Introducing…Honestly Ann Marie! Why I Rebranded (and What it Means for You!)
Okay, so before you freak out…
it’s still me. (Hi).
Yep – same ole’ gal behind Surgeon Wife Life, but now, you might notice things *look a little different.*
I am introducing my new “home away from home:” Honestly Ann Marie!
And HONESTLY, I think you’re going to be as stoked as I am after our little chat today.
Look, I KNOW change is scary. You may be feeling a little uncertain, wondering where I’m going with this. Or maybe you’re worried about whether my content will continue to be relevant to you, or if the change is going to be “too much” for your liking.
Well. I can assure you, my friend, that if you liked what I was doing before, you will continue to find value here.
So today, I’m answering some questions about my rebrand and why this change will be amazing for all of us!!
1. Why the name change?
I LOVE the name Surgeon Wife Life. I’m so happy I started my blog under this name. It came to me one night and I just knew it was the right name. At the time, my husband was only a few months out of training, and it was a passion of mine to write in support of those who were still in training. I also planned to (and did) write a lot about his life and our life together, because I think it’s a unique life that gives unique perspective on this world, and thought others would be interested in learning more about that.
Surgeon Wife Life was the perfect name for my writing within the medical spouse and doctor wife community.
When I asked you about a potential rebrand on Instagram and Facebook, I got some great feedback. Most non-medical gals recommended I make the change, with the medical spouse community being somewhat resistant of the change.
Ultimately, I decided to make the change. NOT TO ABANDON THE MEDICAL SPOUSE COMMUNITY, but to make it easier for non-medical spouses to find me and join in on the journey.
I decided to make a name change in order to broaden my “niche.”
Motherhood, home design/decor, style, beauty…these topics are becoming more relevant by the day.
It’s so important to me to write with passion about whatever I’m writing about. And with changes in life, come variations in that passion.
As I grow, it has become more important to me that I 1. not alienate other moms or women who are not living the doctor wife life, and 2. be broad enough that I could do anything in my wildest dreams, while still being authentic to myself and my mission of being deeply encouraging and authentically inspiring.
I hope this is something you can all support and get behind.
2. What does this mean for me as a medical spouse?
To the medical spouses, I will ALWAYS be writing about and supporting you and your journey. After all, the surgeon wife life is a HUGE part of who we are as a family and impacts so much of my world.
But, to be completely honest, (as you can always expect from me with a name like Honestly Ann Marie), I have written so much (SO MUCH) about the training years and medical marriage. And now, the training years are starting to be part of my past (though they still haunt my dreams – hahaha).
But because my life is changing, my content is changing (because it’s obvi generated from real-life). So in months past, when the worries were about not seeing my husband for 12 days straight and solo parenting through illness and on tiny paychecks, that’s not (usually) the case these days. And I hope that you find that to be encouraging, no matter where you are in the journey.
For me personally, when we were navigating the training years together, that it was valuable for my husband and me to see the lives of families on the other side of training, and I hope you find that to be true as well. Hopefully you stick with me and it encourages you and helps you persevere through those hard, HARD years.
So, all of that being said, my posts on the medical spouse subject will still be coming, but may look a little bit different going forward, i.e. I may write in a way that will appeal to non-medical families as well.
I will be continuing to create content around the medical spouse life and I’ll ALWAYS have a corner of my blog that will hold all of my supportive work on the training years (find that category HERE). Be assured that I will ALWAYS be here to talk through any issues any of you in training are having. I will still be discussing the way my husband’s job as a surgeon impacts our family on the reg.
It is my sincere hope you will continue to journey with me as I move more fully into this next stage of #doctorwifelife.
3. What will be different?
Well, for starters, you already see that my website looks different and I’m at a new domain: www.honestlyannmarie.com. Take a look around and see what you think!
All of my old links will work for the foreseeable future. So any bookmarks you have will still get you where you want to go. And that means my Pinterest will still be heading folks to the right place, as well.
There are some cosmetic changes and changes with my script font (it was pretty but it has been super hard to read on some devices). I reduced the number of categories of my posts. I added some pages to provide more information to those visiting me.
