New year, new plan!

First of all, I want to wish you all the happiest of new years! Yes, even if January is almost ov… HOW?! Here’s to a 2019 filled with accomplishments, growth, adventure, excitement, and all the best things life has to offer ❤

Now, since I started WCB in 2014-2015, I have wanted so badly to be consistent with my blogging and post at least once a week. I have mostly failed with my timing, but there’s definitely plenty of content to look back on that I’m proud of and happy that I made the point to post, even if it’s backlogged (::gasps!::). Most of the good stuff is here, and that’s what matters. Now for 2019, I’m acknowledging that things need to change.

I absolutely love writing beyond belief. I am a storyteller. I talk too much, I write too TOO much, and I just love to share any insight in hopes that the right person finds it at the right time. I also love crafting and this seemed to be the perfect intersection of my two loves, but I feel very differently about both today than I did back when I dove head-first into my WCB adventure.

On one side, I consider my Etsy shop a success because to this day I still get messages about orders I can’t currently fulfill due to my corporate work. On the other, doing it full-time helped me realize that even when I busted my butt on a daily basis, #TeamNoSleep and all that, it wasn’t a sustainable business model that I could grow as I was running it. That didn’t mean it had to end, but right as I was trying to figure out my next steps and changes, I was called back to Corporate America and it was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down. The good thing is, I will never wonder “what if I had taken the chance on my crafting?” because I did, and by all accounts I reached many more milestones than I set out to accomplish. Additionally, back when I started, I would’ve never accepted someone telling me my business model wasn’t scalable. I had to live it and realize it on my own.

The real tea here, is that crafting has turned into a source of anxiety for me. What once used to give me joy beyond belief and fulfillment has now become a burden that elicits all the feelings I try to avoid on a regular basis. Dealing with customers, last minute orders, saying yes to so many projects I did not know how they would turn out (all of which turned out positively)… there’s this new anxiety ball where the excitement used to reside for me, and I can’t continue down that road. Whether it’s because my tools aren’t cooperating or life gets in the way, I have had too many close calls with projects where, even when I start with plenty of time, the deadline seems to crawl up on me like a monster and leaves me battered up when done. I always deliver on my word to the best of my ability, but at what cost?

I basically stopped crafting after my best friend’s wedding, and have only taken on specific projects that attract me due to the nature of them (mostly things I haven’t done, because the challenge does still excite me), or to help someone if they ask. I also moved, started a new job, traveled, and have had plenty to keep me busy in the meantime so it’s not like I had a lot of time to do it anyway, but now it’s much more of a conscious decision than before.

I also have some big life changes coming up which I can’t share much about but you’ll know when it happens. So that’s that with crafting, now – writing.

I write for a living, which is another reason why writing for pleasure was always a little bit of a hurdle. After writing e-mails, campaigns, and general copy all day, the last thing I wanted to do is write more. But, just as my feelings have changed, I have also gained new perspectives that I do want to share.

All you guys see here is my talkative writing style about crafts, travel, or random events happening in my life that I *swear* I can get away with posting to this “broad” blog. But I do write much deeper thought-style pieces for my customers, and have acquired a taste for that vantage point as well. Last year, I realized that I don’t really have a portfolio of my writing that I can show (besides this blog), so I thought I should start writing on my LinkedIn page. I really wanted to run with this idea, but there was one thing stopping me: me. I was never consistent with my blog here, and I did not want to carry that same “legacy” onto my professional profile.

As someone deep in the marketing and communications world, I know all too well that consistency is key, and writing one good piece every once in a while wasn’t going to cut it. My plan to counteract my own inability to commit was to bank as many pieces as I could to give me bandwidth to post bi-weekly for a while before I had to write something else. I have a bunch of topic ideas as well as some write-ups ready, but that honestly hasn’t gone too well either.

As if by a sign from the universe or just the way life works, every post I’ve seen on LinkedIn this week from every marketing guru is saying how LinkedIn is so amazing and will be THE key to people’s growth through content this year. Can I say I was a trend-setter since I thought of this last year? I had to try…

Anyway, this long-winded essay to say: no more crafting until further notice. I will continue to write here sporadically and without commitment, probably about travel or other topics that I will firmly believe can fall under the WCB umbrella, but probably fully don’t. I will begin writing on LinkedIn about relevant topics from all industries from a marketing/agency/observer point of view. I will also re-post good, valuable content when I come across it. And that’s the plan, for now.

Thank you all for following me on this journey and supporting my inconsistent, rambling self through it all. Any helpful tips to be a more consistent writer, please feel free to share in the comments below, I need all the help I can get!