Today marks 6 months since I decided to quit my full time job and follow my dreams… and let me tell you - it is one hell of a ride, and one that I never want to end.
As a creative soul who spent all her life creating literally everything and anything that one could think of, it didn’t come as a surprise that, as I got older, I started dreaming of turning my passion into a way of living. That dream was planted in my head in my early 20s, and made itself at home in my mind with no intention of leaving.
When choosing my career path it was a no brainer that I’d pick something that would let me express my creativity and thus enjoy my job. After considering several options including interior design, art college and graphic design, the last of the 3 options was the one I decided to pursue.
As much as I loved drawing, painting and building things, I was never a ‘techie’. I knew the basics of how to use computers and didn’t have much interest in expanding my knowledge in this area, so choosing a career path which involved sitting in front of a computer screen every day and making it your best (or most hated) friend seemed a little ironic at the time but I couldn’t resist the temptation and decided to just go for it.
It didn’t take me long to reassure myself that the decision to study graphic design was the most perfect choice I could have made. I truly loved and enjoyed every part of the course, the good, the bad and the ugly. The sleepless nights, the stress, the helplessness, the creative burnout, but also the satisfaction, the joy and the passion that all of my work was filled with, and the great people I met along the way!
After getting my degree I decided not to waste time and fairly quickly joined the corporate world, thinking - I made it! I chose a career which was made for me and will spend the rest of my life doing something that I really love.
I spent a few years working for design and print companies, which gave me invaluable knowledge, skills & experience, some very good friends and also, a few valuable lessons. I climbed my way up from junior positions to managerial roles but for some weird reason, the higher I was getting, the more burnout I was feeling. With that, came less and less satisfaction and fulfilment which was very disappointing. I followed my dream, I picked the perfect path for me, so why was I feeling this way?
I was curing the burnout with another hobby of mine - crafting. When graphic design and my day job were getting a little bit too much for me, I was letting my craft hobby bring me to a whole new world where there was no stress, no tiredness, no burnout and no disappointment.
Crafting was always one of my hobbies but after graduating college and starting the ‘adult’ life, the everyday things got in the way and there was no more room for it and I forgot how much I used to enjoy it… until I stopped enjoying other things in my life and started searching for ways to escape the daily routine. Something reignited the flame inside me and there I was, crafting my life away!
When Covid hit and I started working from home, I suddenly had a lot more time on my hands that I would have otherwise spent on commuting to work, and so I started spending that time doing what I loved - crafting.
Covid also had another effect on the world - MORE BABIES! With more and more babies born amongst my friends and family I found myself looking for the perfect baby gifts and, of course with how picky and fussy I am, I couldn’t find anything that would satisfy me. I’m very hard to please! So one day I decided to make THE PERFECT gift for a newborn baby and hence created my very first product - a baby milestone book, without realising what it would turn into only a few months later!
I was just after starting a new job with the most amazing company and the loveliest people you could ever meet, and quitting this job to start my own business was definitely not on my to do list! Saying that, I have never felt so happy and so fulfilled as I did when I held my first ever product that I made from scratch. I created the content for it, I designed it, I picked the most beautiful materials to use in it and handcrafted it with my own hands. This feeling was so satisfying and what made it even better was the joy of the person that received it. I made something that this person will keep and treasure for years to come. Something so small and so worthless to the world and yet so priceless to the person getting it! At that moment, I realised that this is the way I want to feel at my job, designing and making things that mean nothing to the world, but mean the world to the people getting them.
The past 6 months were a combination of intense work, lack of sleep, creativity overload, a little bit of stress and insane amount of happiness! I have sacrificed a lot to pursue this dream. I gave up the comfort and the peace of mind of regular weekly pay-checks and replaced it with uncertainty and risk. Planning things ahead proves to be harder these days as I’m not sure where I’ll stand 2, 5 or 12 months from now. I’ve no one to replace me when I’m sick, when I’m away or when I’m simply overworked and need a rest. Things can get though at times but, like my college days, I enjoy every single part of it and I would totally do it again!
As someone who likes to stay in their comfort zone and doesn’t like taking risk, decisions like this don’t come easy to me. Surprisingly though that decision was exactly what I needed to experience the fulfilment and happiness that I thrived for.
“Making a big life change is scary but know what’s even scarier? Regret.” - Zig Ziglar
P.S. Baby milestone books have been my best sellers since starting this business and it makes me so happy knowing that my very first creation and the idea that started all of this, ended up being the most popular product!