December 2020 Newsletter

Reflecting on 2020 – personally and professionally.

Personally, this year was a tough one as I mourned all of the ways things were lost this year: In-person gatherings, parties, dancing, hanging out casually in groups, in-person networking, spending time with my community of acquaintances, friends and loved ones suffering from social and racial injustice and people getting sick and dying.

In business, I felt so fortunate despite the turn of events this year. Worried that I wouldn’t meet enough new prospects to stay in business, I began a Small Business Owner Virtual Networking group that meets Thursday mornings. It’s free and has been a consistent source of support from other owners navigating the challenges of this year. Thanks to one of our members, I branded a startup insurance agency and am fully insured in my business.

I joined the Metropolitan Business League in January and have been floored with the stellar programming, access to great resources and the true sense of community that everyone at the MBL is cultivating. It was through the MBL that I was able to apply for, be accepted into and complete an Entrepreneur Training Program offered through Operation Hope. Y’all, I have a completed business plan and competitive market analysis thanks to the support of this class. 

I decided to really dig in and spend time in the Community of Being Boss. Through our Monday boss virtual calls, our virtual conference and the regular workshops and trainings I have a deeper creative business owner support system.

As I close out this year, I reflect on my numbers as proof of productivity, but this year has been so much more than just numbers. I can’t quantify what it feels like to be able to talk openly about combatting racism with my clients and work friends. I can’t exactly express what it feels like to see my community evolving and growing. It’s hard to capture the gravity of working to be a better ally to my clients and friends of color. But it’s been happening. And I am committed to this work and want my business to be a safe space for all folks – no matter how they show up. And my clients seem to be the type of people who are here for it too!

So anyway, on to the numbers:
• 28 design/website clients served
• 7 brands created or revised
• 13 websites created or revised
• 1 contractor for support (see below to meet him!)
• 97 handmade books sold
• 19 necklaces sold

I continued to use my handmade journal throughout the year to keep track of my life and reflect on what’s important to me.

Below is my graph of profitability from my accounting software – shout out to FreshBooks! – and based on my end of year numbers, my business has been profitable and can sustain me for another 7 months if needed without taking on any new work.

My word for 2020 was abundance, and I can say that it showed up for me this year. As I wind down for the next week or so, I plan on spending time with my year on the wall calendar and envisioning how I’d like my business to run and serve others next year.

Contractor Help!

At the end of this year, my workload continued to grow and I needed some support to make sure clients continued to get what they were paying for.

Meet Jonathan! He’s a former coworker of mine from a corporate gig years ago and he’s an amazing website and print designer. He’s been helping me with production on print projects and will be supporting me in website work as we head into the new year. As we work on more things together, I’ll share more.

My CreativeMornings/Richmond Involvement for 2021

I am thinking about my involvement in CreativeMornings/Richmond in 2021 and figuring out ways that our team can do this volunteer work without leading to burnout. I want to be a strong leader for this group of amazing humans and make sure they enjoy the work and the roles they have on the team.

We will be virtual on all events until June 2021 at least. I will share updates as we have them.