Refocus, Reenergize, Reevaluate

This is a hard post to write. Many of you know me personally but for those who don't, let me give you a little bit of background on me. 

I am a mom to four wonderful kids, three girls and a boy. Ages are from 14 year old down to a six year old. I have a lovely husband who works so hard for our family, so much so I am able to be a SAHM and put my focus on my kids and the home. 

I started my journey with jewelry seriously back in 2011. I soaked in all the info I could online, I am self-taught and had many along the way who have helped me fine tune my skills. My goal when creating my business was to design beautiful pieces that were made for the everyday mom like myself who wanted to feel pretty while on the go at an affordable price. Jewelry to me was always something I never focused on, mainly because I was terrified to wear expensive pieces and second I never felt like changing out between work and casual wear. So I decided to create pieces that did just that...pieces that work for business, casual, and a night out.

The journey has been amazing. I have met so many wonderful customers who have turned into friends. I have worked alongside such beautiful women who have helped to inspire and encourage me to great lengths. This road I have been on has been worth every ounce of my time. But like with any road, you hit a stopping point.

My life as I know it is extremely chaotic. Between four kids we have eight activities that run us rapid. I volunteer for centers at my children's schools. Our weekends are dedicated to multiple games, sometimes local but most of the time we are traveling long distances for our kids. We have tournaments for our older ones, now competitions for dance, and then there is homework, projects, and so much more. Then there is the cleaning, the cooking, the grocery shopping....you get the picture. 

With all of this came so much added stress with my business growing. More events, wholesaling, consigning, social media upkeep (ugh that is the worst of all of it), designing, accounting, inventory management, shipping, etc. Managing a home, a family, and a business has put a tremendous strain on me personally.

Recently one of my children was very sick, it took me out of commission for over a week. Nursing her back to health became my focus. I put everything else aside and dedicated my time and energy to her. As she was on the mend I was able to sit down and revaluate where I wanted my life to be. I didn't want this stressful life of figuring out how to manage it all. My passion for creating was going away. I was so worried about creating collections, posting to social media, updating my website that the desire for all of that slowly diminished. I was managing so much that I was not doing well at any of it. 

I needed that time with my child to see the big picture. I was spreading myself so thin, to the point that I was not happy with anything. So where am I going now? 

After much thought, much soul searching, and so much meditation I have decided that for me the journey is not going to end, but look very different. Instead of falling into the trap of having to post every day multiple times a day, I am only posting once a week. Instead of stressing over collections I am going to design new pieces when I feel inspired. Instead of doing events, I am going to take that time and spend it with my kids and my husband. Instead of worrying about my likes and followers, I am going to be extremely grateful to all the ones I have right now. Instead of focusing on social media marketing, I am going to use my newsletter/email marketing to let you all know what is going on. 

Taking a step back for me I feel will help my business moving forward. I am keeping the wholesale accounts I have. I will continue to service them for as long as they want. If you are not part of my newsletter, please join! This is where my communication will be coming from.  I will be adding pieces to my shop when I feel the creative itch and will share those through my newsletter. 

I know all of you will understand this move. I am so thankful for all the support you all have shown me through the years. I cannot thank you enough. While I begin to adjust to this new norm, stay on the watch for my next newsletter. Share with those who you feel would love my jewelry. My marketing will be heavily relied on upon you. I am refocusing, reenergizing, and reevaluating my personal and professional life so that I can make myself a much better mom, wife, designer, and most of all person!

Much love to all of you!

Melissa