Getting Back to Basics: An Ode to the First Five Years
“Don’t ‘all lives matter’ your brand,” she said.
I was confiding in her about the struggles I’ve had over this past year refining the DEAR QUEENS brand. I wanted to make it more relatable—more easily consumable—but that proved to be more challenging than I anticipated.
With each new tagline I grew more and more uninspired. So instead of working through it, I decided to sharpen my gift as a writer on other major sites. I started seeing my name published more on xoNecole and Thrive Global.
Those sites already had a clear vision; and interestingly enough in its fourth year, I felt that mine did not.
SO I TOOK A STEP BACK.
I thought about exiting fully. I thought about deleting every remnant of what DEAR QUEENS was and what it has become. But I couldn’t let myself down like that…not yet, at least.
They say the first five years of building a brand is the hardest. I suppose I was experiencing that struggle.
DEAR QUEENS was created to help beginning believers find support in their spiritual journey. It was founded to help women and girls learn how to better love themselves so they don’t have to make the reckless decisions so many of us do growing up. It was conceived to show women that Christ is their way in, through, and out. Created to nurture their pursuit of Christ-like living and a love that would never cease.
It felt great sharing those messages. I wrote about salvation. I wrote about life after death. I wrote about grounding ourselves in God’s promises. I even wrote [plenty of] personal narratives about my own challenges and testimonies. I poured myself out on this site.
And as I changed...evolved...grew, so did the focus of this brand.
There’s a lot to be said about taking my readers on a journey through life with me. Something to be said about you all seeing not only my evolution as a writer, but as a woman too. In the midst of that growth, though, the main purpose of this got lost.
The more I found myself personally evolving, the more unsure I became about DEAR QUEENS. I found myself spending more time internally digesting my evolution and less time wanting to share about it.
As my availability (and perhaps, vulnerability) shifted, I needed something that could stand on its own two-feet. Something that would captivate and engage even without me publishing 2+ posts per week.
And that’s what pushed me to shift gears. Because I needed something catchier; something more appealing; something more relatable. And frankly, something that could scale more than a Christian blog could.
But see this work wasn’t meant to be ‘relatable’. It was meant to be transformative. It was meant to ignite a fire within women to change. To grow. To be better.
And no matter how much I tried to change it, nothing else felt good.
“Don’t ‘all lives matter’ your brand,” she said gathering me right up.
My purpose is this. It has always been this. I feel joy when people pursue Christ. I feel peace when someone’s load lightens because they’ve realized whose feet to lay their burdens at. I feel love when women—especially black women—learn to love themselves in healthy ways.
At the core of everything I’ve tried to create—of every iteration that came after my founding principles—is self-love and spiritual development. And I realized I couldn’t iterate this brand out of its founding mission. I can’t “evolve” myself out of my purpose.
So after a few ‘rebrands’ that is where DEAR QUEENS shall return: to its founding mission. I’m using this post as a proclamation for that. As a written declaration of me getting back to my roots. As a promise to you that we’re going back to the basics. That we’ll be talking less about the world, and more about our spirit. Less about career, and more about purpose. Less about lifestyle, and more about eternal life. Less about your own plan, and more about obedience. Less about what I want to write, and more about what God commands me to.
And while for some this change is new, to others this is a much needed return. So I thank you for sticking with me—through five years and beyond. I thank you for being as committed to your growth as I am to seeing you grow. Thank you for opening your heart to these words that I have, and will continue to, pour out to you. Thank you for being patient with me as we navigate life together. Thank you for being willing to receive the revelation God will provide to you through a DEAR QUEENS post, workshop, or coaching session.
And, Soleil, I thank you for helping me get back to the basics.