intuitive business Archives - Page 5 of 8

Here's the thing: it'll quilt out

I recently decided to make a quilt. I’d been thinking about it for a while, and with the easy distractions of the internet and being able to work from my home, I decided that the manual, physical distraction of making something myself would be good for me in the evenings.

There’s something soothing about slowing hand-stitching hexagons together, piece by piece, that you just don’t get from screen time or social media.

And I love that I’m working on a project that is purely for me. It’s not for sale, it’s not a gift, it’s not for clients or my partner or my family. It’s for me. My taste, my colours, my shapes – just for me.

This quilt, currently still in small pieces stored under my sofa as I work on it slowly, has already given me so much.

A big part is the connection with crafty friends. One friend in particular, Kelly, has been named my Quilting Godmother, and has helped me to learn the steps I need to take. I’ve only sewed buttons and bits for the past 15 years, so her wisdom and awesome teaching has been a blessing to help get me started on the road of quilt-making.

I recently met up with her and took some hexagons to show her, to make sure I was still on track. I’d been putting them together, but worrying that I wasn’t seeing something that would trip me up later. Is this corner tight enough? Have I made this too tight? Will the colours work? Perhaps this sense of questioning everything you’re doing resonates…

Kelly kindly looked at my hexagons, told me they were fine (even good!), so I told her I had been worrying.

And then she told me my favourite new mantra:

It’ll quilt out.

She told me, once I’ve pieced everything together, done things I don’t yet understand about batting and backing, the small mistakes won’t matter. They’ll even add to the charm.

Here’s the thing:

Maybe today, Black Friday, the start of the busiest weekend and weeks of the year, you need to remember that it’ll quilt out.

What are the things that matter? Focus on them.

Ask yourself:

Here's the thing: in favour of the truth

Recently, I popped a new logo up on my website. I really love it! And it got me thinking about the three words I’ve chosen to appear below my name: mentor, writer, and advocate.

I have so much to say about each one, but the one I’ve been pondering on in relation to this post is advocate.

I advocate for small businesses. I believe in them. I believe small is beautiful, and that small business has a unique opportunity to make a difference in the world. Don’t believe me? Note the unrest at Etsy about the pending Handmade at Amazon. Big corporates are now fighting over small business. Because they know they can’t replicate it.

So advocating for small businesses is cool, but I realised recently that I advocate for something more specific than that. I’m really an advocate for the emotional, mental and physical health of small businesses. I want to bust open myths of needing to be super productive, super organised, good at everything and otherwise perfect.

I want to encourage and allow you to be all that you are – and know that that is enough.

I want to be a beacon of light, letting you know that you’re not alone.

As a mentor, working one-on-one with talented entrepreneurs and designers and makers and plenty of people who don’t know how to describe themselves, I hear the truth. I don’t always hear all of the truth, because we all struggle with it. But I hear more of the truth then others do.

I hear the stories of struggle. I hear the cash flow challenges, the staff issues, the crises of confidence. I hear about the family health issues and personality clashes that take over working days. I hear the stories of day jobs that are soul-sucking.

I’ve heard so many of these stories that I can tell you everyone has them. No one is walking a smooth road, at least not in every aspect of their lives. That’s not what we’re here to do! We’re here to struggle and learn and get better.

And what I’m interested in at the moment is talking about the struggles.

We don’t openly talk about every struggle we go through, certainly not publicly, and that’s right. But while we’re worrying about coming across as negative, we’re bottling up a whole load of feelings and experiences that are affecting us. The longer we bottle them up, the more likely they are to come out in a big long stream of negativity.

I don’t want to encourage wallowing in negativity – far from it. I know there are plenty of negativity-breeding forums and places on the internet that aren’t productive.

But here’s the thing:

Acknowledging your feelings is productive.

Acknowledging that you’re struggling or worrying or feeling alone is vital. And it usually includes telling someone in order to fully acknowledge it.

It doesn’t have to be your business Facebook page. It doesn’t have to be a lot of people. I recommend that it’s not anyone you don’t trust.

