When Your Old Brand Doesn't Fit Anymore

How finally creating an aligned brand for my grown-up business turned into a whole system for unified branding

When I returned to business after my health journey, I could have simply picked up where I left off. The old Skyward Ink brand was there, chilling in a folder.

Though, when I went to upload the backed-up version of my website - I got an error… and more importantly, I didn't feel right about simply dusting it off and carrying on.

The truth was, parts of my old business hadn't felt aligned for a while. I hadn’t been loving the work, I was struggling to write about design, and I kind of just didn’t know what to do anymore.

The Search for Answers

So I did what any modern entrepreneur would do: I googled. I found countless brand questionnaires, personality tests, and discovery processes. I even paid for a few workbooks. But something was missing. I knew their surface-level questions weren't going to get me to the heart of what I needed.

That's when I did something desperate: I cracked open the Forbidden Dropbox of My Old Infoproducts. (You know the one—that folder of things you created years ago that make you cringe a little?) But here's the thing: my old processes were pretty good. It was really good, in fact… it just wasn’t complete and, honestly, it was a little boring. I started working through them, adding new exercises as needed, letting myself explore every possibility.

“What Do I Want to Be When I Grow Up?”

My business was 21 now—officially grown up, so it was time to get serious about what it wanted to be. After all, I’d gotten to where I was before mostly by saying “yes” to lots of projects and letting that guide what I learned. That’s how I became a design generalist who can work across every media a small business needs. But I’d never stopped to really ask myself “what do I want to do?”

While working with a coach might have seemed like the obvious next step, let's just say my past experiences with coaching had led me down paths that felt more like someone else's journey than my own, and I couldn’t live someone else’s dream again.

I explored everything. Should I pivot completely? I briefly flirted with the idea of becoming an artisanal cracker mogul (my sourdough crackers are amazing, and everyone always requested to-go bags of their own). I considered painting (with murals and craft parties thrown in the mix). Writing. Even going back to school was in the mix.

Finding My True North

But as I worked through the ideas that were revealed, a pattern emerged. Every time I thought about leaving design, something pulled me back. Design wasn't just what I did—it’s how I think. How I solve problems. How I make sense of the world.

The Universe Reveals Itself

That's when the magic happened. I started mapping out how all these pieces fit together. As I drew, something incredible emerged: a universe.

At the center, like a sun, sat purpose and values, radiating energy outward. The business itself became a planet, with offerings orbiting like moons. Brand personality transformed into atmospheric layers. Visual elements became constellations guiding the way.

This wasn't just a neat metaphor—it was a breakthrough in making brand building both comprehensive and comprehensible. Every element influenced the others, just like celestial bodies in space. There was perfect balance between structure and possibility when all the elements were working together in alignment.

This was what had been missing from my earlier materials, the ones that had been relegated to The Dropbox of Shame - the central system, the organizing principles that bring everything together.

I decided to dust off the Skyward Ink name, but redesigned everything else to be more in alignment with this new direction.

Sharing the Map to the Stars

The new and improved approach worked so well for me that I knew I had to share it. That's why I wrote Build Your Brand Universe. It shows you the Brand Universe Expansion Cycle that generates Brand Gravity and natural client attraction.

This isn't just another brand system. It's a comprehensive system for uncovering and organizing what makes your brand naturally magnetic. Each section builds on the last, helping you create something that's both expansive enough to hold all your possibilities and focused enough to actually work.

Build Your Brand Universe:
The Blueprint for Brand Gravity

This comprehensive guide will show you how to transform your brand from a collection of disconnected pieces into a cohesive universe with its own gravitational field - one that naturally pulls your ideal clients toward you without constant pushing or hustle.

Inside you'll discover:

• How your brand is like a universe

• What to do to grow your brand and business

• How to stop pushing your message out and start pulling the right people in