The word “spirit” keeps popping up for me in 2015. I’d say it’s one of my contemplative words as of late. It started at the end of last year when my husband and I created a holiday video for our friends and family. It was a momentous effort of creating a video of us rapping “Christmas in Hollis” by Run DMC (he was Run, I was DMC). It was a ton of work and took up a lot of our free time, but what kept us going was what we called The Spirit.

For us, The Spirit was what we wanted to share with the people we loved. It’s also what we felt when we thought of all of our friends and family near and far. When I got tired or embarrassed by seeing myself on a playback I pushed my fears and exhaustion away by feeling “The Spirit!”

Once the video was released into the ether, we received so much love and affection. Our east coast family and friends exploded our phones with messages of love. We got to watch our west coast pals watch the video for the first time laughing their keesters off. Everyone could see The Spirit in our collaboration and expression.

As the year turned to 2015, I dreamed big about my work and life. The first six months of this year has been all about growing my business and finding the dream clients I want to align myself with. As I did this work I’d feel The Spirit urging me on.

In order for me to grow my business I’ve needed to dive deep into my own brand messaging, mission, and values. Over the past few weeks I’ve been putting myself through my own brand exploration exercises, and  yesterday I worked on my mission, the “why” behind Germinate Creative. I’ll be honest with you: I’ve always felt squeamish at that question. Yes, even though I tell you, faithful reader and potential future client that it is of UTMOST IMPORTANCE to know your mission, I have had a hard time figuring that out for myself.

Until yesterday.

Six months of pounding the pavement and meditating on who I want to serve all became clarified one coffee-infused Monday in late July. Pieces of the puzzle locked into place. I saw a bit more clearly. I felt The Spirit, and it told me the mission of my business.

It’s not quite perfect yet, but here’s a start:

I believe that there is a revolution afoot. A transformation in how businesses are run and operated, and how entrepreneurs present themselves in the world. A revolution of people who love what they do, are truly authentic, and are unafraid to share their passion for their business. And I want to help these business owners by crafting a brand identity design for them that is confident. I want them to fall in love with their brand just like they fell in love with their business. Together we can be fearless in how we run our business.

Hmm. I like this. I think I found Germinate’s Spirit. I believe this is the seed behind why I want to do what I do. I want my clients to feel unafraid to share themselves. I want them to be confident in their brand identity, even ecstatically excited.

I’m so thrilled to have tapped into The Spirit behind Germinate Creative. Now, what I want to know, is there a spirit to your business? Maybe you’re saying “Hell, yeah!” and can recite your mission easily. Is the design of your materials reflecting that mission?

Maybe The Spirit is still but a small seedling in your gut, but you need help figuring out your focus. Here are a few questions you can ask yourself to start figuring out your mission:

• Why are you here in the first place? Why did you start this business?

• What do your clients need most that you can uniquely provide?

• What matters more than revenue?

If you’ve gotten to this point in your business, you’ve gone through the blood, sweat, exhausted nights, early mornings, and coffee-infused work days to get you here. You are part of the revolution, my friend. You are a special nugget of awesomeness and only you can give your audience your unique, valuable experience.

I want you to join me on this business revolution. I want you to get that fuzzy feeling and love glow about your mission. Find your Spirit. And let me know how it’s going.

PS: Wanna see The Spirit in action between two goofballs who love hip-hop and the holidays? Enjoy.