Easier said than done, right? And while the phrase totally may come off to some as too cliché, it's one of the biggest reasons I'm still around here, sharing in my little corner of the internet, today. I have so many stories I want to tell you about that relate to this phrase, I'll try not to throw them at you all at once!
It began as wanting an outlet to be more creative, aside from my family blog. And try as I might to stop (because heaven knows It would be so nice and SO much easier!), I just can't shake the urge to keep sharing and keep creating. I don't have some crazy big following, I'm not making money from any of this currently...I truly just find so much happiness from sharing and relating to other people around me.
But I digress. haha my bad. So I needed another outlet for my creative side. Around 2011 (after I had been blogging for a few years) my Aunt Jill reached out asking if I would want to create some posts for her online craft business, in exchange for the supplies. Heck yeah! So I decided to make a new blog then and there and just do it. And that's how "Miss Audrey Sue" was born. Does anyone remember those days? I would craft and post, and take the worst pictures, but it was so fun and I loved it. Instagram wasn't popular quite yet.
Jump forward a year and I had my first baby! We moved to Oregon for my husband's job, and I was happily blogging my crafts and sewing projects, when I got the distinct impression that I needed to start an Etsy shop and design blogs for other people. Since starting my own family blog, I had become obsessed with learning all things code. Yup, I taught myself to design blogs from the ground up and I freaking loved it, and after that prompting I decided to jump head first into opening up an official Etsy shop. I started by selling premade Blogger templates. And it was WILD to see those sales come in from people I didn't even know. Then I decided to offer custom blog designs, and that opened up a whole other world. One where I met SO MANY amazing women!
Jumping into freelance as a website designer was exciting (I was pregnant with my second at the time too!), I was naive and the internet wasn't what it is today. I had no fear haha. Bless all the women who worked with me, because I was literally figuring everything out as I went. Getting to work with people like Lindsey from @Pillowthought , Stacy @staycsmart , Des & Kadee @ohsodelicioso , Kilee from @kileenickels (back then she was known as "one little momma"), or Suzy @suzyholman in their early years was so fun! My design work was not insane or getting crazy attention (honestly looking back my work was cringe-worthy), BUT I was getting a LOT of experience working with clients (were you one of them?!), and I was just moving forward and DOING IT, building awesome relationships and friendships along the way. And that was important (still is!!). The lessons I learned then, I continually refer back to.
I'm grateful for that younger Audrey who just went for it, even if there wasn't some big plan in place. I took messy action. I learned how to communicate with clients (and people in general), I learned how to better prepare and present things, I learned to be more responsible, I learned how to schedule my time (remember: new momma and i was pregnant with another on the way at this point!), and how to get things done before a deadline. The list goes on and on, and it's led me to where I am today, which I'm thankful for.
Next up: I can't wait to tell you about how I began doing watercolor families. They've been a big signature of who I am for years now, and again: it's all just because I took messy action!