Why I rebranded my business (and what happened when I did)

I didn’t double my income by getting a prettier logo. I doubled it by finally being honest with myself about who I was, who I was for, and what I was actually saying online.

This is the story of why I rebranded Alexandra’s Archive in 2024, what was broken before it, and what changed when I fixed it. If you’ve been sitting on the fence about whether your brand needs work, this one is for you.

Where it started

In November 2023, I quit both of my retail jobs and went full time in my design business. Before that, I’d been doing client work at night, building brands and websites whenever I could fit it in around two jobs.

It was terrifying and exciting in equal measure. I was proud of myself for taking the leap. And for a while, it worked. I was getting clients. Complete strangers on the internet were paying me to help them build their brands, which felt surreal.

But here’s the thing: they weren’t dream clients.

I had no clear niche. I was working with anyone who would book me, across completely different industries, mainly in the wellness space. And because most of them didn’t have the budget I needed, I kept lowering my prices to make the booking happen.

I was working hard. I just wasn’t working strategically.

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The moment everything clicked

In 2024 I got engaged. And I became completely obsessed with everything wedding and events related, partly because I was planning my own wedding and partly because I’d always loved the industry.

That’s when it hit me. Why wasn’t I working exclusively with wedding and event professionals?

I knew the industry inside out. I was literally living the experience my clients’ clients were going through. I understood what couples wanted, what made them book a vendor over someone else, and what a premium wedding business actually needed to look like online. I knew I could help vendors get more clients.

But here’s what I also knew: my brand wasn’t set up to attract them.

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What was actually broken

At this point, Alexandra’s Archive existed. The name was there. But the brand? Pink gradient, neutral white background photos, a very plain Squarespace site, and messaging that could have belonged to any designer in any industry.

My messaging and positioning were completely failing me. They made me come across as cheap and inexperienced, which wasn’t the case at all. But perception is everything. And I had trained people to see me a certain way.

I had no idea who my dream client was. So I attracted everyone, which effectively means you attract no one, or at least no one with the budget to match the quality of what you’re delivering.

I realised I couldn’t just switch niches and hope for the best. I needed to rebuild from the ground up.

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What I actually changed

In August 2024, I rebranded Alexandra’s Archive completely.

New messaging. New positioning. New visuals. New brand photos. New website. New identity.

The deep burgundy, the editorial aesthetic, the “turn a spark into a flame” positioning, the newspaper imagery, all of it was built to say one thing clearly: this is a premium studio that works exclusively with wedding and event professionals and knows exactly what it’s doing.

And here’s what I want you to understand about that process: the logo was the most insignificant part.

What actually mattered was getting clear on my message. Who I was speaking to, what problem I solved, why someone should choose me over any other designer. The visuals just supported what I’d already built behind the scenes.

Your messaging and positioning subconsciously creates an opinion in the mind of everyone who interacts with your brand. Then your visuals reinforce it. Not the other way around.

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What happened next

I more than doubled my income in 2024.

But beyond the numbers, something shifted that’s harder to quantify. Showing up felt easier. I had one clear message and I could say it with confidence. I stopped lowering my prices for clients who weren’t the right fit because the right clients started finding me instead.

Every touchpoint started to align. My Instagram, my website, the way I communicated in emails, all of it said the same thing. That consistency is what builds trust before you’ve even had a conversation with someone.

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What this taught me about branding

If something feels off in your business right now, you’re probably right. That gut feeling is worth listening to.

But here’s what I want you to take away: that feeling doesn’t automatically mean you need a full rebrand. Sometimes it’s a messaging problem. Sometimes it’s a positioning problem. Sometimes it’s both. And sometimes the visuals are genuinely the issue.

The key is knowing which one is actually holding you back before you spend money fixing the wrong thing.

Here’s a simple way to think about it:

Your messaging is what you say. Who you help, what you do, why it matters.

Your positioning is how you’re perceived. Premium or affordable. Expert or generalist. Specialist or all-rounder.

Your visuals are what people see. Colours, fonts, photography, design.

If your messaging is wrong, no amount of pretty design will fix it. If your positioning is off, you’ll keep attracting clients who question your prices. And if your visuals don’t match the level of your work, potential clients will scroll past before they ever read a word.

All three need to work together.

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Is it time for you to rebrand?

Ask yourself honestly:

• Are you attracting clients who don’t have the budget to work with you?
• Are you lowering your prices to make bookings happen?
• Does your brand look like every other business in your industry?
• Do you feel embarrassed or hesitant when you send someone your website link?
• Could your branding belong to literally any designer, photographer or florist?

If you answered yes to more than one of those, it’s worth having an honest look at what your brand is actually communicating.

You’re in control of how people perceive you. That’s the most powerful thing I learned through this whole process. Whatever your potential clients believe about you, it’s because you’ve trained them to think it through your messaging, your positioning and your visuals.

The good news? You can retrain them.

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Thinking about rebranding your wedding or event business? Explore our branding packages here and let’s get started.