I'm not a brand. I'm a human. 🫀

Reflections on marketing, identity, and neurodivergence.

I’m still recovering energy from the picture book launch. But I’ve written a longer piece for you today. This has been simmering for a while now.

Last year I took two big marketing classes by brilliant teachers and I’ve decided to ignore some of their biggest advice.

Entering my Human Era.

I’ve decided to stop trying to be a cohesive “brand.”

Is this a bad idea? Possibly.

Would I grow faster if I followed branding advice? Assuredly.

But it is not for me.

Over the years I have taken dozens of marketing classes for my many creative pursuits: marketing for wedding photography, marketing for bloggers, marketing for artists, marketing for - - yes, this was an actual class - - weirdos. (That one was actually pretty cool and I would honestly recommend, but I’m still ignoring one of the main lessons.)

What they all have in common is a bit of homework to describe your business in 3 words (usually in the form of a Venn diagram.)¹

So I carve parts of my identity away like Cinderella’s sisters trying to fit into the the glass slipper.²

I love a bit of homework. So I go about this bit of self mutilation quite happily choosing fonts and color palettes that best fit one facet of my persona.

I think I’m a decade into online marketing classes at this point. Because I’ve been doing this for a while it has become almost second nature. I don’t even question it.

“Branding” is just how it’s done.

After all it’s not that different than the autistic masking I’ve done all my life. Like many autistics I often find my place in social circles by adding “value.” So this concept was something I am well accustomed to. The homework assignment felt like a no brainer. Show people the stuff they want to see.

Don’t talk about Dungeons and Dragons in polite company.

I fragmented my identity into the bits that were marketable. Sometimes I might even create two completely separate “brands.” I did this for marketing reasons, but also to appear less “scattered”, “unfocused”, or “flaky”. I see now that I was trying to hide neurodivergent traits that are classically associated with ADHD.

Right after my masters degree I splintered into two people. The creative one and the geeky one.

I started a wedding photography business inspired by vintage books. Meanwhile I was making quirky YouTube videos as one half of Swot Sisters. I’ve never found a way for those parts of myself to really inhabit the same space. Even last year I started two separate Substacks.

An artsy Substack to talk about creativity. And a geeky space themed Substack to talk about neurodivergence (while weaving in lots of Star Trek and Doctor Who references.)

I finally merged them last month.

Over the years I’ve gone through a variety of rebrands. But I never found a “brand” that didn’t pinch like wearing a too small pair of shoes.

Then something extraordinary happened.

Even as I lost people who thought I was a flibbertigibbet³ I found myself surrounded by YOU. Curious, creative souls who don’t seem to mind (or actually like it?) when I color outside the lines, show the mess, or pilot the spaceship at breakneck speeds.

Buckle your seatbelt because it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

I am done with chopping off pieces of myself to appear more “professional.” I’m ready to put on my Frizzle jumpsuit and get messy!

Moving forward you can expect more complexity, more mess, and more contradictory humanity here.

I’m a human who:

• makes art

• writes fiction

• self publishes books

• reads sci fi & fantasy

• teaches theatre at university

• plays video games

• home educates

• bakes sourdough bread

• tends a messy garden

Who knows what may bubble up next?

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Other bits and bobs I’d like to recommend this week.

Read

This post by

Helen Redfern

was about writing, but for me encapsulates my lived (autistic) experience of social interactions.

"...what do we do with the emotions continuing to whirl around in our heads? We’re left bruised and mentally composing replies we could have said and, get this, trying to justify our work to someone who, quite frankly, will never appreciate it whatever we do."

The Fear of Your Writing Being Misunderstood and Attracting Negativity

Also resonating deeply with this post on navigating the challenges of being a neurodivergent author by

Stephanie Ascough

.

I'm a terrible writer

I'm sure I’ll talk about it again, but I’ve finally begun reading Tress and the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson. It is THE most beautiful book I own. It feels like I’m holding a book that exists inside a Fantasy world. Like I’ve stepped into a story and pulled this off the mantle.

It’s also a lovely lighthearted read. He wrote this for his wife loosely inspired by The Princess Bride (except the Princess is the hero).

I listened while playing this pirate ship ambience and it was pretty great. 🏴‍☠️

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That’s all for this week. Substack kept telling me I was going too long, so I kept a few links for next week.

Fellow nerds, don’t miss the footnotes below.

I’d love to know your thoughts. Leave a comment or hit reply to send me an email.

Cheers,

1. I actually did my own twist on this Venn diagram homework with my Constellation of Purpose. I was trying to unravel the idea that I was not 3 singular things, but perhaps my multipassionate pursuits were somehow united in purpose. You can download it for free here.

2. If you are not a fairy tale nerd… this does indeed happen in the classic Grimm version of the story.

3. Love this song. (The world could use more humans like Maria.)