A Great (Woman's) Day!

Pop quiz: What do Paula Deen and I have in common?

We're both in the February 2013 issue of Woman's Day!!! And by we, I mean Paula and one of my pillow covers....eeeek!

I was contacted by a Woman's Day editor in November 2012 about the possibility of including one of my pillow covers in the February 2013 issue. I never heard one way or the other if my pillow cover would be included in the magazine.

Flash forward to this past week. I saw the February 2013 issue on the newsstand and I decided to take a quick flip through it to see if I was included. There has been an uptick in traffic in my shop, so thought it was a possibility.

Lo and behold, what do I see staring back at me in the table of contents? See that polka dotted beauty? That's my pillow cover!!!

After a quick flip to page 42, I see the perfect feature for my pillow cover:

Bedroom fixups under $50 by Shawn Gauthier. Is that fiscally chic or what?

Tip #1 is to "liven up linens" by swapping in a colorful toss pillow or throw blanket. And page 44 includes one of my pillow covers (!!!) next to the likes of West Elm, Ikea, and PB Teen. Please pinch me now.

John and I promptly high-fived in the gas station in central Illinois and purchased the magazine. The lady working the cash register was only mildly impressed, if at all.

Thanks again to Woman's Day for including my Marimekko pillow cover in this feature!

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Moms are the Best

Even though I just saw my family over Thanksgiving, I was really excited for my Mom to visit this past weekend. There's something about having your mom around that's really comforting. One reason for her visit was my church's holiday bazaar.

We decided to get a table again this year and of course she owned it with the alpaca yarn, hats, and scarves. Our biggest takeaway from this year is that accepting credit cards is a must! We closed several sales after saying we accepted credit cards. My Mom used the Square reader and app with her iPhone and it worked like a charm.

It was also a bit of a "girl's weekend."  Friday night was spent enjoying her tasty beef tips over rice while gabbing with John, prepping for the bazaar, and sewing these adorable Marimekko mini stocking ornaments. I still have a bunch from the bazaar, so a few have made their way to our Christmas tree. Others should be popping up on Etsy soon.

After the bazaar on Saturday, we ventured downtown with John to pick up coffee from our favorite place ever and go to dinner at the Walnut Room. The wait for a table was rediculous, so we snapped a picture of the Great Tree and headed over to Petterino's on John's suggestion. This was an excellent idea for multiple reasons: the wait was much shorter, we were able to walk around the Christkindlmarket (and see another gorgous tree and snack on cinnamon sugar roasted almonds), and I had some amazing parmesan crusted sea scallops for dinner. If I see scallops on a menu, there's a 90% chance I'll be ordering them.

Winter Shirt Dress tutorial from Elle Apparel

Sunday was spent debating interior decorating ideas over Amaretto coffee, going to Mass, and making a trip to Joann's. We found some gorgeous jersey and knit fabrics, but the patterns were less than inspiring. Good thing Pinterest had some much better options.

How was your weekend?
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Where I've Been

Hi, friends! As I return to reality after a fantastic long weekend in Denver (yes, that's the dress!), I thought I would share where Fiscally Chic has been recently:

Last week, Lisa of Elembee brought back her "At the Moment" series. There I share what I'm crushing on, dreaming about, and currently up to.

Back in July, I won the MintLife Home Economics Sweepstakes. I recently wrote a few guest posts for MintLife about the experience. The first post has all sorts of before's and after's of our room. And the second post shares tips and tricks to making your DIY home makeover a success.

Finally, hot off the presses is a tip I shared with the Bank of America Small Business Community about selling on Etsy. Many of the tips are applicable to businesses selling products online (not just Etsy) so swing by if you're looking to learn a little something new. [And to give credit where credit is due, Jeff of Sustainable Life Blog sent me the Help a Reporter Out query.]
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A Huggable Investment

Me and Rumm Pudding

Ready for a random fact that I haven't shared with you recently? My family owns alpacas, between 30 and 35 of them. And this past weekend, my Dad was showing four of them in the Chicagoland area. Since John has never been to an alpaca show (I've been to one) and it's always nice to see family, we made the trek to the Lake County Fairgrounds to check things out.

Alpacas are related to llamas, and I like to think they're a smaller, nicer version of llamas. It's been a while since I've seen the alpacas, and I forgot how cute and fuzzy they are.

