The Meaning Behind Aligned Soul

Hey, Friend!

I'm so glad that you're interested in learning more about us and what the story behind Aligned Soul is! 

There are 2 things i want to talk about: The Icon + The Name. Both, frequently asked questions on what made me decide to go with what i chose.

So, why did you choose the name Aligned Soul?

When i made the decision to start this business, i really got hung up on the name. It's suppose to be the easiest part, right? WRONG! Man, i delayed this business for probably a MONTH because i couldn't come up with a name that felt right. Aligned Soul feels right. I knew i wanted it to be something i can relate to, something i stand for and something memorable. Sure, i could have called it Bec's Boutique, but there's a story behind why i even started this business and i wanted to lean into that.

If you don't know me, let me introduce myself. I'm Rebecca. A wife, dog mom, jokester, friend, sister, travel lover, avid gym-goer, foodie, etc- the list goes ON. I've spent the majority of my life letting my accomplishments define my worth. I was the kid in school with All A's, Perfect Attendance and always looking for another "award" to add to my successes. I took those same high performer habits into the work field when i was of age to work. I've always been complimented on my work ethic, organization and time management skills which served me well climbing all the ladders. It's almost like it was an addiction. What's the next position i can be promoted to? How can i push myself to do more or be better? Sure, it made me feel good to accomplish those things but it also brought these feelings of emptiness. At what point is enough, enough? Well, i had a pretty big break through moment in 2022 when i fell into an identity crisis. 

Back in 2019, I started working my first remote job, helping online retailers grow their businesses. Think of the position as a business coach/cheerleader/friend/punching bag/all the things. It was a start up company, the culture was INCREDIBLE, the team was truly like family, the clients were amazing. I've truly never experienced anything like it before. I LOVED every second of my job and you guessed it, naturally my question outside of how can i help my clients and this company succeed was "how can i move up?" I climbed that ladder rather quickly. I started in technical chat support and was there a few months before being promoted to account strategy. Then i was promoted to Senior Account Strategist within a year. Then i interviewed and was promoted to a team lead role shortly after. What's next? Yep, department manager. All of that within less than 4 years. I took so much pride in my role and accomplishments but in 2022 that all changed. Cue the identity crisis. I'll save you the back story but TLDR is: the company was acquired and new leadership stepped in and started to clean house. 2 massive rounds of layoffs happened back to back and then some one off layoffs for several months after. Reducing the work force by over 50% total. Luckily, i was not laid off but i was affected in more ways than one. I even had coworkers who were laid off that came back to me and said "i feel like YOU got the worst of it" They knew how hard i worked to get where i was. Everything that i worked so hard for was ripped from me over a quick 5 min zoom meeting. In that meeting, there was no direct "this is what is happening" I had to play the guessing game in order for me to learn that my role was being changed (along with a few others) . I was put back into a individual contributor role, joining the same teammates i once managed. I was EMBARRASSED, humiliated and this felt like 10 steps back- i felt worthless. There was no good reasoning for this change when i inquired, i needed to know if it was due to my performance. I was told it was simply a "business decision" and ultimately  i had to deal with it or i could find another job. I cried for a week straight. This is when the real journey to Aligned Soul starts.

Now you can imagine what it's like going back to a role you didn't ask to go back to, it's tough. Could i do it? Sure, and I DID for about another year but everyday was tough because i started resented the role. Why? because it wasn't my decision to move back into a role i moved up from. I had no other options either, every company seems to be having their own layoffs, the job market quickly turned into the hunger games so all i could do was suck it up and try to find gratitude in a time where i was running on E. From July of 2022 to about March of the following year, i spent that time taking it day by day, depressed and hopeless. I realized i was facing an identity crisis when i asked myself, now that my title has been stripped away and i had nothing to show for my work, what defines ME? I couldn't tell you the first hobby i enjoyed (because wow, i had none) or qualities about myself that didn't involve my work ethic or achievements. I had NO idea who i was or what i liked doing. That was a real issue for me. When i realized that, i made the commitment to myself to never lose myself again to a "job" - that role change stung SO bad. I was so loyal to the company but i learned the hard way, the company wasn't loyal to me. 

I told myself that come the new year, surely things will be better and i can come to terms with the role but whoa, was it quite the opposite. Again, i'll save you the details but i was feeling more and more checked out. uninspired. unfulfilled. mentally exhausted. To me, those things REALLY matter. If it doesn't inspire or fulfill me, what am i even doing?

I could tell that since my role change in early July that i was turning into a person i didn't want to me. I was more negative. I was lethargic. I was extremely irritable. I brought work into my personal life, that made living with myself 24/7- incredibly miserable. You know it's bad when you can take a step back and go DANG, i need to chill out. Again, I am the go getter, always the positive and upbeat friend/co-worker! So this "new" me wasn't sitting well with me and wasn't a version of myself i wanted to be. It was time to take control and make some moves.

For the majority of my working career, i've been in the retail space. I've worked with boutiques anywhere from $15k/mo to $2M/mo. I've helped scale several clients from $15-30k/mo to $300k/mo+. For some reason, i've always been good at helping other people but didn't think i was worthy of having success even close to that for myself. Over the years, i've heard countless times "you should start a boutique", "you're really good at this, why wouldn't you do this for yourself?" etc. I'd always just avoid the truth and chalk it up to i like helping others....and that's not a lie! I am SUPER passionate about helping others- but the real reason was because i didn't think i was worthy or capable of having something of my own. 

