I know, I know: you're used to receiving prettier, branded emails from me in your inbox in the form of the Marketing Design Dispatch. (Or maybe you're not exactly used to it, since I've only sent about 4 issues in the past year!)

When I realised I was burnt out in October last year, I hit pause on pretty much everything related to my side business, including the newsletter. I truly thought I'd take the rest of the year off and then be ready to go again come January.

But then January came around, and I still didn't have the energy to get back to the hustle that is running a design education business on the side of a demanding full time job in tech. I was still burnt out.

As 2024 has gone on (can you believe it's mid-September now??) I've had spurts of energy where I've dabbled in getting back to various parts of my business in a way that feels more sustainable. But one thing I haven't worked out how to get back to yet is my newsletter.

And frankly, that's a little embarrassing – I mean, I work for an email marketing software company after all! I know the value of staying in touch via email.

But I had a realisation last weekend while I was out on a hike: it's because I'm putting too much pressure on it.

I have my gorgeous email template with pre-created sections ready to fill with valuable content and links, and rather than feeling like a helping hand it was feeling like a burden. One I'd put on myself.

Structure and constraints, as a designer and as a creator, are meant to help – not hinder you from creating. And if they're no longer helping, you should make a change.

So that's what I'm doing with this boring (but tidy!) looking email.

I'm going through a period of extreme growth in my career right now (did you see my video about the lead role I'm playing in rebranding ConvertKit to Kit?) and it's a damn shame that I haven't been able to share more of what I'm learning and experiencing while I'm in the middle of it. I want to share it with you.

So today, following my hike-realisation, I'm writing you an email like I'm just typing to a friend to tell you about a few things that are going on in my life and career. No pressure. No fancy template. Just a few notes about what's on my mind.

1. We shared the new Kit brand identity publicly earlier this week! You can watch the process of creating it in this docuseries episode, or just get the overview of some core visual identity decisions in this blog post.
2. I honestly still feel a little bit speechless about how overwhelmingly positive the reaction to our new brand identity has been. I'm insanely proud of the decisions I've made throughout this rebrand process to get us here, but I'm especially proud of making the decision to rebrand in public and share our journey. It really feels like that decision has paid off, from the reactions so far. A good lesson in "it's not just what you do, it's how you do it".
3. I finally got the promotion I've been gunning for! After months of proving my value and pulling together examples of how I was operating at a higher level, the promotion went through at the start of September 🎉 I'm thrilled!
4. I've spent the last month in North America: first a week in Washington state for our team retreat, and then 3 weeks on Vancouver Island staying with one of my best friends and my Design Life podcast cohost, Femke. It's been lovely to spend so much time together ❤️
5. ConvertKit officially becomes Kit on October 1st. Announcing the rebrand at our conference in June was probably the biggest, most nerve-racking moment of my career so far, and this will be a close second 😅 There's still a lot of work to do, but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel and I'm so proud of how it's all coming together.

If you're interested, I'd love to keep sending little notes like this to you when the mood strikes – it's still a marketing design dispatch, but a little more casual. If you're not though, I won't be offended at all if you update your preferences or unsubscribe.

Enough about me: what's been going on in your world? Any wins to report? I'd love to summarise a few to share in the next email. What do you want to celebrate?

I truly hope you're doing well.

All the best,

Charli

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