working on my business!

Did anyone get the title of the blog? "working on my fitness business"? Ok lame? I just couldn't get the fergie song out of my head when I started writing this blog lol.

I have spent most of this week thinking, talking, working on my business.  It was almost two years ago when we decided to really do something with jewelry, back then I wasn't passionate and didn't have confidence.  Things are different now, I'm motivated to create the life I want.  So my business partner and I are planning to do a soft launch on April 1st, with new advertising, a full etsy shop, new logo and lots new jewelry. This seems really soon but I'm impatient and want to dig right into my business.

This post could get long, I will try not to write too much :)

The Logo:

So this is our current logo which I LOVE, however the colors and the shape haven't been the easiest to work with on price tags etc. Plus I can be a little OCD and need everything to be symmetrical.  Thankfully my friend Taryn, who designed this logo, was willing to help me with a new logo to re-launch the right way.  We talked about new colors and using clean lines and fonts.  I am really looking forward to seeing her designs.

Displays:

We hadn't updated the displays at Plantagenet Rose pretty much since January which is somewhat unprofessional.  People are shopping for Spring and they don't want to see the same display or merchandise they saw during the holidays.  My plan from now on is to keep the displays relevant and update them every month.

How lovely are the handcrafted wooden earring holders?

My Mum purchased them from a company in Colorado.

Also, I love the cream bases we used for our display.  My Parents so kindly made them for us and they are perfect, clean color, clean lines, perfect for the new style we are going for.

Website:

This weekend my friend, Jenna, took pictures of our spring stock for the website!  Luckily there is some really interesting places in downtown Roanoke.  I wanted to go with something that related to Roanoke and a little rustic.  We decided the area by the railroad was perfect.  I can't wait to see the outcome and how they look on an all new website!

Selling:

In the past we have had giveaways on facebook and through other sites and they have always increased traffic to our website. Unfortunately we have not put any effort into online selling.  These giveaways are fun and get our name out there but don't show people where they can buy/see our merchandise.  So finally I found the time/effort to take some pictures of our current stock and get them loaded on to Etsy.

I am proud to say we now have 16 items on Etsy.  It may not seem like a lot but it takes me about 15 mins to add one item.  That has to get faster the more I do it, at least I hope anyway! 

Well this ended up being a long post, hopefully some of you enjoyed reading about my current business adventures!  If you didn't I apologize for boring you for 15 mins :)

Starting to create....

So as my first week not working at my part time job comes to an end I thought I would go over the baby steps I’ve taken to create my new life and career.

The weekend ~ As I mentioned, I went to Charleston SC to get away for a couple of days and see a friend.  It was a great break and I was able to find some cute beads for my business.  I also had a bunch of ideas for a photo shoot for my summer collection by the water and downtown.

Monday ~ I spent the Morning with my Mum shopping for things for her store.  Then went to Blacksburg with Tricia (friends/business partner) to visit Beadsburg only to find out after 30 mins of the GPS taking us all over that the store was closed on Monday’s lol 

Then I got to see the beautiful baby Brianna.  Rachel and Matt definitely made one cute little love muffin!!  I fell in love immediately and cannot wait until she is around 1 or 2 yrs old and can talk and be animated J

 Isn't she the cutest!!!!

Although, I didn’t get to much business stuff done it was great to have a day off and see some of my favorite people.  My life needed this; I see some of my friends a lot and others never.  Working less will hopefully make it easier for me to make time for people who I care about.

Tuesday ~ I met up with Jenna a friend and photographer (she a new blogger at http://birdseyeviewoflife.blogspot.com/ go follow her) to talk about a photo shoot for my Spring Jewelry Collection.  We spent most of the time talking, like girls do,  but did come up with some great concepts.  Right now, I am leaning towards a very girly tea party think a little Alice in Wonderland.  Lots of tea cups and clocks with the model in a cute spring dress, or just a cute downtown photo shoot.  I want something bright and fun.  Another idea was to convince a local Cupcake store to let us shoot there for some of the pictures! I am indecisive so I need to think about this some more.  Let me know your opinions! I would love to hear them.

Wednesday ~ I got quite a bit of the Spring Collection started.   Not completed but started and there is a clear direction I am going in.  I want the collection to be girly and feminine with some pieces that have a little edge to them.   

Bad Blackberry pick but this is a piece I'm currently working on.

Thursday ~ Continued to work on my Spring Collection and placed some supply orders.

Friday ~ I plan to relax and not doing anything business or work related.  Just a good chill night maybe go see No Strings Attached.  Has anyone seen it?

Time to make a change!

For a long time I thought I knew exactly who I was, but lately I realized I am not the person I want to be and have been trying to “find” myself. There is so much I want to do with my life personally and professionally.  I want to be a better child, sister, friend, worker, creator and traveler. 

I want to do something I love for my career and have been revolving who “I am” around that.  When I saw this card something clicked.  I don’t need to find myself.  I know the person I can and want to be, I know I want to have a career I am passionate about.  It’s up to me to create the life and job I want.  I need to act as the person I am/want to be and make a conscious effort to make changes to things I dislike.

Before I even saw this card I took a step to “creating” myself and the life I want. I have always worked A LOT and never thought twice about working more than 40 hrs a week. Over the last few years I’ve had a part time job, it’s a fun most of the time and a break from the stress of my full time job and of course extra cash is always nice J.  Recently, I took a temporary elevated position, I found myself working up to 70 hrs a week for the last few months. This was a decision I made and do not regret.  I appreciate the experience of the new position, but three weeks ago my gut told me this isn’t right about my work situation. 

My full time job is really stressful and over the last year has just burnt me out, I like the company and the co-workers but I just don’t want/need the stress in my life.  My gut keeps telling me its time for a change but it’s my full time job I can’t just quit without a plan.

The Plan

To become an amazing jewelry designer and make millions.  Well that's the dream lol!  My more realistic plan is become successful with my jewelry line and be able to run my business full time.  I know this will take time and effort and right now I don't have the energy nor the time. 

So as I cannot leave my full time job, the first step to reach my goal was to cut back my hours at my “fun” job and hopefully some of the stress from my schedule.  If you know me well you will know this was somewhat a big decision for me as I always work, but I feel it is the right decision and hope it helps create the life I want.

I want to see what I can actually accomplish with my jewelry in my "free time" time.  Then when I become successful, I can focus my full time career into something I love and leave the stressful job behind. 

I will be blogging frequently about my progress in creating my new life.  I hope you guys enjoy reading about it.