My Official Rebrand!

I started this blog way back in 2017, and so much has changed and happened in my life since then. The new launch of my side business as a birth doula goes hand in hand with the social media presence I’ve created for myself over the last seven years, and I thought it would be the perfect time to rebrand this entire space. The blog’s “aesthetic” has ebbed and flowed – as things typically do – but since 2020, it has really stuck and blossomed within a certain aesthetic and vibe and most importantly niche which has helped me to really find my place on the internet. With that, came the fun and fulfilling process of working with a web designer to flesh out this existing brand, merge it with my new doula brand, and launch the web platform of my dreams. Read on for how I chose the company, what the process was like, and a detailed look at the in’s and out’s of the new and improved lizeidelman.com!

Once I sealed the deal with the company I chose for this project, we scheduled a series of “Brand Strategy Sessions”. They lasted anywhere from an hour to two hours, every Friday, for 6 weeks – with week 7 being the official launch date of the new website. They were highly organized, so all of our communication throughout the week happened via labeled & color coded google docs & drives. It all started with a questionnaire to get the creative juices flowing and to help them get to know more about me and what I was going for. They asked me to pull some website and logo inspiration from Pinterest or other sources, and doing this exercise and having our first “moodboard” meeting was so incredibly helpful for me. In fact, after the first meeting I saw the (former) name of my doula businesses written out in logo mockups and said STOP EVERYTHING – I hate it all!!!!

Of course, I asked if this was common (it is, by the way) and I took the week to process everything we discussed about who I am and why I’m doing this and where I’ve been in life and motherhood and after speaking to a few moms who I’ve virtually supported through birth… boom! The Sage Sister was born and we were back in business. “The Rebrand” was now so much more, because I was even changing the name of a business that I had quite literally just begun, and I would not have come to that conclusion without those branding strategy exercises. They are truly so helpful for finding who you really are as a businessperson.

Time for some photos! The branding was SO much fun. I knew I wanted a ‘fine line drawing’ so after a few iterations, we landed on a beautiful pregnant belly with a sage leaf traveling up the side. The main font here is warm and inviting, with a bit of a boho vibe.

The mood board is a helpful way of seeing the color scheme for the entire site. It’s comprised of mockups, actual pictures supplied by the client, and photos that the designer pulls that fit the vibe. Here’s the moodboard that was created for me!

With the branding package, you also get some sub-logos and brandmarks which are super helpful to have for variety. In my branding, you’ll notice that the sage leaf reappears many times throughout! The secondary font is also featured here, which has a feminine and free-spirited feel.

In the final branding packet, in addition to all the logos and sublogos, I received all of the fonts so that any pamphlets and business cards can remain aligned with my branding. I also received the color chart numbers! This is helpful in apps like Canva, for making Instagram story templates! I received IG Story highlight covers, IG Avatar pictures…. basically anything and everything you can think of to set me up for success as I launch and re-launch this platform of mine.

As far as the actual website goes, I knew I wanted something to feature lots of photos, to streamline my existing blog posts, and to include a “cart” for virtual doula services like birthplan building or brain-picking sessions. My designer did all of this, and then some. The remainder of our weekly meetings consisted of showing me the progress from the week before, discussing likes, dislikes, options, thoughts, and ideas. So much would continue to come up! Even down to that final week, things were changing! It was wild to watch the site evolve so beautifully. I began to see that there were things I wanted that I didn’t even realize I wanted! Working with a professional was great, because they let you know when something might not work well, or if there might be a better alternative.

I’ll end this blog post by saying that if you’re a small business owner, or thinking of launching your own small business of ANY kind, I highly recommend working with someone who offers a branding package. Web design is a must – of course – but the clean, clear, cohesive, well thought out, meaningful branding is what makes a business (or even a person/professional) stand out in a sea of others. Going through this process was really so much fun for me, and so rewarding in so many ways. I feel really ready to move forward in my practice as a doula, and excited to continue creating content and working as an influencer on social media. I hope you’ll take a look through the pages of the new website, read the many blurbs and bios that I worked so hard on (because copywriting is actually quite challenging!) and appreciate how it’s been modernized to flow! I’ll leave you with a gallery of some doula-centered branding images done beautifully by The Deerwood Company, and an invitation to follow me on Instagram if you haven’t already!