Change is inevitable. Sometimes change is hard, but it’s usually  an opportunity to grow in one way or another. For awhile now, I have needed a change. And that change starts with my business. Which is why as of today, I am saying goodbye to Stacy Lynn Photography…

And saying hello to Stacy Kokes Photography!!!! Aren’t you glad you kept reading? Yes, that’s right…I am officially changing the name of my photography business and I couldn’t be more excited about it. Let me tell you all about the thought process and design process behind this change.

1. The importance of a brand

Branding. I never really thought about it much before I had a business or even when I first started my business for that matter! But somewhere along the line, I realized that branding is essential to any business. It truly is the identity of a company. In the photography business, that means that branding is a very personal thing. If I am my business, then my branding needs to reflect who I am. When I first started my business just shy of 2 years ago, I wasn’t thinking about the long term. I was just trying to get something that looked somewhat official that I could use in the meantime. Well, it didn’t take long before I was not happy with the logo that I designed myself in photoshop (go figure). So I changed it. And changed it. And changed it. As my mood changed, so did my logo LOL. So finally I told myself that I could not do it anymore. I needed help. I needed to hire a professional. Someone who could look at me and my work and create something authentic from there. That’s when I found Emma Robertson…

2. Finding freedom in letting go

For so long, I was trying to do everything in my business myself and it obviously wasn’t working out so well! When I finally hired Emma, it felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I no longer had to rely on myself, rather I had someone super talented to help me through the process. She was able to take who I was and magically create something amazing that I never ever could have. Thank God for Emma…I adore her and her work. Thank you Emma!!! xoxoxoxoxo

3. The need for a name change

I knew that I needed my business to be a reflection of me, but I was having a hard time figuring out what that looked like. I had come to like my identity as “Stacy Lynn”, until one night I was searching Facebook for my Stacy Lynn Photography and 5 other pages came up other than mine. I suddenly realized that I was just a face in a sea of other Stacy Lynn Photography’s and I was crushed. The point of a business is to stand out, and I realized that that wasn’t happening with my current business name. The last thing I wanted was for potential clients to mistake me for a different Stacy Lynn Photography. That’s when the wheels started spinning. I was already sending people to “www.stacykokes.com”, so why not change my name to that?? It was time to make my brand consistent + authentic and I think we did just that!

4. What’s different and what’s not?

My website domain has stayed the same: www.stacykokes.com

My blog domain has changed to: http://stacykokes.wpengine.com

The experience that you get with me will be the same awesomeness as always :)

5. What’s to come?

Be on the look out for a BRAND NEW WEBSITE launching soon as well as an updated blog and all my new marketing materials.

Now without further ado, I introduce to you for the first time: Stacy Kokes Photography!!!