Put The Vampire In Your Brand: Your Strangeness Is The Key To Success

I've always been a little weird.

In kindergarten, I chased boys around the playground pretending to be a monster. I made a deep growling sound in the back of my throat and held my fingers out like claws. Yeah, freaking weird.

My 6th grade English teacher glanced down at my book report on Bram Stoker’s Dracula and said, “That’s an odd choice for someone your age.”

My high school art teacher widened her eyes in shock when I explained that I painted a portrait of Vlad the Impaler. 

But it was that same strangeness that landed me a new friend.

See, back in 2005, the types of vampire books I was reading weren’t acceptable to be toting around junior high (think L.A. Banks and Laurell K. Hamilton). So when I saw a girl reading Twilight a few months after it was published, I walked right up to her, “You like vampires?” Her face lit up and we started a friendship. 

Sometimes, that’s how easy it is to create a bond with someone. We find something that we both like and it ties us together.

But in order to find what connects us to others, you have to be okay with being weird. And you can't be shy about it.

The very things that have made you feel like a misfit are the same things that construct a giant sign. It's written in a special language that only fellow misfits can read. It says, “We're the same.”

This applies to your business, too. I have proof.

I used to CRINGE when people would ask me about my various business pursuits. You can only imagine what every holiday gathering was like. Picture me saying "It's good," to every question shot my way from each and every person I spoke with.

But this year, that all changed.

I found myself EXCITED to talk about my business. Almost eager. I wouldn't deflect or shut the conversation down. In fact, I willingly offered to show them my design work because I was...proud...of it??!!

That got me thinking - what had changed? I've owned businesses for 15 years and every single time, it felt like something was missing.

Not anymore.

My current business, Muse and Misfit, fully reflects my identity and the interests I've carried my entire life. You know - the interests that made me “odd”.

True, I no longer feel like I'm playing a part or acting as a character in my own business. And yes, it's liberating to feel like everything I do, wear, and say is "on brand".

But the real reason my business has been so fulfilling, is the greatest consequence of being openly "strange".

It's YOU. Yes, YOU reading this.

For the first time in my entire business-owning career, I'm being received by people who "get it".

Every time I post, I receive comments and messages from people that share my interests. It's like I'm time traveling back to junior high when I found my vampire-loving friend.

Each person that enters my inbox is like a breath of fresh, foggy air because I don't have to hide who I am in order to gain approval.

Every client that chooses to work with me is like a celebration from the universe because we broke free from the LIE that says you need to be normal in order to succeed.

We've all heard the saying, "Your brand isn't for everyone."

It's true. But it goes deeper than that.

Your brand is for someone. A very specific and strange someone.

It's for the you that you were when you felt alone in your interests.

It's for the woman that is afraid to wear her favorite clothes in public because no other locals look like her.

It's for the woman that was shamed for her differences and is desperately trying to find herself again.

It's for the woman who has always felt like she was ‘too much’ and needs a reminder that she was always, and still is, good enough.

I compel you...

Please create a business that brings to light all of the things you were taught to hide.

Be specific. Don't hold back.

Use your claws and fangs to carve out a niche - no, a world of your own making.

Use the glow of your eyes on a dark night like a spotlight to attract like-minded people.

Because every time a strange woman flies, it acts as a permission slip for other women to do the same.

So, put the vampire in your brand.

Embrace what makes you different.

Afterall, it's my favorite thing about you.

Love, Lune Caselle

Want me to design a brand that finally feels like you?

I'm currently booking.

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