Baseball, jazz, iPhones…when I think about the great things America has introduced to the world, I don’t usually think about instant pancakes, but the product seems important now.

Many years ago, I had a part-time gig as a tour guide. There was an international convention in town, and I supported about twenty-five psychiatrists from Turkey, showing them the sites of Chicago when they were not in a conference session and helped their translator and guide from Istanbul get their needs met.

One woman, with credentials that could stretch as long as the Galata Tower is high, pulled me aside, and asked if I could get her a couple boxes of Instant pancake mix. I thought this was an odd ask, but apparently they didn’t carry such a thing in her local store.

I’m not big on eating carbs, in general, but I do love my pancakes. At home, I have a griddle that fits on the stovetop, and I will savor pancakes with blueberries or thick cut ham prepared there. There are even favorite brunch spots I might go to with a friend on weekends and enjoy a flight of flapjacks, a selection of silver dollar-sized, golden treats featuring pumpkin, coconut, or lemon curd flavors.

The recollection of how happy the psychiatrist from Istanbul was when I brought her two boxes of Aunt Jemima’s (she asked for the brand by name) for her to stuff in her suitcase came back to me while I moved my way down the breakfast aisle at my store the other week.

I needed to restock, but I had problems finding the familiar box on the shelf where I thought it would be.

There were red boxes in the right shade of red but none looked familiar to me.

Around the fifth time I scanned the same few shelves, I studied a box. In prominent, sort of old-fashioned type, it read:

Pearl Milling Company

Near the top of the box, there was rendering, the size of a quarter, of a brick factory/warehouse, next to the declaration, “Since 1889.” On the upper left side was a bright yellow triangle. In black and red letters, it boasted “LARGE SIZE, MAKES ABOUT 40 PANCAKES.”

On the lower right, in a less eye-catching spot, it read:

NEW NAME – SAME GREAT TASTE – AUNT JEMIMA

Of course. I heard about this rebranding project months ago, I just hadn’t seen the new boxes at the store yet, not on the shelves.

Packaging for this breakfast favorite has gone through some updating over the years. Quaker Oats bought the brand in 1925. Trying to escape associations with a tradition of slavery in the old south, in 1989, the character, apparently representing Aunt Jemima, was depicted without her kerchief but this wasn’t taking things far enough.

Quakers Oats marketing execs wanted something to give a sense of history, appealed to men as well as women and could support other products. They decided on using the “Pearl Milling” name, which carried no immediate associations with slavery. They kept the red box, making the transition easier on consumers.

For product promotion, branding is about how something is perceived, especially by a target audience. More and more, I’m hearing about personal branding, the idea of how you show up in the world.

As I can see in the story of this iconic pancake mix, a product can be rebranded. Planning rebranding in the commercial realm revolves around taking old fans with you as you change.  Rebranding on a personal level starts with determining who you are and how you want to be perceived in the world.

Hopefully you’ll take old fans with you as you change, but the thought is probably not lost on you that if your friends and family don’t want to travel with you as you become more of who you are already, maybe it’s time to focus on other relationships.

How do I want to show up?  It’s always a good time to ask yourself this question. For me:

  • Persistent and patient,
  • Not easily bullied,
  • Expecting to be listened to,
  • A leader as well as a supporter,
  • Sure of my values, whether someone approves or not,
  • Sure of my value, not needing affirmation.

Saying goodbye to an old way of BEING in the world and hello to a new way is no small thing.