Perfect Rumm

My Dad (and technically Magical Farms, where these alpacas are boarded) brought Rumm Pudding, Perfect Rumm, Pale Ale, and Midnight Delight to show. By the time we got there, Perfect Rumm had already won Reserve Color Champion in his color class. That means he took second overall for true black male huacaya alpacas. Midnight Delight also won a blue ribbon.

Pale Ale

We did get to see Pale Ale strut his stuff. He took 3rd in his age and color class. The first and second place winners in his class ended up being first and second overall for their color, so he clearly had some stiff competition.



Midnight Delight and Rumm Pudding

What possessed my parents to "get into" alpacas? To be frank, for the tax benefits. Then there's the side benefit of the fleece, which my Mom and sister use to knit hats, scarves, mittens, and blankets. We also have to amazing woven alpaca rugs in our bedroom. And, of course, an alpaca is much cuter than a bar of gold. Sure, a bar of gold doesn't need to be fed or cared for, but where's the fun in that?

Will John and I ever get into the alpaca biz? Definitely not in the near future. Though it's fun to hear updates from my parents and help them pick names for any newborn alpacas.



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Anniversary Month

I don't know if it's the new school year or the impending change in seasons, but September has had some big changes during the past few years.

• Four years ago we got married
• Three years ago we started our transition to Chicago (John moved here first)
• Two years ago I started Fiscally Chic
• And last year I started my Etsy shop!

It's been an exciting year with my first craft show, being featured in the Etsy Finds email and on the front page, and breaking 100 sales.

To help celebrate Anniversary Month, I'm having a sale in the shop! Use coupon code "ANNIVERSARY15" for 15% off all purchases through September 13, 2012.

As for this year, there are still 25 days left in September to make things happen :)
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Around the Internets

Last week was an exciting week for the Fiscally Chic Shop!


I hit a milestone 100 sales! And then I had another sale this morning to put me at 101...woo hoo!

I'm participating in One Sydney Road's "Under the Boardwalk" pop-up shop and my shopkeep feature is up! Swing by for a few facts I haven't shared here, my guilty pleasure, and a few of my favorites. Plus, there's a discount code that can be used in my shop through August 31, 2012.

From Elembee

And then I was pleasantly suprised to see my tangerine orange and white striped pillow cover appear in Lisa's recent Etsy favorites. I'm personally loving that print about messy hair. But it makes me wonder if pulling my hair back is interrupting its awesomeness ;)

Hope you have a fabulous Monday!
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Minty Fresh Business Advice

Photo from mint.com

It's been a while since I've waxed poetic about Mint, so it's time to share another awesome use of the free (and secure*) online money management program.

A few months ago, I decided to experiment and create a separate Mint account for Fiscally Chic. It's been the best decision EVERRRR!

For my business account, I've linked up my Paypal and business checking and credit card accounts. It's so nice to see how the funds are flowing in an out of my business all in one place. It also made tax time super easy because my expenses were nicely categorized and segregated from my personal expenses. And of course I love looking at the trends of how the income from my Etsy shop and blog has grown :)

All you need is a separate business email account, as well as your account numbers, and you're good to go!

Do you have any new business tips to share?

*You can read more about Mint's security policy and encryption here.
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More Etsy Awesome Sauce-ness

Hi friends! Do you mind if I toot my own horn for a hot little minute? I know this blog is way to share informative and entertaining things with you, but it's also a way for me to remember things.

You see, over the weekend, a buyer from Canada purchased three of my 18x18 in. Marimekko green ombre pillow covers. Just like this guy:

That in and of itself is pretty cool. What's even better is how the buyer found me. He sent me this note:

You may be interested to know that I became aware of your Marimekko ombre green pillow covers in a feature in our national newspaper, The Globe and Mail. The Saturday edition includes a Style section.

The pillow covers are going to complement a very large piece of glass, a bowl by Canadian glass artist, Mariel Waddell. 

Wait....what?!?! My pillow cover was featured in one of the largest newspapers in Canada???

After a quick search I found it.

The Globe and Mail's story about adding a dash of ombre to your home.

Do you see it? It's my pillow cover!!

Since the story didn't list my shop specifically, and I'm in Chicago, I probably wouldn't have learned about the feature unless somebody had told me.

I'm OK with that. I'm growing my business slowly and organically. If I had a huge rush in sales, I would be busy out of my mind. I'd rather have a balance between my personal and business life, especially since I have a full time job.

