Saying Goodbye to a dear old Friend.

It’s not you it’s me – we’ve all heard that aul’ chestnut bandied about to or by someone in our circle at some point in our lives. Usually spoken without due diligence to someone who really would rather be anywhere but listening to it at that moment. It’s an easy out really isn’t it?  Let me stand up and be a martyr for the cause as that is much easier than facing the fact that I just need to get out.

However today I use it with sincerity and a tinge of sadness but mostly excitement. I’m breaking up with myself. Well there’s a sentence I thought I would never have to write. Nor want to with excitement for the future. The time is right!

When I started writing my blog towards the end of 2014 I did so for fun. I saw it as an itch I had to scratch. I yearned to have a more fulfilling and creative outlet in my life to compliment my job as a medical rep and a mother of three. I didn’t give much thought to where it was going to go – I was fine with it being a hobby that introduced me to a new community of like minded, fun people. At worst what could happen? No body reads it or everybody reads it?! The night before I published my 1st post I actually could not decipher as to which scared me more.

Feel the fear and do it anyway.

So here I am again – at the same thing. Terrified of change – like “Who do I think I am?” but equally content in the knowledge & gut feeling that it needs to be done. Summer 2019 and at last I got down of that fence. The old saying is true “Procrastination is the thief of time”. That it is, my friends.

 

It’s time to let go of LeanMeanMomma. Besides the fact that no-one could ever spell it and a piece of me died a little on repeating my email address for the fifth time on every single phone call, I also felt we had outgrown each other. Stepping out from behind her is scary though – it’s like LeanMeanMomma was my security blanket. And now it’s gone. 

Everything changes yet everything stays the same

There won’t be much change in direction – I plan on more recipes, more video based content and the same old making it up as we go along every day in family life. Just with a new name which is my old name!

With a lot of help for Anna & Phil over at Limelight Media I slowly clambered down off that fence and onto steady ground below. Most great childminders & babysitters, are found by word of mouth – who you leave into your house and close to your family isn’t a small matter. They need to understand you and you them. Trust grows from there

I felt the same about my blog – my 5th baby. Anybody with a business of any size can probably relate to this. It was at a Network Cork Event that I first heard about Limelight Media.

After a sneaky little snoop of their page, I instantly clicked the FOLLOW button and the rest is history. I love their cool, simple aesthetic. My kitchen is full of clean straight lines. My garden is too. There are really no curves evident. I absolutely think this is directly related to my life and mind albeit in an inversely proportional way. Clean aesthetics are the ying to my yang and provide the balance I need to stay sane.

The girls at Limelight Media instantly got this. Alongside helping me with a much needed rebrand & Logo Design (the gave me so many options that it was hard to pick my favourite), they also have helped to revamp my site to make my branding consistent across all my social media platforms. Again just introducing some calm into the storm in my head.

Having designed my Logo around LeanMeanMomma, it was them alongside my agency, The Collaborations Agency, that suggested I actually consider stepping out from behind my safety blanket and just going with my name.

And so here I am. Cliona O’Connor. Nothing fancy, nothing ground breaking….just me. It’s always been just me, but now it’s even more so.

I hope that you guys will happily come along with me. I’d miss you if you didn’t at this stage. I’m constantly blown away but the support, encouragement and most of all laughter when I read the comments and DM’s on my Instagram. It is genuinely the most satisfying part of what I do.

Yours, excited for what lies ahead,

Cli xx