What It Feels Like to Launch a Women-Led Brand Built on Confidence, Style, and Self-Discovery
A week ago, I launched something that’s been living in my head for years—A Lil Bit of Biz.
It’s not just a business. It’s a synthesis of survival, strategy, and self-expression. It’s every annotated journal entry I wrote when I couldn’t sleep—trying to name the gap between who I was and who I wanted to be. It’s the outfit that made me exhale after weeks of not recognizing my reflection. It’s the closet I stood in front of, not because I didn’t have clothes, but because I didn’t have clarity. This brand is a reclamation—of identity, of voice, of the quiet power that comes from choosing how you’re seen.
Let’s be clear—this was never about becoming an influencer or showing off curated outfits for clout. I’m not here to sell you a capsule wardrobe and call it confidence. This is about something deeper. It’s about rebuilding how you see yourself when everything familiar feels like it’s shifted. It’s about using style as a strategy—not for attention, but for alignment. Not for the scroll, but for the version of you who’s still standing—even after it all.
For years, I journaled about what I wanted this to be. A place where style isn’t so artificial, but actually personal. A place where showing up doesn’t mean changing who you are, it means returning to her. And now… here it is.
Still new. Still forming. But real. And mine.
What I’ve Learned So Far
1. Starting doesn’t feel like “I made it.” It feels like “I’m exposed.”
I thought I’d feel proud—and in some ways, I do. But mostly? I feel exposed. Like I handed the internet my journal and said, “Here—go ahead, read it out loud.” There’s a different kind of vulnerability in sharing something that reflects your actual voice, your taste, your thinking.
I help businesses do this all the time—refine their message, define their niche, grow their brand. But doing it for myself? That’s been a whole different kind of scary. What if no one connects with it? What if no one needs what I’m offering?
I’ve spent hours—days—weeks–researching the market, clarifying the niche, making sure this doesn’t feel like a copy-paste version of what’s already out there. And still? I have no idea if any of it’s working.
There’s no dashboard that tells you whether you’re building something meaningful. Numbers are just numbers. Market research can’t predict resonance. And that’s both terrifying—and, if I’m being honest, kind of thrilling.
2. Branding isn’t the hard part. Believing you’re ready is.
The colors? Still evolving. The logo? Still in the works (surprise—there’s a new look coming soon). The voice? Finally starting to feel like mine. But hitting publish before it was all buttoned up? That went against everything I’ve been trained to do.
As a digital strategist, I’ve spent years helping brands build the “right” way—refine the visuals, lock the messaging, line up the launch. And I believe in all of that. But I also knew: if I didn’t do this now, I might not do it at all.
So I did what I would never advise a client to do: I launched before it was ready.
No full visual system. No grand rollout. Just a vision, a voice, and a refusal to wait for perfect.
And honestly? That imperfection made it feel more real.
3. Sharing It Out Loud Was Its Own Milestone
Every time I’ve shared this—people have said the same thing: “This is so you. And I’ve needed something like this.”
That feedback alone has stopped me in my tracks more than once. From close friends to total strangers, the response has been overwhelmingly the same: “I’ve never seen anyone do this like this. This feels like what I’ve been looking for.”
That kind of affirmation? It’s not about ego—it’s about alignment.
I even recently introduced A Lil Bit of Biz in a professional women’s group I joined. It was the first time I shared the brand with women I didn’t already know—and I was bracing for polite silence or vague support. But what I got instead? Nothing but encouragement, curiosity, and connection.
For someone who’s spent a lot of time second-guessing, that moment meant everything.
4. Just because my calendar isn’t full doesn’t mean people aren’t watching.
It’s easy to equate an empty booking page with failure—but that’s not the full picture. I’ve seen the analytics. People are visiting. They’re reading the copy. They’re clicking through multiple pages. They’re coming back.
That tells me they’re interested. Curious. Maybe even quietly considering how this could be for them.
So no, my calendar isn’t packed (yet). But the presence is building. The right people are noticing. And that’s the kind of slow burn I’m willing to trust.
5. Building something honest feels better than building something impressive.
There were easier ways to do this. I could’ve made it shinier, more curated, more algorithm-approved. But I didn’t want to create something that looked successful—I wanted to build something that felt real.
This first week reminded me: I’d rather have quiet alignment than loud applause. Because what I’m building isn’t just a brand. It’s a space. A story. A reflection of who I am and the women I care most about serving.
And I don’t need it to be viral to know it matters.
What This Brand Really Is
It’s not a storefront. It’s not a coaching program. It’s not about outfits.
It’s about what happens when a woman decides to show up anyway—messy, uncertain, still becoming.
It’s for the woman in between seasons, whose closet doesn’t fit, whose voice feels buried, whose story is still unfolding.
And it's built by someone who's still becoming too.
So, What Now?
I’ll keep building. Keep listening. Keep refining. I’ll tweak website copy at 2 a.m. I’ll post something that makes me cringe a little but connect a lot. I’ll learn from the silence as much as I will from the engagement.
And most of all, I’ll stay committed to the reason I started:
To create a brand that sees women for who they are, not who they’re trying to impress.
In the Meantime…
There’s a lot quietly unfolding behind the scenes.
New visuals. Fresh content. Collaborations that make my heart beat faster. A new logo I can’t wait to share. Ideas that started as scribbles and voice notes are slowly taking shape—and they’re everything I hoped this brand could grow into.
So if it seems quiet from the outside, trust me—it’s not.
This is the build. The deep work. The stuff that doesn’t always show up on a feed, but will absolutely be felt when it does.
If you’ve been quietly watching—thank you.
If you’ve been thinking “this feels like me too,” you’re not alone.
And if you're in a season of becoming? You're exactly who I built this for.
Let’s grow together.
XOXOXO Biz Babes,
Your Bestie, Lilly <3
