So what made me start this crazy venture and why did I decide to start building it into a business? Where do I even start with this story?
I've wanted to own my own business ever since I can remember. While most little girls were playing house I was playing office. I made my dog a co-anchor for my own news programs in our yard and even wrote short stories on an electric typewriter I bought with some birthday money. I've been hoarding notebooks and pens since I was in junior high. The desire to have my own business has always been strong within my soul.
In my pursuit of owning my own business, I even tried to buy into multi-level marketing. Once upon a time, I was a "beauty consultant" for Mary Kay. Yep, that's right I tried selling cosmetics to win my freedom from a 9 to 5 job. I learned this was not going to be for me, too much focus on recruiting more people for my liking. So I gave up and went back to the 9 to 5 job.
Then in 2007 I got married, left a job, and moved to a new state. There was no cleaner slate to start with than that. I started searching for my niche again. I jumped on the food blogging train in late 2007 and in 2008 I started an Etsy shop. I wrote that blog for nearly seven years before closing the doors and taking it down. The Etsy shop was not as long-lived. I sold handmade goods way below their cost. I had no idea what I was doing when it came to pricing and selling things. I was sewing like I worked in a sweatshop and I was miserable. After nearly four years I threw in the towel.
In 2012 we moved to Alaska, and I started making cards again, something I honestly hadn't done with any regularity since getting married. When we bought our house there was enough room for me to have a studio again and I was getting into a groove of creating with consistency, but what was I supposed to do with all these cards? In the back of my mind was still a gnawing desire to build my own business, no matter how small it might be.
I started giving sets of cards to friends and family as gifts. I started sending random packs of cards to people as "happy mail" and I began getting feedback. The message that kept coming back to me was "you should really consider selling these". In 2014 I blew the dust off of the old Etsy shop and listed a few things.
Next week I'll tell you the rest of the story of how I got where I am right now on this journey.
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