If you follow me on Facebook, you probably tuned in to see my live video last week. If you didn’t, you should know that there was a pretty big announcement that I shared with the world. In case you missed it, I’m filling you in now!

Having been a photographer of weddings and portraits (and everything in between) for over 7 years now, I have seen tremendous growth in this journey of being an entrepreneur. I’ve grown in my craft as well as my business altogether.

Part of being a business owner is evaluating and reassessing, all while attempting to head in a direction of success. Over the past year I’ve carefully assessed my business as Breath Of Light Imagery and analyzed the direction from which it has come, determined where I want it to go, and made plans for how I want to get “there“.

One of the biggest decisions I had to make was to simplify the name in which my business’ identity is built upon—a complete rebrand! My business is no longer Breath Of Light Imagery, but now is Tara Wilburn Photography! How exciting!

Since word had started to travel about the name change, I have had several questions asked to me in regards of my decision. To clear the air, I will go ahead and answer those questions right here right now.

• Q. WHY?
  • A. It’s all about simplifying my brand and making better decisions for marketing. While Breath Of Light Imagery was a name that meant something special to me, what I had found in my experience working with this brand name was that it was a lot for people to remember… and even spell! It was also hard for people to immediately understand upfront what my business was about! Which all leads to confusion when it comes to “word of mouth” referrals. With client referrals being so vital in a small business, this was a risk I could not take anymore…About 6 months ago I was on the phone with a photography-related company that prompted for my contact information. When the associate on the other end of the phone asked for my email address, I had to spell it out for him way too many times before he ever got it down correctly! Which has always been the #storyofmylife! When he finally got the email address correct, he chuckled and said, “Wow! I would never email you! hahaha…”I didn’t know whether to be insulted or inspired…. My heart sank as I thought, “is that how prospective clients feel?!… Is it too much effort for them to email me at info@breathoflightimagery.com?… Are they even spelling it right?!…” I wondered if people had ever tried to email me inquiries that never got delivered simply because it was too confusing. Or even just tried to access my website or Facebook page but had difficulty remembering how to spell it or what it even was in its entirety…

    In addition to that, there were several other unavoidable “signs” following that incident that were a huge nudge for me to move in a new direction. Needless to say, I had a rude awakening and I knew that the right thing to do was to make the change! No matter how much work that meant for me later on…

• Q. ARE YOU STARTING YOUR OWN COMPANY?
  • A. I personally have never been affiliated with another/larger “company” as a photographer. It’s always been just me. I plan to continue in the same path I always have gone. All it is, is a new name. That’s it! :)In retrospect, when I first began “Breath Of Light Imagery” there were a lot of uncertainties for me at that particular time. During that time I peaked an interest in dabbling in videography along with photography and I thought I might would want to offer that as a service. So the way I saw it, being identified as “imagery” instead of “photography” was a general term I could use to cover anything that met my creative talents. I now know that videography is not for me (and I have mad props to those who rock it out of the park!), and it’s not what I want to pursue with future clients.
• Q. WHEN?
  • A. I’m really excited to be kicking off the new year with a bridal show! During this past summer I knew I wanted to go ahead and start looking into local bridal expos for 2018. As I was making my decision about which one to book, there was something that made me hesitate going ahead and locking my spot with any show. I knew that if the rebrand was ever going to happen it needed to happen before I committed to a trade show. And I needed to decide right then and there the name of which I’d be signing up as. So this process really has been going on for about 4 months or so. Now that it is Facebook official and my new website has launched, I guess you could say it’s already a done deal. Of course the whole process of changing each and every little thing takes time before everything is completed. I still have a ways to go. My website is up and running, but still is a work in progress. Go visit it at tarawilburn.com!

Please know that I am in no way bashing the thought of using creative names for your business/craft. This is just what is going down in my arena of life. What works for one person may not always work for another… but what I’ve learned from my experience over the past years might just enlighten someone else’s business path. And if that be the case, I’m flattered! 🙂

All in all, it’s an adventure I’m so excited to begin! Thanks to all of you who have supported me along the way! Those of you who continue to shout my name from the rooftops, you are so incredible! I love you! And hopefully this change of pace will make it easier for you to refer my name out to your friends!