From Flight Attendant to Branding Babe: What Losing a Business Taught Me About Starting Over
Okay, friend. Storytime.
I wasn’t always a designer running her own studio. Before Branding Babe, I was a full-time flight attendant with a side spray tan business and a whole lot of “I think I’m meant for more.” Then COVID hit, the spray tan business died, and I had to start over.
If you’re in the middle of a pivot right now, wondering if you have what it takes, this post is for you. Pour yourself something, get comfortable, and let me tell you how I got here.
The before picture
Picture me, in the galley of an airplane, folding little napkins and handing out ginger ale, thinking about my Canva drafts. I loved being a flight attendant in a lot of ways. I worked well under pressure. I met people from everywhere. I saw places I’d never have seen otherwise. And I was good at it.
But design had been there the whole time. Like, since my grandma was teaching me to sew. Since I was a kid making art for the fun of it. Since my first real job in fashion design. It never left. It just got tucked underneath the louder job.
Then I had a spray tan business, because I am nothing if not a “can you learn that? yes you can” kind of person. It was fun. It was growing. I was building something.
And then 2020 happened.
The part nobody talks about enough
When a business you built goes away... it feels like losing a a favorite T-shirt.
It’s not just the money. It’s the identity. It’s the story you were telling yourself about who you were becoming. It’s the vision board you’d been filling up for two years. It’s gone, overnight, through no fault of your own.
If you’ve been there, you know. If you haven’t, I hope you never have to find out.
I grieved it. I was honest about it. I let it be hard.
And then I did something I’m proud of. I asked myself: okay, if I’m starting over anyway... what am I actually starting?
Why I picked design (again)
I’d been playing at design my whole life. I’d done it professionally. I’d done it on the side. I’d done it for friends and family. I’d done it for my own businesses.
And I kept seeing the same thing: small businesses showing up with gorgeous hearts, terrible branding and overwhelmingly bad websites. Amazing services, completely forgettable visuals. Booking with their talent, pricing like they were afraid to own it, using Canva templates that didn’t feel like them at all.
I kept thinking... I could fix that. For them. And I’d actually love it.
So I did.
The first year was humbling (but also the best)
The first year of Branding Babe has not been glamorous. It’s me, my laptop, my partner’s support, a lot of late nights and even more early mornings. I took on projects at prices that now make me laugh. I said yes to things I probably should have said no to. I made a thousand mistakes.
But I also found my people. My dream clients started showing up. Small business owners with big hearts and bigger dreams. People who felt the exact overwhelm I’d felt. People who needed what I’d been quietly training my whole life to do.
Every project, I get a little more confident. Every client, I get a little clearer on what kind of business I was building. Every NA Beer or Kombucha at the end of a long week (the official beverage of getting things done, apparently), I felt more like myself.
What losing the spray tan business actually taught me
Here’s the thing about starting over. You can’t do it without learning some things you’d rather not learn.
Here’s what I took with me:
1. There’s ALWAYS an answer
This is the phrase that lives in my head now. When a client comes to me panicked about their business, stressed about their brand, overwhelmed about their website... I mean it when I say it. There’s always an answer. We just have to find it together.
2. Identity is not the same as business
I thought my identity was wrapped up in the business I was building. When it disappeared, I felt like I disappeared. That wasn’t true. I was still here. My skills were still here. My heart was still here. A business is a vehicle. You are the driver.
3. Empathy is a superpower
Before 2020, I would have said I understood my clients. After 2020, I actually did. You cannot fake knowing what it’s like to lose something you built. You just know, or you don’t. I know. That’s why my whole brand is built on “I’ve been where you are.” Because I have. That and “ I do it so you don’t have to”…One of my favorite phrases when talking to new clients.
4. Resilience isn’t about bouncing back, it’s about bouncing forward
“Getting back to normal” wasn’t the goal. Getting to something better was the goal. I didn’t want to rebuild the spray tan business. I wanted to build something that actually fit the life I wanted. The kiddo time. The partner time. The creative work I loved. The clients I could really serve.
5. The right business is the one that uses all of you
Flight attendant me. Fashion designer me. Spray tan business me. Cards Against Humanity me. The me that loves vintage clothes and thrift stores and my pets on the couch. All of it is in Branding Babe. The right business lets you be all of yourself.
To the friend in the middle of a pivot
If you’re reading this and you’re in the storm, I want to say a few things.
You are not behind. You are right on time.
You are not “starting over.” You are starting with more. More experience, more clarity, more taste, more fight in you.
You don’t have to have it all figured out today. You just have to figure out the next right thing.
And you do not have to do it alone.
Why this is the backbone of Branding Babe
Everything I do for clients is built on this story. Every logo, every website, every brand strategy starts from the same place: I know how it feels to want your business to look like the real, beautiful thing you know it can be... and to not be able to get it there by yourself.
I am the friend in your corner. The one who’s been through it. The one who will tell you the truth about what’s working and what isn’t. The one who will build you something you’re proud of, because I remember exactly what it felt like when I wasn’t.
That’s the whole thing. That’s the whole brand.
If you’re ready
If this sounds like the kind of person you’ve been waiting to work with, I’d love to hear from you. Whether you’re just starting, starting over, or finally ready to build the brand your business deserves... I’ve got you.
Start with a Strategy Sesh if you want to talk first. Jump into a Brand Identity Package or the Glow-Up Bundle if you’re ready to build. You’ve got this, friend. And if you don’t... I do. We’ll figure it out together. There’s always an answer. Promise.
