Be You! - by Casie Shimansky - Wedding Photographer

In this article Casie Shimansky from TheNameIsCasie.com goes over the importance of being you and the steps she took to turn her photography industry into her! 

Casie is a Wedding and Lifestyle Photographer based out of Orlando, FL.  Formerly known as Rebel Belle Photography, in June 2011 she made the big switch and is now -- and forever -- Casie {kay-cee; KC} Photographics.  She's got a "thing" for the New York Yankees, her bright blue Mini Cooper, and living this life out loud.  You can also find her blogging & tweeting up a storm about business, social media, photography & all her personal moments at TheNameIsCasie.com. 

I changed my name...

I began, three years ago, on June 29th 2008 -- after 6 months of brainstorming every possible company name I could -- by ordering business cards for what would be Rebel Belle Photography. It's a name that came to me the second I opened my eyes on the morning of the 29th. I saw a magazine article I had cut out years prior that was still taped to my bedroom wall titled "Rebel Belle" -- and having had the nickname Casie Belle, and always feeling like a chick who'd rather go against the crowd than with it? Rebel Belle seemed as close to "Casie" as I could get. (Do you HEAR the legendary sound of "Settling"...)

Why NOT use Casie three years ago? Because in my, up until that moment, 25 years of life? My first name had not only been misprounounced and mispelled more times than I could count, but my last name was over three letters and wasn't "Smith". Basically, I am the epitome of complicated.

So what then, prompted this epic leap of faith in to the world of not only rebranding, but to include a renaming? Simple. Somewhere during the later part of 2010 I could feel a major shift; Im not sure when, and Im not sure where -- but something in my entire persona grew. Which is saying something since I'm only 5'4" and I refuse to wear heels as I find them rather ridiculous. It goes without saying, however, that if I had been any percentage of "Casie" before this shift...then, in that moment? I had decided to be 100 times more so. The world was in trouble, for sure. It was as if someone had not only brightened my image -- but added a much needed pop of contrast.

And, I'd like to think that that someone was me.

I knew, somewhere in that moment, that this "Rebel Belle" -- whoever she was -- had to go too. She was fading, and fading fast...but I still had to hold on to her. I mean, you can't just BE a nameless photographer -- you've got to have SOMETHING people call you -- something that they can identify with, right? But people very rarely call me the right thing -- I have corrected Doctors, and Lawyers, and Strangers on the Street. I've corrected English Teachers, Creative Writing Professors, and everyone between Orlando and LA.

I even had to spell my name once for someone at a check-in desk...and said check-in person? Told me that I was "wrong"...which led to me having to tell "Diana" that it's quite possibly a name she' not USED to...but it surely isn't WRONG. I bet people call her "Diane" all the time now. Karma, people. It's all about the Karma.

Once again, though...I was pretty terrified, if not mortified, at having to come up with yet ANOTHER name for my company. Coming up with "Rebel Belle" was...as you could probably guess, no easy feat. And I KNEW -- like I KNEW my own name -- that I couldnt possibly USE my own name...because people would rather play butcher with it than ask how to pronounce it themselves.

If there was ONE thing I knew about business? It was that you couldn't CONFUSE your clients.
It would take a few more months of constant nauseated deliberations; many, many late night chats with my best friends; and a bad day to spark an idea like no other. No, really. This idea was simply mind blowing.

It began, of course, with the bad day -- I'm not even sure what classified this day as a "bad" one -- because, in truth? I don't really believe in "bad" days -- but let's just call it that for the sake of arguement. I had, throughout this day, multiple people call me the wrong name -- THAT, I do remember. Every time, it seemed, I turned around -- I was correcting someone, and some people I had to correct twice. It would result in a text messaged conversation with a friend of mine that's, undeniably, taken place before -- where I sarcastically vented about these people. Because, really. How DIFFICULT is it to get my name right?

This one text messaged conversation, and all my sarcasm, however, lead me into saying, "That's It! I'm just going to DEFINE my name for people. The Name Is CASIE!" And there it was. Mind Blowing Idea was just dangling in front of me, perhaps it even sparkled and shimmered a bit -- and it begged me to use it. As I stared at the text, even in that moment, I knew -- "I'm on to something here..." After all, I had NEVER thought to actually define my name to people -- but isnt THAT what branding your business is all about?

I sat, silently, on the idea for a couple of days before my mouth opened, and I couldn't stop the words from pouring out -- "What do you think about THIS idea...." And, one by one, my friends eyes lit up..."It doesn't get anymore 'You' than that, Case..."

