Hey there! How are you? Lately I have been getting work done at night, after the kids are (finally) in bed. It’s working the best for now. The whole house is dark, quiet and calm. The hard part is not letting Sandman get the best of me and knock me out before I can do what I want to do. He is so sneaky and ruthless!
Making Moves
So, it has been awhile and I haven’t written about it so let’s do it. It’s time to tell you about my quit day! Until late last year I had one foot in my corporate life and one foot in my creative entrepreneur life. It was time to let corporate go after many, many years and fully pursue my dream of being a full-time artist. I started planning to make moves way before my quit day in September of 2019. The best book I have read in a long time helped me change my life. It’s called “Take Control of Your Life: How to Silence Fear and Win the Mental Game” by Mel Robbins and it is wonderful. It gave me a whole new perspective on what fear is, what it can look like and how much control we really do have over it and our lives.
I gave my notice and that was the wildest two weeks ever. My dream was actually coming true and it was surreal. I have been a “follow the rules and familiar path” girl for a very long time and this was completely uncharted territory for me. Friday, September 24 2019 was my last day and I could breathe again. I just soaked it in for about a week and a half. I hadn’t had this freedom in so long and I eased into finding my new groove. New structure, new routine, new life.
Becoming A Full-Time Artist
It was so strange being just me after working with teams and a whole entire building full of people. There were many days at my old job when I would just sit in my cubicle and barely anyone would talk all day but even the mere presence of people was something I felt the absence of pretty quickly on my own. Everything was new and that took some getting used to. I turned to forming deeper relationships with my fellow creatives online. I made sure to go for walks, get dressed, take real food breaks away from my computer desk and eat at the dining table. I would have a top 3 list of things that would make me feel amazing at the end of the day if I got them done. Just focusing on those things kept me productive and moving forward and I still do this every day. I combine my daily priorities so all parts of my life are included. Business, home stuff, bonding with my kids, connection with my husband, etc.
After that first week and a half, I got to work on a brand new product, a printable mermaid coloring book! I put in everything that built me up at the time. Mermaid illustrations ad quotes that say “Positive Thoughts = Positive Life” and “Doubting yourself is normal. Letting it stop you is a choice” by Mel Robbins. I needed all the inspiration and self empowerment I could get while passing this on to others so they could do the same. It was the perfect first product and soon I made a digital version of it as well. While I worked I listened to so many audiobooks and podcasts. “Creativity, Inc” is a book about Pixar’s journey and management style, I absolutely recommend. I also cleaned up my website and made various tweaks to my online stores and systems so all things were optimized.
Suddenly the holidays were here and we were with family, enjoying that time in a way I never had before. It was beautiful. Then there was the beginning of the year so we were getting our groove back again in January and February with the kids back in school/daycare. I had my blocks of time to focus on my business again and then March came and everything changed. All of a sudden due to COVID19, our kids were home, remote learning was a thing and my husband was working from home too. It’s so crazy how things can change so quickly. Again I started adapting to our new normal even more and worked when my oldest was on her break in between her school Zoom calls, etc. That worked for awhile and then it was suddenly summer. The break from school was great but then we were hit with a huge wave of no structure. :O
Adapting To The New Normal By Leveling Up
It was time to adapt and figure it out again. My word for this year is “velociraptor robot” because I wanted to be stealth, find a weakness and adapt to it quickly while moving on and leveling up. Boy did I get that and more! I figured out new ways to work, pushed myself to be more present in the online space, talk to my people, be more consistent with routines, etc. Then on top of the pandemic there was the killing of George Floyd on May 25 and the surge of visibility and talk about race and the Black Lives Matter movement. So many opportunities for platforms to be shared with BIPOC (Black, Indigenous People of Color). My work and shop were shared and highlighted because others loved my work, what I stand for (pursue your passion and take time for yourself, especially women and especially moms) and because my business is a black owned business.
I don’t usually get many sales in a short amount of time but I celebrate every sale like it’s my first. Honestly I do! I was on the phone with my friend and I got a notification that I had a sale. So we cheered (we always congratulate each other and share our wins!) and then we kept talking. About 10 minutes later I had another sale. I was a little shook this time and we cheered all the same. We talked for about another 30 minutes and ended the call. I went to check my shop to see the orders in detail. Then I went to Instagram and I saw 80 likes, 30 new followers, etc. What the what?! Every 2 minutes I was getting 4 new followers and multiple likes. *blink blink* This continued for what seemed like forever and I was floored by the beautiful comments and activity. Where were these awesome and super nice people coming from?! Soon I found out that Young House Love asked their community to share black owned businesses they loved and someone shared mine! They have over 300k followers so I was getting so many new faces and orders too! It was such a blessing and my Instagram grew from 1440 to 3300 in 48 hours. The next day I welcomed those new faces in a video and here it is on IGTV!
I love my growing community here, on Instagram and beyond! This is better than my wildest dreams and that is why I highly encourage everyone to listen to what their heart is pulling them towards so they live their best life. You are in control, you can make things happen, you are capable and you are worth it!
P.S. You’re here for a reason and you’ve made it this far so stay awhile longer by joining the Creative Newsletter! You get 15% off your first order and we get to keep in touch. It’s a win win. :)
xo,
Erika