Brand Transformations
Brand Transformations is a private podcast that celebrates the real stories behind the rebranding journey. Join us as we dive into honest conversations about the struggles, victories, creative flow, and the incredible growth that happens when brands — and the people behind them — evolve.
Brand Transformations
Episode 5 Kaitee Villarreal
Thank you for listening! If you think it is time for your rebrand, or with any questions about my artistic process, please visit me at jmmartistdesigner.com or reach out at instagram.com/jmmartistdesigner
Welcome to Brand Transformations, the podcast where we dive deep into the real stories behind rebranding. I'm Jess Mercier, a brand strategist and designer, and I've had the privilege of guiding incredible entrepreneurs through the journey of stepping into a brand that truly reflects their vision. In this series, we'll explore the struggles, breakthroughs, and unexpected wins that come with rebranding, because a brand transformation is about so much more than just a logo. Let's get started. All right. Welcome to the next episode of Brand Transformations. I'm so excited today. We have Katie. She is a multi-level entrepreneur, one of the busiest people ever. She's insane. She's always doing a million bazillion things. She is a beauty guru. And I'm going to let her introduce herself to you because she's amazing. Welcome, Katie. Thank you for being here. Of
SPEAKER_03:course. I'm so excited. And I just I'm just excited that we met, like it was just random and I, a little backstory guys, I interviewed and I worked with like six other artists, designers before this and it was all just ass if I'm being frank. So I'm glad we're here and I'm glad I'm finally done with this rebrand. Yeah, that's, let's start with there. Second, I'm Katie, I own a, well, like she said, I do quite a bit of things. I started with makeup. 12 years ago. And then it branched into full bridal styling and artistry. And then now I just launched a salon about six months ago. So we did both rebrands. My old brand did not reflect where I was at all. And so it was time to just refresh and level up to match the level of service that I was giving. And then we're good. Thank you so much. You know, there's always something. And then, yeah, I just decided I was tired of paying rent and decided to buy a salon and build that out. So that was my next hurdle. And I needed I was kind of doing both at the same time. It was like my KV needed a whole refresh, but I also needed branding for Colony at the same time. So we just knocked both out and it was awesome.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. It was so, it was like a major deep dive with you. And by the end, I'm like, are you like done with me yet? Cause we worked together for months.
SPEAKER_03:Well, it was the worst timing, honestly. Like I was in the middle of my busiest season. I was in the middle of building a salon, which I've never done in my life and rebranding at the same time. And I was like, can I put anything else on my plate?
SPEAKER_00:No, probably not. But I feel like you're like me, like the more you have going on, the more productive that you actually are. Yes. Right.
SPEAKER_03:I'm like, oh, cool, cool. Let's just knock these things out real quick.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. So tell me a little bit about like, I mean, you said you had worked with designers before and it was ass. But like, tell me a little bit more about like why you were like or I mean, why you chose to work with somebody like me, because my process is very different.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, for sure. I mean, I feel like you vet. your clients just as much as we vet you guys. And that's important because you're like, well, do you even know what you want? Like, is this going to work? And the main thing I feel like I was confident is you took the time to explain how you do things and why you do things the way that you do before we even started. And you didn't charge me just for a consultation. Like it was, which I understand time is money. And as an artist, you want to get paid for your time, but also you have to, that's just part of doing business is getting to know people a jump in and spend thousands of dollars like on something that may not work and because I was so hesitant because I had bad experiences prior I was like look you really gotta know what you're doing or else I'm not giving you any money like that was just how it was so basically what compared you from the others was your level of caring and that you are an artist like through and through you want to pull the aspects of whatever the business is out and then put that on to into the design. And some people don't care. They're just like, okay, well, cool. Here's a logo and some colors and have fun with it. But you really took who I am and what I'm trying to achieve and understanding my business more. And you took that and you said, okay, how can I make that into a cool logo and make this a brand, not just like a a logo, right?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. It's, um, it's just so fun. I love how you talked about how like we sort of vet each other. And I tell people all the time, like if you're working with a designer, like you have to meet with them and be on the same
SPEAKER_03:personalities, all of it,
SPEAKER_00:personalities, all of it style, you know, like it's funny. Cause I have people and it's probably similar. Like, have you been to my website? Have you seen my work? Like, have you seen the style that I like to do? Like, and you know because if somebody's going for like full glam makeup or right whatever it is like there you there's so many different styles of artistry and I think it's so interesting because I work with a lot of creatives and different aspects and that's one of my favorite things
SPEAKER_03:yeah well and I think that's why you work with creatives is because you are creative and you understand how important building a brand is for creatives you can't just slap some stuff on a paper like it looks great like a corporate preparation it's not the same thing it's
