I did something I was longing to do for a very long time. It only took something tragic for me to finally pull the plug.
It wasn’t planned, and I wasn’t able to process what was happening, and many months later I’m finally able to start reflecting on the whole situation.
In July 2022, I quit my full-time job to become self-employed.
I walked away from so much consistent money to just take a leap of faith and do my own work. As a small business owner/artist/freelancer/blogger, my income is not the same every week. Some weeks it’s more, some weeks it’s less.
That is the case for all small businesses. I knew I would have weeks where things could be slow but I was willing to trust the process for my happiness and mental health.
How it all started
Ever since I was a kid, I knew I wanted to own my own business and work for myself. I have my mom to thank for that, as I saw her start a business and become successful when I was a child. She taught me work ethics that planted the self-employed bug in me.
I’m a 5th generation entrepreneur and have seen my grandparents and great-grandparents succeed in business. Plus I’ve been thankful to hear stories of my great-great grandparents and their business adventures. I’ve heard other stories about ancestors way back in the day but I’m not sure how many generations that was ago lol.
I have memories of going downstairs in the middle of the night to get a drink when I was a kid and my mom would still be working on her computer. She built her business from scratch, could work from home, and always be there for us as kids. Whenever I was sick, she could come to get us immediately from school.
Of course, self-employment comes with sacrifices, such as no paid vacation, but the pros outweigh all the cons.
Since seeing my mom accomplish all she has, I knew I wanted to be able to do that for my kids someday.
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Always follow your dreams, no matter how scary
We all live only once. Sometimes dreams can be terrifying and it’s hard to leave our comfort zone. If you want to be a business owner, go for it. We never know until we try, and we may surprise ourselves.
I started Green Artist Designs on my couch in college. It was 2015 and I still had a couple years left of school, but I knew I wanted to use my skills to start making money. At that time I was a full-time student and working full-time, (I’m crazy) and wanting to start a business. But hey, I graduated with almost a 4.0 GPA. 😉
When I first started out I had to learn so many new things. When people ask “Can you show me how to do what you do?” What they don’t realize is there are 8+ years of learning, experimenting, and failing to be where I am now. If you want it, you’ll make it work. I wanted this, and here I am! Success doesn’t happen overnight.
It’s okay to make mistakes
When we make mistakes, we grow and learn. I constantly make mistakes in my business but every time I learn something from it.
Sometimes when we look at someone successful, we want to immediately be where they are. But what we don’t see from the outside is all the trial and error, mistakes, and growth. We all start at square one.
I cringe at past things I’ve done years ago but I had to start there to grow from it!
Check out my art shop here!
Believe in yourself
If you don’t believe in yourself, then there’s no point. It all starts within ourselves. You can have all the support you can get, but you need to believe in yourself.
Imagine if I didn’t believe in myself from the start, I would not be sitting here and writing out my experiences!
Support small businesses
I am so thankful to get this opportunity and sometimes literally cry tears of joy and tears of O-M-G this is a lot of work, but I love it.
Nothing is easy, but I’m building my future one day at a time.
When you buy from a small business, you support a family.
By reading my blog or buying from my small business, you are helping make my dreams come true. Thank you for the support!
Are you a creative business owner? I’m always looking for other artists and creatives online who also have businesses so we can support each other. Leave me a comment below or email me at amanda@greenartistblog.com so we can chat.
-Amanda
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