Bigger and better things.

I had a really great week this week.  I have been so busy!  I've met quite a few amazing women, made a couple new friends, and have gotten a lot of new ideas for my business.  I'm really excited!  I feel like I'm on the brink of something great, something that I'm creating all on my own, something that is really me, and something that is going to create my future. 

I had met with a woman, Allison, for lunch about a month ago.  She and my mom had met at a networking function, and my mom had been tooting my horn to her haha.  (what are mama's for??)  She is starting her own business, basically she's wanting to help other small business owners get on their feet, and help with marketing and such.  So I met with her for lunch, she gave me a ton of great ideas, and also put me in touch with this woman's group in the area.  They're called the "Geekettes Club" and basically, they are just all about promoting and helping each other, no matter what business we are in.  There's over 300 women in the group!  They meet once every month, and I went to my first meeting this past week.  Sonya, the creator of the group, is such a doll.  I latched onto her so fast!  She has the cutest australian accent, so of course I'm hanging on her every word as she's giving me tips for my business.  She does online marketing, so she had so many great ideas for me.  I had made a brochure (instead of the flyer I was using) using Microsoft Publisher, and brought a copy of it with me to the meeting, so I could get some input on it.  Sonya had said that the whole thing ended up looking to corporate, and that she thought that since I'm an artist, I should use my creativity to make the whole thing stand out.  I was scared to go too overboard with it originally, not wanting to make it look too out there, but now I'm really having fun with it and I think it's definitely gonna catch some people's eyes.   I even singled in on a logo.  I have literally made like 40 of them and finally made one that I love (a lot better than the one I was going to use, that I simply didn't hate, but didn't love haha).  Here it is:

Pretty cute eh?  I love it.  I did make the mistake of ordering new business cards with a different design, but it's ok, they're still really cute, and they look a lot better than my old ones, and most importantly, they have my new website on them. 

I met with a client today, and asked her for her input on my website (take a look at it, click on the picture on the right under my bio), and she gave me some different ideas too, so I think my website will continually be a work in progress.  I have at least gotten the look of it to be something that I don't hate.  I have literally been working on it everyday and night of this week, whenever I wasn't with clients.  I haven't been able to sleep!  I'm just so excited about everything, and I want to make sure that I'm making the most of all of the new ideas.  I really think that all of this is going to make a difference, and I'll actually be able to hand out my business card proudly, with a nice brochure and website to back it up.

The Geekettes Club is planning on having workshops that I'm going to attend.  They bring in business specialists to teach us the ins and outs of starting your own business.  I'm so excited!  They are also planning a vendor event, and Sonya said that I could bring my paintings to show and also do live hairstyling right there in the show.  Luckily I've been 'on stage' before, my old salon used to do stage shows and I got to help. 

I'm just so excited.  I feel like so many opportunities are opening up for me, and they couldn't have come sooner.  I'm in a good place emotionally, and just ready to grab everything that comes towards me. 

I am thinking that I'm going to hold off on moving out of mom's house.  I have so many things that are coming together, and I realize I need to have a bigger base before I take all of those expenses back on.  I'm lucky to be able to not have to pay rent, and things really are calming down around here.  No reason to rock the boat at this point.  I was always thinking that living here would just completely diminish my social and dating life, but who cares at this point?  That's not what my focus is right now.  I really want to establish my business, and essentially establish myself.  I'm feeling great!