Why YOU Can Do It Too!
I know you have big, crazy ideas. I know that your ideas will change someone’s life for the better. And I know that you are too scared, lack the confidence + doubt yourself too much to bring those ideas to life - at the moment. But, after today’s podcast episode where I share with you my own story, I hope this gives you the push to share your ideas with the world. Because, what only you can provide is something wonderful, don’t let us miss out on that.
Welcome!
Today is a little different. I am inviting you inside my world! I will be sharing with you one big idea that I have been working on for quite some time now, where it came from, what it means to me and how I am bringing it to life in hope that by doing this it gives you the confidence to know that you can do it too. Because I believe that you can.
I get it. I know what it’s like to watch others do something that you want to do, to doubt yourself and wonder if you even have the capabilities to do it, to be the person that is needed to bring something like this to life. I know what it’s like to wonder if you are good enough. To feel scared, even terrified of the dreams that you have - not because they are scary, but because they are so big.
So today, I am going to share it all with you. Have you got a cuppa, because you might need one.
Today I am going to share with you my own story…
…and it is a story about how one of the biggest ideas I have ever had in my entire life came about, the roller coaster of emotions that I have been on every since I dreamt of this idea, the how, the what, the why all the in between and I wanted to share it with you because I find in life when we see people doing things we often think about all the things they are doing and we don’t think about how they got there. Or we don’t actually know the back story, or the lessons or the failures or the heartache and the self doubt and all the things that go with bringing an idea to life. So today thats exactly what I wanted to do. I am drawing the curtain. I am inviting you guys inside my world and yes it might get a little raw but that is exactly what I am here for and I want you to know and see what it takes to bring your ideas to life because at the end of the day it is so worth it. So I am going to start right at the beginning of this idea and where it all came from.
Two years ago almost to the month , I was walking around Coffs Harbour with my beautiful hubby, 4 months pregnant. On one of our early morning walks, I started to tell hubby of a dream that I had had the night before.
In my dream, I had been driving home behind a big truck with a beautiful “studio style portable shed” on the back. The same portable shed I had dreamt about for so long and discussed building on our block with Wade. And as we were getting closer to our driveway, the truck started turning in! Hubby had surprised me by buying this shed, so that I could have a studio on our block!
All my dreams had come true at once! I was so excited. But, once we got home, and we had got out of the car to see the truck driver, the only thing left to do was to decide where it was to go on our block.
And guess what… I couldn’t.
I had this awful feeling like it just was in the wrong place. In my dream I went back and forth and every location I thought it would be right, it just didn’t work. And it didn’t feel right. And just before I woke up, I had a realisation. My space wasn’t on our block, I didn’t want to work from home anymore. I wanted my own space, my own studio away from home so that I could be with other like minded people and keep work separate from home. And that is where the idea began.
So back to reality, and as we were walking and I was telling wade about this dream, I told him that it woke me up to an idea I hadn’t really considered before. Because I wasn’t sure if I could do it. But, the excitement that I had had in my dream for bringing to life this space, it ignited a new passion in me.
What if I was to open a space in town? A space for creatives. A beautiful, aesthetically stunning, inspiring space that the second you walked into, it would motivate you, inspire you, lift you up. A space to go that made you feel a part of something, a space where you could be you and not feel judged, or out of place. A space that had all the resources you would need to be creative and to run a creative business and make an income from your passion. A space to show you what’s possible and to bring dreams to life. I knew that I wasn’t the only one who needed a space like this.
My excitement + idea was met with the same enthusiasm and for the first time, Wade + I were on the same page. I often have big, crazy ideas but this one he liked as well. And in the moment as we were walking, the creative juices were flowing, I developed this business idea that would change my life.
This space would be the home to the Mindful Business Hub - a business that I began to help regional creatives bring their dreams to life. The space would be beautiful and very creative.
It would have office spaces for creatives to have a place to go away from home, to be surrounded by creative energy and other creative people.
It would have all the resources needed to own a creative business. A sound proof room for those who host podcasts, digital courses, zoom meetings.
A meeting room to hold workshops and events, so that I could hold my digital course in person, bring together all the people who inspire me, to bring big names to the country to show other creatives what’s possible.
An outdoor area so that I could host both indoor and outdoor workshops - I am such a big believer in having space to grow your ideas. And that is exactly what I wanted to create.
All of this came from walking around with my pregnant belly why we were on holidays. I will never forget this moment.
We then spent the rest of our holiday in Coffs Harbour enjoying our time with the family and I still couldn’t stop thinking about this idea. That’s how I know when I have an idea worth pursuing. I can’t stop thinking about it. So on the way home we discussed it further. Only this time, it wasn’t met with the same excitement and enthusiasm, but more of the reality that started to kick in.
Wade challenged me in ways that I’m not always used to - I guess that’s why we work. Questions like, where would you get the money from, how would this make an income and of course my answer was “don’t worry about that”, I will work out a way. I have always been, I guess optimistic and a dreamer. I don’t like letting things like money stop me from bringing dreams to life.
But, his questions did have merit. And the final blow felt like the biggest hit of all - Well tay, this really is more of a ten year plan. You can’t expect to have this in the next 12 months.
