It’s basically the same recipe for achieving your dreams. Mix one part planning with two parts belief, sprinkle in three parts action, and then add a pinch more if needed. Whatever you do, don’t stress over the hows! You tackle those as each one comes at you. The result? It’s a deliciously satisfying dream come to fruition!
Daily, I would meditate on my end results: my collection being sold to savvy women worldwide who desired quality, and effortlessly-stylish, classic designs that accommodated their adventurous lives. I BELIEVED in this vision wholeheartedly. Keeping my eye on the final product, allowed me to take action, every day of every week...baby steps, that turned in to long strides, and eventually a full sprint toward my dream of launching my line. The more I focused on action, the less those “dreaded hows” muddied my thoughts (side note: if you're not familiar with any of Mike Dooley’s inspiring work, CHECK HIM OUT NOW! He is a guru for thought innovation!)
My dream recipe was coming along nicely, and I was so close to finishing, I could almost smell it! But then in March 2018, we hit a snag My capital had dwindled, my business credit cards were maxed, banks didn’t want anything to do with me, and my investor had to back out. I needed $50K to finish the line and launch, and I was running out of options fast! But I kept my eye focused on the dream and the action steps to get me there.
In April, two significant acts of kismet came my way and...TA-DA!..... things were moving again! Seven years earlier, I had written my personal styling business plan through the Women’s Economic Ventures (WEV) and had stayed involved with them through volunteer work. They announced that they were offering low-interest loans to WEV graduates who had suffered financially due to California’s Thomas Fire. That was me! I applied, and they offered me their max amount!
Following the unexpected windfall from WEV came an even more unexpected offer. One of my personal styling clients, a CEO for a large company, approached me about doing the interior design for her company’s new corporate spaces. Interior Design you ask? Yep, it shares many common elements with personal styling: purpose, proportion, color, pattern, texture and the like. I had done some smaller-scale design on her home, and a number of other interior design projects, so I was confident I could tackle this project for her, but it was a big job. Like, huge...2 hours each way commute, much of the work would include nights and weekends AND it was happening during the same time as our launch (!!!) but it would provide me with the rest of the capital I needed, and I knew this was another way one of the hows was being tackled by the universe!
I didn’t take on any new styling clients during that spring, but I still had a full plate of current clients I was serving. Add in the cork collection, and the interior design project and I was busier than a one-legged lady in a butt-kicking contest!
Speaking of kicking butts...that was just what I was doing! But there were some tears too if I'm honest. Unforeseen challenges tested me mentally and physically. I was gone more than I was home, and it was taking a toll, but the hard work was paying off. By May, my line was nearing manufacturing, and in the first week of June I flew to Brooklyn, picked up my friend and photographer, Dhrumil, and set out to Connecticut to see, photograph and video my line which was nearing 100% completion! Side note: few things in life have felt as amazing as witnessing, in person, the craftsmen and women finishing my bags and watching them be packed and taken away for shipment….Gah!
Sixteen hours a day for three days straight, we work on the photography for the product, including lifestyle shots as well as video footage. By the last week in June (the 24th to be exact), I found myself in a room filled with friends, family, champagne, desserts, lots and lots of bags, belts, and dance music. “She thought she could, so she did!” This was what a focused dream into reality looked like, and it felt good. Damn good.
By the way, if you’re keeping track, our home is still in remodel mode. Don’t worry, I’m whipping up a recipe for getting that done as well, but in the meantime, if Oprah wants to list my collection on her Favorite Things episode {are you reading this Oprah?} and speed this up a bit, I’m down with that!
Looking to follow and entrepreneurial dream of your own? Allow the ups and downs of my journey to guide your journey. Start here!
And, get grab free style advice here or here or.........well, here or here!