A feature like this is the cherry on top of a job well done :)
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Fun Things for Friday

Hurray for Friday! My brain is looking for a break, especially after writing that epic post about blogging and taxes, so how about a little recap of what's new, what I'm loving, etc?

Budgets are Sexy shirt, navy Toms, Loft striped sweater jacket, Gap jeans

First up is something that's at the top of my birthday list. So what if my birthday isn't until May 1. It gives you plenty of time to talk amongst yourselves and figure out who will get me a Budgets are Sexy's t-shirt. I'm thinking a ladies size medium in white. Or maybe pink. I'm sure you'll all figure it out. And yes, I will proudly wear this shirt as it's the epitome of fiscally chic :)

It's one of the last Fridays in Lent and this discovery couldn't come any sooner. We're loving Trader Joe's chicken-less tenders! They really do taste like chicken. And the mandarin "chicken" nuggets were perfect with stir fry veggies. Bonus points go to the dark chocolate almonds with sea salt and turbinado sugar.

Remember how I was all excited that our rose plants were starting to sprout? Well, spring is definitely here! Look how big they're getting! And our oregano plant somehow managed to survive the winter, which means we've already added fresh oregano to pizza and salads.

Meet the latest addition to our homebrewing arsenal...fresh hops! We planted Cascade and Chinook hop vines and they've already started to pop up. Growing hops seems to be the cool thing to do these days as one of our favorite STL breweries, Urban Chestnut, also planted a mini hop farm this spring.

Last, but certainly not least, one of my pillow covers was on Etsy's front page on Tuesday! There was some major "happy dance" action in my cubical that day :) And don't forget you can get 10% off through 3/31/12 using coupon code LUCKY10.

What are you up to this weekend? Anything big going on? We're going to see a school musical with friends on Saturday.

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Billiken Pride

Jess LC FLEA striped earrings, SLU sweatshirt, Gap jeans, J. Crew striped ballet flats

Admittedly, I'm not a huge basketball fan. So when my alma mater, Saint Louis University, made it to the NCAA tournament this year, I was totally hopping on the bandwagon.

I swam in high school and college and that was always the same season as basketball. So the newspaper and athletic departments always favored basketball. To make matters worse, LeBron James was in high school the same time as me, and the Cleveland media looooved him!

Regardless, I'm still proud of the way the Billikens played this year. They made it to the third round of the tourney, the furthest they've been since 1998.

So what is a Billiken??

A Billiken is a symbol of good luck who represents "things as they ought to be." In the early 1900's there was a huge trend in the United States around the Billiken.

Per SLU's website, "Before [the Billiken] was Saint Louis University's mascot, he was a national sensation, a figure who was turned into dolls, marshmallow candies, metal banks, hatpins, pickle forks, belt buckles, auto hood ornaments, salt and pepper shakers and glass bottles. Though they look a little different in each version, Billikens always possess cheery personalities, broad smiles and rotund bellies." To buy a Billiken was said to give the purchaser luck, but to have one given would be better luck.

One more exciting thing! This morning I reached 50 sales on Etsy! To celebrate, I'm offering 10% off all purchases through March 31, 2012. Just use coupon code LUCKY10. And don't forget that 10% of sales are being donated to the Appalachia Service Project through April 8, 2012.

Have a great weekend!

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Launch Yourself!

Hey there! How was your weekend? Mine was pretty chill and fantastic. Perfect for recovering from a hectic work week. John started a new batch of homebrew (a Dortmunder if you're wondering) and we have a week of meals planned around using the spent grain. First up was homemade veggie burgers and they were alot better than we were expecting. They blew the frozen veggie patties from the grocery store out of the water.

In other exciting news, this week is going to be jam packing with personal finance. Not just on Fiscally Chic, but all around the Internets since this week is the inaugural Women's Money Week! So for those of you that can't get enough of personal finance, or need to brush up on your money skills, there are all sorts of amazing bloggers writing about the following topics:

• Monday March 5: Entrepreneurship / Making Money 
• Tuesday March 6: Relationships & Money 
• Wednesday March 7: Saving & Investing 
• Thursday March 8: Budgeting 
• Friday March 9: Money in Your 20s/30s/40s/50s/Retirement 
• Saturday March 10: Debt
• Sunday March 11: Goals / Taking Action

So without further ado, here we go!

As you may remember from my 2012 goals, one of them is to create more moolah. 2011 was a pretty good money year with my new job, opening my Etsy shop, and slowly monetizing Fiscally Chic. But I didn't know everything about everything when I made these moves.

