Whew.
Thanks to people who pimped out the update. Word of mouth really is the best kind of publicity, and I doubt Sihaya Designs would have grown so quickly without it. Infact, I was able to order some marketing materials three weeks ahead of schedule today, and I'll be buying my new printer and camera next week. That's awesome.
Next up: sending samples to prominent blogs and maybe even crafty magazines for review. I am happy and anxious at the same time. A little bit nervous about expanding a luxury commodity company in an already-glutted industry to full time amidst economic turmoil, but if I can make it work in this economy, I can make it work anywhere. It's time to start planning ahead for the lean months-- getting good press should help to carry me through.
I always said that the reason I didn't go into opera was that if it became my job, I wouldn't love it any more. That it would be about someone else's vision and not my own expression. I worry a little about that here-- commissions may not always be to my taste, price points and volume concerns will be weighed against some creative impulses, and of course there's an entire administrative side to running a business that is every bit as important as the art itself. There will certainly be times coming where I'll have to remind myself that while money is important, the decision to take the biz full time is ultimately not about the money. It's about the art, and the satisfaction of being my own boss. And sometimes it's about surprising someone with unexpected shinies just because they deserve nice things (that's its own sort of satisfaction).
It's like I turned 25, and --bam-- adulthood. I don't have a hobby anymore-- I have a full-scale business with all the duties that entails. I'm going to learn about financial responsibility in a very concrete, make-it-or-break-it way. I'm not playing house with my boyfriend and all his roommates-- I am looking to set up a home and life with the man I'm going to spend the rest of that life with. I'm planning out the next five years before (gulp) kids. I'm discussing a potentially bi-coastal move. It's a lot on my plate all at once.
It's all a bizarre to me, because I never really thought adulthood was something I was quite ready for. Something has definitely changed inside me in the last six months. I now have this strange urge to take it on full-force, on multiple fronts. I'm ready to face priorities with focus and discipline. I'm ready to make the Big Decisions now. And I'm a little bit scared, no lie. But for the most part, for the first time in my life, I am totally ready for this. I got this.
Next up: sending samples to prominent blogs and maybe even crafty magazines for review. I am happy and anxious at the same time. A little bit nervous about expanding a luxury commodity company in an already-glutted industry to full time amidst economic turmoil, but if I can make it work in this economy, I can make it work anywhere. It's time to start planning ahead for the lean months-- getting good press should help to carry me through.
I always said that the reason I didn't go into opera was that if it became my job, I wouldn't love it any more. That it would be about someone else's vision and not my own expression. I worry a little about that here-- commissions may not always be to my taste, price points and volume concerns will be weighed against some creative impulses, and of course there's an entire administrative side to running a business that is every bit as important as the art itself. There will certainly be times coming where I'll have to remind myself that while money is important, the decision to take the biz full time is ultimately not about the money. It's about the art, and the satisfaction of being my own boss. And sometimes it's about surprising someone with unexpected shinies just because they deserve nice things (that's its own sort of satisfaction).
It's like I turned 25, and --bam-- adulthood. I don't have a hobby anymore-- I have a full-scale business with all the duties that entails. I'm going to learn about financial responsibility in a very concrete, make-it-or-break-it way. I'm not playing house with my boyfriend and all his roommates-- I am looking to set up a home and life with the man I'm going to spend the rest of that life with. I'm planning out the next five years before (gulp) kids. I'm discussing a potentially bi-coastal move. It's a lot on my plate all at once.
It's all a bizarre to me, because I never really thought adulthood was something I was quite ready for. Something has definitely changed inside me in the last six months. I now have this strange urge to take it on full-force, on multiple fronts. I'm ready to face priorities with focus and discipline. I'm ready to make the Big Decisions now. And I'm a little bit scared, no lie. But for the most part, for the first time in my life, I am totally ready for this. I got this.