Why I Rebranded to The Blonde Cat Lady

In April I rebranded from Blonde in the District to The Blonde Cat Lady. In that time, I’ve had it go noticed, questioned, unnoticed, or only recently noticed. The last 2 I guess are a good thing in the scheme of things meaning if you know me, this name change is as authentic as it gets. But, I still feel the need to lay it all out, so here it goes....

The Blonde Cat Lady rebrand.

I’ve always thought of this space as an art form. When I started Blonde in the District in October 2014, the term ‘influencer’ wasn’t even a thing. As time progressed, I got labeled with this term - and even gave in to this term, but I always struggled with it. I feel it’s gotten muddy over the years and it can come with very mixed connotations, expectations, fighting to prove your worth, and a lot of unrealistic pressure. In October, when I hit 10 years of creating, I found myself in an internal battle even wondering if I was still relevant. The constant race to push out content and fight algorithms had honestly taken a huge toll on me mentally and the whole “trends” ideal that influencers are known for has gone sour, IMO. Maybe I was too in the weeds with it, or maybe I’ve just gotten older and my priorities and thoughts have changed, but I’m over fighting the internal battle of being “good enough” in this sphere. 

One thing I always do when I wonder if I should keep going, is I think about why I started. I’ve been thinking about this nonstop since October. I felt ready to elevate myself out of that ‘influencer’ label. I want to be a person of influence and impact, not an influencer. You may read that and think “isn’t that influencing?” but to me, it goes beyond that. I want to be that voice for others to give courage, confidence, and advocacy- both in style and in character, not in trends. Ultimately, I want to use this platform I’m so fortunate to have to do good for the world.

I felt a rebrand would be the best way to break myself from the ‘influencer’ stigma. I thought about it for months. I knew I wanted to keep ‘blonde’ as part of it- that was a nonnegotiable - but nothing felt right until recently. 

Launching my new rebrand name, The Blonde Cat Lady, at Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge. Photography: Arielle Lewis Studios.

In April, as I was planning a trip to visit Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge, an animal sanctuary I’ve admired, it came to me at random: “The Blonde Cat Lady”.  I deep down knew this was it. It checked all the boxes: blonde, matched my google image ranking for ‘cat lady’ that I’m so proud of, and still has a ‘persona’ to it. In short: it’s me. 

Fred Tiger helping me rebrand to The Blonde Cat Lady, at Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge. Photography: Arielle Lewis Studios.

I decided to launch the handle timed with my visit to Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge, as it went purrfectly with the revamp to help give a voice and advocate for others. In this case, rescued big cats. TCWR helped me launch with a personalized enrichment activity for tiger Fred. Fred was seized from a criminal case and was in witness protection at TCWR for a year before his story could be shared. He was previously owned as a pet and was abused, malnourished, and lived in very bad conditions. Today, he is healthy & one of the most playful cats at the refuge all thanks to the incredible work TCWR does to provide lifelong care for these beautiful animals. 

Fred Tiger enjoying the enrichment activity for the 'The Blonde Cat Lady' rebrand at Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge. Videography: Arielle Lewis Studios.

Style Advocacy & Modeling - As part of my revamp, I can assure you my love of style and modeling is not going anywhere. It is who I am and how I live. I started this space by advocating for others to look at style as a tool to aid in confidence & that is something I feel in my soul will never change. It’s also most important now, as backwards strides are being taken for size inclusion across the board. I want to continue to urge you to push past those stereotypes and messaging and remember that size does not define worth or style. I feel it’s important to keep showing up extra AF and taking up space, as I hope it encourages you to do the same or shift a mindset. 

Art & Fun are another defining factor of who I am and if anything, will be explored even more. I’m working on expanding my personal art portfolio and I’m saying it here, so I can’t chicken out to share my work like I’ve done in the past. Fun is weaved into almost all of my messaging, but it rings especially true with how and what I create. I want my art to make an impact - both in terms of happiness and in advocacy. 

All of that was a long winded way of saying, while the change felt tough after so many years of Blonde in the District, it is what I needed to do for myself to grow and step to the next level. Change is tough, but so is staying the same.

Xoxo,

Dani

aka The Blonde Cat Lady