What Has Been Going On With Me
It has been a while since I have been consistent with my online endeavors. The chaos, mental burdens, mom guilt and busyness of life has drawn me away for a season. I think you can agree life can be hard.
Hard to balance the areas of your life. Hard to keep in touch with people. Hard to do the basics to properly care for yourself and your home. Hard to live up to your expectations of yourself. Just the little things that keep popping up to make things that should be easy harder.
Not to mention I have discovered I have probably been struggling with ADHD my whole life which was dismissed as a child because I was not hyperactive. However I’ve always struggled with focusing, organization, blue screening, feeling stuck, and overwhelmed with the sheer amount of things to do. I’ve always tried hard to compensate or ended up giving up.
Well right now I am feeling plain burnt out. Although I don’t want to give up on the blog or my other endeavors.
I have been going since before my son Colton was born. Often times I would work everyday with no days off because I just kept hustling and hustling and doing it all on my own thinking it would work out as a full time job eventually.
Colton is 3 years old and I regret some of the time I spent hustling instead of spending more time with him. I just struggled so much with balancing business, home, child, pets, husband, friends, family, horses, neighbors, church, and my other hobbies. Business was coming above all else which was not okay with me.
How This Relates To Name Change & Rebranding
Anyway how does this have to do with rebranding and name change?
I took a break from working online and it gave me time to think about my priorities. Which is more balance in my life, less business and more time with family and friends, organization in the home, time in the saddle, time for God.
I have two main businesses or projects I will call them. Sparkles Rainbows and Unicorns the blog and Joyful Equestrian the online shop. They are both related and connected but separate at the same time.
This means two Facebook pages, two Instagram accounts, two of each of the social medias. Having one of each is enough to handle by oneself.
I bit off more than I could chew when I started my shop in early 2021. So I have been thinking about it for a while now.
I want to downsize my work, by combining the two businesses. Changing Sparkles Rainbows and Unicorns to Joyful Equestrian. Having to manage only one of each social media account not two. One blog not two. One income and expense report not two.
So just to reiterate, I want to have less work to do so I can have more time for other things and more balance in my life.
Why Joyful Equestrian As The New Name?
Sparkles Rainbows and Unicorns blog came first. It originally wasn’t just a horse blog, but a mom blog with equestrian flair. Later I decided I just wanted to write about horses, because that has been my true passion.
Horses have always brought me great joy throughout my life. I want others to feel that same joy when they are around or working with horses. So that is where the Joyful Equestrian name came from when I started my store.
It also makes more sense to have it be called Joyful Equestrian because I am specifically writing for new and long time equestrians, where as I am not writing about unicorns. Though some horses can most definitely seem like unicorns!
It is also an easier name to remember and type out.
How I Will Do The Name Change & Rebranding
First I am writing this blog post to alert you to the change and explain myself a little bit. I will also be sharing about the upcoming change on my social media accounts and sending an email with this blog post attached.
I will be changing my shop from joyfulequestrian.com to shop.joyfulequestrian.com. The blog with be changing from joyfulequestrian.com to plain joyfulequestrian.com.
I am going to be putting a redirect for joyfulequestrian.com to joyfulequestrian.com for a year or more.
It will be a process with all the little details. But I just wanted to share with you all and make you aware because I write for you guys and appreciate you taking the time to read my blog posts.
I mentioned ADHD, well also a perfectionist. I constantly feel like change branding colors and logos because I feel it is not right or good enough. I know that is not the best practice because that is what makes people know and remember you. I have changed my Joyful equestrian branding 2 or 3 times now… oi!
I can tell you that I may change it one more time… maybe… hopefully and then I am going to stick with logo and branding. Mostly figuring out what is best with the blog and shop together, my mission, and values and what I want to be known for. It’s hard figuring it out guys.
I know one value I want to add is to be more real with you all in the sense of be myself, share my personality. I just want my brand to be more relatable to you and not only just spewing out information which is still good. But I want more connection I guess?
Also I plan to keep all pages and blog posts. I am following Google protocol and directions.
Until Name Change and Rebranding Happens
I will not be writing new blog posts until I am finished with name change and rebranding, because I’m gonna have my hands full. Not that I have been recently writing blog posts anyway because of my burnout.
However guest blog posts by horse people are welcome.
I will send out an email to subscribers when change happens. Also in the mean time email me at [email protected] if you have topics or themes you would like to see covered in future blog posts and video. Though I have been neglecting it as well, I do have a YouTube channel.
To Sum Up The Changes
Here is a quick summary to recap and for those who don’t feel like reading the whole post.
- I have been away from businesses for a few months now because #life.
- I have 2 online businesses the blog, Sparkles Rainbows and Unicorns and the shop, Joyful Equestrian.
- I want to combined them into one business, Joyful Equestrian.
- less accounts to handle for social media
- because it makes sense with the name, SRU was originally not just a horse blog
- to have more time to balance my life
- easier to manage than two separate businesses.
- Blog URL will change from joyfulequestrian.com to joyfulequestrian.com.
- Shop URL will change from joyfulequestrian.com to shop.joyfulequestrian.com
- Possible Joyful Equestrian branding changes in terms of colors and logo. Not definite though
- No determined date for this to happen but joyfulequestrian.com will have a redirect to joyfulequestrian.com if you forget so no worries.
- I will have a million little things to do to make this happen properly but eventually it will get done.
- I will announce coming change on socials and email.
- Blog posts and pages will be kept and moved over with Google protocol and instructions.
- I think that covers it…
Okay I am going to get to work.
Stay Happy & Horsey,
Kacey
