I have been learning about finding your why to help me understand myself as well as to develop my brand, both professionally and personally. And, what I am realizing is that a brand develops out of a story with help from brands who are already established such as athletes. One example that is used a lot is Nike.

Personally, I don't like Nike. I can't afford Nike. Nor, would I buy Nike if I could afford it. It doesn't make sense to me because none of my beliefs or values align with Nike. Now, try to take away my Dawn dish soap and we will be in a very long drown out fight. Why do you ask? Because of a commercial.

That commercial featured a duckling covered in oil being cleaned with Dawn dish soap. Implying that Dawn dish soap was economically friendly but tough on grease. The overhead voice or the sentence also stated that for every bottle of Dawn bought they would donate a percentage to cleaning the environment. Just on that alone I was sold.

But let me add to Dawn's story with a bit of my own. I have eczema and up until that commercial, I could not do dishes without my hands breaking out. It did not matter what I or my parents bought within our price range, I would break out. This break out was immediate. It came with severe pain that I had to live with on a daily basis because I was doing dishes all the time.

So this Dawn commercial brought hope into my life that I could do the dishes and not break out with a painful rash. I went to the store and cringed at the  price. I really could not afford that bottle of dish soap but we decided to splurge on the possibility of hope. And, it worked. I could do dishes without my hands breaking out in an ugly painful rash.

I now only exclusively use Dawn dish soap even to the point that I will sacrifice spending on eveything else to keep my Dawn. It has caused arguements in relationships about how one brand of dish soap is not important. It has caused fights over finances and spending. It has caused experiment after experiment to find an organic dishsoap that costs less or buying a bunch of differnt cheap dishsoaps to blend together. None of which got the dishes clean without creating some sort of painful rash. The Dawn dish soap is here to stay; unless they change their formula.

Nike does not solve any of my problems. It doesn't give me any hope nor does it inspire me to be a better person. Dawn dish soap does and it serves multiple purpose; including getting most of my embroidery clean. Isn't it interesting that from one commercial I found the answer to one of my problems but gained solutions to other problems I didn't even know I had - helping the environment and cleaning my embroidery pieces. 

That is what I want. A story that develops a brand that solves multiple problems while bringing hope and inspiration to people around the world. Currently, I do not know what that story might entail and how the brand is going to look in the end. I do know it is going to take some creative risk to find out. Thank you for being a part of my journey and remember to share your smile!