My brand has evolved over the last few months, and recently I realized it was time to update my brand name and make it my name name lol To share my thought process on how I got there and why it was important for me to make this shift, I recorded this IGTV video (I get my thoughts out much better verbally rather than writing). If you’d prefer to read how I got to this point, scroll down for a written version in a more organized format.

I wanted to give you a preview of what’s coming for the next week/month. It’s been a little while since I posted to my Instagram feed, but I’m back now! I took a social media break a couple weekends ago and when I came back that next Monday, I didn’t know what to say, so I just didn’t say anything…

The last thing I shared on my feed was my mini-series on forensic science, which got such good engagement from everyone and I wanted to say thank you for that! You gave me a lot of good feedback, so I will definitely be sharing more science & forensic science related posts. Now that I’m back and ready to share again, I’m organizing and planning my upcoming posts and I thought I share some of my ideas with you, as well as some changes that are happening.

Why the name change?

One of the biggest changes: I changed my name! No more Sharana’s Jams, my brand name is now my name: Sharana Darcel. Recently I’ve been doing a lot of inner work, learning how to listen to my intuition and stop looking for external guidance. While I was at work the other day, this question popped up in my head, “Why am I using this brand name (that does still include my name) instead of just using my name?”

Originally, I started this brand to share DIY manicures that I had done. Previously I was a rep for a nail company so it was tied into that, as well as the phrase “that’s my jam” because I was sharing things that I love and things I was trying at the time. That brought me fulfillment while I was doing it, but my brand has evolved since then. I’ll still be sharing things that I love, but with a different focus.

Who am I helping and how?

Going forward, my main focus is on helping other women in STEM prioritize their self-care in order to avoid burnout and find balance in their lives. Just by the nature of working in STEM, we have very logical and analytical minds (sometimes over-analytical to be honest). It’s especially important for us to learn how to turn that off. It’s too easy to get wrapped up in that very logical and data-heavy way of thinking, and to then bring that outside of work, which gets exhausting VERY quickly. I know I get like this, so I want to help other women like me figure out ways to take time for ourselves so we can give our minds and spirits a break.

Burnout is REAL, no matter your age or what field you’re in. Being in STEM specifically, we work so hard very early in order to get into our careers. It’s very common to hear about people burning out of STEM young because of how much we’re pushing ourselves at the beginning. I’ve felt burnout myself more than once, and I’m only 29! After 4 years of undergrad as a double major, 2 years of grad school that I struggled through, plus 5 years of working in a lab- I had to figure that out early.

Showing up at work after a vacation, and immediately feeling like you need another vacation? Yeah, that’s burnout, and I know I’m not the only one who experienced that.

How does self-care help me avoid burnout?

We have to figure out what we can do daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, to take care of ourselves and really give our minds the breaks that we need to relax. Self-care looks different to everyone, and it can change based on what you’re dealing with. Whether it’s something simple like putting on a face mask, sipping tea in a comfy robe, hanging fun lights and pictures that make you smile- if it makes your soul happy, do more of that!

It could also be something deeper like getting your finances in order and setting a budget so you can pay off your student loans faster, or using fun money to get a massage and let someone else take care of you for an hour. Personally, working in a lab has made my neck and shoulders extremely tense, and I made the choice to set aside money in my budget to get a massage every month.

NOTE: Money isn’t necessary for self-care, but it’s a tool that can help tremendously. It can also be detrimental if you do like I did and go on a spending spree buying every random thing that popped up online. Sure it feels good in the moment, but later on you’ll probably feel like it wasn’t a good decision.

What am I doing to find balance?

I’m using my platform to share what I like to do for self-care, which is how I’ll still be sharing about the things that I love (so there’s really not too much of a change). For me, self-care and finding balance in my life looks like taking care of my skin, sticking to my decluttering project for the year, painting my nails with the brightest and most fun colors (like the new Holo Taco multichrome collection- my jaw dropped when I saw those colors in real life and I’m SO GLAD I bought them!).

I’m putting more things in my life that genuinely bring me joy and make me smile uncontrollably, and hopefully inspiring you to do the same. I know that putting good energy out will help bring good energy in, which is such an important part of looking out for ourselves. That’s also why I wanted to change my brand name: if I’m going to be showing up more authentically, I’d rather do that by using my real name.

Final thoughts

I hope these changes help bring more value to those of you who follow me (thank you again sooo much for 1000 followers on Instagram!). I’m not going to post just for the sake of posting, or because the algorithm says I should- if I don’t have anything valuable to say, I’m not gonna say anything! I’ll continue to show up as my most authentic self, whether that’s sitting in a robe with no makeup on, or dolled up looking fancy. I want to help you ~synthesize~ a balanced life for yourself (like how I threw in a science term into my brand mission? lol)

If there’s anything you’d be interested in seeing from me when it comes to self-care as a woman in STEM, or my STEM life in general, please let me know! Another idea I’ve got is to do a biweekly video series talking about various self-care topics that’ll help those of us in STEM, and possibly turning the audio into a podcast version of the content.

Now that I’ve started on this journey of listening to my intuition and not worrying about what other people or society thinks I should be doing, I’m getting a ton of new ideas and I feel much more in alignment. Even though there’s a little bit of a shift happening, I feel really good about it and proud of the path that I’m on.