What's the deal with all those (16) hoops?

…and why should we care?!

This is by far my most frequently asked question. It's kinda a long story. But that’s the point. It’s all about orbits—or rather, choosing the orbit/hoop that makes sense for you on a cosmic level. It's a bit of a long story, but hear me out. This story is part of what makes me work so hard for my clients, and why our work together matters.

Grab a nice cup of tea, and let's go!

New Mexico: My Childhood & Stardust

I grew up in New Mexico. I’ve always been fascinated with space, philosophy, and history. The cosmic hum in the Land of Enchantment is for reals. It got into my soul, deeply. This white girl left New Mexico at the age of 10, but New Mexico and its painted high desert culture never left this girl.

Maine: The Business I Always Wanted vs The One I Had

I moved from the West to Maine in 2003 (with several meanderings in between) and started my wedding photography business. It was crazy busy out of the gate.

In 2012 I revamped my wedding business logo with help from the very talented Erin Flett. I knew I wanted some kind of "shine" theme. I showed her some artwork of a lithograph from our house in New Mexico of happy yellow orbiting sun circles (this still hangs in my home today!). I told her the theory of my photography: I see the light from the ancient Big Bang traveling through the universe, down through orbits and our own sun. That same never-ending light reflects on my clients here on Earth and allows them to shine. Then, that same light (or my interpretation of it) travels through my lens and back out into the universe. And it begins again.

I’ve always known the power of great design—whether it is airport architecture, an iPhone, a Picasso, or a logo.

Great design feels like love.

You can't put it into words. It's just a warm, enveloping feeling. I knew after that logo design, and how Erin was able to translate my thoughts so perfectly into the artwork I was looking for, that something had begun to change in my path.

I'm so grateful to all my clients and partners for such an amazing career in weddings. I was witness to, and honored to capture forever, 400 weddings!

Illness & Priorities

Winter 2013 to spring 2015 was my 2-year-long hibernation period. I was sick for about 18 months, and I turned away from everything I knew in order to heal.

My illness became a metaphor for another kind of sickness that I personally knew was infecting my business. I was also seeing and hearing it from all my other photographer friends and in the industry as a whole. The digital landscape was shifting daily making, us all exhausted.

I hired two consultants outside the photo industry. I did the excruciatingly hard work of starting a new business "the right way”. And then I emerged from my deep space hibernation in the fall of 2015 knowing exactly what to do.

The Business Had Now! 16 Hoops is Born

I knew I wanted to rework Erin Flett’s original logo and hone it for this new business—and I needed a name to end all names, because I know after my deep space sabbatical, that this is the last business I ever want to run.

So I went to the place that gave me so much inspiration in my creative life (even in film school). I opened up my American Indian Myths & Legends book. I turned to the story of the creation myth in the ancient pueblo people, hoping something would pop off the page.

Literally, the first page I opened up was the story of how the Great Sun used 16 hoops (or orbits) to create the "Earth". The hoop is a very sacred symbol for native cultures.

If you have ever heard of or seen a "Hoop Dance" - these are the hoops. Orbits. Worlds. Stardust. Creation.

The Earth origin story was the perfect metaphor for what we are trying to do here at 16 Hoops. I believe in terraforming for our clients, creating an ecosystem of positioning around their brands that not only sustains them and their own customers, but allows them to soar.

After thinking hard about what I wanted to bring to my space, what kind of knowledge I wanted to share, and how I wanted to share it, I formed 16 Hoops: A Strategic Design & Branding Firm in early 2016.

So what does all this have to do with the name 16 Hoops? EVERYTHING.

SO HERE IT IS: The secret of memorable branding.

I took my childhood in New Mexico, my lifelong love of design, my geeky passion for history and cosmology, and mashed it all up in the name 16 Hoops.

Amazing branding is about taking all your experiences, combining them, and spitting them all back into the universe in a way that appeals directly to the people you want to reach. It's either real and meaningful or it's not.

And your branding doesn’t have to be some Level 5 Geek story about universe origins. It can be romantic and pretty, or simple and clean, or anything in between.

But above all, you can't fake it.

Everything you do in your life is what makes you "you". When done well, branding and messaging can only be about you.

Think your branding isn’t working? Do the logo swap test. If your logo could be used for any other business, go back to the drawing board.

My hope is that the 16 Hoops origin story will mean something to you as a creative business owner. I think you deserve branding that makes you pump your fist in the air when you see it or say it. That’s part of why I started 16 Hoops. Don't accept anything less.

And know this: It's a weird and wonderful journey to get there.

RECAP:

Why 16 Hoops? It’s our most frequently asked question—and the answer reveals exactly how I think as a designer. This origin story weaves together cosmology, culture, personal history, and strategic positioning to show how layered, intentional branding is built. The way I arrived at this name is the same nuanced, deeply considered approach I bring to every client project.