This a hard post to write. As a business owner changing directions or realizing that something hasn't succeeded is hard pill to swallow. Over the past 9 months, I've opened a vintage clothing boutique and put my blood, sweat and tears into marketing, photographing, promoting and trying miserably to make something work in the wrong location. (I realize that 9 months isn't a long time in retail but bare with me here.)


Going into this, I knew that my toughest hurdle was going to be my location. My market is not here.  I live in a city where most people spend their free time mudding in their over sized dually trucks or honky tonking. To each their own, but those just aren't my customers. I was going to have to bring people from far away and create my market so to speak.

 I've had it in the back of my head for quite some time that maybe I should just start doing pop up shops and markets but closing down my brick and mortar would feel like I failed. But from a business stand point, it just isn't making sense anymore to stay where I am. And last weekend, when my beautiful tin ceiling began leaking and then a huge piece of ceiling and 100 year old dust and rotted wood turned mud plopped onto the floor in the middle of my shop, I knew it was time.

So, I'm currently looking for a new space and until then doing what I ultimately wanted to do: travel with my shop! It's with a heavy heart that I leave behind my beautiful loft style building and back patio but I cannot force something here that isn't mean to be just for the fear of feeling like I failed. That's just silly. I do feel however that I'm failing my devoted customers. The many people that I've met that have loved my shop have definitely made it worth it. These folks are wonderfully beautiful people! They've been what has kept my doors open this long. But don't worry we will still be around! Just not in the traditional sense! More on that later!

 This past weekend I met the lovely Rachael from VintageMoonFlower. (She makes the prettiest jewelry!) I bought her entire inventory of vintage! We shot the breeze for quite some time and she said to me "If you were in any other city like Dallas, Mckinney or Austin, you would be doing so well!" She confirmed my new desire to travel with my shop. 

So what I've learned this past month: changing directions isn't failure, it's just smart business. You adapt and learn what does and doesn't work. Once I accepted that, I've allowed myself to truly be excited about what is in the future for Gypsy Beard Studio.  I mean, I'm going to get to set up at amazing music festivals and markets where people are genuinely excited about what I have! I'm going to meet so many wonderful people and experience so many new things!

So keep an eye out for us. We'll soon be coming to a town near you in our traveling vintage shop! I plan to try to be at the Mckinney Trades Days and First Monday very frequently. The hunt is on for the perfect trailer/rv/van now!

Any suggestions for great markets / places to set up shop? I know I have some crafty friends out!

 

No lie, I sat down and read through Bethany's ENTIRE blog, Love Grows Design yesterday.  This may or may not have started at work *cough* but I was so overwhelmed and inspired by every single thing she posted about blogging, working as a freelance designer, personal struggles and creativity. I had to share.

 It's so wonderful to come across blogs that remind you that not only are you NOT alone in this crazy freelance design world, but also to help encourage you, inspire you and help you to think outside of the box with your business and yourself. I love coming across bloggers who I feel like we've been friends for years even though I've never actually met them. I cannot stress it enough, check out her blog!


In particular, she wrote a post inspired by another blogger and this tweet by Kara Haupt:  

What would 16 year old me think about me today.  I felt very motivated to let that stew in my noggin for a while.  And I came to this conclusion.

16 year old me was a day dreaming punk rocker who spent the majority of her time doodling in art class, at theatre rehearsals or playing drums in the band she was in. She planned to attend art school at a liberal school in a liberal city and make lots of liberal friends. She was creative and had dreams of traveling the world with her also punk rocker boyfriend and doing the starving artist/designer thing. I wanted to change the world through my art. I've always known that I wanted to be a designer.

What would that girl say about me? I never planned to work in an office all day or get married young and have a child and then get divorced all before my 25th birthday. That's for sure. But I think she would be very proud of where I am today. She'd say that I've worked hard and pushed myself to be different. She'd be very impressed with how business savvy I am and how I can tackle a client meeting without even having a panic attack. She'd probably yell at me for not traveling more though. And also for eating so many Hershey's Hugs. She'd definitely tell me to have more fun and spend less time worrying about the little things.

Sometimes you really just need to cut yourself a break and give yourself credit for how great you really are and for what you've accomplished. Because we are all pretty awesome in our own way. We should never forget that. My life didn't go how I thought it would, but there truly is a reason for everything. All the decisions, mistakes and events that occurred led me to exactly where I need to be. With a wonderful man, with a pretty cool kid that I adore and creating my dream business. 16 year old "US" obviously had a lot of growing up and real world experiencing to do, but her dreams and passions were very real.

So… what would your 16 year old self say about you today? Please share your thoughts!