Share your feelings with a person or small group who will:

see your struggles for what they are
acknowledge your feelings and sit with you in them
avoid trying to “fix” the problem immediately
keep it confidential
maintain trust with you, now and in the future

I know people, personally and professionally, who have a lot of struggle, but who shy away from sharing it because they don’t want to come across as negative or needy or failures.

And the thing is, they’re robbing themselves of getting the help and support they need. They’re shying away from admitting there’s a problem that needs attention. They’re keeping themselves small.

Women too often get labelled as “dramatic” or “needy” or “whiny” – which isn’t the case at all! And god forbid a man shows feelings that might be construed as weak or not having it all together.

Having feelings is not dramatic or weak. Bottling them up for too long so they come out as a huge long stream of unsolvable problems is unproductive and, in my opinion, unprofessional. When we dismiss feelings, shrug them off, try to pretend there isn’t a problem, we’re letting them take over. Which isn’t a great way to run a business or live a life.

Rather than trying to squash them, share them with people you trust. Rather than try to fix it with wine or chocolate or a bath, write down how you’re feeling. Get curious about what you’re feeling. Get down to the crux of it. Don’t censor yourself while you’re letting it out. Just let it be.

This is the step so many of us skip, for fear of being crazy or dramatic or weak. This is the step that allows us to actually process feelings, so that we can move past them. This is the part that makes us feel alone.

Please allow your feelings.

Please share them.

You know where I am if you don’t have another trusting place to share them.

PS My Small Creative Business Retreat 2016 is now open for booking! Now there’s a place you can be yourself…

Here's the thing: making lives better

I work with a lot of people who make and sell products intended to make people’s lives better. Not in a ‘this piece of technology will change your life’ way, but in a ‘this will bring you happiness, connection and joy’ way.

I’m proud to work with people who make these kinds of products. Making lives better is a core value and intention of mine, so I feel good about it.

I’m proud to work with designers and makers who think about what people are going to enjoy and get out of, say, a new print or candlestick or photo album.

I’m proud to work with people who are innovative in creating heart-led products, like Gabrielle’s Date Jars, which are designed to encourage more quality time with your partner.

As small businesses, we’re positioned beautifully to make a difference in people’s lives. Yes, big corporations make big differences (and sometimes bigger differences), but I believe small businesses can make it more meaningful.

You can brighten someone’s day with a kind word, a lovely product, a well-placed thank you.

You can help people to express themselves with a product you’ve made.

You can process an order quickly (and thoughtfully) for an auntie who’s left it late to buy her niece a birthday present. (Thanks Twinkle Shimmer Shine!)

As I write, I wonder whether it would be helpful for you to reflect on how your products and your business make people’s lives better? I wonder whether it’s worth sense-checking your understanding of the meaning and the quality of your products?

Because I see a lot of things that don’t hold much meaning, and I find it draining. That quick-sell, put-an-initial-on-it giftware that will sell because it’s a gift, but will the recipient really love it in the end? Or is it just a stocking filler to be thrown away on Boxing Day?

You can make people’s lives better with thoughtful, high-quality products. Go for the heart.

(Note: I know there will be people reading who will now worry that I’m talking about their products, and worrying that they’re not meaningful. I think the fact you’re even worrying about that means you’re probably okay!)

Here’s the thing:

You have an opportunity to make people’s lives better, to make your own life better. I believe you can do this through creating products that spark joy, that have meaning, that say something – even if it’s quiet and small.

Among all the ‘do this’, ‘commercially viable’, ‘latest trend’ advice out there, I need to tell you that it might be as simple as asking yourself these back-to-basics questions:

Does this product feel really good?
What would make it feel even better?
Who is going to feel really good about this product?
How is my life improved by this product? (That’s a question for what you buy as well as what you sell)

I know we’re heading into the busiest time of the year, and this is a fairly big theme to consider when you’re quite possibly very busy. My hope is that you’ll see Christmas as an opportunity to make lives better, and that you’ll also think about making your own life better over the coming weeks.

PS I’ll be opening up Progress, not perfection next week for another year of supportive, encouraging emails for this Christmas season. Get a sneak peek here.

Here’s the thing:

But here’s the thing:

Here’s the thing:

Enter The Forge