SPEAKER_00:yeah pretty pretty only gets you so far like it has to it has to reflect who you are and you have so much you are so fun to work with because you have so much energy and you're so and one of the things that I loved about you is like you had opinions you know like you were it's not very strong opinions but what I think about my collaborative method is that I love people with strong opinions like this is your baby this is your business this is your brand and if you're coming to the table going oh yeah it's super pretty awesome awesome awesome that doesn't actually push me to be better so that's why I love the collaboration with strong minded people because we always get to a better place I agree yeah
SPEAKER_03:and I don't think it took us long either like I love that you were willing to like get on zoom and be like, okay, this is what I got. And I'm like, okay, well maybe tweak this or maybe change that or add a little flare here or whatever, whatever. And you're like, okay, cool. And then we just did it together. And I liked that because the last person I worked with, like, she just like sent me some images and was like, what do you think? And I'm like, well, I hate all of it actually. Like, I don't, I don't even have a direction from here. Like this just isn't it, you know? Like, how do you say that in an email? You don't like.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. And so many things can get misconstrued in emails. Like, I'm sorry, but like, I've gotten, I've gotten a text message and things like that where like, I'm like, oh my gosh, are they mad at me? Like they, do they think I like, you know, you can come across as a bitch in an email real easily when really you were just, you were just busy and doing 10 things at the same time. And just like, you know, um, and I think that there's something to be said for like directness and hearing somebody's tone of voice. And I like to see people's faces. Like I like, I can read. Yeah. how people are, are feeling. And I'm like, Oh, okay. That's not it. But let's, I actually love when I get, when I, when I show somebody something and it's wrong. Yeah. Because it's like, okay. Okay. Immediately. No. And pivot. Okay. So what did we learn? Why do you not like it? Why? You know, it never, my, it never fails to when like, people are like, Oh, I'm really sorry. Like, I didn't want to hurt your feelings. And I'm like, I'm like, Moving on.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Not at all.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. So what was something that stood out to you in the process of branding besides like the, you know, being on Zoom or whatever? What on your end was maybe like a biggest challenge?
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:For like meeting or what?
SPEAKER_00:No, for like maybe making decisions or what, like on the back end while I was doing my thing, what was the hardest thing that you were going through in the thought process of the rebrand?
SPEAKER_03:I'm super indecisive. Like, well, I'm afraid I'm going to make the wrong choice. And with a rebrand, my last one was 10 years ago. And it was with a friend who I knew who's literally like a magician when it comes to branding and marketing. And I... felt like his designs and where he was at was very masculine and that's not what I wanted and so I was very nervous trying to find someone that could compete with that per se because we literally sat down together and like hashed it all out and so it was really easy to just bounce ideas and we got it done in like an hour which was not heard of okay not heard of but like we just I was like okay and we just like collaborated together and did it and trying to find someone that does that was like That's not a thing. You're just like, here, here's some mock-ups. And then, but you kind of bridge the gap between like what most artists do. And, and that is like, you, it was still like a collaborative effort, but you're like, okay, let's meet, get all your ideas. And then, you know, all your questions and all this stuff. And then you kind of came up with what you thought I liked. Then we met and it was it was the combo of like you pulling what you thought that you knew that I liked and having a starting point, because sometimes you're like, well, I don't even know what direction to go with with this. So you just kind of started it. And then it was really easy to take it from your interpretation of what I wanted versus me not knowing where to start and then taking it from that perspective. point on I think was the easiest part but like if if we never had that initial and then you didn't have the creative outlet to create that first set of mock-ups I would have been lost as hell like so that I think that was the hardest part was trusting that the first set of mock-up was going to be good because I was like I don't know if you fully understand what I'm trying to say and that's that's the hardest part is like pulling it from here and telling you what I want And I'm like, cause I'm so visual that it's like, I don't know. And I could not find what I wanted online. It doesn't exist. Like to this day, furniture doesn't exist that I want. Like literally everything that I try to, create is it's it doesn't exist and my husband's like this is crazy like how do you just come up with these things I'm like I don't know it's just the way my brain is wired like I want to merge these four things together and create this and he's like well that's the thing I'm like well it could be we can
SPEAKER_00:make well it should be a thing I think so
SPEAKER_03:I'm like well I the hard part for me was like getting you to understand that I wanted all five of these aspects smushed into one but sometimes those don't smushed together very well. So I think you nailed getting all of the things that I wanted, even though they didn't necessarily go together to together
SPEAKER_00:together.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. That was my biggest, I think was like, how is this all going to work?
