Alright, so in an effort keep me as focused and forward-moving as possible, both personally as well as professionally, I have decided that every Sunday or Monday (I know, I’m technically already behind, but whatevs, gotta start somewhere/someday ;)), I will make a post, entitled “This Week’s Focus”, stating where I plan to direct the majority of my efforts/creative energies for the week. Best of all, this will keep all my Lovlies out there in the loop, as to what’s going on with me/Wynsome Creations (why there may not be anything new in the shop, what is to come, and related whatnots). To sum it up, you will all finally get a better idea of what goes on behind-the-scenes of this Mompreneur ;)!
Now, before I get on with this week’s focus, I would like to mention (although some of you may have already gathered) that these posts will not necessarily be “all business”. They will, probably ,nearly always in fact, involve my personal life (like maybe I’m on a mission to declutter my house, which could take up a large portion of my limited work time, which is actually a mission that my husband and I have been on for the past week. I love clearing out crap and it is long over due and, as they say, “Tidy outsides, make tidy insides” and it will make more room and time to create ;)). My personal life a.k.a my family life (I don’t really have a personal life that does not involve my family – I’m just not in that place yet, nor will I ever stray far from that, as it should be, I’ll just make a little more room for “social calls” when I’m ready) is not only my greatest Muse and driving force behind most everything I do in this world, but it is also the primary explanation as to why I currently have such a low inventory (on and offline. I don’t go out and do much offline, but it’s enough that I prefer to have something in my reserves) and why anyone rarely gets to see any of the new creations that I am chomping at the bit to create (that’s the only part I’m not happy with and my only true source of frustration, as I am blessed with an amazing family ;)), or have created, but have yet to release (remember The Great Pengahli? I’ll explain what the hold up is with him in a later post). But hey, my family is worth it and more ;)
So what is it that I hope to accomplish with Mompreneurial Musings? Well, aside from all the practical reasons that I’ve already stated (keeping everyone up-to-date and all), I hope that with all of these creations and musings of mine, along with my story of how I started and am working hard to grow my business, while changing diapers, tending a woodstove (our primary heat source), taking care of a 4-year-old dog (who was my husband and I’s “first baby” ;p), a shift-working husband (he’s pretty self-sufficient, but he needs me, as much as I need him and sometimes more – who else knows where everything is? ;p), and all the other things that I do that make me a self-proclaimed “Mompreneur”, will inspire someone else enough to say, “Hey, if she can do it, I can do it!” After all, though most people consider me to be “gifted” in some areas, I hold only a high school diploma (which I achieved the “traditional way”, by staying in school and graduating), am a two-time college drop out (cosmetology and culinary arts, respectively, although I did receive a sanitation certificate, woo. ;p), “self-taught” in business, as well artistically (I’m sure we all crack open a book or two and/or conduct our own online research to learn a little “sumptin sumptin”), and a former procrastinator extraordinaire. I am, at my core, probably not that much different than you are.
Anyhoo, now that that’s been said, what is “This Week’s Focus”? Well, you’re in luck, I actually have a simple answer to a simple question *waits for gasps of shock and surprise to subside**smirks with a snort*. BLOGGING! And making sure my social media and website bits are up-to-date, but mostly I will just be concentrating on Mompreneurial Musings and flapping my tippy-tappy fingers (I can’t very well “flap my gums”, now can I? ;p) on about all the things that I’ve been wanting to tippy-tappy about. What’s “tippy-tappying”, you ask? Well, I’m glad you asked. “Tippy-tappying” is what I refer to when someone is on their cell phone, tippy-tappying away. As I primarily work from my iPhone 4 (plug, plug. Too bad their not paying me for it ;p) I “tippy-tap” most everything that you ever see from me in the online world, except for my website, as it is Flash based and therefore incompatible, which is a big friggen boo for me, but *shrugs* meh, I make it work. There. That can also answer the question as to how I make my Mompreneurial life work. My iPhone ;) Check out this post to see why this is actually quite ironic.
So why did I choose blogging as this week’s mission, over all of the many other things that I need to accomplish? I chose blogging because, over the past couple of days, I have truly realized that blogging is not just something that’s a great idea for a business like mine from a marketing perspective, but is actually quite vital to my work itself. I mean to say, blogging is the best way for you all to get to know me as, not just a business owner with a product to sell, but as a person in general; and let’s face it, there is a certain warm, squishy feeling, an added bonus of happiness, if you will, that typically comes over you when you have purchased something special and unique from someone that you know and/or trust. Since I can’t have a personal conversation with every one in the world, this is the next best thing that I can do in lieu of that. That all being said, sure, I could just slap my stuff on the net and wait for people to buy it, without saying much more than “buy my stuff – it’s great!”, but that would not only detract from the personality and warmth that I create within Guin and my other creations, but it defeats the whole purpose as to why I continue to create PenGuin Kisses and my other works and share them with the world (and also things just aren’t generally that simple, or we would all be successful business owners). I created this business to do my part in the world and bring as many smiles, to as many faces as possible and therefore help to make it a better place. How exactly is it that I plan to do this? By one PenGuin Kiss, one handcrafted ware/gift at a time ;) It may sound pretty ambitious, but that’s my goal. You see, happiness is contagious and this is my personal way of spreading it. Why is this all so important to me? Aside from the fact that I was born and raised to care and be considerate of those around me, I know that happy people are about 95% more likely to be kinder, more compassionate, and thusly, more willing to help those around them when they’re happy ;) I said 95% because some people are just too selfish or self-absorbed, to put in the small extra effort it takes to open a door for someone, no matter what mood they’re in. In short, I’m just “paying it forward” ;) After all, isn’t that what life is really about?
Well, I guess that’ll about do it for today! But before I go, I would like to say this: Stand up and by what you believe in, including yourself – Winston Churchill once said, “You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.” Be patient in all things – you will be amazed at what you can accomplish with patience. But above all, for the love of God, DON’T STAND IN YOUR OWN WAY!!! I did that for almost 29 years and it has unnecessarily lengthened the road I’m on and made my workload twice as heavy. But no worries, as Jennifer Hudson recently said, “I got this.” ;) Oh and don’t forget to be persistent, although in the words of Kenny Rogers, “You gotta know when to hold ’em. You gotta know when to fold ’em” and being a perpetual optimist isn’t impractical, as some “realists” may think – it helps you to follow your dreams and lessens the effects of a blow if things don’t go quite as you hoped ;)
Take care of yourself and may you have a gorgeous day, filled with random acts of kindness ;)
Wishing You All Well,
~Amanda~
Mompreneurial Musings 