I’ve had several people ask me how things are going in entrepreneur land. Well, let me tell you…SMASHING!

I began my little adventure in June 2016, just three months ago. Oh it was so liberating…leaving my 8-5 job and starting my own business! The first few days and weeks of freedom have been extraordinary! No more getting up at 6:00 am (that’s about to change), no more boring meetings or working crazy hours for someone else for sucky pay. I am the poster-child for entrepreneurism (at least I think I am)!

So far I have launched two classes: Layering Like a Boss and Make the Kit – A Mini Course. Both of these classes have done very well and I am blown away by the support I have received! I quickly learned that income from classes is fleeting and my customers want more, more, more content! So I am working mad crazy hours to create more courses for the Victoria Marie Online Classroom. My customers want options and I am going to give it to them! Plus, creating, producing, and teaching scrapbooking courses is the bomb.com! I LOVE what I do!

I was interviewed by my good friend Tracie Claiborne for her Live Inspired Podcast during my first week of entrepreneurial freedom. If you have nothing better to do with your life, have a listen here. I talked about my first days as a bonafide business owner and the realities of getting started in the scrapbooking industry. Very impressive stuff!

I have continued working on the Scraptastic Design team although things have changed a bit. The owner recently decided to only create and sell planner stickers and pocketed scrapbooking supplies. While I enjoyed being on the scrapbooking team, I will now work with the Scraptastic planner kits. Look for more of that to come. Additionally, I applied for the Hip Kit design team…which I understand is a very popular design team. Fingers crossed and cautious optimism. 🙂

Just last month I was approached to do a product review for Totally Tiffany, an online craft organization store. I am so excited about this because their products look amazing. I will be doing a YouTube review and a blog post about Totally Tiffany products in the near future.

In October of this year, I will host my first every Victoria Marie Scrapbook Retreat in Weatherford, TX. I am so excited about this…it’s been a year in the making! I am currently making plans for two scrapbook retreats in 2017. I am also planning my first in-person classes as well as scrapbooking crops.

Overall, I am enjoying life as a business owner. But, this wouldn’t be an honest update if I didn’t share with you how sometimes working for yourself can suck…sometimes.

I work a lot of hours…a lot. And someone thought it was a good idea to start homeschooling while starting a business (me). I am not sure if I regret that decision and I am constantly evaluating if Aubree and I should send our daughter back to private or public school next year. There is a part of me that thinks I can get so much done while she’s at school. But then I think that I can pull this off, right?

The jury is still out.

So, like I said I work a lot of long hours…sometimes in the wee hours of the morning. Then I wake up three hours later and do it all over again. When I was finishing my first class, I stayed up for 24 hours prior to the launch, making sure everything was perfect. I learned from that experience that staying up for 24 hours is horrible and I will never do it again! Ever! Because I’m a dum dum!

While my time is flexible, to an extent, it is very hard for me to settle into a routine where my work day is divided (two hour increments on average) and accept that I do not have to school my daughter exactly at 9:00 am every single morning. Heck, my schedule is mine to dictate yet I am stuck in an 8-5 mind frame. I didn’t think that this would be a challenge for me.

I am always in some state of disorganization. This pile of paperwork has looked this way for over a month. I have found that I do not like business taxes and keeping up with receipts. To spend even a minute on this makes me a very grumpy Vicki. But it must get done…one day. Between creating classes and my other crazy projects, developing a paper management system has taken a back seat.

Here’s what they don’t tell you about being a creative entrepreneur – you don’t actually get a lot of time to create. To be honest, in a perfect world, 80% of my time would be spent creating. But it is not. I spend roughly 20% of my time creating while the other percent is spent creating and producing classes and doing yucky business stuff (taxes). I am trying to figure out a schedule where the first hours of my morning are strictly devoted to creating. I need this time to refocus and use up some creative energy. This might mean getting up at 5:00 am – just saying that makes my head hurt.

My house is always in a state of disarray. I thought I would have time to get more of my household chores and organization projects done. But, nope…hasn’t happened.  I have succumb to the fact that I can’t do it all…at least not all at once.

I am always tired. Just tired! But the cool thing is – if I want to take a day off and piffle around with my little one, I do just that. If I want to start my day by watching yet another episode of Gilmore Girls, I do just that!  I am in a constant state of “Wow, this is awesome!” and “What the hell did I just get myself into?!”

The biggest challenge has been working through creative blocks…some of my best ideas come quick, fast, and in a hurry and at times I have a hard time figuring things out. I make things too complicated. I obsess about details. I have to force myself into action. It’s funny how you can get things down in such a short amount of time. Yesterday, I wrote the scripts for my upcoming class in less than 1 hour…BAM! Get er’ done!

So there you have it…the long and the short of my creative entrepreneur experience thus far. The bottom line is: I love what I do! I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I am growing and learning new things all of the time. I am meeting some awesome people and making great connections. I am creating content that my customers enjoy! And I get to call the shots…a bossy person’s dream come true!

I will eventually figure out the rest. 🙂