Hello dear blog readers, clients, colleagues, friends, and other people of the internet.
The past couple of weeks haven’t been super easy around these parts. I didn’t quite get my ‘Here’s the thing’ blog out of Friday for a number of reasons, so today I thought I’d go off-piste and send out a blog post that’s a little off-the-cuff, a little raw, and a little more honest.
There have been some things that have hit me hard these past two weeks. We had a small (everyone’s fine) car accident in which a man opened his door into ours while we were moving, which shook me up a bit, and has taken some faff to get the car fixed. Not easy, not expected, and the sort of thing that just unsettles me.
I’ve had quite a bit of work on – lots of you are preparing for Christmas! – and I’ve been jumping from one thing to another very quickly which isn’t, I realise, a sustainable way for me to work. Once again, I’m learning about my own capacity and preferred ways of working. I’m by no means perfect, which still has the ability to kick me in the recovering perfectionist places.
I’m also doing something very exciting and brave – I’m training with Tara Mohr as part of her Playing Big Facilitators’ Training Programme. It’s a six-month stint of exploring how I can help people (mostly women) to play bigger. I’m committed to learning more about what I can do, how I can help, and what I want my business to look like, so this feels like the right time to dive in.
But oh boy, the first course module is on the inner critic, which is decidedly kicking me where it hurts! The past week has been a masterclass for me in how we can lose confidence in what we’re doing, how we talk to ourselves when things go wrong, and how we can get sucked in to the spiral of doom. Thank goodness for the tools I’m (slowly) learning, and for Tara’s approach!
So, my dear friends and clients and readers and others. I don’t have anything sparkling or wise right now, other to say that, I’m human too. I struggle, I work things out. Life hits me sometimes.
Today, I am going gently, because I can feel the cold I’ve been fighting off for weeks just tipping over into setting in, and because I need to go slowly in order to learn how to bounce back from the inner critic / spiral of doom.
I’m starting to believe, more and more, that we have the capacity to figure things out ourselves, that we have the answers, if we dare to listen to them. I’m getting clearer on the work I want to do – but I’m not quite ready to talk about it yet. I know I will be, and that will have to be enough for me for now.
On November 9, my supportive Christmas ecourse starts for the second year.
Now, this course is dear to my heart. It’s some of my best work. It’s something I whole-heartedly believe in.
It’s the result of supporting small creative businesses through six years of busy Christmas periods.
The course is designed to provide you with regular dashes of inspiration, support, reminders, and the feeling that you’re not alone.
You don’t have to do anything or learn anything, you simply receive emails (and care packages, if you choose) packed full of ideas and resources to help you stay sane over Christmas.
The idea of Progress, not perfection is just that – a shift from the idea that to have a successful Christmas, you have to do everything perfectly. That if you do one thing wrong, you’ve failed.
No. Enough of beating yourself up and working yourself to the bone.
Weekly printable to do lists
With Progress, not perfection, you’ll get support throughout the busiest weeks of the year that’s easy to pick up, doesn’t take up very much of your time, but might just make a difference to how you feel and what you do.
I believe the idea of perfection gets in the way A LOT, especially when we’re stressed, busy, and worrying about whether other people are doing it better than we are. It’s easy to get caught up in every little detail, without knowing how to prioritise the mountain of stuff you have to get through in the next 24 hours. (Or, let’s face it, the next 5 minutes.)
So what do I actually get?
Starting on Monday 9 November, for 6 weeks, you’ll get three emails directly to your inbox on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. There’s no Facebook group or community to be part of (although you can get involved in chat on social media if you choose) – this is about me and you. It’s Christmas, after all, so while you’re giving so much to your customers, I’ll be giving you a little something in return. I give, you receive.
Is it different from last year?
Some of the content will be repeated from last year, but I’ll also be adding in new audio and video recordings and a couple of live chats (like this one) during the course. Because the main aim of this course is to prompt and remind you to take care of yourself, you’ll find it just as helpful this year.
What do the emails include?
Mondays: introducing the theme for the week (ranging from productivity to priorities to gratitude), a printable checklist with practical stuff to do, and a couple of ideas and practices intended to help you through each week
Wednesdays: a gentle reminder of our theme, with a printable reminder to pop up in your immediate eye-line, plus some suggestions of how to make your day work even better for you
Fridays: a feel-good playlist to get you moving and dancing, a little pick-me-up message and chance to check in, plus links to festive treats online.
You can also opt in to get two happy post care packages (one at the beginning of the course, and one at the end), filled with surprise treats for you:
Printed copies of the weekly checklists
Reminders to put up in your workspace
Relaxing, energising and balancing essential oils
Surprise treats just for you
Holistic holidays
If you’ve been following me and my blog for a while, you’ll know that I offer a mixture of practical business stuff (like pricing spreadsheets and writing product descriptions), as well as a more holistic approach to supporting small businesses (like my mentoring).
This course matches that approach – it includes practical tips and reminders that are easy to adopt in busy weeks, plus reminders to eat well, take deep breaths, and make sure you have a healthy dose of perspective.
