My Ongoing Journey Of Branding Klein House

Klein House has evolved in too many ways to count since I first decided to build this brand. Starting as a food and home blog- I had no idea what I really liked and disliked; all I knew is that I wanted to start. I hit the ground running and since that moment, the ongoing ideas of what I could do with my business never really stopped. But, when it went from a food blog to the beginning workings of a graphic design business, it became more of a tool to write down ideas than a gallery of my business and the morals I hope to share.

I began to hate looking at or sharing my website; which is ironic because I know full-well how important a good website is nowadays to have a successful business. It felt too much like a mix and match art project than a brand and style I was proud of. It was full of choppy fonts, bright colors, and almost tacky graphics. Everything I loved in my life outside of work was always clean and simple; my brand did not match that. At the time, I would rather put my effort towards my clients, not my own page. This was all happening while I was working on the ranch and the internal to dos and projects for Klein House took a back seat while I spent days on end in the mountains; growing my business in-between the fun and excitement of my life and on a few lunch breaks. My commitment wasn’t fully with my business yet, and I know now it was because I found no inspiration in the content I was producing.

All those months in the saddle did give me time to find inspiration and discover new ideas of what I could turn Klein House into, without having to sit at my desk- a place I then avoided. I would let my mind go, and daydream about what I would want my day-to-day life to be like. I wanted to find a way to incorporate my business into that, while also giving me the push I need to make those dreams come true.

That is when I was faced with the opportunity to build my office. I got full creative freedom to take a garden shed and turn it into a quiet place to work, read, and write- all things that give me new eyes towards the world. My personal-to-business life finally started to balance out. This office was the first step for me to decide what I wanted to show the world, because I knew I had a place to manufacture those ideas into reality. I finally wanted to sit at my desk again.

Towards the end of 2022, and when the season officially slowed down at the ranch, I found myself with a lot more time to daydream and come up with ideas for what I would want Klein House to be. My new goal was to do a complete rebrand by the time the new year was here. I would go into my office and brain-dump all my ideas onto paper, and through the stack of messy notes, I finally got a clear sense of what I wanted Klein House to be. I wanted it to be simple, and nurture inspiration for myself and others; I wanted it to feel warm and welcoming just like home. I simplified the theme behind those pages and ideas into six words- the words that now hold the morals and mission of Klein House.

Community, Friendship, Organization, Inspiration, Creativity, Growth.

My to do list was a mile long and my deadline of New Years Eve was coming up fast, faster than I thought it would. Everything from my website, paperwork, and my social media accounts needed stripped down and rebuilt from the ground up, using those six words as the foundation. There were some days I would work on it for hours and had to peel myself away from my computer, and other days I barely checked my phone. There were waves of productivity and inspiration I suddenly had to learn how to ride, no matter how rough the waters were. This is a feeling that most self-employed people will experience multiple times throughout their career, and I had to teach myself that some work is better than no work, it will always pay off- so keep going.

The last day of 2022, I had a website I was proud of, and did as much work to it as I could given resources I had available to me. I knew that when I would start on those ideas turned projects, that I would be proud of where the end result would be showcased. Since then, I am focused on refining- adding the personal touches that make things warm and personal (just like home) and finding a manageable work load so I still have the room to daydream- a place I have always found it easy to be creative and find inspiration.

I am still figuring out the balance of social media and producing only original content throughout the Klein House platforms, and accepting that every single picture I take will not be the perfect, but it is something I directly produced. Sometimes I will be nervous and awkward in front of the camera, I will forget to post, and I will fall a little short on my deadlines, but it is how I take responsibility and come back from that to try again that matters most- because those are the best learning experiences to master your craft.  It is the most beautiful yet hardest part of being self-employed: you are your biggest critic and biggest supporter all at once.