We Don’t Need No Stinking Takes! What will you and your brand spring clean?

Many of us are spring cleaning—throwing out the single socks, old batteries, and finally, please, the downloads folder; it’s stressing me out.

As I started doing this for myself, I realized that spring cleaning is more than tidying up—it’s assessing who we are, who we want to be, and what we want to leave behind. This is the case for indivuduals, brands, and founders^.

When I moved from DC to France, I underwent and am still going through a transformation. What worked in DC— days bookended by overpriced workout classes, happy hours, and feigned DC workaholicism to perform work, and a race to stake one’s claim in the wild, wild west of the world ideas, didn’t map neatly onto life in France.

These are decorations— not identity.

In the past few months, I’ve begun exploring what it means to slow down, reflect, and focus on what I want and who I want to be. Yes, I have a Pinterest vision board and a paper collage. After serious soul-searching, I came to the unsurprising conclusion that Planet Earth®️ doesn’t need more Takes! On The Culture, Right Wing Jews!, American in France!, or Antisemites Will Kill You Now! No offense if this is you- some of you are great at this. Chapeau, as they say. When we discard what we don’t need, we discover who we are.

Letting go of the decorations doesn’t mean turning our backs on or hating our past. But instead, we stand, arms open, a bit vulnerable, facing the world and consequently who we are. We aren’t our job title, gym memership, zip code, or latest publication. We are, blessedly, something much more complicated, rich, and nuanced.

This applies brands as well.

A business is, inevitably, an extension of the person building it. The same is true for founders, writers, creators, builders anyone showing up publicly—even on Substack. Yes, you.

But what if part of our brand was forged by a bad previous job? The hurtful comments of an ex-boyfriend or a nasty comment thrown our way, stuck in our mind like an earworm? Or maybe the current brand is informed by a nagging feeling of “I don’t deserve to be here” or “Who am I to claim this expertise?”

If I had to guess, this applies to many of us. When we launched, maybe we tried to fit into a mold, drawing inspiration from what we thought was “right,” or too scared to show up as ourselves. I know I did.

Maybe the current brand was perfect 10 or 20 years ago—and perhaps now it is time to polish what works and shed what doesn’t. I promise, when you clear out the old, everything, and everyone, collectively exhales.

And for the record, “out with the old” doesn’t have to mean a dramatic rebrand or grand announcement. Brands can do the following:

• Audit email lists and send a re-engagement campaign, then sunset those who haven’t opened an email in the past 8 months.

• Look at podcast or YouTube metrics. Maybe it’s time to shift a podcast to quick, 3 minute video clips on social media or your website.

• For a personal brand, fiddle with your LinkedIn and Substack bio. What words reflect who you are and who you want to be?

  

  A pathway to a better brand. Actually, you just walk up the stairs and then turn around. But still.

  
  

Spring’s longer days, blooming flowers, and sense of renewal give us a chance to think about who we are and who we really want to be—in life and business.

And that includes shedding the old. Not with anger, embarassment, or annoyance. But with a sense of renewed freedom and hope- to show up as our best selves.