One Mom's Journey

It was almost as clear as a slap in the face.  All signs were pointing down one path and someone was even leaving me bread crumbs to follow.  I just went with it - and kept on trecking.  I will tell you briefly what happened so you can see how I followed the signs.

Before I returned back to work in June of 2013, I was at the mall with my two girls and my mom.  We were heading to the food court on the second floor, but the elevator was broken, so we had to find another way up since we had the stroller with us.  That delay caused a series of events, which I refer to as "signs".  Once we made it to the second floor, we were stopped dead in our tracks by two women passer by's asking my daughters to try on some new hat samples. They did not work at the mall, they were heading out.  If we hadn't been delayed we never would have met these ladies, and the series of events that followed that meeting never would have happened.  Being the inquisitive type, I asked one of the women about her business and she proceeded to tell me how she gave up her career as a lawyer to pursue this new business venture with her mom - and it is now world wide.  I picked her mind, and we exchanged numbers.  I called her the following week to ask her a million and one questions about how she did it - and she referred me to a a published author and a self published author, both of whom had no problem spending 20 minutes on the phone with me.  I just kept on picking up the bread crumbs and following the trail.  Finally I was referred to a print broker and the rest just flowed from there.

Taking the Plunge

The "signs" were there, the "want" was there and the passion was obvious.  This is where I stopped questioning everything and just dove right in head first.  To be honest, that is how I have always done it, and with no regrets.  Every business I have started and ended has been a learning curve, and at the age of 33, I feel more prepared than ever to take on this venture and make it happen.  What I have learned over the years is that too much analyzing and questioning leads to "nothing".  If strategies are over analyzed, or over developed, they lead to failure.  Why?  Because our environment that we live in is constantly changing.  We must constantly adapt to that change, therefor waiting around to build that perfect strategy - does not exist. I am a firm believer in an initial strategy, but I also know that change has to be part of it.  I say, just do it, take the plunge.  In fact, ask any successful entrepreneur how prepared they were when they started, and I bet you the same answer will surface.  I was not prepared, I just jumped in head first and took the plunge.

One of my favourite bloggers who I love to quote says the following and I stand behind this 100 percent: 

"If you’re working on something important, then you’ll never feel ready. A side effect of doing challenging work is that you’re pulled by excitement and pushed by confusion at the same time.You’re bound to feel uncertain, unprepared, and
unqualified. But let me assure you of this: what you have right now is enough. You can plan, delay, and revise all you want, but trust me, what you have now is enough to start. It doesn't matter if you're trying to start a business, lose weight, write a book, or achieve any number of goals... who you are, what you have, and what you know right now is good enough to get going.We all start in the same place: no money, no resources, no contacts, no experience. The difference is that some people — the winners — choose to start anyway."  James Clear 

I started writing and illustrating Susy the Soother Fairy and just dove right in. Then I followed the signs, then I followed advice, and now I am the proud author/illustrator of children's books and a blogger!! I am far from being an expert at any of the aforementioned but I sure am learning, and enjoying it at the same time. I bet a short 6 months from now I will look back at my books and my posts and say "what was I thinking then?". But you know what, if I hadn't started, what would I be looking back on? So I ask you this - What are you waiting for?