The Future is Now

So, a lot of my customers are moms, and they marvel at the fact that I am a business woman and a mom. Understandably so, I too marvel at it. Sometimes I don't know how I do it, sometimes I don't even know why I do it, but most of the time there is just a little voice in my head that tells me to keep on keeping on. This sort of relates to the idea of balance that I wrote about in my last post. Sometimes I have to break it down to the utmost basic concepts in order to move forward.

Ever since becoming a mom, I have really learned what a fine line it is for me between being an artist and running a successful business. For me, being an artist means creating from my soul, doing what I want, when I want. That in itself is contradictory to the word business. In order to survive in what I do, it means conforming at some level. It means forcing myself to sometimes do things I don't want to do. It means being creative to come up with ways of getting things done in less time. It means being able to have faith in other people that they can indeed do something for me, maybe even better than I can do it myself.

I have had help with my business in the past, it didn't work...at all. But it was a huge learning lesson that I knew would be useful in the future. The future is now. I have learned that I cannot skip steps to achieve the end result. I need to focus on each step and progress from one to the next. So I recently had a girl I know start helping me sew on an as needed basis. I had to break it down from the idea of having a fancy sewing contractor sewing many garments for me to the idea of using what I currently have available to me. It was so scary to take this step, to put trust into something larger than myself. Afterall, I have done every single aspect of my business all by myself since I started it 6 years ago. But, I took the advice of a highly respected industry professional, Kathleen Fasanella (look her up if you don't know who she is) and jumped off the proverbial cliff. Its just the beginning, really, but I am so glad I went through with this because my stitcher friend is awesome!

There is no better time than now to realize your dreams. My parents always drilled it into my head that I can do anything I want as long as I put my mind to it. Think local, think in small steps. Sometimes you just need to put the larger picture out of sight for awhile in order to get closer to it.

Balance

So today I decided to start a blog, obviously. There are so many thoughts, crazy and rational, that go through my head as a result of being (or trying to be) a mom, a wife, a business woman, an artist, a concerned citizen, among many other things, and I felt that I needed a place to write about this stuff.

I run my business, EcoUnique, out of my small house in an oddly sublime little town in Oregon. I am a mom to my almost one year old Keller and a wife to my hardworking husband Brett. Don't let anyone fool you, it is extremely difficult to balance all 3. I will admit that there are plenty of days where I want to give up the business to be a housewife, but there are also plenty of days where I know that would drive me nuts. So for me, life is all about balance....which I have come to realize, balance is not necessarily something you find and keep, rather something that requires maintenance.

It feels good to be writing again. I used to write non-stop when I was younger and it was definitely an outlet for many emotions and thoughts and confusions. Writing, for me, leads to many realizations. Hopefully I will stick to it. Off to sew now while Keller is sleeping...stay tuned for more ramblings :)