When the label goes blurry

For the moments when your story feels hard to name, even though you’re living it.

Have you ever tried writing your own bio and suddenly forgotten how to describe yourself?

It’s a strange thing, knowing who you are and what you do, and still stumbling when asked to put it into words. I’ve always found it ironic that the more immersed we are in our work, the harder it becomes to explain it. We get so close to it, so tangled in the day-to-day, that we lose the ability to zoom out and see it clearly.

Someone once told me, “It’s hard to read the label from inside the bottle,” and I’ve carried that phrase with me ever since. That’s exactly what it feels like when you’re trying to make sense of your own presence in the world, especially when the expectation is to make it sound polished, confident, even marketable.

When we’re deep in the doing, we forget how to name the being. We forget how to describe the things that come naturally to us, or the ways we create value that don’t fit neatly into a headline or elevator pitch.

That’s why brand strategy (real, thoughtful, human brand strategy) matters. When done right, strategy feels like coming home to yourself. It helps you find the words you’ve been circling around for months and reflects the truth of your work in a way that feels honest, grounded, and actually useful.

When that happens, everything gets lighter. You start showing up with more ease, more clarity, more energy. And people feel that.

If you’ve been feeling like the label on your bottle has gone a little blurry, or like you’ve outgrown the way you’ve been telling your story, maybe this is your sign to pause, get some perspective, and ask for help naming what’s already there.

I’d love to hear from you: what’s the truth about your work that’s still waiting for the language it deserves?