My husband and I are always, and I’m not exaggerating, always, talking about what we want our future to look like and how we are going to get there. Positioning ourselves this way is sorta in our DNA, and I know that they say opposites attract, but like-minded folk attract harder I’m sure of it.
A little tmi background about us: my husband and I both went to private college, both graduated with finance degrees, and both came out with obscene student loan balances, and both pursued careers in the business industry. We’ve each spent the last ten years of our careers climbing out of this student loan hole. We budget, we plan, we strategize, we tweak, we dream, we plan some more. It might take time, but we make shit happen.
I started blogging at a time where I felt my life was lacking in the creative department. The mundane routine of an accountant (every month is the same cycle!) was getting to me. I used to be so creative! I was a self taught hair stylist during college, cutting & styling friends, teachers, strangers (!) hair between classes. Ask my best friend – I used to blow her hair out every morning! In high school I spent my free time making fashion jewelry by hand and selling my designs at boutiques in Sonoma and Petaluma. As a kid I used to host craft nights at church with the woman’s group. I was a few years into my career and it hit me – I used to have so much more time to spend being creative, yet I had chosen a career that was the complete opposite.
I didn’t want my future to only consist of financial statements and debits and credits, I had to do something about it, and I chose to take a blind step towards something I could do along side my day job: blogging. Blogging opened this door to a creative frontier, I’ve discovered things about myself that weren’t prevalent before, such as an insatiable love of design and interiors, the thrill of thrifting, and the value in connecting with folks who care less about balance sheets and more about paint swatches and space layouts. Ever since I chose blogging, I haven’t looked back.
It was a tough reality to face, but blogging alone wasn’t going to change MY career path. At the end of the day, my husband and I shared priorities that meant I wasn’t going to be that blogger who quit her job to become a blogger full time. Major kudos to all who have done it successfully! I envy you! It just wasn’t going to happen for me. If I ever want to change my career path I need to do something bigger, something riskier. It was this moment, about a year and a half ago, that I decided to harness this entrepreneurial ability that I carry and make something of it. I am a creative AND a business person, surely there’s something I love doing that can be turned into a business! It was at that moment when I started planning the launch of The Vintage Rug Shop.
The Vintage Rug Shop opened on 10/1/15, my 30th birthday. My original intention was to run the shop and the blog as separate brands, separate sites, separate everything. It soon became a lot more work than I anticipated, and about 6 months into launching the shop I realized just how tough it was to run TWO businesses: blog & shop. Ever since then I’ve been figuring out how to bring them both together under one virtual roof.
There are some changes happening soon that I wanted to share today! The short version: I hired a designer and web developer to re-brand and re-design my two sites with the intention of wrapping both the blog and shop into one pretty site. We’ve been working together since April, and soon, SO SOON, we will have a new site for you to experience! I seriously can’t wait. I wouldn’t have been able to do this without the success of the shop and the support I’ve received from all my readers and customers. Thank you!!! This is the biggest investment I’ve ever made into this blog/shop venture, and I can’t shake the feeling this is the investment of my future.
There you go folks! A seriously long winded story. Thank you so much for reading and for all your continued support! I can’t wait to unveil the new site!
xo, Britt
Article Source: Investing in the Future
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