I Built My Brand The Wrong Way
You know when someone asks you, “If you could go back in time, would you change something in the past?”
Usually, I’d say, “No, not really.”
Because I have a confession, and this is coming from a brand designer: I built my brand the wrong way.
So here’s the backstory of Kaaio Studio.
Back in May 2022, my firstborn was three months old, and while motherhood was anything but boring (hello, sleep deprivation), my brain was itching to do something that didn’t involve wiping bums or keeping track of nap schedules.
So I did what every millennial does when they’re looking for inspiration: I doom-scrolled Pinterest.
Logo designs kept popping up in my feed, and at one point I thought, “I can do that.”
And it wasn’t even 24 hours later, but “do that” I did.
I messaged my brother, who’s a graphic designer, and asked where to start. His advice was simple: create an Instagram account, find logo or brief challenges online, and post daily—not for the likes or recognition, but for accountability.
(Tip: it definitely got me used to showing up online before I even knew what “showing up” meant.)
So I created an Instagram account, subscribed to an expensive Adobe Suite subscription, picked a brief, and started designing.
For the next three months, I posted as often as I could. I connected with other designers and spend most of my time fan-girling over their work with 95% awe and 5% jealousy because I couldn’t think that way…yet.
By early September, I booked my very first client outside of my friend group.
I was beyond stoked 🤩
And by the end of October, I was fully booked for 2022.
Cinderella story? Yes…and no.
Because by the time 2023 rolled around, I told my husband that I didn’t want to go back to my previous employment, and wanted to grow the business and do it full-time. My goal was simple: replace the part-time income I would’ve earned had I gone back to my desk job.
Thankfully, he was fully on board.
That was the easy part.
The hardest part?
Growing the business.
“Well, Val, you’re a brand designer. Surely you thought about strategy before designing your own brand?”
You’d think so.
But remember the recap I just gave you? I didn’t skip any details.
Because as a go-getter, I was like, “I want to start something, and I want to do it now.”
So I designed the logo for what was formerly known as Ten Fourteen Designs based entirely on my personal preferences.
No strategy.
No positioning.
No ideal client.
No clear understanding of what I wanted this business to become.
And here’s the funny thing: that’s not the road less travelled.
It’s probably the most common road business owners take.
We get excited.
We put together moodboards, pick our favourite colours, and design logos before we’ve asked ourselves the important questions:
Who am I trying to help?
Why does this business exist?
What makes me different?
What do I want people to feel when they come across my brand?
It’s all fun when you’re starting a business.
But when you’re trying to grow one and you don’t have answers to those questions?
Well, my friend you’re stumped.
And that was me in January 2023.
So for the next two years, I reverse engineered my own brand.
I answered my own brand strategy questionnaire (and others out there). I researched my ideal clients and their pain points. I Identified gaps in the design industry (which eventually led to the Impact Initiative). And I dug into my previous business ventures, experiences, and passion projects to understand what made me different.
And somewhere in those two years, I realised something:
We don’t do brand design to start a business.
We do brand design so we can grow a business.
Because anyone can start a business.
But it takes strategy—and a whole lot of resilience—to grow a brand with the goals you have in mind.
I am incredible grateful for the journey Kaaio has taken me on because it gave me the experience that allows me to better empathise and collaborate with the founders I work with today.
But gosh, if I could save myself two years of business confusion and real-life R&D while actively running a business, I absolutely would.
So if you ask me if I’d change anything about my business journey, my answer is “yes.”
I’d spend more time understanding the business I was trying to build before I get to the fun stuff!
Ready to do things differently (and perhaps avoid two years of business confusion)?
Let’s build a brand with the foundations to support where you’re going, not just where you are today. Explore how we can work together or fill out the inquiry form.
I promise we’ll start with strategy this time :)