I worked with a recruiter on landing the new job and followed Ramit's advice when negotiating a 10% increase from my previous job. If there's one takeaway from earning more money, it's that everyone needs to negotiate! Negotiate a raise. Negotiate a new salary. Negotiate prices. It doesn't cost you anything to ask.

In the job world, part of the reason women don’t get paid as much as men is because women generally don’t expect to get paid as much as men. Women are told to be appreciative and not be greedy. But it seems like this line of thinking can cause women to undervalue themselves. And this thinking will cost women thousands of dollars over their professional lives. According to Forbes.com, “By not negotiating their salaries, many women sacrifice more than half a million dollars by the end of their professional lives.” That’s serious money.

Even before I interviewed for my current job, I worked with Michelle to help identify several career options. One was what I ultimately did: continuing to work in the accounting world, but leave auditing and work for a company that jives more with my interests and values. We also discussed freelancing, an Etsy shop, and more.

When starting my Etsy shop and continuing to grow Fiscally Chic, I tapped into lessons learned throughout my life, in business school, and around the blogosphere. But what if you're just starting out and didn't go to a business school? You might not have the time to search around the Internet for the answer to every question.

Women's Money Week is the solution to your conundrum! In addition to compiling amazing content from over 100 female bloggers, they're offering a massive sale! And you know how much I love to think of the savings :)

Women's Money Week created the Launch Yourself sale, which includes 22 products from 21 women worth a total of over $1,813. (Seriously, if you went to their sites now to buy them, this is what it would cost). And all of these killer courses are part of the sale:

• Partnership Playbook by Pamela Slim and Desiree Adaway ($199) 
• The Art of Earning ($25) and Email Marketing Kickstart ($97) by Tara Gentile 
• Attract Clients Fast: Ten Easy Steps to Fill Your Professional Practice by Jan Marie Dore ($97) 
• How to Build a Part-Time Social Media Business by Alexis Grant ($24) 
• Write Your Mess by Allison Nazarian ($97) 
• Reclaim Your Life by Anastasiya Goers ($37.95) 
• Disobedient Directory and Site Snapshot by Jackie Purnell ($175) 
• Make Sh*t Happen by Jenny Blake ($47) 
• To Whom it May Concern: Or, How to Stop Sucking At Your Job Search by Jenny Foss ($39) 
• Sticky Ebook Formula by Kelly Kingman ($27) 
• Location Independent Lifestyle Guide ($37) and The Naming eKit and Workbook by Lea Woodward 
• Business Goddess Starter Kit by Goddess Leonie Dawson ($49.95) 
• Power to Your Message by Michelle Barry Franco ($33) 
• Operation: Creative Career Cheer by Michelle Ward ($37) 
• Build Your Online Business by Natalie Sisson ($37) 
• 52 Weeks to Awesome by Pace and Kyeli Smith ($52) 
• Building Online Relationships that Work: A Bottle of Wuffa Dust by Sarah Robinson ($89) 
• Quit Your Job and Travel the World Bundle by Christine Gilbert ($19.99) 
• Discover Your Money Map Number ($497) + 1 Month of Eyes Wide Open Coaching ($97) by Alexis Neely 

I completed the "Operation: Creative Career Cheer" workbook by Michelle Ward when I was going through my job uncertainty (remember this video?), so to be able to get everything else for only $60 more is an amazing deal! And did you see Tara Gentile on the list? She's one of my business idols. You know how I said that many women don't understand their value and worth? Tara is all about smashing that misconception and helping women value themselves, earn more money, and feel good about it. She says in one of her recent blog posts, "I’ve learned one thing: it’s impossible to “earn what you’re worth” until you know your own self-worth." Amen, sister!

If that wasn't enough, Women’s Money Week is donating 25% of the profits to Women for Women International and Global Fund for Women. Which is timed perfectly to coincide with International Women's Day on March 8.

Launch Yourself is something you can use to grow your business, create more weath, and change your life. But you better hurry. The sales page is only live from 5am EST March 5th until March 6th at midnight. That means the sale is just 37 hours long. 

If you're wondering, yes, Launch Yourself is an affiliate. I told you one of my 2012 goals is to create more wealth :)

This post is a part of Women's Money Week 2012. For more posts about entrepreneurship and making money, see womensmoneyweek.com.
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The Beginnings of a Business

I'd like to interrupt my 2012 goals for a little sneak peak into my childhood. While we were in Cleveland for Christmas, I found this blast from the past:

Early promotions

That's right. It's my friendship bracelet catalog! The same one I referred to when answering the question, "What took me so long to start the business?"

