My first blog in a such a long time! I thought it'd be perfect to express my current thoughts on where I'm currently at in my life, in terms of business and personally - seeing as it's "Make Your Dreams Come True" day!
If you'd have told me back in 2011, when I was sitting in my greenhouse with my two tiny children that 7 years later I'd have an award winning-best selling business surrounded by some of the most motivated employees anybody could wish for, I'd tell you that you were barking mad.
I'm about to share a few of my secrets (which are now yours!) to help any of you budding small businesses out there make your dreams come true.
Balancing work life and home life
Here at FromLucy, a lot of us are Mums and Dads. I think it's important to have quality family time and have that specific cut off where work goes to the back of your mind and your family are your priority. We somehow fit a 9-5 day into 6 hours so we can all pick our children up from school, because a proper balance between work and home is essential for a happy mind. I don't think anybody looks back on life and says "I wish I worked more!"
Mindful moments in open spaces
The beach is my absolute favourite place to be, especially with Steve, Daisy and Holly. Being surrounded by family is such an important part of my life, and finding just a few days a month to explore open places, such as a the beach or a walk in the woods, is a great way to recharge my batteries - and it's normally days like this where I come up with new products!
Trust those around you
Trust is such an important factor to me when it comes to who I have around me in the studio. I love being excited to come into work to work on something new, and now I have such a motivated team around me, it makes it so much more fun! It's also good to know that if for whatever reason I can't make it into work, I can trust each and every single one of them to get on with the work that needs to be done.
Keep it personal
Every product I create has some personal connection with me in one way or another. Either my children have helped me, or a book features some of their old clothes patterns - the list is endless. I am soppy and sentimental and have hoarding tendencies, but Steve hates clutter! I scanned some of Daisy and Holly's clothes in to use as patterns throughout our range of Hedgehugs products, and every time somebody purchases something, I can't help but smile because part of my life is about to be in theirs.
Sleep!
There was once a time where I let my brain go into overdrive when I was laying in bed at night, and it kept me up at night for hours! I'd wake up groggy and not wanting to leave the house because I was just so tired, but I soon learned to tame my brain at night! It took a fair while, but I found turning any screen off around 2 hours before 'bed time' and switching it for reading really helped, as my brain was focused on something else. Sleep is more important than you think - and it's good to get as much as you can!