The f*cking fear.

Do I let it all go?

What if it doesn't work?

Will this give me the return I need?

How do I measure it?

I don't want to redesign everything I've got.

What about my website that I spent $10k on?

These are the questions I’ve been circling around as I stare down the decision to rebrand my own business. I'm a brand designer — rebranding should be second nature to me, right? Should being the operative word here.

But here's what I'm learning (and attempting to lean into):

It's all mindset — I need to believe I can get there*.

It's all strategy — I need a clear, intentional path to follow.

*there as in my goals, my future, the vision board version of future me

And here’s the thing I didn’t expect: rebranding *yourself* is a totally different beast from doing it for clients.

It's all an illusion.

I used to think rebranding would be easy. I mean, it's what I *do* — strategy, design, visuals. When it’s for someone else, I can see the gaps clearly. I can guide them confidently because I understand inherently what needs to be done, what the next steps are.

But doing it for myself? Suddenly, every decision feels heavier, more life altering. And of course, the added pressure of needing this to work because my very reputation is on the line. Every choice comes with baggage — of what I’ve built, who I’ve served, and who I *might* alienate (because yes, a new brand comes with a new strategy to redefine who I'm targeting).

And yet, I know this: the version of me that built the current brand isn’t the same person running the business today.

Little 24 year old me, sitting in her shitty, uncreative, dead-end graphic designer job at a fast failing printing company is absolutely not the woman I am now. At nearly 31, I know what I want, I have more backbone, I have more confidence, more fire and more resolve to do things how I want. 24 year old Kaitlyn would take whatever work she could get, was throwing away to many resources, was giving maximum effort for minimum pay.

That is not the person who's writing this article.

The emotional tax

Rebranding isn’t just a design decision — it’s an identity shift. And one that I didn't realise was going to take me aback the way it has.

It's more than just refreshing my brand (which there is totally a difference between a refresh and a rebrand), I'm overhauling it. I'm changing how people perceive my business. And because my business is a personal brand, that means I’m changing how people perceive *me*. That’s where the real fear kicks in.

What if people don’t “get it”?
What if I lose the recognition I’ve worked so hard for?
What if the new direction doesn’t land?
What if the brand isn't good enough and people don't see the value in my services?

These are real fears. Not irrational. Not overdramatic. Just… real. Especially when you’ve invested not only money but *yourself* into what you’ve built.

Strategy over sentiment

What’s been helping me move forward is separating emotion from execution. I was so desperately trying to hold onto my mustard yellow, trying to make it work with a new identity because I was attached to it. But what I realised, was anyone else attached to it? Did I only want to be recognised as a colour?

What I wanted to be known for was my strategic process and my business backbone.

Yes, I can mourn the old version of my brand — it served me well for the first years. But I can’t let that stop me from evolving. The truth is: staying in something that no longer fits is more costly than pivoting. And boy has it been costing me lately.

So I’m anchoring myself in strategy:

Why am I doing this?
Who am I trying to reach now?
What do I need to change to step into a new version of myself?
What parts of my old brand still work — and what no longer serves?
What does success look like for me?

The mindset shift is real

This process has forced me to rewire how I think about branding — not just as an external deliverable, but as an act of internal alignment. The real work of rebranding isn’t in designing a logo or choosing a colour palette. It’s in believing that the new version of me is worth building, even if no one sees it yet and if it takes time to get traction.

I know this is the right path for me because I feel it. I know it, deep in my waters. And everything I've been creating is flowing right out of me, like it's been sitting dormant, just waiting to be uncovered. Poetic, right?

It’s also terrifying. But if you’re feeling that too, maybe it means you’re also on the right track.

Final two cents

Rebranding is not a small feat. It’s a monumental task — not in workload, but in mindset.

I’m scared it might not work. But I have to believe it will. Because that belief — that clarity, that commitment — is exactly what I bring to my clients. And now, I have to give it to myself.

If you're in the middle of your own rebrand, here’s what I’ll say: