I have always wanted to pursue my passions.
I have always wanted to have a creative outlet that allowed me to share my passions with others.
I have always wanted to have my own business.
However, I am not married and I do not have children.
You may wonder what one has to do with the other.
Inadvertently, I found that one greatly (for some unknown reason) impacts the other.
When I began tossing around the idea of turning my passions into the business that I had always dreamed of having, there was a lot to consider.
I was confident that I had the talent. I have been painting for along as I could hold a paint brush.
I was confident that I knew how to run a business. I had been doing that for years for someone else. Those weren’t my worries at all. My biggest worries were time and money.
I worked full time running someone else’s business and, even though that job wasn’t my passion, I needed the income I earned there to pay the bills. I was solely responsible for every bill from my mortgage payment to my phone bill so even cutting back my hours wasn’t an option. Being single, I didn’t have a spouse’s income to fall back on. For the time being, I had no choice but to try and make working full time fit with starting my business and that led me directly to my other obstacle; time.
How on earth could I ever grow a successful business while working full time? Where would I find the time and energy to work all day at one job and then come home and spend all evening trying to start and grown my business?
I felt overwhelmed even trying to sort it all out in my head. I needed some advice and encouragement. Not knowing any other single women who were small business owners, I turned to the internet and began searching. That is when I discovered that wanting to start a business and not being married and not having children apparently makes in the minority.
I found an overwhelming amount of blogs about women starting and owning small businesses and it was fantastic! I was so excited to learn how other women had done it. How had they been able to pursue their passions and work full time? What I found as I dug deeper, was, in fact, they didn’t. Almost every blog I read talked about how they and their spouse had refined their budget so that they could live on one income therefore allowing the writer to pursue her passions.
I was a little discouraged but I was determined to find out how other single women had done it. So, I refined my search and found a few new blogs about single women starting and owning small businesses. There were definitely less of these blogs but there were some. I was so excited to learn how other single women had done it. How had they been able to pursue their passions and work full time? What I found as I dug deeper with these new blogs, was, in fact, they didn’t. Every blog that I found about a single women starting and owning a business were all geared towards single moms and how to work from home. These blogs were a little more accurate about the single part but were definitely not something I could relate to since I didn’t have kids. They spoke to a very specific group of women who had very different needs (and all that I found had other sources of income to fall back on).
I couldn’t find even one blog about a woman who was single, with no kids, who worked full time and successfully juggled that and starting a business. (I am sure there are some out there… I just couldn’t find them).
I felt like I was living the words of the John Mayer song Speak For Me…
Show me something I can be
Play a song that I can sing
Make me feel as I am free
Someone come speak for me
I could find no one who could speak to me. Who could offer advice and support on how I was going to juggle working full time and still find the time and money to pursue my passions.
Despite finding no ideas on how to make this dream turn into reality with these obstacles, I plunged in. I won’t lie, it hasn’t been easy.
I still struggle with how to balance working full time with my deep desire to spend all of my time painting, blogging and connecting with all of you.
As hard as it has been though, I have to believe that one day, when the time is right, I will be able to tip the scales in the direction that speaks to my heart.
Until then, I do what I can, when I can and pray that I won’t get discouraged when I can’t get done all that I want or feel that I need to.
And if the path of my life speaks to your heart because you are there too, I would love to connect with you! Please let me know so that we can encourage each other in our journeys and offer encouragement and advice on how to get it all done 🙂
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{French Country Cottage} {The Crafted Sparrow} {The Foley Fam]
Frustrating for you, I’m sure. I can offer no advice except that there are quite a few business groups on FB geared to women in the Ottawa area, like Ladies who lunch, We who connect etc. Perhaps in one of those groups, you can find yourself a mentor who will help you to the next step whatever that may be. Being in the DIY business, it seems like you need some sort of a shop to go further than you have. Have you considered starting your own show? There are numerous craft shows that draw 1000 people, why not one that is furniture based instead of all the soap, jewelry, and knitters. At the moment, the only one we have is Katrina’s pop-up which draws a lot of people who are mostly interested in learning about the paint and some buyers as you know. There are so many painters in Ottawa that I think you could have a great furniture/ home decor show. This might be another step towards your business dream.
