Howdy folks,
I don’t know about you… but all of this Barbie business has left me feeling nostalgic AF.
Now I should start by revealing that I have NOT seen the Barbie movie yet… a girlfriend & I are going on Wednesday night to celebrate my website launch (my kinda motivation!).
But I can already tell that I am going to bleed Barbie for the rest of the year (which seems very emo, but bare with me).
If you are a part of the Lady Folk community (or have ever seen me out in the wilds of Wyoming), you know that this isn’t my first Barbie phase.
Because well: I have always loved the color pink, I couldn’t be more damn feminine (seriously I just had my human design chart read by one of my clients & all of my reflector arrows are pointing that way!), some find my genuine kindness and bubbly personality to be A LOT, and I do have a guilty shoe obsession.
However, in writing my about bio for my website I was contemplating whether or not I can actually claim the title “Western Barbie”.
Or if it would feel like just another millennial trying to make Carhartt trendy.
My best friend & I we’re talking about this the other day actually.
I was explaining to her that although Lady Folk is unmistakably and electrically me, she is also a brand identity.
& when I say that I mean that she is hers. Separate from me. A babe with her own wild personality, values and characteristics.
& that gussied up little kitten leans a little more “cowgirl” than I do into my day-to-day life.
Now don’t get me wrong… I passionately give words to the spirit of the wild west, find getting lost on the backroads to be a religion (just like my old man), always advocate for women in classic cowgirl hats and get all hellbent over a late summer camping trip in the mountains.
But Lady Folk… that badass bitch does all of that and then some. Basically she’s my inner Wyoming girl that wishes I would have actually been a rodeo queen.
So why did I intentionally position my brand that way, you ask?
Well that’s what branding is for, folks.
We’re often told in business that your brand messaging, identity and personality should be all of YOU in your fullest expression. Especially as a creative, service based entrepreneur or small business owner. But that’s not always true.
You’re allowed to break the rules, be something different, use your imagination, have some fun with it and set a boundary to protect your personal life.
(Sometimes it’s actually easier to write from a place where it’s not coming from your real world tone-of-voice, because you’re not as close to it.)
I made Lady Folk into who she is because truly no other brand strategist or community-driven copywriter was doing it, the identity felt deeply aligned with my inner knowing AND it seemed like a god damn good time to have a split personality that was more of the barrel racing, shoot whiskey until the cows come home, Beth Dutton kind.
BUT was it authentic enough (AKA was I cool enough) to back up “Bolo Barbie” (which is currently written on my website next to my name).
& then it all came rushing back to me.
My childhood.
I kid you not, folks… growing up my parents use to love reminiscing on my Barbie play dates.
Because unlike most sweet, normal little girls who played house and dress up… evidently I was the kid who was caught red handed (and quickly sent home)…
STRIPPING MY BARBIES DOWN NAKED AND HAVING THEM JUMP OFF OF RUNAWAY TRAINS!
Or: fleeing burning buildings, skydiving, surviving roll over crashes, lost in the desert, robbing banks, skinny dipping, etc.
All risky. All naked.
Now I promise I’m not making this up for a good story. Because my parents are dead and that would be just about as rude as them leaving me too soon!
Blame it on my: scorpio ways, aggressive sense of adventure, parents meeting skinny dipping in the Black Hills, basically only child syndrome or the fact I was raised on The Birdcage and Titanic (if this was your first sex scene – tap in HA).
But if that is not the foreshadowing (and street cred) I needed to become “Bolo Barbie” if I wanna, well then I don’t know what is.
It stays. End of discussion.
I hope that this trip down memory lane reminds you:
- Your brand messaging & identity doesn’t always have to be authentically you. BUT it does have to have an electric, multidimensional personality (whether it’s an extension or your own or not!).
- Your imagination doesn’t have to die with childhood.
- Listen in on your kid’s Barbie play dates every now & again. For safety measures, of course.
- You’re allowed to be whoever you want to be. No explanation needed.
- Finally, my new website is launching Tuesday, August 1st. Stay tuned!
Come on Barbie, let’s get naughty,
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