Let’s be honest. You already know most of this stuff. You know that you need to get sleep. You’re already preparing for Christmas as best you can. You’ll survive – you have to.
What I’m offering is a series of reminders to do it. To get sleep, to keep on top of orders, to keep things in perspective. And, maybe, to believe it’s not just about surviving – it’s about thriving.
Wouldn’t it be lovely?
To have someone who knows how truly, madly, deeply hectic it can be at Christmas pop into your inbox every other day.
To feel you’re not alone, but without having to ask for help. (We all know how hard that can be when you’re already running low.)
To be reminded to celebrate the brilliance of your business, your success, your life when it feels like you’re teetering on the edge of sanity.
To get a parcel of lovely things that remind you to take care of yourself, to keep your eye on the end goal, to focus on progress, not perfection.
You might even end up feeling like you know more about yourself and your business, rather than feeling depleted, on 25th December.
How to get the goodness
For 6 weeks of emails and online goodness, sign up below. You’ll get three emails a week packed full of support and reminders for £65.
For all the emails, online goodness, plus two care packages, sign up below. You’ll get a package at the beginning of the course, and one at the end, and both will be full of helpful, encouraging, and relaxing luxuries – all for a total of £130. That includes emails AND care packages.
Care package participants: This is available for UK only.
About me:
I’m Jenny Hyde – your guide to a better Christmas.
I’m a mentor and advocate for small creative businesses. I believe that looking after your business means looking after yourself, and that business success comes in many different forms.
While working for notonthehighstreet.com, I supported their small business sellers through five Christmases, so I know the rollercoaster of challenges, successes, panics, relief and joy of the season very well.
My speciality is combining practical help with understanding and clarity.
I believe in the power of tea (and cake), and, of course, I believe in progress, not perfection.
The more I work with small creative business owners (especially women), the more important it seems to have a positive support group around you.
We creatives need support. We need nurturing and thoughtful conversation. We need to trust ourselves, and we often look to others to see if they trust us to do the right thing, to build the business, to be as good as we hope.
Now, I know, in my heart and soul, that it’s important that we give ourselves as much of that trust as we can. I don’t want to dismiss the importance of doing the work ourselves. It’s vital.
However, it’s also important to gather, talk to, and develop relationships with people who support your creative and business endeavours. People who get it. People who can see at least part of your vision. People who can empathise, even if they have no experience of what you’re doing themselves.
Sometimes, the people closest to us (husbands, friends, mums) don’t get it.
They can’t see it. Not in a malicious way. They just don’t have the vision or the experience. Sometimes they haven’t even heard of Etsy or craft markets, so they don’t even realise there’s a market for your unique designs. They simply can’t see the commercial potential or the creative aims.
And sometimes friends and family get caught up in their own fears about their own careers and worth. Their fear of doing what they really want to do is transferred to you – they tell you they’re not sure you can do it, because they can’t do it, or worry about their own success rates.
Aren’t we funny, us humans?
A story I love is Gina of rosiebull designs, whose husband, supportive as he was, told her she’d never make any money at sewing personalised glasses cases. Several successful years later, she’s proven him wrong! And she now has this reminder (by Kyleigh’s Papercuts) up in her studio to remind everyone how successful she was, despite the doubt:
(I want to mention here that Gina’s husband wasn’t mean – he just didn’t know that Gina’s designs, plus notonthehighstreet.com, plus a consumer desire for tactile, personalised, gorgeous gifts, would result in a financially successful business. This isn’t uncommon when people look at craft-based businesses.)
Here’s the thing:
Find your community.
I speak to clients who feel isolated as they start to nurture the first tender stems of their dream. The people closest to them can’t support them.
The most important thing is to notice that they’re not you’re people. They’re not your target audience, and potentially they don’t have the knowledge of the industry that you do.
It’s okay to love people who aren’t your customers! It’s okay to be friends with people who don’t get your business, or understand that it could support you financially.
But I recommend that you don’t talk to them about your business. Or, if you do, have some pretty serious boundaries about asking them for advice or taking on their feedback.
Also, you don’t have to prove them wrong immediately. You don’t have to make it an overnight profitable endeavour. You get to take your time to build up your business, your scalability, your customer base. And while you do that, you need people who will hold the potential with you, not naysayers who’ll damage your confidence and enthusiasm.
And then you might think about finding a supportive group of like-minded creatives. Join an Etsy group, or reach out to a local business for a coffee, or connect with people on Facebook or Instagram (though I thoroughly recommend in-person meetings!).
It can make the biggest difference to talk to people who truly get it.
Jx
PS Gather with me and like-minded business owners at the Small Creative Business Retreat in March. Guaranteed to make new friends!
Enter The Forge
Life's too damn short to chase someone else's definition of success. I'm here to give you the courage and tools to forge your own path.
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Hello dear blog readers, clients, colleagues, friends, and other people of the internet.
I’m Jenny Hyde – your guide to a better Christmas.
