A Brand Laid To Rest & A New One Born
Every entrepreneur eventually reaches a crossroads, the moment when you ask if the brand you built still reflects who you are. You start wondering: Am I still excited to work on this? Does it still feel like me? Is it living up to what I hoped it could be? It’s a natural, sometimes uncomfortable part of growth. Many brands evolve from this point, and some, lovingly, are laid to rest.
For the past year, I’ve been living in that reflection. Thinking deeply about what Stray Wild means to me and whether the path I started years ago is still the one I want to follow. I went back and forth, to and fro, excited one day, burnt out the next. Something just didn’t feel right anymore.
After a lot of thought and some much-needed guidance from my amazing business coach, Sharon Bailey, I realized it was time to reshape my creative path. Stray Wild had taken me as far as it could. The brand I built—rooted deeply in nature and environmental connection—had started to feel limiting. Nature will always be a huge part of who I am, but it isn’t all of me. Having a brand so narrowly defined began to hold me back from exploring everything else I love to create.
Not to mention the product side of things. Owning a shop, designing goods, sending orders around the world has been incredible. But it’s also hard work. The shipping, the inventory (oh, the inventory), and the constant pressure to produce more has left me with a dream fulfilled. Over time, I realized the product hustle no longer fueled me the way it once did. And at a small scale, it’s tough to sustain financially and creatively.
So, after six years, I’ve decided to lay Stray Wild to rest. Not as an idea or a philosophy, but as a brand. The heart of it still lives in me: deep respect for nature, for people, and for purpose. Those values will continue to guide me into what’s next.
The reimagining of what’s next is SmithBorn Studio. (original parent brand to Stray Wild) I’m returning to my roots and have future hopes for my studio vision. A marriage of art, design, strategic thinking, and creative guidance. Services built for values-led brands looking to grow and become better. SmithBorn will be a space that honors everything I’ve learned while giving me the freedom to create without boundaries. It will be a brand that responds to the new landscape of design and myself.
Stray Wild taught me so much about curiosity, purpose, and the courage it takes to evolve. I’ll always be grateful for the people who supported it, believed in it, and carried it with me. Thank you for helping me grow into what comes next!
Sincerely,
-TJ