Table of contents

Here's a sample of a page from my "catalog." Each page was a different style, with a small sample taped or stapled to the top of the page. I then listed the different color combinations, lengths, and prices of each item. And of course I made a big check mark when something sold!

And like a good little accountant, I had my change purse and some scratch paper for calculating my sales.

If this doesn't look like an entrepreneur in the making, I don't know what is :)

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2012 Goals: Financial

Welcome to 2012! 2011 was a big year with buying a house and I'm sure 2012 will have quite a few tricks up its sleeves too. To help hold myself accountable for my 2012 goals, I want to share some of them with you.

And based on preliminary results from the reader survey (have you taken it yet?) you're all really interested in the personal finance and savings posts. Therefore, I thought I would start with some of my/our financial goals for 2012.

Christmas present!

Save, save, save!
While 2011 was a good year financially, especially with my new job (10% pay increase!), we seem to be spending money on the house all.the.time! I know most of these items are rare purchases (snow blower, furniture, plasma TV, etc.), but they still put a sizable dent in our pocketbook. So 2012 will be the year of diligent savings and intentional spending.

We already made great progress on this goal by talking to our bank about refinancing our mortgage. I thought 4.875% was a great rate, but we might be able to get down to 4 or 4.125%! More to come on refinancing in the next few weeks.

Marimekko pink and white Lumimarja pillow cover

Create more moolah
Another way to offset an increase in spending is to create more income. My Etsy shop is one way we're doing that. While my shop was only open 4 months, I had $1,000+ in gross revenue! Not too shabby!

In 2012, I'd like to increase my gross revenue to $5,000. This seems a little ambitious, but I know I can do it! Based on 2011, that's about $417 and 12 sales per month.

I hope your 2012 is off to a fantastic start! Are you setting any goals for the year?
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The Big M: Monetization

Today is all about one of the stickier topics in blogging: monetization. Deciding whether to profit off one's blog is a personal decision and I've slowly worked on monetizing Fiscally Chic over the past year. I'm extremely selective about what I air on the blog and want to be sure not to spam you. I'm not rolling in the dough, but it helps pay for my domain name. As my Nana would say, it's chewing gum money.

Grace over at Design*Sponge wrote an epic series about online etiquette and ethics based on a panel discussion at Alt Summit. Part 2 is all about about blogging and the moolah. I highly recommend the read if you have some time.

Google Adsense

Back to my monetization journey. I slowly started with Google Adsense. Nothing crazy, just an ad or two on the homepage. Let's just say I'm nowhere near the initial payout of $100. I still run those ads, but am sure to filter the types of ads I show on the blog.

Product Reviews

About 9 months ago, I was approached about my first product review. You might remember my review  (ETA - removed due to a request by Whooga) about Whooga ugg boots. (By the way, I'm wearing them as I type this post.) Since then, I've received more inquiries, but have turned down a majority of them. Do you want to hear about hair extensions? Probably not. I have no need for them, so I couldn't properly review them. On the positive side, I'm currently reviewing a few more relevant products and will share my experience in the next few weeks.

The challenge with product reviews is balancing meaningful feedback while looking out for the readers' interests. As I'm sure you know, the FTC requires bloggers who review products to disclose any connection with advertisers, including the receipt of free products, and whether or not they were paid in any way by advertisers. So yes, I received the Whooga's for free.

Affiliate Programs

More recently, I joined some affiliate programs. Particularly through ShareASale. These are when a blogger promotes a product or a service in exchange for a commission should that product be purchased or lead generated. Bloggers also need to disclose when they're being compensated through affiliate programs. Amazon has their affiliate program, but it's not available in Illinois...boo! Your favorite companies and products might also have affiliate programs.

Here are a few of the affiliates I currently promote on my sidebar (I'm being compensated!):

Michelle of When I Grow Up Coach created an amazeballs creative career change workbook. I purchased it when I was grappling with my job change. She also has a package that combines the workbook with an hour coaching session. I totally recommend it if you're not sure what you want to be when you grow up. Even if you're not looking to make a change, Michelle has all sorts of great life coaching advice on her blog.

