Welcome to the 50th edition of Candor from Kaitlin. I’m grateful you’re here. Each week we explore topics that can be hard to talk about (personally and professionally) with the goal of bringing honesty and open communication to the things we all experience but often try to get through alone.
March marks 1 year in business as a solopreneur. 1 year of a successful client engagement, a ton of learning, and 1 year of a rollercoaster of emotions.
If we look back into the archives, the post that I published one year ago this week was announcing my business endeavor, “KStrand Consulting”. I had a client before I had a brand and I fully anticipated rebranding my LLC at some point. As I discussed in last week’s article, the fear of the unknown has made me work on the rebrand of this business since….October. Nearly 6 months in the making and certainly not 6 months of effort. It’s more likely been 2 months of effort and 4 months of the fear of doing it wrong, for a second time.
A year in business has taught me a lot, the most important lessons were those that I didn’t know I needed. Being able to speak to my brand and my services continues to be the biggest obstacle I’m determined to tackle. I’d like to spend this week introducing you to my new brand, invite you to check out the website prior to me blasting it to the professional world (ie LinkedIn), and know that I always welcome feedback.
There were a few things that were important to me when I chose a new brand for the business.
#1 - Get “consulting” out of the name
When I picked the name, I had a misunderstanding that “consulting” was the right way to describe an overarching approach to working independently rather than an embedded (W2) employee. As I have searched for replacement language, I find myself referring to myself mostly as an “independent professional”.
Contractor isn’t a term that I feel accurately represents what I do, and in my circles, there are strong associations in the construction industry with that term.
Fractional is new(ish) and hot (right now) but is only one way I can engage with organizations. To me, “fractional” is a product I offer, not who I am. As such, the new name of the business needed to exclude language that described me and ideally include how I help organizations.
#2 - A brand that could grow with me
I learned a lot that I didn’t expect to come my way in the first year and I don’t expect that to slow down any time soon. Part of what has made me a successful generalist is my curiosity to explore and take on work that I never anticipated. This isn’t going to stop, I’m going to continue to evolve what I’m passionate about, how I serve others and how I adapt to the environments around me. I want a brand that can move with me and be adaptable to what life might throw my way, unexpectedly, like it loves to do.
Introducing Apricity Co.
I’m pretty sure I came across the word “apricity” during a morning news talk show. I couldn’t even tell you what they were talking about in the segment but they talked about that feeling, when you go outside in the dead of winter on a rare sunny day and turn your face to the sun. The feeling of warmth, from the sun, in winter, that’s apricity. That feeling to me, as a Minnesotan, is a feeling of relief. It’s a warmth that evokes calm. I recognize it’s not a feeling that everyone is going to be familiar with, especially those in warmer climates, but most people that I end up working with understand the feelings of chaos and desperately crave any sentence of calm. Getting your people, processes and technologies in order, communicating vision and being committed to ensuring expectations are understood, are all ways that I have helped bring calm to the chaos in growing organizations.
Apricity Co brings order to the chaos in high-growth companies and high-achieving individuals through effective tools and strategies for communication, collaboration and achieving results. Check out more at https://www.apricityops.com/
Have some important feedback to share that can help me improve? Send me a message or book some time, I want to nail this new brand!
Love the name and logo!
Congrats Kaitlin!