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:I think
SPEAKER_00:one of those things when it comes to design is having all of these ideas and knowing when to edit and when to strip back. Because somebody looking at your logo would probably not think so much was involved in that. Yeah, they're like, oh, it's simple. No. No. There is so many little intricacies. And I think that that's one of the things that I love to do is kind of try to make all of the dreams come true, but also knowing that it is my passion. my job to be like, okay, but this is where we need to reel it in because when it comes to branding, my aesthetic is less is more. And I think, you know, that's really important. Um, but I, I also love, you know, bringing all of the ideas in and having like sort of the big vast, like let's go for it and then peel, like kind of build the onion back. Like, okay, this is like the big thing, but let's, let's get down to the core of like, like what's really gonna work for you. It is. It's really hard. But I think that that's also why working alongside somebody that kind of has your same mentality is really good. And working with somebody is kind of like your mirror as like, okay, I'm going to show... Sometimes I also love to show people something that I know isn't right so that they are like, yep, you're right. Okay, that's not it. Yeah. So... So we did sort of a, we did a little, we did a refresh of KB, KB beauty. Um, and that was definitely, you know, you knew who you were, so I didn't need to help you like develop mission and values. That was like refresh. Okay. Like we know who you are. Let's just make sure that the palette and the type and the logos are all visually pleasing and matches all of that. And then we dug into Colony.
SPEAKER_03:The
SPEAKER_00:whole other thing. So let's talk about that. And I thought it was kind of cool that we did focus on KB and then we had developed this working relationship so that when it was time to dig into like the bigger brand and the new business, we had already established you know, I think a level of trust.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I think it was easier because we were fully done with KV before we started Colony, right? Yeah. Or we were like on the tail end of it and they're like, okay, let's start with this.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:So, and I, because they're intertwined a little bit, like because KV operates out of Colony, like I already knew who my ideal target audience was and like what I was trying to achieve, but I didn't have, because it was brand new, like we weren't even open yet. It was hard to figure out like, exactly what I wanted. And you helped kind of pull that out of me a little bit. Like
SPEAKER_00:you didn't even have a name when we first started.
SPEAKER_03:No, you helped me figure that out. Like that was hard. So hard. Like we literally did it all.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. All together. And that was so, that was like a really fun. Cause I don't technically, I mean, it was, I don't usually do that, but I remember like major brainstorm sessions of like, it was cool. Crafting that all together. And that was that was like a that was a high. I think that was probably my highlight of the whole process was being able to support you in that way. So that was I was
SPEAKER_03:lost. I was like, I don't even know. Because every name I wanted was taken.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:And so then we were like, okay, well, how can we spin this? Into something, you know, into
SPEAKER_00:something. Yeah. And how how is it going at Colony? How is everything good? Oh,
SPEAKER_03:my God. It's yeah. Like it's I mean, we've been open six months. So we just did a photo shoot yesterday with like confetti cannons and balloons and all the fun things. So you'll see that in about a couple of days.
SPEAKER_02:I know.
