Why I Branded Myself, When It's Not About Me.
The beginning of a year tends to be an avenue of change and reveals. From a business prospective, revealing the changes in my business name and website in January 2017 made sense. But, the past two months of this year have been consumed with planning the Birth Disparities event I will blog about next. So, I have saved this change to be shared at random.
2016 was a year of much change. Career shifts (from medicine to midwifery) teaching group childbirth education classes, new business ventures, tons of new clients and more. As my services, skills, and knowledge evolved, I needed a brand that would accommodate all of the "let's try this" and provide a sense of stability. It needed to be great. Provide room for growth. Exemplify me and speak to who I was as a person then a birth professional. So after much thought and many aspirations, I decide to create a personal brand.
Why brand my name when much of what I do is never about me?
When hiring a birth or postpartum doula, much of the decision boils down to chemistry with the person. Our experience, skillset, array of comfort techniques and rate are all considerable factors but none of which matters when you contemplate who it is you are inviting into one of the most raw, vulnerable, impressionable moments of your life.
Birth is real. The emotions are authentic. The journey is so unique…as is the doula. I wanted to present my truest self. So there are no surprises when you inquire my services.
A personal brand needs to be organic and authentic. Just as one would benefit from the expertise and guidance of a doula, I reached out to a dear friend and bomb graphic designer to help me birth this baby.
Ali Mooney is my very own brand and logo designer. She is the creative entrepreneur at Ali Mooney Design Co., formerly Take Heart Creative. She has guided me through several business ventures including the logo and website for child+Friend, a local babysitting service. Ali also designed the logo and website for my back up doula, Andrea Pongo of Milk and Honey Birth Services. To say that I was excited to start another project with Ali is an understatement.
What I love about Ali's services is that her meetings and worksheets helps me explore what I want to present versus her, being the expert and all, inserting her agenda into my finished piece. Obviously, she has a specific style and skillset, but she's able to work with a multitude of clients because she gathers a clear picture of how they see themselves and manifests that in her creative forms.
As do I as a birth doula.
Doulas have a way of understanding your anxieties, soothing your aches, and providing a space that allows you to navigate your birthing experience without inserting our agendas.
Ali was my design doula. With her guidance, this new logo, icon, and brand identity was born.
Even with my namesake on the business cards and website, Jessica Diggs aims to be known as a birth doula and future midwife who offers her skillset, presence, and knowledge to a myriad of clients but does not overshadow your experience and the sweet masterpiece you produce.