Kat

well the blog and i are back!
& life has changed!
i wanted to start new and fresh, new name, new look, new me, new things.
frankly, i just needed a break to step back and enjoy life and not worry so much about writing.
conrad and i BOTH have been busy with school these past few months.
not to mention conrad had his first season of soccer! (proud mommy! pictures coming soon!)
its been a slow but sure thing getting my shop together but it will open soon!
i'll be bringing some new talent your way with the help of some very talented friends as well as all the usual stuff and more. I'm so happy to be back and share what we have been up to.
I'm ready more than even to meet new people and bring you inspiration and pretty things to inspire your day. But most of all I'm ready to blog for ME, and pray that in the end you like it =)

 well tata for now =)
 kat ann

i want to:
quit my job and start my own business.
feel and eat more healthy
stay in school
have much more family time.
make more things. refurbish things.
read more books.
plant more things.
ignore negativity.
take day road trips.
pick sewing back up.

Hello world.. myself... whoever may read. I wish I could say that I've made more progress in giving the blog a facelift but that would be a lie. I'm working on it I promise. I'm still trying to get a better work ethic going. Life is basically... work work work... and then when work is over all I can do is clean and be lazy. haha. If i could just get a few big ones scratched off the to do list I'd feel soooo relieved.  Something I've been doing lately is forcing myself to cook new things. I tried this recipe two weeks ago and had complete success. It was even given a thumbs up by someone with a taste for real mexican food. This genius Rick Bayless cooks some mean mexican food guys.  I've gotten to know a lot of Hispanic people since I started working at the place I work and lemme tell you, true mexican food is very different then what we know in the US.. or as we know it here in Texas, "Tex-Mex".  This was delicious and pretty easy to make honestly.





Moving on, I'm making a real effort to get back into blogging in more of a personal experience.  I'm more concerned lately with this blog serving as my "idea board" or my inspiration book and for personal growth so to speak. Before it just wasn't MINE enough. =) Here's to moving forward (metaphorical toast goes here)

tata guys.

kat ann

it's been a long time, and i wish i could say that i had a good excuse but i dont. the truth is, i havent felt too inspired by anything. its been a rough few months artistically and emotionally. i've been struggling internally about who i am, what is me, what i am doing, where i am going.. etc etc. if you've ever had one of those moments where you told yourself "what the hell. i should be doing something big. i should be creating something inspiring,amazing and beautiful and coming up with beautiful ideas and im not. i should be experiencing things and going places. im going nowhere and it sucks."



well that's kind of been me lately.

and the honest truth, is that i've been trying too hard. for too long. ive been striving so hard to create something a certain way, for a certain audience, for a certain end result and that has lead to squat. i havent been being true to myself. i havent been following my heart. i havent been following my dreams. i guess you could i say ive kind of sold out. so there it is, its all on the table. lets start from scratch. lets reconnect and find each other and do what we do. lets satisfy ourselves and no one else. we've been procrastination too long. i miss you art. dear 16 year old kat, i miss you.

love, the old lady.

"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody."
Bill Cosby

Today I had quite an epiphany. A while back I had started some design work for a client who I knew on a personal level. This certain client has a spectacular, successful new business. I was excited because this was a great opportunity for me to help someone I knew and to get a great piece added to my portfolio. Needless to say, what ended up happening was that they used my design for a while and it ended up not being what exactly what they wanted and they ended up getting a new designer a year later. and I wasn't used to that. I felt as though I had let them down and myself down as an artist and a designer. I felt like a failure, even though it was one client and one project. This company now has a spectacular web site up and is very well done and creative. And I guess that's just how it goes. The worst part was that I knew I couldn't done better or tried harder. It made me question whether or not this was what I was meant to do. It made me question whether or not I WANTED to do this the rest of my life.

Some people will like you, but it wont be right for them. Some people will hate you. Some people will love you.

I've had very little formal training and have been 99% self trained, so I have always felt a little bit at a disadvantage or a little unsure of myself as an artist. My "Achilles heel" so to speak. But after lots of thought and praying and working things out in my head (and through this blog) I've realized that failure and rejection are a simple part of the learning process and the growing process. Sometimes it's a good thing for you to be "just not what we are looking for". It's a good thing to fail sometimes. It gives you a chance to step back and look at yourself and what you do with a critical eye.

But today, I'm officially dusting my shoulders off. I dont tend to write about personal things, but I felt that this may be able to relate with some of you who have ever faced the same problems. Have you ever felt like giving up or failed at something, how did you deal with it? what epiphanies did you experience? What did you learn? I'd love to hear!

Ta Ta for now.