SPEAKER_03:So, yeah, it's been really good. And then all of my branding stuff. Fonts, colors, all of that fun stuff. I have a social media person that is making my videos and all of my content and stuff. And so he's doing a really good job of keeping that in mind when he's creating content and using the fonts and the colors and all the things. So everything is very, very cohesive because my fonts are not on Instagram. They're not even close.
SPEAKER_00:No, no.
SPEAKER_03:So I had to like share all the files with him and like give him everything. And then I gave him my brand guide and like was like, OK, this is how you use this because you can't just be like, oh, here's some fonts. Good luck.
SPEAKER_00:Right. Yeah. And it's funny because I'm working with another client right now. And he's he's got one person doing photography, one person doing this, one person doing this and that. And so I feel like it's kind of nice to have that style guide to hand to people that are supporting your business because it's a really good, important tool. So I'm glad that's come in handy.
SPEAKER_03:Important, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I know, because you do a lot of video content and technically the colors and fonts and stuff don't necessarily go into video content as often. I mean, no, but
SPEAKER_03:if you have someone doing it, it should. it should. Yeah. Overlays and whatnot. Yes. 100%. I
SPEAKER_00:know. I know you and you have, are you so consistent with your video content? It's like, it's like, I'm like, it's like a whole, it's a whole other second, third, fourth job for you.
SPEAKER_03:Well, so I offloaded it onto somebody else to make my life easier. Cause I knew it was a part of my business that I needed to do, but I didn't have time for. And so I, this is my fourth social media person I've been working with. And we've had our little issues, but like it, you know, he's, he's been killing it lately. Yeah. Like I literally just give him, the footage and I say, these are my ideas with the content. And sometimes I don't even get my ideas. I just give him a Dropbox full of stuff organized into like the categories and he literally just pulls it, creates content and then like uploads it. And I either accept it, make a couple of tweaks and then I just upload it. Like it's insane.
SPEAKER_00:That's awesome. That's so awesome.
SPEAKER_03:To be consistent in, because we, your branding and your marketing are kind of cohesive, you know, like you have to do both together. So yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. No, it's very, it's, I mean, usually the branding comes first and then marketing comes second and, and having that established, you know,
SPEAKER_03:you know what you're, who you're marketing to or who you're marketing to and who you are. They even know who you are. Like it has to be visually consistent. So
SPEAKER_00:yeah, absolutely. And then have you guys done the website for colony yet? Is that still, is it
SPEAKER_03:not perfect, but it is up.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Well, I'm a huge proponent of done is better than,
SPEAKER_03:I agree. I'm just like it needs to function and it's serving that purpose and it's getting us on Google. It definitely needs some love as far as like layout and design goes. But as far as functionality goes, I'm cool with it being what it is for the moment. So, yeah. Yeah. Unfortunately, it's not what I want, but like it's just on the back burner right now.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Well, put it on the back burner and let me know. You know, that might be great. You know what? I might outsource that to
SPEAKER_03:you.
SPEAKER_00:Hey, can
SPEAKER_03:you just fix this? Can you just, yeah, it's pretty close. Like I've got everything, like I've got all the branding uploaded into there and I've got it in. I just don't like the way that I've put the colors on there. So it's really not crazy, but yeah, it needs a little love for sure.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. I mean, we all need a little love. Yeah. Um, so, um, How do you think your business, obviously not with Colony because that was a new business, but how do you think since rebranding KV has your business changed? And did you feel differently after the rebrand?