That right there is the importance of it. There was no piece of "Rebel Belle" that was truly "Casie" -- you couldn't look at any of my business cards and, short of having my name on them, know that they belonged to me. You couldn't go to my old website, and even know that THAT was mine unless you hit the "Bio" section. Nothing SCREAMED of what is so essential and important to a photographer's business -- and that is YOU. Or, in this case, ME.

What's a Picasso without his signature on it? Think about THAT for a second.

Because if you hand me a painting without it's signature? ANYONE - from a 5 year old to Picasso himself - could've painted it. Without a signature - without a thumb print? It easily belongs to anyone, and a Picasso without it's signature? I'd imagine it's practically worthless. So...Rule Number One? Don't be AFRAID to put YOUR NAME on what you have literally poured your heart into.

January 2011 brought on the beginning of the end of the beginning. Ya dig? I think I dig, but I'm not even sure in this moment. Basically -- the end of Rebel Belle was finalized, and in my heart -- it had been for a while now. But with a "New Name" -- I knew it was confirmed. And, of course -- it was the beginning to Casie {kay-cee; KC} Photographics.


I can assure you that I received ample amounts of emails and messages of, "Don't Do This! Don't Change Your Name!" -- to which, THESE people didn't even KNOW the "New Name" -- they had just HEARD about the IDEA of a change (which people tend to hate regardless of whether it's good or bad). And, here's the thing...I get it. I get that they LOVED Rebel Belle. I did too. But sometimes, folks? We've got to get to moving right along.

And those voices chimed in again, and repeatedly, "You'll regret this -- you'll lose time in to your business! You'll lose clients!" And after my stubbornness persisted -- in only ways that The Casie-Stubbornness can -- "Well it better be better than Rebel Belle because if it isn't? You're done."

Number One (and I have A LOT of Number Ones - although thats an entirely different post all together) -- NUMBER ONE! I say when I'm done. I'm in charge, and I tell you when I'm done -- and not only am I NOT done -- but I'm just gettin' started. So...let me take this moment to stick my adorable little tongue out at those folks...

Number Two (which is a number I rarely move on to...hence my large quantities of Number One's) -- Losing, essentially a year of my Wedding Business? Trust me, I KNOW, will pay off BIG TIME in the end. It "hurts" this year...but, really? 12 months is NOTHING when I consider this name change and re-branding a true investment, and...I've got a whole lot more living left to do.

Number Three (uncharted territory here, my friends) -- If my clients LOVE ME? They'll FOLLOW ME.

End of Story. Cue the Happily Ever After Music.

I'm OFFICIALLY ME. There's NOTHING better than that -- and, I think, NOTHING more than a client -- past, present, or future -- loves and respects more. Nothing has changed but my Name. Well, that's half true. Because everything that everyone loved about me and my photography BEFORE? Only intesified with this transition.

Can I tell you how to do it? Certainly not. I don't have a 12 Step program for rebranding or renaming. I'm sure that you could Google up some guidelines -- but, really? It's different for every single individual. And quite honestly, what worked for me will more than likely not work for you. Now, could I tell you what I did wrong and what I did right? Sure. And, in truth, you've probably already figured it out. Had I stayed with "Rebel Belle" any longer? Had I done so simply because it's the name I had gone under for three years and NOT seen the grand scope of things? Had I not dared to dream, and dream big? THOSE would've been my mistakes. If I had let the fear of losing a year versus losing a lifetime? Or listened to all those people who didn't "get" where I was headed? That, also, would've been in the 'mistake' column. It's not to say that I did everything "right" -- but it IS to say that in following my heart and just having an unguided faith in who I became and where I am going? No other mistake bothered me all too horribly. You've got to learn how to dance in the rain, and MAKE it work for YOU.

I didn't listen to anyone but myself. I heard their advice. I listened to their concerns. And then I'd politely tell them that they'd get it come June. As nervous as some must've been -- I never was. I was confident in every step I took -- and I refused to take a step until I knew it felt right. I didn't rush it, and I didn't throw it together. I had a DEADLINE -- that was essential. And the Deadline was met, if not almost narrowly exceeded. I held myself accountable for that date, and I had others hold me there as well. Just to be sure. Throughout the entire process - beginning to end - I knew there were an infinite amount of ways to do this...but only "The Casie Way" mattered. And that made all the difference.


So, follow your heart. Stick to your guns. And, for the love of everything that you do? BE YOU. DO YOU. There are MILLIONS of photographers out there in this world -- but there is ONLY.ONE.YOU. Define yourself...and then brand the heck out of it. Leave your thumb print every where it's needed, and maybe even a little beyond that. Let the world know that you were here and that this moment existed. Dare to be unforgettable, and take that epic leap of faith. Because -- trust me -- you'll breathe a hell of a lot easier when you lay that gorgeous head of yours down to sleep at night knowing that you're you. 

TheNameIsCasie.com