On self-love + self-care: resources + goodies

Our year of celebration continues and this month, our theme is self-love.

Afri-love was founded on the principle of self-love. The idea being that when we love ourselves – as we are – we can then create positive transformation, for ourselves, for our communities and for the world at large.

This was my wish for myself and my fellow Africans, given the too-common thinking we’re surrounded by, that anything from outside is better and more desirable.

While these are big mindsets to shift, I believe it all starts with us on an individual level. It all starts with the self.

Self-love vs self-care

Continue reading “On self-love + self-care: resources + goodies”

Planning for excellence: my experiments

I thoroughly enjoyed creating the first 8 episodes of Soulful Branding Live with Lulu for you, and I was so pleased with how well they were received! Thank you for watching, for commenting, for messaging me and for sharing them.

One thing I realised is, weekly wasn’t sustainable for me. I took some time at the end of last year to really think about my goals and priorities, for 2020 and beyond, and how my different activities fit in with that (or not!). 

This planning time was PRICELESS. I am such a planner. I looooove it – I get high off it. 

One of my best friends recently talked about loving my “dirty, [control freak], draws!” This is after I sent her a spreadsheet with an itinerary and costs for her upcoming visit. 

Yep, love this stuff.

If you’re a planner too, I know you feel me!

If the thought of planning gets you into a cold sweat or has you running for cover, I am determined to make a convert of you, today.

I want to hear you one day say: “planning is fun!” 😉 Continue reading “Planning for excellence: my experiments”

Upcycling ideas: giving new life to old greeting cards:

It’s always my hope that the products people buy from me will be loved for a long time. 

I love writing special messages to my loved ones and I hope that’s enough for them to hold on to and treasure the greeting cards I write them in :).

But, I know that’s not always the case! I too am guilty of sending cards to the trash, in the spirit of decluttering and other life-changing magic. 

I always think to myself: perhaps I should keep them for future creative/crafty DIY projects Continue reading “Upcycling ideas: giving new life to old greeting cards:”

On excellence (10 years of Afri-love)

It feels like life until this point has been a rehearsal for 2020. You know, all the attempts, all the experiments, all the disappointments, all the failures. All a process of refinement, leading up to excellence.

Many people I speak to have walked into this new year with a confidence that they’re finally onto a winning formula. Whether that’s with regards to work, life or a way to negotiate both, without compromising the other.

I certainly feel like that myself. Continue reading “On excellence (10 years of Afri-love)”

Loving on your brand touchpoints

The last Soulful Branding course of the year has kicked off and I’m in that mode where I’m revisiting and thinking about all the course content anew. 

I’m doing the exercises again myself because, they’re a great opportunity to review what’s working with my own brand, what can be improved and what needs to be let go.

In thinking about whether my brand is still expressing what I want it to, I have to look at all the materials that are an expression of my brand and all the spaces or platforms where my brand has a voice. All of these are opportunities to connect with my ideal clients and customers so, I need to ensure everything is in place to facilitate this engagement.

In this episode of Soulful Branding Live with Lulu, I share how you too can ensure that you’re properly loving on all your materials and platforms, also known as touchpoints. Continue reading “Loving on your brand touchpoints”

Finding your purpose

Last month, I attended one of the most beautiful and fun weddings I’ve been to. One of my besties got married and it was an opportunity to catch up with many old friends and acquaintances, and make new ones too.

I ended up having quite a few interesting conversations about purpose. This topic often came up in the context of talking about what we do professionally and me prodding into the why.

Some people hadn’t thought much about why they were doing what they were doing – beyond making a living. Some were curious as to how you even go about finding your purpose or discovering your why.

Good question! I thought. And an ideal topic for an episode of Soulful Branding Live with Lulu :).

Continue reading “Finding your purpose”

Fearless branding: it’s time to share your gifts with the world!

Being fearless is something that’s been coming up a lot lately and it applies to branding too! I’ve been getting a wonderful astrology kick from Instagram these days. I was reading a post from Spirit Daughter the other day and the following lines really resonated with me:

“Once you see how powerful you are, then it’s time to share your uniqueness with the world. Virgo Season is a time to feel your self-worth and understand that no one is you. Virgo rules the sixth house of service and teaches that true service is offering your magic to those around you. Often we take ourselves for granted, not being our own perfection. Virgo Season is a time to celebrate yourself and embrace your inner Goddess as you share her fearlessly with the world.” [Emphasis mine]

You can’t imagine how pumped I was reading this. It’s so in-sync with everything the Soulful Branding course is all about:

  • Stepping into your power – aka your uniqueness – and sharing it with the world
  • The service of offering your magic to the world. 

Reading it I knew I was on to my topic for this week’s episode of Soulful Branding Live with Lulu: fearless branding. 

Continue reading “Fearless branding: it’s time to share your gifts with the world!”

A Soulful Branding case study: Alive with Amelie

I’m sharing this Soulful Branding case study, to give you a taste of what to expect from the online course.

One of my students, Amelie Muthundo, agreed to share her experience with the course and the beautiful visual identity that resulted from the work she did! 

Amelie is a medium, personal transformation coach and energy healer, guiding sensitive and intuitive souls on their healing journey to feeling more alive and happy. She believes life is a journey of constant learning and transformation is possible. Continue reading “A Soulful Branding case study: Alive with Amelie”

Visual brand identity development: getting started + Pinterest as a resource

I’ve worked on over 100 visual brand identity design projects in my career and, for me, one of the most exciting parts of the process is right at the start. 

Speaking of excitement, one of my guilty pleasures in life is time spent on Pinterest. There was a season where Friday nights would consist of me, on the couch, in my slanket (no shame!), with a cold ginger beer at hand, and Pinterest on my laptop. And I lovvvvvvvved it!

Luckily, I can often also justify Pinterest time during working hours and, today, I’m going to give you permission to do the same! 

Whether you’re working on branding for somebody else, whether you’re the one who’s looking for branding support or whether you’re working on your own branding – this post is for you. 

I’m going to share some crucial steps to take in the beginning of developing your visual brand identity, and how Pinterest can be a useful – and enjoyable – resource.

Continue reading “Visual brand identity development: getting started + Pinterest as a resource”

The most important steps in branding or rebranding

I was watching an episode of Queer Eye the other day, featuring the founder of Disabled But Not Really. As usual, there were plenty of tears and I continued to think about the episode for a while.

The overriding message was all about accepting ourselves as we are – with all the things that make us “different” because these are what make us special!⠀

It was a reminder to self to embrace my quirks and let them shine. Reminding myself to not be self-conscious, not to dull myself down, not to mask who I am.⠀

I believe this is such an important message for our professional lives too! Not shying away from who we are, when it comes to branding ourselves or our businesses, is so powerful! ⠀

Continue reading “The most important steps in branding or rebranding”