I've had some HUGE changes in my life over these past few months. Things I've been planning for, saving for, and yearning for, for years. The most amazing news I have to share with you is that I finally left my totally-safe-and-successful corporate job in December to pursue event planning and design full-time! It was so scary slash amazing, and giving my notice at work had to be just about the most nerve racking thing I've ever had to do. The only thing scarier? Waking up the next morning and realizing that my occupational success was now truly in my hands. No base salary. No bonus for hitting quota. Welcome to my new life: Commission only, in exchange for blood, sweat, and tears.
I had planned this day for a long time. In fact, it took me four years. Four years of doing weddings part-time, and pharmaceutical sales full-time, in order to save up enough money and know-how to be successful. I was-- and am-- determined to be the business that does. I don't want to be a statistic. So I decided that I will not fail. I examined my life with a discerning eye, and bravely answered the age-old question:
What would you do if you knew you could not fail?
-- Robert H. Schuller
I mean, really. What would you do if you knew you couldn't fail? Are you even brave enough to think about your answer to that question? It's potentially mind-blowing, depending on how safely you live your life. I wrote down my answer, and I originally intended for it to be two words. But then two words turned into over a hundred. I wrote, in detail, my plans for myself over the next year. The next five years. The next twenty years. What my studio would look like, how I would truly tap my creative outlets, how I would feel about my work, what types of clients I would work with, what I would do with my business in my 'sunset' years... it all came together in my mind. Holy crud. I had a plan.
And can I tell you something? What came out of my pencil was nothing like the life I was living in 2011. It was different. It was bigger. It was way scarier. And it was totally nuts. But you know what? It was my path to happiness. I had finally found it. And ever since I started implementing this crazy plan of mine, I've been happier. I'm goal-oriented. I'm working harder for my clients (hence, having no time for blog posts). My heart is in my work. And the harder I love my work, the more time I spend making sure it's my best work.
So naturally, as part of my new-found self, so many business changes have begun. I can't get into them all now, but there are so many good things coming our way. We're getting a brand new website, for one, which will better outline our change in direction, as a company (more design-oriented, including some services you never saw coming!). With the new website, a new blog (sniff, sniff!). The new blog will focus more on our design skills as a company, and blog posts that aren't necessarily always wedding-related. You have a life outside of planning your wedding, and as it turns out, we do, too!
We just bought a house (another HUGE change in our lives... holy smokes!), and with this gorgeous, lovely home (which I can't WAIT to share pictures of with you), came this barn that was pretty much exactly what I've always wanted for studio space. We're going to be renovating the barn in our backyard as it's transformed into the new studio, and we'll be documenting it on the blog.
In the end, we're so much more than just the weddings we create. I'm a designer to the core, and I can't just leave my 'design hat' on the desk when I leave work at 5pm. (But who are we kidding... we all know I work well past midnight most nights... I digress.) Design is who I am. From interior design, to styling my outfits in the morning, it's something that plays a part in everything I do. I want to share with you my whole self. Not just the part of me that talks about weddings. I want my blog posts to be uninhibited. I want to write what I want to write, instead of having writer's block trying to fit my blog posts into this tiny little wedding box. So many things influence and inspire me in this life, and I can't wait to begin to share them with you. Since my last blog post here, I've left my corporate job and moved from the overcrowded Jersey Shore to a farmhouse in the middle of New Jersey's farmland. I've found my happy life, and I can't wait to see what's in store.
"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.
Live the life you've imagined."
-- Henry David Thoreau
Kristin
i am so proud of you, happy for you, inspired by you and totally can feel every ounce of your passion and happiness seeping through the words on this post. congratulations - can't wait to see you go go go!!!!
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