My mom was a crafter.
We were very poor growing up, like living in homeless shelters poor.
Combine those two things and I grew up to be a pretty resourceful and creative person.
Sometimes we only had boxes for tables, but believe you me, I made those boxes look good. I could use a scarf to look like anything I saw in magazines: a shirt, chair cover, lamp shade.
And milk crates? I could build a palace.
I was one of the fortunate ones.
I learned from my parents financial mistakes and created a solid surface for myself. (including an impeccable credit score) *dusts shoulders off*
I kept the craftiness.
…and the thriftiness.
I hate seeing things go to waste. It’s borderline OCD. I love reviving a thrown out desk or re-purposing a broken lamp. That weird plastic thingy that came with your shoe purchase? Yeah, I’ll find a use for it.
I was the girl in the leather interior Acura picking up stuff from your dumpster.
At 30 years old, I was renting a house on my own.
My garage was converted into an art studio.
There was a sewing area, a spray paint booth, canvases, doodads, mosaic tiles, table saw/woodworking area, and a tool collection to make the most handy of handymen jealous.
And I had a budding career as the Director of Marketing- on track to CEO-in a start up company.
Of all these resources, the one I lacked was time.
With the time I did have I was going out and doing what a successful 30 year old would go do. We would always end up somewhere (festivals, concerts, flea markets, etc) where the local artisans would be selling their wares.
You know the type:
re-purposed shirts with asymmetrical cuts and lace,
tin cans turned in wind-mobiles,
tie dyed Grateful Dead onsies,
the natural soap lady-there’s always a soap lady.
I would see super cool creative items.
But I NEVER bought anything.
I would analyze each item and say
“It’s not that special, I could make this myself”
“I have all of these items in my studio, I could make this tonight”
The Difference
You know what the biggest difference was between their products and mine?
It existed.
They did it.
It was done.
They did the work.
They had a product.
I just had and idea. Sometimes I even had a plan.
But I didn’t execute it.
I could’ve done it better. But I didn’t.
I could’ve made it more unique. But I didn’t.
I could’ve made a ton of money. But I didn’t.
And that, my friend, is the difference.
Action, even imperfect action, is better than none.
As a matter of fact imperfect action is better than perfect action. You wanna know why?
Because perfect action doesn’t exist.
We need to let go of our fear of failure.
The simple truth is — no great success was ever achieved without failure. It may be one epic failure. Or a series of failures — such as Edison’s 10,000 attempts to create a light bulb or Dyson’s 5,126 attempts to invent a bagless vacuum cleaner. But, whether we like it or not, failure is a necessary stepping stone to achieving our dreams-Ekaterina Walter
The biggest failure is to never try at all.
I failed as a career crafter because I never started.
And Now
I’m not a writer, but I’m writing.
I’m not a videographer, but I’m making videos.
I’m not a professional vocal artist, but I have a podcast.
Sure, there will be failures a long the way, but I certainly wont’ fail in the end.
I’m doing
and with doing, I’m learning
and with learning, I’m improving
and with improving, I’m becoming the best me I can be.
And the best me brings the best business possible.
I’m not a writer, but I’m writing.
I’m not a videographer, but I’m making videos.
I’m not a professional vocal artist, but I have a podcast.
Sure, there will be failures a long the way, but I certainly wont’ fail in the end.
I’m doing
and with doing, I’m learning
and with learning, I’m improving
and with improving, I’m becoming the best me I can be.
And the best me brings the best business possible.
So can you do it better?
Can you do it differently?
Can you bring a special uniqueness to the table?
You’ll never know if you don’t get out there and “do”.
And you’ll never regret reaching a goal.
But you will certainly regret never trying.
So, in the famous words of Gwen Stefani, Nike, and me:
“What you waiting for? Just do it already”
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