Where I’ve been & where I’m going
Remember when I said I was going to start blogging tips and things, and then promptly left it for seven months?
Me too. It happens. Life happens. Cut me some slack.
But here I am! Back on the blog. Now that I am doing things with Southern Illinois Tourism, I needed to get back into blogging to share my toddler adventures. Oh yeah, that update. Okay, lots of updates, so let’s chat about what I’ve been doing since my last entry - July - and where the business is now.
Back in July, I had two coordination clients, one creative strategy client, and I was doing deliveries still for a bit. My child had just turned one in May. My husband had not received his second promotion yet, and was working 4 - 6 overtime shifts a pay period as we adjusted to me leaving the workforce to stay at home with our toddler. He was also working midnights, and the OT shifts were day shift following the night shift, or working his days off. It was me and kiddo a lot, we do not have the support system others have, and it was hard to juggle at times. I felt good with what I was doing, but at times stretched a bit thin as I was learning multiple industries in order to advertise for them.
Some things changed - husband got his promotion and needs less overtime, I was contacted about coordinating for tourism, and I decided in the Fall to enroll again in Medical Coding. This is a certificate that will take about a year, and I am doing the classes online, I chose this because it’s a career I can eventually do from home, and while my business is certainly my job, I also need a job with promised stability a/k/a a salary, pension, retirement. I also enjoy that it requires 0 creativity - it’s kind of like a mental break after doing marketing things all day long.
While those things were happening, I felt myself pulling away from my business. I had to take time to evaluate what was best serving me, my clients, and my family. I realized I didn’t JUST want to be about social media - a lot of the things I was suggesting in Creative Strategy meetings didn’t have to do with social media, but community events and connections. I was also feeling discouraged that I didn’t have time or ability to get content like everyone else. So I shifted my business. I threw myself back into it. I got new templates, new invoicing systems. Studied multiple online courses, did photoshoots, got back into therapy (there is 0 shame with therapy around here), made firm boundaries in regards to the time I get to spend on my business…I feel like I’m falling in love with this again.
Tourism coordination was a dream offer, so I decided to throw my brain into that fully and close my coordination books. I love Creative and Collaborative sessions the best, so I started focusing more on those. I arranged a Styled Shoot that is coming up on March 16th so that I can meet more vendors, and explore marketing Southern Illinois as a redo ceremony location. I realized I enjoy services that are more freeing for both parties - no monthly commitments, no complicated explanation. Just tell me what you need, I’ll quote you a price, and let’s go from there.
AND… there is more. There is something big (as in filing a trademark for it!) launching this Spring, but I just can’t tell you about it yet. Stay tuned, friends :)
- Jessi