Thank you for the support Cathy! I had thought about a show just for Furniture too and have wondered about the logistic of it for awhile now…. I think it could have great potential! I love the idea of having other home decor as well as furniture, that is a great idea. Hmmm… you have my wheel turning again about this as I had thought about it last fall and then it got pushed to the back burner. Maybe time to bring to the front again 😉 Thanks Cathy.
I’m glad you are interested because it is something that I have always wanted to do but have been put off by the logistics and the business aspect. I would gladly assist you- I’m not bad at organizational stuff. Michelle from A Refreshing Change and I have discussed the idea earlier this year. She would probably assist as well. Don’t know where you start but since you do take part in craft shows, I would think that some of those people would let you pick their brains. An upcycled show for furniture and home decor is unique and sits somewhere between the craft shows and the antique/vintage ones.
This is something that I think we should definitely keep throwing around Cathy. I love the idea of having upcycled things as well as furniture. Hmmm… I will definitely mull this over and see if I can come up with some ideas on time of year and venue. Let’s keep in touch about this and see if we can’t make something happen!
Upcycle is definitely the way to go. I would limit it to anything household that has been upcycled or refinished in some way. You don’t want it to be a craft fair but a place where people would expect to see a lot of furniture and things for the home, like a flea market but I think that may be too broad. I have thought about taking part in 613 Flea but it is $100 and I am not sure how much selling they do. They get a steady stream of visitors but I don’t think it is a destination for furniture buying for most people.
I totally agree with having household things and furniture, that’s a perfect combination. I too had thought of doing 613 flea but had heard that even though they get quite a bit of traffic, it’s people milling about and tourists. I came to the conclusion that hauling everything down there would not be worth it at this time. I may think of doing it in the future but it just didn’t seem worth it right now.
What a pleasure it is to have stumbled upon your blog site, view some of your fabulous projects on Google+, and have read this post. I can identify with many aspects of what you have written, though a few of my own circumstances differ. I always felt it disheartening to read of women who turned their passion into a career, yet they had their husband’s income to manage the bulk of home ownership expenses, and possibly even used some of his saved income to launch their dream business. These women may even have had a full time job, then discussed with their “hubby” if it was feasible to walk away from that job and focus on writing that book, open that ceramic shop, start a blogging business…. or whatever. You have my utmost encouragement and support as you find your way in making your life in reality and the life you desire as one. And you will find that place. It may require baby steps; do not be disheartened. Take one little step of action towards where you want to be. Get comfortable with it until you feel you can easily maintain that addition, then take another step and do the same. Eventually the scale will shift. Throughout your journey you will likely reevaluate your goals. Sometimes they change midstream; what you once so desired may not work with the brighter light you are starting to see. That’s okay. Be grateful for your current job, as it has somehow taken you to where you are today even though it is no longer providing the satisfaction it might have had in the past. Things will come to fruition. Perhaps you will grow an orchard; perhaps you will grow one, but very fruitful little tree. Either way, it will be yours and yours only. Good golly, I think I might have just written an epic 🙂
Do keep me posted of your journey!
Oh Linda thank you so much for your encouraging words! You are right, as life changes, the journey and goals are always adjusting themselves. I will forever be grateful for every step of my journey as each one has brought me to exactly where I am today! Thank you for taking the time to write… I think we all need people around us that “understand” and walk the journey with us 🙂 Let’s keep in touch for sure! Hugs, Lisa
Lisa, I’m so excited that you are thinking about starting a business because you’re so good at what you do and I know you’re passionate about it too. Do not give up on this dream just because right now it seems like it’s not working. There is definitely a solution we just have to figure out what solution best fits your needs. I’ll be thinking about it, being your cheerleader and keeping you in my prayers. Hugs, CoCo
Thanks you so very much Coco! Your encouragement and prayers mean the world to me. I know God has a plan and when the time is right the doors will open. Until then I will keep moving toward that goal and do what I can 🙂 The journey has not been an easy one but I know it is the outlet my heart longs for and have to trust in that. Thank you again for your sweet words and thoughtfulness. Hugs, Lisa
Hi, I'm Lisa!
Welcome to Recreated Designs... A place for you to find endless upcycling ideas, unique ways to use vintage finds and oodles of helpful tips and tricks for painting, crafting and recreating. I am so happy you are here and can’t wait to see what you create!
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