I first learned about Prosper at FINCON11. Per their website, Prosper is "the market leader in peer-to-peer lending—a popular alternative to traditional loans and investing options. They cut out the middleman to connect people who need money with those who have money to invest...so everyone prospers!"

Prosper's statistics show actual investor returns averaged 10.69% since July 15, 2009. Borrowers can get fixed rates ranging from 6.59% to 35.84% depending on their credit history and application. Borrowers receive their loan after it's fully funded by investors and passes Prosper's verification process.

John and I have recently invested a small amount of money through Prosper. We're able to select our specific investments (risk, time horizon, etc.), spreading our funds over several loan listings. I've seen listings to help consolidate debt, pay medical expenses, pay for a wedding, and starting business. As our confidence grows, we'll probably invest a little more, diversifying our overall portfolio.

Most recently, I joined the Tiny Prints program. You can order invitations, greeting cards (Christmas is fast approaching!), wedding invitations, photobooks, and more. They have some great gifts if you're running low on ideas. For example, what about a custom return address stamp for someone who just moved into a new house?

And to make things easy for you, here's the page with Tiny Prints' latest coupons. For example, you can save 20% off and enjoy free Standard Delivery or free USPS First Class Mail Shipping when you spend $49 or more using the code 20HOLDEC. Ends 12/8/11!

I've had some moderate success with affiliate programs, but it obviously depends on whether someone clicks on the link and purchases.

Products

One of the primo monetization strategies is creating and selling your own product. Like Michelle's workbook. I'm a tad on my way with the Etsy shop and have greater plans down the road. This will build on my accounting background and Etsy experience.

Paid Ads

I may start experimenting with paid ads on my sidebar in January 2012. I'll let you know when the time gets closer.

Etc

Other methods include sponsored posts and text link advertisements. Those aren't really my style, so I don't accept those inquiries. Though I'd be happy to offer giveaways for you lovely readers!

Disclosures

No matter your monetization strategy, it's imperative to disclose all of the necessary information. This fact was drilled into my head at FINCON11. You don't want your affiliate programs or Google Adsense accounts shut down for not having the required policies and disclosures. That's why I have a new page devoted to disclosures. There are my terms of service, privacy policy, and FTC sponsorship disclosures. You can create your own disclosure policy here.

Do you monetize?
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What took me so long?

Hi friends! After a weekend of recharging and Christmas-ing, I'm back in action! That's a picture of our Christmas tree. It's a Fraser fir, so I may call him Frasier. What were you up to?

I also met up with Jess for lunch and to go to the One of a Kind show. We also talked business for a bit. One of her questions was, "What took me so long to start the business?"

The answer is similar to Jon Acuff's most recent post about ignoring your dreams. Or getting distracted and focusing on something besides your dreams.

As you can tell from my blog header and About Me page, my favorite board game growing up was Monopoly. I've always understood and enjoyed business.

In 3rd or 4th grade, I sold friendship bracelets to friends and at school. I even kept an inventory and had a "catalog" in a binder with notebook paper. Each page was a different style, with a small sample taped or stapled to the top of the page. I then listed the different color combinations, lengths, and prices of each item.

It was my first foray into entrepreneurship. Since then, I've known that I wanted to own my own business.

Some of my high school totes

In high school, I remember reading an article about Kate Spade. I loved her concept of a classic purse, with a pop of color on the inside. I also sewed totes for my friends as birthday presents. Around then, I thought it would be fun to be a purse designer or boutique owner. My own version of Kate Spade.

I learned about Etsy in 2008 while planning our wedding. It was this post on Weddingbee. SnappyShop was my "gateway" shop and I fell hard for Etsy. I loved the concept of the online marketplace for handmade goods. Etsy is such an easy and approachable way to start selling.

Going to business school and learning about accounting was extremely helpful. And working in accounting continues to teach me how to run a business and deal with the books.

So why did I wait so long?

I didn't have the time with the last job. Now my hours are better.

I didn't have the space when we lived in apartments. Now I have space for a "studio" in our new house.

I didn't have the resources. Now I have a sewing machine. And a place to sell.

I didn't have the "know-how." Now I have more knowledge of social media and design trends.

There were so many distractions with planning a wedding and moving from St. Louis to Chicago to a house.

I could have made it work before, but the pieces didn't really come together until the last 3 months.

Or maybe I didn't believe in myself until now.

Either way, I'm making it happen now!!! Thanks for following along my journey and I'll be sharing more posts about starting a business in the future.
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