If you’re reading this now, my handles have already changed from @surgeonwifelife to @honestlyannmarie. That was super scary for me. Facebook is another issue as they won’t let me fully change the name of my group (yet!). Facebook friends, don’t be surprised if my name looks weird for the next month or so. It’s currently listed as “Honestly Surgeon Wife Life” which is obviously not the end goal – haha.
As far as my content goes, I went back and looked at my very first post and what I planned to write about.
Here’s what I said I would write about when I started my site:
- Life as a Surgeon’s Wife: Having a surgeon for a husband (and parent to these kids) makes for an interesting life, to say the least! Whatever you’d like to know, I’ll spill!!
- Mom fails and lessons: I will share a sweet sampling of the mommy-ing info that is life-changing to me, as well as loooots of fails which are sure to make you feel like a better mom!!
- Mom self-care: This is a huge passion of mine! Encouraging other moms to do what they need to do to THRIVE and not just SURVIVE mom-hood. Cheers to becoming better parents and partners!
- Comfy mom-styles: I ONLY wear the coziest clothes! I may throw in some kid fashion as well!
- Home: Yep, expect TONS of rad home makeovers. There’s so much opportunity in our home!
- Faith: The true joy in my life!
- Beauty?: I put a question mark here because I’m practically clueless but aspire to do better in this department. However, not to toot my own horn, but I am pretty darn good at doing my nails! Stay tuned.
- Fitness: I RUN! Let’s get healthier together – especially after having all these babes. Geez.
- Travel: I want to go places! ALLLL the places!
- Cooking: Bahahaha! Just kidding. I sincerely hate cooking. But I have friends who dominate this arena and will hopefully be my guest…so… I’m saying there’s a chance.
So in response to that, you should know that I plan to still talk about ALL of these things, but with perhaps a different percentage of each.
Motherhood, home decor, style, and honest #doctorwifelife will be my primary topics, with of course, a smattering of others as I feel moved!
(Oh, and believe it or not, I WILL be bringing you some cooking inspo soon, with a video with my fav food blogger coming up soon)!
I’ll be continuing to share (hopefully even more consistently) through stories on Facebook and Instagram (so follow me there if you aren’t already!), which you may see look a little different as I begin to talk more about these other areas of interest.
Also, you’re going to see more content from my favorite brands. I’ll be adding links to make shopping my posts easier for you (after all, you guys are always asking me anyway!), and I’ll be working to more consistently bring you products and styles I love from brands I trust.
My commitment to you, friend.
One of the reasons I named my site “Honestly Ann Marie,” is because I want the name to be a constant reminder to you that you are safe with me. I am here as an honest source on the internet, where authenticity and truthfulness can be hard to find.
I personally never know when a blogger is telling me something because it’s how they really feel or because they know they’ll make extra $$ if people buy more of whatever it is they’re talking about. And that is really a cryin’ shame, if you ask me.
But keepin’ it real, there may come a day when I’ll be faced with a decision to maybe overemphasize my love for a product or to talk about a brand that I haven’t been entirely happy with.
And then I won’t.
Because moving forward, I want to continue to be a source for you that is real. That is honest.
And HONESTLY, I’m not doing this for the money. (I would’ve given up long ago).
I will be choosing collaborations that make sense for us both. Collaborations that bring me joy and that I can be proud of. You can trust that.
___________________
There are amazing things coming, friends.
Whether you’ve been here from the beginning, or whether you’ve recently joined in, THANK YOU for your incredible support.
Thank you for sticking with me for what promises to be a fantastic next chapter.
Do you have a question I didn’t answer?! Leave it in comments, send me an email, or connect on social media, friends! XO!
Honestly,
AM ❤️💋
More About Me: Hi! I’m Ann Marie, a blogging mama of 3 tiny gals, and a wife to a busy Orthopedic Surgeon. You can find me right here for a weekly smattering of mom and medical wife encouragement, along with transformations in my home, style, and beauty. You’ll find me most active on Instagram or Facebook for wild, unfiltered life between blog posts. And I truly can’t wait to see you there, friend. ❤️💋
To connect, shoot me an email at honestlyannmarie@gmail.com ❤️
