I spent this past weekend wearing a professional hat of a different variety. Aside from my totally fulfilling job as a jewelry designer and small-business entrepreneur, I also spend a pretty fair amount of time working as an educational consultant and professional learning trainer. In other words, I train teachers how to teach new concepts to students. Teaching adults is a great gig, in no small part because they always remember something to write with. ;)
I say all this for two reasons: a.) I think it is important for customers to know who is behind the brand. I am not some big corporate machine churning out these pieces of pretty. I'm a normal person who has my hand in a lot of different things to satisfy my interests in, well, a lot of different things. hehe and b.) I wanted to let you all know why I've been away from the blog for a few days.
In the few days before I left town and the few days after I was away, though, some pretty incredible things started happening. I noticed the different connections that were happening around me and just knew it was the universe pulling together opportunities for some magical stuff. It's taken me a couple of days to wrap my head around it, but here are just a few examples.
1.) My new friend, Morgan, is the owner of the adorable Identity Boutique in Midtown Sacramento. Morgan carries Compliment rings in her shop. I had to go in to deliver a few pieces when we got to talking... and brainstorming. We have a HUGE idea to roll out this spring/summer and though I can't share the details right now, trust me when I say it's gonna be awesome and will have an impact on our community. Teaming up with another young, woman, small-business owner to bring awesomeness into the world = Connection #1.
2.) A few weeks ago when I hit the proverbial brick wall when it was coming to my website design, Morgan introduced me to Amy Cluck of Indie Sacramento and AmyistheParty.com. Holy cow, Amy rocked my socks when it came to what she was able to do to my website and in such a short amount of time. I swear it had taken me already 800 years to upload just one picture! And look! This site is beyond what I could have hoped for-- all thanks to Amy. Meeting Amy was instrumental in growing my business and in the last couple weeks, I've been able to recommend her to two other jewelry designers who are looking to upgrade their sites too! Collaboration is key if we want to grow. And like you know from previous posts, I want to grow forever. :) Connection #2
3. Speaking of growth, I've learned so much about being a small-business owner in these last few weeks. I decided to take an online business workshop through the Flourish and Thrive Academy, a collaborative specifically geared to jewelry designers. I'm growing in ways I never saw myself growing before. And it is so exciting to share! Too often, we women, particularly women entrepreneurs are
very tight-lipped about our success. Maybe we are afraid that someone will steal our ideas or that in some way it will diminish our good fortune. Nonsense! An old friend from college (with whom I usually only connect with via Facebook/Instagram likes on pictures of her adorable children) and I started chatting. Nicole, from An Eye for Pretty, interior design firm, is also a teacher/entrepreneur. Our conversations last week really showed me just how worth it is can be to be brave and reach out. When we share our growth with others, we also benefit. And so Nicole and I put our little heads together and came up with a collaboration that we are excited about, and that will help both of our businesses grow. Yay and yay... Connection #3.
Do you see a theme?
Connecting. Sharing. Collaborating. Growing.
It's getting pretty Sesame Street up in here. And I LOVE IT! :) haha
xoxo, Melissa
How have you shared a part of yourself that led to growth? I'd love to read your comments, below!
Also, check out the Compliment Soul Care Series Vol 1: Toni Ann Johnson.
