It’s Monday, and I’m in San Diego. As I adjust to the time and the absence of people outside my window, I look at my calendar and see all the ticks on the checkboxes next to completed projects.
My heart does a little dance.
I also see all the unchecked boxes next to big projects that still await my love and attention, and I realize that without taking a break to breathe and celebrate what’s already been done, nothing is going to get done.… Read More
People frequently comment on my clear tone and ask me how I “discovered” it. The short answer is that I like writing, and being a non-native speaker, I had to work harder than my American-born friends to learn to do it. It was a labor of love.
But I’ve also always been the “funny, nerdy chick.” I just always was.… Read More
“Kat! I paid this dude to build my site, and it SUCKS!!!!!”
I hear it every day. That or: “Kat! I need to build my site, and I have a new photographer ready to go. I have my colors picked and my wardrobe at the ready!”
These are both symptoms of working backwards.… Read More
There I was – in my branding and positioning class at a big fancy university – listening to my HW assignment: “Position Scope’s new whitening mouthwash.”
So I went out and spoke to a bunch of folks about their thoughts on this mouthwash. Turns out everyone wants white teeth, but ironically most had it that Listerine would ALWAYS do a better job because it HURT.… Read More
Client: The Light in Her Eyes Movie
URL: http://thelightinhereyesmovie.com
“We want it to look gorgeous! But we want the photo to be the MAIN thing on the page! None of the unnecessary extras.”
My kind of people, I thought. God bless minimalists.
Julia Meltzer and Laura Nix, both director and producer for The Light in Her Eyes movie wanted space.… Read More
“Once a Bschooler, always a Bschooler.” The email read. Marie Forleo’s team are lovely women, and when I saw the letter, I smiled.
“You know it!” I thought. I’m thrilled, cus you know I review and participate with the community every year. This will be my 3rd run.
Why this post?… Read More
There are two things I hate more than anything else:
Waiting for people who are uber late and
Repeating myself endlessly
Judge away. They’re MY pet peeves, thank you very much, and I can cry if I want to.
I didn’t used to tolerate it, ever, and the quote I heard more than anything else in my adolescence was: “Kat, you are too blunt.… Read More
Danielle LaPorte’s new book The Fire Starter Sessions is out, and I’m reading it.
Of course I’m a fan of Danielle! She’s a grounded mystic warrior and a stand for humanity. OF COURSE! Noooo brainer.
When I saw her at Marie Forleo’s RHH Live last November, I got goosebumps and fumbled to the mike, not caring AT ALL what I would ask, because I honestly had no idea what I would ask.… Read More
As budding entrepreneurs or small business owners, we are often faced with occasionally having to take on clients we don’t love.
What’s worse is that we sometimes cut corners around our costs when we really need the money.
We say to ourselves, “Just this once! I won’t lower my fees again!”
And then, after having told the client that you are doing them this ONE TIME favor and they thank you profusely, the project from hell begins.… Read More
“We can’t do this right now.”
My response in 2007 to: “Can we have one site that houses ALL of Jeff’s work?”
We were already far too busy. The Earth Institute was growing, and the web department (a tiny thing) was rebuilding EI’s home site along with the dozen or so center sites popping up like mushrooms.… Read More
Feb 11, 2012 will mark 1 year of this lovely little place I call “My Studio”.
It’s evolved: the name, the logo, the mission, the services. I’ve grown with her, reached high, fell, rose again, flew higher and met amazing people that I’ve stolen and put in my pocket for ever.… Read More
I am lucky in that when people feel like changing something on their site, they come to me. Lucky ducky, right?
Yes and no.
Being the perfectionist that I am, I often want to send people away.
Why?
Because if there’s no real reason to change something, I say “don’t”. If it aint broke…
The infamous BAD rebrand goes something like this:
Person gets bored with their logo/branding/site/banner, etc.… Read More
My mother sat in her favorite chair watching her favorite television show, Masterpiece Theatre on PBS, and I quietly joined her on the couch, sneaking chocolate from the candy tray on the coffee table.
She looked at me quickly and squinted. “Don’t eat chocolate at night.”
There’s always chocolate in my parent’s house.… Read More
I was on the phone with my client talking about the new site launch plan. I went through the steps we would take, and all was calm on the farm.
Then she asked: “Do you get nervous when you migrate a site?”
I paused. Nothing stirred within me. Not one. Single.… Read More
Yes, that’s me and Santa. In the former Soviet Union, circa 1986.
You see, New Year’s was arguably the biggest Soviet holiday of the year. Christmas gift-giving happened on New Year’s, with Santa not being a spiritual gift giver, but a socialist one. I remember those parties…
Typical Russian-style: Vodka, endless toasts.… Read More
Em and I at Brand Flight School have been getting a lot of questions about branding and rebranding as we’re getting ready to open up registration for the course in January.
In this short video I talk about my own recent rebranding, which seemed a bit daunting but doesn’t have to be, because the answer was literally under my nose!… Read More
Ever find yourself working on something until you can no longer *see* it? Or asking for opinions from people who have no business giving it? Or maybe you wait for two months to implement something you think may work…
We avoid making critical decisions by doing ineffective things in their place, thus simply creating more stress.… Read More
I get this question a lot!
So let’s dig in, and I need you to think about this as less of a technical question and more of a branding, big picture question. Cus that’s what it really is.
Below is the process I work on with my clients when they come to me with this type of issue.… Read More
I was at Marie Forleo’s Rich Happy and Hot this past weekend, and boy did it rock!
Without further ado, here is a post on some killer highlights from some amazing speakers (Ramit Sethi, Julie Cottienau, Simon Sinek, Laura Roeder, Derek Halpern, Russell Simmons, Cris Karr, Danielle LaPorte, Mama Gena, Josh Pais and of course Marie Forleo herself)
Ask yourself WHY
This is Simon Sinek’s baby, and his insight is key.… Read More
When you’re running a business, your vision needs to be aligned with your actual creations, otherwise they become a bit like Frankensteins: ineffective, stubborn and a great disappointment to you, the creator.
This often happens for one of these three reasons:
We forget what we set out to do and get completely stuck in the daily grind
What we set out to do gets no client response
We’re not representing what we’re doing accurately
1.… Read More
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