words you use, your messaging, your positioning.
2. Your images – the visual story of your brand.
3. Your visual brand identity – your logo, typography, colors, icons, web design.
This is where the breakthrough happened. I told Jess I felt great about my copy. That’s my background. I felt great about my images. I’m a photographer. That’s what I do. But that third leg of the stool—my visual brand identity—did not match the other two.
My original visual brand was cute but I had long since outgrown it and was... gasp... starting to hold me back. My fonts were Canva. Stock icons. The name was fine but not consistent with who I was becoming. If you’ve got a three-legged stool and one leg is too short, what happens?
It wobbles.
It was subtle at first, but by the beginning of 2025 I was most definitely feeling tension.
What Misalignment Feels Like
Here’s the part I want my clients to really hear: When your brand isn’t aligned, it’s not just aesthetic discomfort. It affects your behavior.
For me, it looked like this:
- I had strong, strategic images.
- I had thoughtful, clear messaging.
- And then I would slap an outdated visual identity on top of it... and stall.
When alignment is not there between these three elements, there’s discomfort. Discomfort typically results in not showing up. It definitely did for my business.
The problem is, when you stop showing up:
- The inquiries slow down.
- You start doubting yourself.
- Your income dips.
- You wonder what’s wrong.
It becomes a snowball effect. What started as discomfort is now the beginning of the end for your business. I told myself for a long time that the DIY part of my business wasn't holding me back. In hindsight it was, and I'm so thankful for a coffee shop conversation with Jess Mali Mercier (JMM Artist/Designer) that jolted me past this potential pitfall for my business.
The Grieving Process No One Talks About
There is a part to this story that I don't want to brush past. I think when people hear “rebrand,” they think: new logo, new colors, fun project. Don't get me wrong, there were definitely fun parts and I adore my new visual brand. But some parts? They hurt.
I have little kids, so I’m getting reacquainted with the reality that growth sometimes comes with growing pains. There are nights when they lie awake and say, “My knees hurt.” And I tell them, “That means you’re growing.”
My rebrand felt like that. There were exciting parts. And there were also painful parts.
There were nights I would lay awake wondering if I should scrap the whole thing. Nights I thought about giving up my deposit and walking away because stepping into my own name (away from my pseudonym) felt too big.
Fear has a funny way of disguising itself as “maybe this isn’t necessary.” Despite wanting to quit the process at times (and thanks in no small part to Jess's encouragement), I kept going because the rebrand process was about more than a logo or a name change.
It was about realizing, *Oh my gosh. I am becoming something I didn’t even know existed four years ago.*
That realization requires both feet in. (I didn’t have both feet in at first.)
The Breakthrough Moment
I'm pretty sure I told Jess at some point "I'm done. I think I wasn't ready for this." I'd slept poorly the night before and I couldn't bear the thought of asking my incredibly patient designer to show me yet more typeface options.
She invited me to put a pin in it. Step away. Get some creative space. Turned out what I actually needed was some grief space. I needed to say goodbye to my old business and step with both feet into the new business I was building.
And the next time we met? I was on fire. I might've scared Jess with my sudden commitment to making decisions: “We’re doing this. What's next?"
The stool stopped wobbling. My copy, my images, and my visual identity were finally saying the same thing.
What Follows Alignment
My husband and I have this saying: if you feel the energy, run with the energy. Running downhill is always easier.
After Jess put the finishing touches on my new visual brand, I used that energy to:
- Update my website.
- Update my emails.
- Refresh my booking platforms.
- Redesign my session guides.
- Built out new social media templates.
I didn’t rebrand for the marketing momentum, but that's what happened. I had someone sit across from me (someone with a multi-six-figure business) and say, “What you have for your business, I want that for mine.”
Was that because I suddenly became more talented at my job? Nope. It was because the three legs of the stool were balanced. Alignment results in momentum.
Why This Matters for You
If you are a business owner feeling tension in your current brand (like wearing a garment that's too constricting), embarrassment when you send people to your website, or a weird sense that you've outgrown something but can't articulate what it might be... this is my encouragement:
Say the thing out loud.
I mean that literally. In education, we talk about how your big feelings live in your right hemisphere. When you put them into words, you engage your left hemisphere. You get your whole brain cooperating on the problem.
For me, everything changed when I said out loud in a coffee shop, “I don’t think this fits anymore.” That conversation started a process I couldn’t have planned better if I had tried.
Why I Care So Much About Your Photos
I am passionate about strategic brand photography because I've seen strategic photos bring a business owner back into alignment, help them show up, market their business, and bring in ideal clients.
You may already have a great message and a beautiful brand identity. But if your images don’t match the level of strategy behind the rest of your business? The stool wobbles.
Or maybe your photos are incredible, but your messaging is unclear. Wobble.
Or maybe your copy and photos are strong, but your visual identity feels DIY and disconnected. Wobble. (And in that case, reach out to my friend JMM Artist/Designer!)
When all three legs are aligned, marketing gets easier. My job is to make sure that when it comes to your imagery—the stories, the strategy, the way you visually communicate what you do—that leg of the stool is strong. I want you to run with the energy! I want you to show up instead of hiding! I want you to be proud next time someone asks for your business card or website.
What's Your Next Step?
If you’re feeling that tension in your brand, start with a conversation. Say the thing out loud. You might be closer to alignment than you think! My process always starts with a no-pressure discovery call. Why? Because I believe so strongly in saying the thing out loud.
