Disclaimer: I just wanted to write a little post about when it’s time to re-brand. However, as I was typing up this post, I started to reveal something I never wanted to talk about, because sharing vulnerable things is normally not my kind of things to do. After a lot of consideration I decided to share this with you, anyways – as I feel it will be of value to those who are struggling, too. So here we go without further ado.

Did you notice them? All the tiny teeny little changes that have happened over here? Okay, maybe the changes aren’t as subtle as I want them to sound – after all, you are reading this from the brand-new domain name Bliss For Your Biz instead of the good old Pixiedust Solution.

Yes, it’s true, The Pixiedust Solution is no more – instead, there is a LOT of BLISS FOR YOUR BIZ coming your way this year!
For sure it hasn’t been the easiest decision I ever made in this business, maybe it was even the hardest one. After all, I put so much whimsy & love into The Pixiedust Solution, why change it now?

Let me explain a little.

I had that idea for “Bliss for Your Biz” almost about 1 year ago and have had it floating around since. Maybe even longer, but in February 2016 I purchased the domain and reserved myself all the social media channels to go with it. The idea was to offer you something beyond Branding & Web Design, something that would be a more holistic approach to your business.
But I somehow never came around to play more with this idea – I was pretty much set up with daily life and big client projects I took on at that time.
2016 came and went and something I never expected happened – a client threatened to sue me.

Wait what?

Yes you heard it right. I was threatened to be sued.

Me, the over-achiever in client-happiness.

Me, the number 1 people pleaser who literally works her butt off to make sure everybody gets 200 % worth out of their money (often ignoring the scope of the project, because scopes are more guidelines anyways and doing more for free, because OMG I WANT YOU TO BE SOOOOO HAPPY).

Me, the digital fairy godmother who doesn’t want to do anything else than sparkle magic and bliss throughout the internet.

Believe me, I was as bummed about it as you are right now reading it.

But what had happened?

Basically, my once dream client I had already completed 2 projects for, turned into a client from hell. Deadlines weren’t met, but not because I didn’t provide the services I was asked for, but because the client didn’t deliver the materials I needed to finalize the project.

Communication was extremely hard because it was a team of various people on the other end, who sent me instructions that were contradicting each other.

Personal insults were made, thinly veiled as “constructive criticism” that, of course, all trouble & delays in the project were my fault. And when I got back to that “criticism” by telling the client exactly what was missing, backed by the correspondence of how often I requested that information or file already and what I would need to finish the job, I was accused of being “immature” and “doing finger pointing”.

I tried to fix this. Believe me, I really tried. I offered the client even to rush and finish everything in a few days if the client would just give me the missing files I so desperately needed. I don’t want to argue, I want to make digital fairytales.

And after all, if this project would go downhill, I would not only lose this project, but also the two other beautiful sites and branding suites I created for this client previously for my portfolio. The thought of this hurt me even more than the fact that this client still owed me the fees of 10+ hours of work I did on other topics.

I got emotional. I cried. I was desperate. I was devastated. What would the client do to my business? What would this incident do to my reputation? What could I have done differently to make this client happy again? And every day I went to fetch the mail, I was afraid to get a letter from an attorney, telling me that they made their threat true DESPITE being baseless.

From a rational side, I had not much to fear. I had my contract and my general Terms & Conditions in place that specified everything: That it is the client’s responsibility to provide for all the copy and other materials. That the client can’t sue me for some imagined loss of profit (The notion alone is hilarious, thinking that the client wanted to sue me for projected loss of profit for sales on an ecourse the client hadn’t even completed). I had my emails with all the personal insults, the threats and the abusive behavior, and still, I was terrified to the bones.

I ALMOST GAVE UP.

What’s the hassle anyways hanging on to a business that brought me so much fear? And why even bother anymore when all I had to show after a year was financial loss, a possible lawsuit and a ruined reputation?

I took a break. But I couldn’t step away.

Because this work is what I am destined to do.
Because this work is what lets me leave my mark on the digital world.
Because despite the fear, I knew I was being called back to to this work.

Let’s face it: I won’t be the next Jobs or Zuckerberg. Nothing that I do is groundbreaking, hasn’t been done before, ends world hunger or will bring peace to everybody, as much as I wish that
were my superpowers.

But I change lives, and businesses with it. With my talents, I make the web a better place – one website at a time. With my gifts, I relieve the burden on shoulders that already carry so much. With my visuals, I brighten up cyberspace (which can be a pretty dull place) and help building connections.

And for this one nightmare client, I had the pleasure and honor to work with several other clients who were an absolute dream, who gave me glowing testimonials and who even sent me lovely messages months after working with me on how they love their website and branding and how these things I created had a huge impact on their businesses and their success.
It’s weird on how easily we forget all the good things that happened to us because of that one bad thing.

So I decided to keep going, to push through.

I scraped together the last of my saved money and hired a coach I wanted to work with for a long time, because she always seemed genuine to me. Believing in values over numbers, much like I myself do.

I fought back. I regained my territory. Slowly, step by step. I launched products, I launched a challenge, I created a membership site. I got back to being visible, although it scared the heck out of me (and I wasn’t as consistent as I wanted to be with). I made new connections. But I also changed.

What began as a fun and whimsical business had grown into something else. Something I still was in love with, but also something that wasn’t fully me. I played small by reducing myself. By forbidding myself to be anything else but a “tech person”. Yes, I did put on the digital fairy godmother costume and donned my wand, but a part was still missing. As if I was afraid to unleash my full potential, or as if I needed a challenge that shattered me into thousand pieces – only to emerge from this challenge stronger than ever.

And as I transformed, I felt the urge of letting The Pixiedust Solution go, to pick up that Bliss for Your Biz I have been missing for such a long time in my own business.

So here I am – new and reborn.
Here I am, committing myself to one year of BLISS.
Here I am, stepping into my power, unleashing my full potential and owning it.

Will you join me?