Salted Logic: An experiment in rebranding
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Salted Logic. Producing products, services and experiences at the intersection of art, science and spirituality.
Rebranding. Ugh!
A brand is so much more than a logo, mood-board and clearer mission statement... and a rebrand can be a slight tweak or a total overhaul. My process has been closer to the later.
My new overarching identity is SALTED LOGIC. I finally settled on this name as it could be the name of almost any kind of product or service, from a perfume or magazine to clothing or software. However, my identities always need to be rooted in the symbolic and/or spiritual realm so this name has a layered backstory.
To keep this blog post short, let me just say that when I came to this name I sent it to a couple of friends and simply asked “what does this mean to you?” without giving any more context. The one response that resonated with my own feelings connected the properties of actual salt to the term logic or thinking.
My friend said, “I add salt to enhance naturally occurring flavors, or give flavor where there is none. I use salt to bring in the elements of blood, sweat, tears and amniotic fluid––all the essential fluids of a human that also happen to contain salt; together with the parallel qualities of healing, forgiving and restoration we can understand the significance of Kanaloa (Hawaiian god of ocean amongst other things). Salt is a preservative and a medicine. Salted Logic makes me think the logic wasn’t ‘ono (delicious) enough, wasn’t gonna last and needed preserving, or needed to be grounded and connected somehow. The paʻakai (salt) takes it to a whole other level!”
With her words, I knew I had come upon the right name for my company. Salted Logic is about taking baseline data or information and transforming it into wisdom––it’s about taking the creative process and using it to amplify what we know and to ultimately create something entirely new. The name is not in the Hawaiian language but roots me to my ancestors and the sands of my birth, while simultaneously being relevant to deeply human processes that honor as well as extend beyond geography and cultural or ethnic identity.
As I have previously branded my work under Hānau Creative and then And Still the Waters Rise (which remains the name of my podcast), it could be said that this is yet another iteration of “NAIʻA” that will see its end when I get the next bright idea. But I feel I have finally come to not only know myself but to embody the confidence that my work holds worth as my business, and my life’s purpose versus simply some side hustle.
What has also helped is the emergence of social enterprise and the social entrepreneur, which are concepts that fit who I am and what I do – FINALLY! I am open to even better or more appropriate terms but until they appear I feel like I am getting some traction on actually articulating my purpose through my business.
At least for me, a person who has always mixed art, discrete product ideas and unique services, along with community service and social justice, the term social entrepreneur encompasses everything I do, while also rooting me in community capacity building. Plus, it’s a term that can be understood by a wide array of people and is not as charged as using a term like "healer.”
Regardless of the kind of product or service I am developing, it usually includes an element meant to increase one’s wellness, ability to be self-reflective and asks for a commitment to seeking out relationships that are positive and sustaining. In the corporate space, this means helping companies and internal teams collaborate and synergize more efficiently and effectively, and for leadership to be able to talk about an organization’s soul or collective consciousness without wincing.
As a creative––someone who could brand themselves as themselves because of what I do and how I do it––the process of articulating a singular business persona has not been as easy as marketing everything under my name or making one of my product names my brand (which I tried). I am forever coming up with new ideas and some of them make sense to have my name as the moniker and others not so much. Now, I see that my greatest challenge to date has been understanding the kind of creative I am. Understanding the ways in which I work best with bosses, partners, and colleagues has been difficult at times, as has articulating my M.O. to those same people... likely to their utter frustration. I have had to forge my own path and understand how my personal process works within the frameworks of both other people’s businesses as well as my own.
Ugh, yet again.
Orbiting in and around the branding business has not made my personal process any easier. Doing for myself what I have helped others to do is just not a formula that I have been able to easily or effectively employ. I guess it could be as simple as being “too close” or not being able to see the forest for the trees but I think it’s because I had to realize that not all entrepreneurs, creatives and artists (or teachers and doctors for that matter) are created equal. Of course, where we put our attention is what we manifest; starting off the day on the right foot, with a consistent routine, and utilizing time wisely is the practical side of success. However, identifying and accepting the things you are not meant to do versus aiming to become so capable that you could do anything places your starting point in very different places. I am realizing my best way forward is to remain clear about the former.
As a creative who can seamlessly slip into and out of other people’s dreams and projects, I can easily forget where their inspiration and purpose end and mine begins. Understanding myself, and more importantly, forgiving and embracing who I am (with all that I can, can’t AND DO NOT WANT to do) has been a watershed moment in my life. Kudos to my dearest friends and allies who can compartmentalize and build boundaries on the fly. It is just not me.
I so appreciate those who have come to support my unconventional ways and watched me build my identity through trial and error. And as I have chosen to do so more publicly than others, I hope my ups-and-downs help others who feel a bit lost or who are waiting to see themselves reflected in the current social constructs. Stop waiting. Move (your body, mind and spirit) and answers will more readily appear. That has been my experience at least.
We are at a pivotal point in history where we are simultaneously innovating based on what has come before and manifesting ideas into the world that most people have never seen or thought possible before. Whether you are a Savy-Senior, Baby-boomer, Gen-X or Millennial, there are outliers within every group––people who are meant to bridge and translate in addition to innovate. I do not have all the answers but I am beginning to find some for myself. In sharing I hope y’all can find some too.
Amama ua noa.
Naiʻa