As I sat in the car with hubby, our beautiful little man in the back seat and my happy little pregnant belly, I knew that while I wanted this dream right now, it wasn’t going to be a possibility.
My duty as a Mumma will always come first. Regardless.
So, over the next few months, while this idea niggled away at my soul, I began the long journey of learning how to be ok with not doing and not acting on an idea. This was hard. Extremely hard for me.
While I wanted to be in research mode, trying to seek out grants and find any information I could on how to do this, I then began to notice others doing and thinking up the same idea as me. People were showing me other spaces similar to my idea, showing me how they did it. I had family members telling me that my ideas were too big. That I needed to slow down. That sometimes you just have to be happy with what you have. And my personal favourite - You can’t have it all.
And I guess you could say it was the pregnancy hormones maybe, but it certainly got to me.
My belief is that you certainly can have it all, but this was the biggest challenge yet.
It wasn’t until the birth of our beautiful baby girl, two weeks early might I say, that I received what I needed. After having struggled for so long to have not only our first baby, our little man, but our second as well, there she sat in my arms, my world was complete, and I knew that my dreams did come true if I just kept believing that they would.
So in that time, as a new mum of two, there were certainly highs and lows on the rollercoaster journey. I started to unfollow all those pages + people who I was told to follow because they had done what I was wanting to do. I needed to stop seeing what was happening for a while so that I could lean into motherhood and not into my ego.
I still spoke about my idea, drove hubby and my family mad with asking questions, developing a business plan, another business plan, floorplans, room plans. All the things.
I still travelled around town for hours on end searching for the space, putting out the feelers and never really getting anywhere. I kept telling myself I must have been too fussy because I couldn’t find the location that I really wanted.
I cried on the bathroom floor because I didn’t think the dream was meant for me. I didn’t think that it was meant to be that hard, so therefore it obviously wasn’t meant to be at all.
Setbacks from the bank, missed deadlines for grants, and those closest to me telling me the whole time that my dreams were too big. That I should be ok with where I was. With what I had. With how far I had come already.
And while all those things were true, and I certainly am so proud of where I am, and so grateful for what I have, it doesn’t just stop there. I don’t ever want to stop creating because I am a creative right down to my soul and I know you know what I am talking about.
Little did I know the universe had a plan for me. And now, looking back, I am so grateful for this chapter. This experience gave me time to develop my idea even further than I ever thought.
Because it was at this time that I started to ask myself questions. What did I need that would help me as a creative bring back my passion after falling into jealousy, after losing my confidence, after doubting myself and wondering if I was even good enough to pursue the idea I had. After losing myself after having our baby girl.
What did I need as a creative in business?
One day while I was sitting in my home office struggling to work with all the stuff around me - having grown out of my office long ago, listening to my baby girl in the lounge room with my mum, the washing machine beeping in the background, our dog barking outside, seeing all the chores around me I was finally fed up enough to act.
I picked up the phone, and rang a real estate client who I had photographed a little while ago to ask her a question.
I asked her if she knew of any spaces in town like the one she was currently in and that I had photographed her in. It was beautiful, light filled, timber floors, high ceilings. And I needed a space, even if it meant that it wasn’t the whole space just yet, that it was the starting point that would help me get there, or simply to help me separate work from home. I was ready and it felt like the right time to just make a start.
To my biggest surprise yet, she replied with - well actually I am thinking of moving out but needed someone to fill my space. Would you be interested in moving in by December?
The universe works in funny ways, but always in the way you focus on. It just has to be the right time and that day was my time.
At the time of this podcast release, I picked up the keys to my space 4 days ago and I still can not believe that this is happening. Well, I can. But how this has all happened is certainly not lost on me. And even now, I still believe this is just the start of the adventures yet to come. Because those ideas I was telling you about, how they have grown and developed are still yet to come to life. The space I have in this moment, while it isn’t the full space, I would never have had the courage to do this if I didn’t dream big.
So, if you are sitting there wondering if you will ever be able to bring that idea to life - that idea I know you have. I want to tell you that if you keep on believing in it, if it keeps on springing into your mind, if it truly excites you, then if I can do it, you can do it too.
And my final story to share - Loved ones will tell you the worst because they don’t want to see you fail. They don’t want to see you hurt. So they will stop you from putting yourself out there too much so that you don’t put yourself in harm's way. It is out of love that they do this, and it’s one of the hardest things to remind yourself of that fact. But as a creative, you will always have new ideas. You will see the world from a different perspective. You will want to try new things, you will be scared as hell that you want that, but you will also want to still do it anyway. People won’t understand you, they might even think you’re a little crazy. But it doesn’t matter. Because at the end of the day, without you in the world things certainly wouldn’t be as wonderful!
I know you can do it too, and I will never stop believing in you.
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The Mindful Business Hub space is opening January 12th 2023 in Gunnedah. A space for regional creatives + small business owners to feel inspired to create, to dream BIG, to learn how to overcome self doubts + insecurities, and to actually act on all of this and gift the world your talents.
From the moment you walk in, you will feel inspired + motivated to chase after your wildest ideas. You will look around and immediately know you are in the right place and that you aren't alone in your journey. You will wholeheartedly know that you have got this because there are people around you to support you!
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