Hello, For the Long Hall!
Hi Friends! I am so grateful to be sharing the new For the Long Hall with you today. This little space has been important to me for a while but over time it developed into something more… and it deserved some design love to reflect that. It’s also grown to something that is more than just “me” - it’s a project our whole family enjoys contributing to together. Additionally, there are a few things up our sleeve that aren’t necessarily blog related but definitely require more concrete branding than our old wedding website (fun fact: all I did was retitle it and delete a few pages when I “launched” my blog back in 2015 :)
As I’ve shared before, I’ve worked in digital marketing for great, fun brands for the entirety of my career… but the idea of formalizing my own brand is totally out of my comfort zone. I partnered with my friends at Honor Creative (remember my trip to Nashville a few weeks ago?) to take on rethinking my brand from soup to nuts and we are so happy with where we landed. The creative process itself brought me much-needed inspiration that not only shaped our brand but also gave me a fresh perspective on my day job. I feel refreshed and motivated and am so grateful to have had the opportunity to make this investment in myself. If you’re curious about what went into the rebranding process, feel free to take a peek at my brand inspiration pinboard and scroll through my muse board as well. I am so glad I went with an agency branding partner and completed the full creative briefing process vs. hiring a graphic designer to do a logo and site a refresh. For the Long Hall means something, makes me feel something, and looks like something, too - a huge shift from before when all of our channels were a hodgepodge of elements. The final brand board is the most curated output of their process - I got teary eyed when a few friends I sent ours too before final approval texted me back immediately saying “YES!!! It feels EXACTLY like you, but as a brand!”
images via pinterest
Our brand is so much more clear to us now and it gave C and I the opportunity to ideate and create together. Our tagline, “Living a Purposeful Life,” really helped me punctuate what it is we strive to build as a family. I't’s become our family mantra to live mindfully, contribute thoughtfully, purchase and consume sustainably, value simplicity, and root ourselves in gratitude. Everything we do and share should check all of those boxes and this process helped create those guidelines for us.
Which brings me to the next development… C will be taking a much bigger role in contributing to For the Long Hall. While this blog is only one small piece of our vision (most of which is not connected to being “influencers” in the traditional sense), it does require more time and energy than I have to offer and honestly his content is already a huge part of our presence here. Some of it will be behind the scenes, keeping us organized and getting bigger projects in a good place (like our 3-year home ownership anniversary post that I’ve been “working on” for…three years now, FULL of before-and-afters that take a lot of grunt work!). He’s got some good “dad hack” posts etc as well coming up that obviously I couldn’t write on his behalf.
In summary, welcome to the new For the Long Hall! There are still a few things for me to tweak, like really old post titles and adding a few thumbnails to fit our new template, but for the most part we’re in a good place. I’d love any feedback in the comments if you get a chance to click around a bit. Thank you so much for your support. I am so grateful for the community here and truly value and trust all of your contributions, feedback, questions, and support as I continue to navigate motherhood, family life, my professional career, and this little side hustle that fills me up and gives me such joy. THANK YOU!
Special thanks to Liz and Ann for being my entrepreneurial inspiration and such encouraging, supportive women in my life.