Fast forward to March of 2023; another day and yet another routine evening walk with my husband and pup while i complain about all the things going wrong at work- this was also a very lonely time for me, i had noone else to vent to it seemed like, plus- who wants to listen to that anyways? Derek was probably fed up at that point from hearing this series of unfortunate events so He asks (yet again) "so why don't you start your own shop? You know how to do it all" He's probably asked me no less than 15 times throughout our relationship and i always make an excuse. (I think i was scared. Heck, i still am- but i am doing it, scared and all) This time was different though, i was SO over being in this negative mental state and a toxic work environment that i was willing to do ANYTHING to get out of that situation, so i got thought about it and decided to go for it.

First step: google, of course. "How to start a online boutique" 

Let's be real, i know the industry and the strategy side but shops come to me already semi established meaning i was not involved in their business formation so this was foreign to me. 

I was SO overwhelmed. SO many legal things to do, i just wanted to skip to the fun part of ordering cute stuff and packaging orders. Before any of that could happen, i needed to establish a brand name/identity. As i mentioned earlier, i probably delayed this business by at least a month because the name needed to be perfect. The word "Aligned" was something i really liked and knew i wanted to incorporate it somehow. There was a laundry list of things i needed to do to get the ball rolling and because it was so overwhelming to me, i literally took it task by task which taught me a lesson about GRACE. I always give grace to others, never to myself. During this time, i had to learn to be okay with doing one small thing that puts me closer to the bigger picture -vs- beating myself up that i ONLY got one thing done. Speaking of lessons, i forgot to mention along the way as i was in that negative space, when i was desperate, looking for help/answers anywhere that could help me feel hope, even if it's just for a second. That is when i really started my spiritual journey. That's another conversation in itself but the short version of it is:  Law of Attraction is a real thing, I hold all the power and magic needed to co create my reality, i have to stop holding myself back from being great because of the fear of judgement and i need to make myself more of a priority (in all areas, even self love)

So, after some serious deep thinking- several name changes, one day "aligned soul" popped into my head and i said THAT'S IT. I loved everything about it- i had no idea why i liked the word "aligned" so much i just knew i did and i would figure it out...eventually. Aligned soul made perfect sense to me. It is a shortened version of my extremely long story: I am stepping into MY POWER, aligning with my highest self and doing things for ME, despite what others may think. I had to do away with the people pleasing, fear of judgement and let's not even get started on the way i would box myself in and make myself smaller so others could shine. Heck no, it's MY TIME to shine. I am a good person and i deserve all of the happiness, even if i have to create it for myself.

The story doesn't end there though- i don't just decide to be the most powerful version of myself and things change overnight. I had some REAL difficult stuff to work through, it's just a part of my journey that i am still on. There is one thing i can say about myself though, i do hard things. I have always done hard things.  Hard to me are those real self challenging moments, the get yourself out of your comfort zone, makes you want to throw up type moments. I have stood in front of a crowd with a shaky voice, hands trembling and blacked out vision, but i still stood in front of that crowd. I truly believe that putting myself in those situations has led me to where i am now.

I launched my boutique the day i put in my notice to my job, May 18th. However, i launched it in a way where i was still "hidden" because i cared what people would think/say. I didn't promote on my own socials, i didn't really tell anyone. I was hoping it would magically take off and i could hide forever but that's not the world we live in. I worked so hard on it and was so excited to have this new thing for myself! It also doubled as a hobby- something that inspires me and brings that fulfillment i've been craving! It wasn't until Mid July when i started to realize, hiding is getting me nowhere, she's just an expensive hobby at this point. I always knew that i was holding my success back because i was scared of what people would think. What sense does that make? Why am i doing that to myself? It made literal 0 sense. All because i was scared of what people would think of me? I decided that that was it- i am putting it out there to the world and if anyone doesn't like it, judges me or has something negative to say, #1 they're likely not going to say it to my face but #2 it doesn't matter. You can't please everyone. I first started by telling a few people i was concerned with upsetting that i started my own thing. It actually made me nauseas but guess what? They were supportive. SHOCKER! (not) and now i feel like a big dummy for letting that consume my mind for so long and delay my progress. After that, i recorded a video and posted it to my personal FB- this was another adrenaline rush for me. I wanted to THROW UP!! Guess what, again? Massive support. Even other small business owners that i worked with previously, were supportive with words of encouragement AND even made a purchase. That meant the freaking world to me! They could get these same products at wholesale cost but no, they wanted to support me so they paid retail. What an amazing feeling.

So now that that was off of my chest, i can move forward with my life. If you want to see the video i posted, you can do so HERE.

So, the name Aligned Soul is just a representation of my experience on this challenging yet beautiful thing we call life and my experience discovering who i am to my core and aligning to that. I hope that i can one day inspire others to chase their dreams and fight past the fear.

What does the wave in your logo represent?

The significance of a wave encompasses a multitude of concepts. Imagine a wave reaching its peak, surging with a remarkable resilience that mirrors our ability to overcome challenges and emerge stronger than before. Then, envision the same wave gracefully descending into a trough, offering a serene reminder of the power of tranquility amidst life's stormy seas. This rhythmic rise and fall of the wave becomes a poignant symbol of transformation, a reflection of the continuous cycle of growth, renewal, and metamorphosis that shapes our journey. Just as waves maintain their ceaseless movement, they inspire us to synchronize with life's natural rhythms, encouraging us to embrace its fluidity and find our place within its harmonious dance.

 

If you have made it this far, I appreciate you so much. 

 

XO, Rebecca