Square One (.5)
To say the last 6-ish weeks has been a blur would be an understatement. This time has gone by in a blink, yet it feels like this is the life I’ve always lived. It’s been so nice making my own schedule every day, deciding what I want to do and when, and getting to know parts of myself at a deeper level. I’ve definitely encountered some aspects that I knew would eventually rear their heads, and I’ve almost been waiting for that to happen. So far, I’m only at one menty b (mental breakdown), and that is remarkable for my hyper-sensitive and at times reactive demeanor, LOL.
Creating Alchemy of Home has been a complete breeze. I’m not a branding or marketing expert, but I believe in my mission and vision so deeply, that I thought as soon as I went “live,” everyone would simply “get it,” and be overjoyed to jump on board. Listen, delusion can be a helpful salve when administered in moderate doses.
I would by no means say that my launch hasn’t gone well, but what I didn’t factor in is that while I’ve been looking at this work all day almost every day for weeks, introducing it to the world was a process that I wasn’t prepared for at all. I wasn’t prepared for LinkedIn not to favor my sassy, straightforward sarcasm in its algorithm (I never use LinkedIn). I wasn’t prepared for an Instagram account I haven’t used in years to get next to no engagement on my new posts (this should have been obvious). And I wasn’t prepared for TikTok to not push videos that I thought were clever and filled with fun content (I have one video that has 19k views on my personal account, so I thought, “What, like it’s hard?” in my best Elle Woods voice). I was in for a rude awakening and subsequently my first sob fest of the season.
It’s not that I was upset over the results of my first couple of weeks of content not going gangbusters. I totally understand that building a new brand, building trust, and showing people what I do takes time. What I was upset about is that I don’t even enjoy social media from a sales or influencing perspective, and I felt like it was my only option for showing the world what I can do! It’s exhausting, I don’t know how to make that kind of content, and it takes loads of time to create and edit content across three platforms that may or may not do anything productive. Do I think it’s valuable? Absolutely! I also genuinely enjoy the connections I’ve made on social media over the years, and I have had some awesome responses to Alchemy of Home over the last couple weeks, but I realized fast that if I’m to rely on social media to build this brand, I’ll likely be in this exact same position 3 years from now.
One of my best friends happens to be a dentist (featured in the thumbnail: Brandon Cousins, DDS, Legacy Dental Care- shameless plug!), so after I got my teeth cleaned last week, I sat in his office and sobbed about my plight. I was looking for puppy-eyed sympathy, but instead I got an earful. Bestie was quick to point out that my strength is in my work, not social media and not marketing. He insisted that I get serious about this brand and take actionable steps to offload work that’s slowing me down and focus on what I do best: talking to people and showing them what I can do.
I think I thought that I’d post my way to brand recognition, which would lead to connections and collaboration, but then I really thought more deeply about social media in 2025. It’s over-saturated (another understatement), people are scrolling quite literally mindlessly, and there’s endless pressure to hack the algorithm, go viral and grab attention at lightning speed or risk getting passed over. Now, as I said before, I think social media has inherent value, but I think for me and what I do, it’s better as a showcase of my work and my personality rather than function as a sales and client driver. Surely sales and clients will come this way (I’ve already had my first inquiry from Instagram!), but the magic of Alchemy of Home is all about deep personal connection, and I realized that can only be done face to face with a handshake and a smile! Corny as that sounds, I’m ready to get old-school and take my business to the streets.
Further than that, what’s better than community and referral driven connections? It seems like such an odd approach, strangely enough, when everything is so online now, but I’m genuinely excited to take my brand to the streets and start meeting with retailers, vendors, artists and real-estate agents to see how our products and services can mutually benefit each other, and in turn, benefit our clients and the greater creative community of St. Louis at large?
I’ve decided to outsource to a branding consultant to give my marketing the thorough attention it deserves so I can focus on my work and delivering great outcomes to my future clients and brand partners. This is a scary step, a big investment, and feels like a bit of a pivot from what I originally planned to do, but it feels right.
That’s the magic of alchemy after all. We take what comes our way, and we let it settle over us, feeling into what feels right and what feels off. There is just as much, if not more, value in what goes wrong than what goes right. As my mom always says, “You don’t know what you don’t know.” You have to try things and be willing to face plant in order to know what next right step to take.
While a few weeks feels like critical time to spend on a brand overhaul, I fully believe that the payoff will be well worth the time and money spent to set me up for longevity and better client and brand engagement.
Stay tuned! I’m excited to share what unfolds next!
