Dude - life is GOOOOD right now, First name / my friend

 

Back from an anniversary trip in Puerto Rico and we're still over here celebrating all the things.

 

Like, holy fucking shit - $100K?! 

 

I keep asking myself how this is even possible. How could I turn this little business I started out of necessity into something projected to be twice as profitable as my highest corporate salary?!

 

Keep reading, I'm going to tell you exactly what I did (and didn't do).

 

 

I didn't wake up one day with the grand idea of owning my own business - truth be told, that was never a part of the plan. I didn't think I was made for self-employment. That I didn't have enough business knowledge, design skills or grit.

 

I was forced to make the decision to either go back to sadly job-hunting for designer positions on indeed, or try my hand at this small biz stuff a few months after Hazel was born.

 

I was working as a remote designer for a few years, where every spring I started to expect a phone call saying my job was changing. That I was moving to part-time, then contractor without benefits or any clue what my income was going to be that month. 

 

I saw that security slowly fade until one day it was gone. Time to pivot.

 

I remember staying up every single night for a week, rocking and feeding Hazel between building pages to my website. I had John take a few photos of me to use for web + social, and I started to shyly tell people I was starting to offer branding services. I, in no way, marketed myself - and that's my biggest regret. 

 

 

 

I feel like it came out of nowhere, honestly. I mean, yes, I had the six-figure goal in the back of my head for a “nice to have” by the end of this year (or hell, even next year!) - but a mid-ytd earning in my first year was NEVER on the radar. But I kept my blinders on and made the main goal to serve my clients. It's so simple. That's it.