I’m not going to beat around the bush and tell you that branding isn’t expensive. Because it is. It needs to be.

I've gone against everything I believe in. My personal values, my business values. I thought that by doing this thing I would be putting myself in a better position to receive clients, increase my prices and grow TGS.

I thought it was one tiny little thing that no one would even question. But this one little thing was actually holding me back.

Here's the truth.

Let's be honest, there's a lot of variables, but social media just isn't what it used to be. It's harder, there's a pay to play element and it's just overrun with influencers with huge followings that spend all their time on Instagram.

"Authentic" Ew, did you just cringe? Because I did.

But while it's an incredibly overused word, the actual action, the "how" is stupidly elusive when it doesn't need to be. One thing that I always get stuck on when it comes to being authentic, is what does that actually look like? How do you show up being authentic in your business and brand? And how do you know if you're being genuinely authentic instead of fake authentic?

Upon reflection and about 11 months of distance from that time in my business, I'd realised one key thing that I was doing, unconsciously, in my business, in my content, in all aspects, was that I didn't actually have the necessary self-belief required to be operating at a higher energetic level.

Your $10k months are none of my business.

Are $10k months nice? Sure! Are they something to aspire to? Go for it, if that's what you're wanting. Should it be a goal that you're only focused on? Probably not.

To be honest, I really do not care about how much money you make. The $10k month rhetoric can be damaging, but it can also be uplifting. It can be inspiring, but it can defeat others who aren't at that level (yet).

I (try to) work smarter, not harder. Sitting in the feminine and masculine sides of my business has taken time, trial and error is absolutely not perfect every single day.

In the world entrepreneurship, there's lots of business owners who claim to only be in their feminine energy. They only do X Y Z because it aligns with their feminine. They operate their business from just the feminine.

The reality is, DIY sounds like a great idea (and it can be, especially when you're starting out!) but in order to grow, become recognisable (for the right reasons) and to truly create something that's worth it's weight in gold, investing in a brand strategy and identity is always the way to go.