Healthy Branding in a Time of Change

Change is an inevitable part of life and business, especially a small business. Change is constant yet, in the moment, it can feel quite unexpected.

Recently, designRoom experienced an unexpected change. A key member of our team moved on to a new opportunity. I’m very happy for her and she is going to do great things for her new organization. But we still feel her absence every day. In some larger organizations this may not seem like a big change, but with our close-knit team, it was a jolt.

This change jolted us into action – pushing us all to step into slightly expanded roles. That was a good thing, though. It forced us to put our theme for 2018 – refinement – into action. By not having that person in the office, we have all experienced that person’s role. Now I have a very clear vision of how to refine that role before a new person joins us, which will help him or her be more effective from day one. With everyone chipping in, we’re improving in spite of being shorthanded. It ultimately makes us more adaptable to future change, even after that role is filled.

This got me thinking, isn’t this exactly what a healthy brand is? I always say that one thing a healthy brand does is get everyone moving in the same direction. This experience is proof. We are able to adapt because we have a clear position and goals we strive to achieve every day. We are still moving forward, together. I have confidence in my team, they have confidence in me and our brand, and because of this our clients continue to have confidence in us.

Yes, change is inevitable. But owning a healthy brand allows us to adapt to change, to learn from experience, and to refine processes as we grow.