SPEAKER_03:I completely felt differently. And I feel like people took me, or maybe this was just what I thought, people took me a little bit more seriously because my brand looked different. more elegant and it looked higher end and it it gave me what I wanted in order to move into the next step because I was working with a certain type of clientele that I was trying to get away from I was trying to level up and with my branding and the colors and like everything that I had it screamed amateur because it was 10 years old and so with redoing everything I feel like people one took me more seriously because they're like oh she's serious like she just spent all this time all this money all this energy like refreshing her entire persona I I guess you could say online. And then I hard launched all of my, everything else kind of followed after that. Like I updated all of my photos, all of my imagery, all of my wording, like everything else kind of followed suit because I had the visual representation first. And so I think it really, one, just made me take myself more seriously as like stepping into that next level of business that I wanted to be in. And then two, having my team and my employees take me more seriously too, because they're like, oh yeah, like we got to look the part. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So that's amazing. That's like one of my, my favorite things to hear is like that. It, it felt like jumped up, jumped up like that puzzle piece of like confidence, you know? Cause I think that, um, and I know that you worked with the designer, but you know, a brand that's 10 years old that you kind of, you know, the DIY or it was just time, you know? So, um, um, I don't know. I feel like you and I just talk so fast. We just cover all of it. No, I think it's great. It's awesome. Can you tell us anything else about the process? If somebody is on the fence when it comes to branding, can you give them some advice?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. I feel like in this day and age, a lot of people try to pretend that they're something that they're not, right? And you can't let your brand be more than who you are if that makes sense so i waited until my brand was past me or below me if that makes sense in order to like refresh i i i would say probably don't wait that long you know because i was doing the business i had the revenue i had the team i i i had it i just didn't look like i had it and then people were like oh oh, okay. Like when they, when people got to know me, they're like, oh my God, you have a full blown business. I'm like, yeah, guys, like, I know it just doesn't look like it. But also on the flip side of that is I know people that look like they have their shit together, but they're not booking any clients. They don't have the, like, they don't have the business fundamentals set up and ready to go. So I'm like, kind of be in the middle, like worry about not necessarily your image first, but worry about building that business first and then make your image match that. Because as you evolve as a business owner, the things that you, the clients that you attract, the people that you attract, that your image that you want to portray to people is going to change. And so I think making all of that kind of work synergistically together, don't put one before the other. Yeah,
SPEAKER_00:absolutely. I mean, I've had people that's I completely and totally agree that like right in the beginning is not the time to spend thousands of dollars on a brand. Like it's it's really not because you learn so much in that first five years of business. You learn who you really want to be working with and your processes and like all of that stuff. So I absolutely fully agree that like I love working.
SPEAKER_03:First business. Cool. Like, wait, but if this is your second and third and you have a plan and you know exactly what you want, you know exactly who you're trying to attract, that's completely different. Like, there's two types of business owners, the newbies and the very experienced ones. Like, we're talking to the newbies here.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, we're talking to the newbies, like, maybe just, like, in the, yeah. I think, you know, but, yeah, I love, I think established businesses entrepreneurs, you know, it's, I love working with people that understand branding and they understand that it's more than a logo and it's, you know, it's an opportunity to get out of your own way, you know? And, uh, and I love working with people that, that like get it. So
SPEAKER_03:people get it until your years and you're like, Oh, I was like lost in the sauce. Yeah. I was like, I'm just doing makeup. Call me, I guess. Call me. And now I'm like, you can go to the website and book the appointment.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Yeah. That's awesome. Well, thank you so much for your insights. Can you tell everybody where they can find you and tell them a little bit more about yourself and your services, like what you do and how to find you?
