Actually, It’s Not You, It’s Me
Does anyone take a rebrand lightly? When “The Artist Formerly Known as Prince” adopted a symbol for his name, of which I have no character on my keyboard to represent, he did this as a statement of individuation from corporate music that had claimed his personhood. When twigs became FKA twigs, it was under threat of lawsuit. I am no twigs and certainly no Prince.
While missing out on fame and fortune, there is a benefit to internet obscurity. If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound? I still consider my blog in its “early years.” I suppose the unspoken thought is that the transition from “early” to “established” is predicated on getting some followers. Being that I don’t really have any followers, not to minimize the unwavering support of my family and friends, this is the time to rebrand.
If you are reading this, then perhaps my plan is working. You see, dear reader, it is you I want to reach, and the old name just wasn’t doing the job. Like jokes, if you have to explain it, then it isn’t good. That’s how I began to feel about the blog FKA FITE addiction. I could hear myself saying, “FITE stands for Financial Independence Transition Early. It’s like FIRE, but more focused on evolving or transitioning in life rather than retiring. And by addiction, I am referring to shopping addiction. Get it? FITE addiction? It’s like fighting addiction, but also being really into Financial Independence. Hear the play on words?” Yeah, no.
In addition to the general clumsiness of trying to get my point across with the branding, there had been a shift in how I thought about recovering from compulsive shopping. Thus, the essence of the blog was evolving. Addiction is not the center point, it is the starting place. Shopping addiction is not fought with brute force, it is made malleable through a value driven life. The thread to grab onto early in recovery gracefully pulls you through to a life beyond that is full of abundance.
So, dear reader, life beyond shopping is for you. A simple summary to signal that the perspective and insights shared here will resonate and empower you to start designing an intentional life you love. A life where you feel confident about your finances and are free of shopping addiction. I deeply believe that we all have something phenomenal to offer the world. Shopping is misdirected energy that is meant to be harnessed for creating, not consuming. If you find yourself saying, “Yes!” to any of this, please subscribe to the email list below and follow on Instagram. Let’s get your life beyond shopping established.
P.S. Tangent on Rebranding
It took a minute to arrive at a life beyond shopping. Conversations with family and friends, sessions with my coach who witnessed my stubbornness when one idea was exposed to be not as genius as I had believed. Pestering a random blogger on the internet who indulged me with lengthy email exchanges about my identity crisis. Plus, reading articles on renaming a blog.
If you found this post because you are in a similar spot as I was and looking for thoughts on rebranding, allow me to share the conclusion I came to. While it would be completely acceptable to rebrand as my name (see stubbornness above), I decided it wasn’t the wisest move for me.
Who remembers names? I have regularly watched countless YouTube videos and listened to numerous podcasts from certain creators and I still don’t know their names. While I can remember one podcaster’s last name (only because she once made a joke about it rhyming with casserole), my brain thinks her first name is Joan. It’s not Joan, it’s Brooke. Those names don’t even rhyme. But ok, brain, if you say so.
I read one particularly lovely article by a blogger who rebranded to her name. I can not for the life of me tell you what her name is. But, I do remember the name of the website she rebranded away from. There is also a YouTuber I enjoy who’s channel is her name. But, to find her content I have to search her niche, “edgy capsule wardrobe.” See where I am going here?
While I think “Dr. Sara Rose” is charming and memorable, that is probably because I have had 30+ years to learn and remember it. So I saved us all some grief and fruitless Google searches for “Dr. Sarah Lily” and went with life beyond shopping.