All my life, I have always felt that things would work out. Whether in career, finances, relationship, or travels, there has been a certain something that kept me moving forward. I haven’t looked back. All of my experiences have made me who I am. With that in mind, after selling a successful business last year, I wondered what would be next. Rather than moving immediately into another job or opportunity, I took time for myself to reassess and evaluate what the next move would be. I focused on myself; I started to eat healthier, exercise regularly with Pilates and allowed more joy through piano, quilting, and reading. I had nothing more in mind than to be present and, well, to be. I believe that many of us have re-prioritized our life during the pandemic. We have stopped to figure out what it is we really want and looked at why we want it. About five months ago, as I was piecing a quilt together, I realized how much I enjoyed this part of my life. I got to be creative and was able to sew many quilts for gifts for family members for Christmas. I looked around and asked myself what more I could be doing that would bring in an income and not lose the newfound ability to enjoy the present. I learned embroidery growing up when my siblings and I would spend the nights with my Grandmother. It was very challenging, but Grandma was patient and we ended up making pillowcases that I have kept for over 45 years. I started researching various embroidery machines, and was a bit taken aback by what appeared to be much easier than hand embroidery yet still very complex. The seed was planted, though, and I asked for an embroidery machine for Christmas. My quilter was selling hers and upgrading to a newer model. I bought her Husqvarna Viking Ruby Royale in November. And, as they say, the rest was history. I started small with dishtowels, and hand towels. I then embroidered some pillows for my daughter. I made many sets through trial and error as the learning curve was a bit steep even though the machine was doing most of the work. It was like learning a whole new language. There were stitch counts, backing/stabilizers, tension, hooping skills, needle anatomy, thread weights, and on and on. I don’t know why (don’t we all say this when actually we do know why, we just are afraid of being judged in some way) I chose to start a new foray into commercial embroidery, custom apparel, and digitizing. I wanted to work from home, still stay in this creative mind, and make money. I need to continue on my journey to wellness and yet enjoy my life. Probably one of the biggest reasons I chose to start this business is that what I do is on me. I can succeed or I can fail and it will be mine to own. I choose to succeed and will with many of the resources I have discovered. Success may not come overnight, but the journey will be worth it. I’m willing to take the risk.