SPEAKER_03:I don't like talking about myself, but here we go. I mean... I'm like, I just do things, I guess. So hair and makeup, you can follow us on Instagram. It's kvbeauty. Website's kvbeauty.com. We're kvbeauty everywhere. As far as the salon goes, that's Colony Salons. And on Instagram, I kind of try to keep it all cohesive, but everything is kind of intertwined. If you go to our KV website, it's going to dump you into Kate colony. If you find us on colony, it'll dump you back into KV beauty. So it's all interconnected. And the cool thing about our salon, that's different. Like I could talk about hair and makeup and weddings and all that stuff all day long, but I think. the really cool thing about what we're doing now is we are a coworking space. So any, we bridge the gap between new baby artists and seasoned stylists and not having to like work out of your house or travel to all of your clients. Like we allow you to come in and rent space as needed. And so I think it's great to help people transition from here to here without having the overhead and the expenses of, having a brick and mortar because it's insane like the overhead is insane so I wanted to be able to help the younger version of me and that's why I created what I created here at Colony is to be able to to do that so if y'all are looking to just get services done find us kb beauty um but if you are an artist and you want to follow us for just tips on like business entrepreneurship how to run a business how to be in the beauty business because that's a little bit different than just regular you know brick and mortar business then follow our colony page but yeah that's That's us in a nutshell. I mean, we have a massage therapist here. We have estheticians here. So we do all of your non-chemical services. The best way to explain us as a non-chemical service salon, we don't do your cutting and your coloring and your perms and like all that stuff. We do specialty styling, makeup, and then all the like relaxing spa treatments.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. That's amazing. And I think one of the things that I, that was so inspiring about working with you and colony was this new idea that you had. And the fact that like, it's, it's also about building, um, collaboration and working together and knowing that like you could learn something from somebody or bring in a client that needs multiple services and you're all collaborating I mean what was the I might like I kept saying like we come together to serve the queen you know and I think it's such a cool idea because I love collaborating with other creatives and collaborating with passionate people so I love that you built the whole business kind of based on that
SPEAKER_03:well and in our industry it's not common to work together. People have this crazy scarcity mindset that like, oh, you're going to steal my clients or this or that. No. Clients go to who they feel is right. And if that's not me, cool. Whatever. I don't care. Because there's plenty of other people out there. And then just being able to have Like if I can't take a client, like instead of losing my client, I can just pass them off to somebody else in the salon and then they can just come back to me whenever they're done. And if they decide they want to stay with them, that's cool too, because now I filled their books. So it's not like a, I don't know. It's just, it's building that community around a non-community driven industry, basically.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:It's different. I mean, a lot of people, when I told them what I was doing, they're like, you're crazy. This will never work. And I'm like, okay, watch me.
SPEAKER_00:Watch me. That's my favorite. Watch me.
SPEAKER_03:And now when I call them, they're like, oh my God, how's it going? And I was like, it's wonderful, actually. They can't believe it.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Well, I can't imagine that with your magnetic energy that you wouldn't just be surrounded by people that are inspiring and to inspire you like you are just a joy and and all of your positivity and energy is i don't know yeah the negative
SPEAKER_03:people just cannot stay around me and i love it i'm like propelled like you know a couple couple days they're like oh this is not for me and i'm like i'm just glad that i'm so positive that y'all just literally help yourselves out yeah See you later.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it's amazing. So, yeah. Well, I'm so happy for you. Congratulations on the success of Colony and the continued success of KV. And I see you. I watch everything that you do. So you've got a fan in me. And thank you for trusting me in the process and for being here with me today and sharing your story.
SPEAKER_03:Thank you for having me, honestly. Like, this is great. Like, it was meant to be that we met, honestly. Yeah. This is great.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. I can't even remember where, where it was. You just like popped into my inbox one day and I was like, well,
SPEAKER_03:I think we were at two tones to be honest. Oh, were we? I think it was, which I never go there ever. ever. And like somebody, I think it was Amanda, like begged me to come. And I was like, I
SPEAKER_00:guess that was what it was. It was a networking thing. So it's good to go out there and network and meet people in person. And I remember you handing me your card and you were like,
SPEAKER_03:I'm like, don't judge.
SPEAKER_00:Don't judge me. No,
SPEAKER_03:I did. I straight up. I was like, these cards are trash. This is why I need you.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. And I will say this for the record. I do judge your business card, but it's not out of judgment. It's out of absolute and pure love and me wanting you to be better. That's all. I
SPEAKER_03:knew it was bad. That's why I was like prefacing. Hey, before you look at this, like people
SPEAKER_00:do that. I swear to God, like every time somebody hands me a business card, they're like,
SPEAKER_03:I'm like, have you seen my new ones? Wait, let me show you. I don't even think that I have. Okay, so I made a couple because I have the spa and then the hair and makeup and then the thing. But it says, I know a girl that does pretty brows. Isn't that fun? And I got my little QR code on the back. Okay, I love it. I love it. It's very just casual, fun stuff. Cause I'm not serious. So
SPEAKER_00:no, it's so cute. I love it so much. So anyways, this is great. Thank you. This is awesome. Thank you so much. I feel like we could just like chit chat forever. But maybe we'll do another six months check-in and see what other big things are going on. So awesome. But great till next time guys. Thank you so much.
