In November 2019 I rebranded my business, moving from Em Makes and Bakes to Nurture and Cheer. Seven months on, and I thought it was about time I explained a little more behind my decision to rename!
I can still vividly remember the afternoon back in 2015 that I set up Em Makes and Bakes. I’d decided to take the afternoon off work as the next day was the Easter weekend. With a couple of hours at home on my own, I sat at Mr Makes’ (we’d only got married a few months earlier) computer and set about starting my own blog. Over the course of an afternoon, I chose a WordPress theme, shot a background image, and got myself set up. I also decided on a name, and I’m happy to admit that I thought about it for all of ten minutes. Em Makes and Bakes seemed a good name for a blog all about making and baking; I eagerly hit publish and the blog was born.
It was as early as 2016 that I was already starting to think about a rebrand. Ahead of attending my first Blogtacular I updated my blog design and uploaded a refreshed cover image. The conference and then a coaching session with the lovely Allison Sadler gave me the spark I needed to take the blog further; this was no longer going to just be a hobby. I honestly thought that 2017 would be the year that I changed my name, but alas it wasn’t, all my efforts were instead focused on choosing a more important name, one for the little human I was growing! A new name was pencilled into the plan for 2018, but it never really got off the ground then either. 2019 came around and I decided that it had to be the year that I would make it happen.
Part of the reason the rebrand took me so long was that I couldn’t decide on a new business name. I’d toyed with the idea of just using my own name, but I wanted something else. I’d spend many hours with a notebook coming up with ideas, only to not find anything that felt quite right, or for those names that I thought could work, then find out that someone was already using it (or at least created an Instagram account years ago with the name, posted once, and then never used it again).
I knew I wanted something that both conveyed what my business was about but was still broad enough to cover moving to a more products-based business (as well as keeping the blog). Thanks to the search functionality within Facebook messenger, I can tell you that I first came up with 'Nurture and Cheer' in early June 2020. I’d debated for some time whether to include a reference to Motherhood or not, Nurture was a nod to motherhood, but felt more inclusive. My brand isn’t just for Mums, it’s for everyone who cares about themselves and someone else. ‘Cheer’ was a reflection on the positive nature of my business, and how my products are designed to be a reminder of just what amazing things you are capable of.
I mulled it over for a few days, asked family and friends what they thought, shared with some business pals, and it was decided, Nurture and Cheer was the right name (for one thing, I could claim it on Instagram!)
As I wrote this post, I realised that I’d spent a lot of time disliking the name of my blog, but looking back, it perhaps wasn’t so bad! It served me well for four years, that quick blog name I came up with in a flash was the start of something so exciting. It got me through some difficult times, gave me the confidence to experiment with my creativity, and it led to me meeting some wonderful people along the way.
Since November, I’ve been ‘Emma from Nurture and Cheer’ and it’s given me the boost I needed to start taking some big steps for my small business. I finally added a second job on LinkedIn, and was overwhelmed by the support from my colleagues. I participated in my first solo market, with my new name proudly displayed on the front of my table.
