Q & A (continued)

Where are Ben's overalls from?
They were a gift from his Aunt Karina. She got them from Baby Gap.

What program do I use for creating cards?
I use the Adobe Creative Suite. I'm awesome with InDesign. I'm great with photoshop. I'm still a beginner with Illustrator. I spend so much time on these programs that they've started to feel like old friends. Just kidding. Kind of.

How did I get started in the stationery business?
There's a long version and a short version . . . the short version is that I had some training on these programs in college that I carried over and began using quite a bit in my real job. With lots of practice, I became pretty good on them. When my son was born, I designed his announcement. Then my niece's announcement. Then a save the date card. Then a few friends encouraged me to set up a shop and . . . voila! The rest is history.

The long version includes anecdotes about our first computer, a dot matrix printer and me using my dad's business copy machine to make duplicates of the "newsletters" that I wanted to send out to family members . . . but my mom never let me. No kidding . . . I used to look at my Highlights magazines and think about how I would have laid the page out differently. Maybe I'll dedicate a post to the long version at another time.

Do you have a photography business?
Well, yes and no. Technically, photography is listed as a part of my business on my incorporation papers. And people do contact me to book photo sessions. But I don't have a photography website, nor do I advertise. I might open a site in the future, but for now, I take all I can handle.

I'm my own worst critic when it comes to photography and right now, my insecurities in this area are too numerous to list.

So, maybe someday. We'll see.

What is your real job?
I work as a program director for a Christian camp. The camp is an RV campground, a retreat rental facility and an overnight youth camp. Kyle and I run the summer and winter youth camps and I also work with the marketing and keep up the web site.

I love my job. LOVE it. I've been working at the camp for almost 10 years (though I thought I'd only work there for one) and have been in my current position for 7 years.

Part of the reason I love my job so much is that I love small groups. That's a weird thing to love, right? In grad school, I took a course called "Small group processes" followed by "Small group curriculum" and I was so interested in how small groups and communities of small groups are transformational . . . or maybe I should say can be transformational. And while there are A LOT of different things that go into my job, the best part (for me) is that I get to train counselors to lead their small groups of kids during each week of the summer. Sometimes I wish I could be in a situation in which the groups were more long term and we could do more follow up, but I love what I get to be a part of at camp. I think I need to dedicate an entire post just to the benefits of sending your child to camp.

Thoughts on keeping a blog public v. private
It depends on your situation and your purpose. If your purpose is to just update family and friends or to only keep a record of your life, go private. No problem. If you would also like to use your blog to encourage and connect with others . . . public is the way to go. I would say a down side to making your blog private is that you can only invite a limited number of people to read it and if you have more readers than the limit, they're out of luck. But the down side to having it public is the obvious . . . everyone can have their nose in your business. Sorry that I'm no help there!

Q & A

OK, first, let me tell you how awesome it is to see the new blogs/new posts that have popped up! They may not all be because of my PSA, but I'm going to pretend they are because it makes me feel so good about myself. If you have recently started a blog (or have revitalized your existing blog) and I haven't commented, send me the link so that I can visit. I've had some questions and feedback regarding my PSA and I'll probably get to that stuff tomorrow when I've had more time to think about it.

Second, I've been getting a lot of the same questions from people regarding a few topics:

1. What kind of camera I use
2. Etsy
3. Breastfeeding
4. How I maintain my ravishing good looks

I'm going to respond to those here, so don't be offended if I don't sent you an individual response. I've become bad at answering e-mails that aren't work or business related.

1. What kind of camera do I use? I've already answered that in a post here. I've added a lens (Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L) since then. And depending on how my tax return ends up, I might have a new camera before summer. Fingers crossed. Oh! And I've also added this awesome new camera strap cover, which is almost as cool as the lens.



2. Two things have happened since my etsy business has grown. First, I get several messages a week asking for advice on starting their own etsy stationery business. My single most important piece of advice: WORK HARD. This is not easy. Just ask my husband and kids. You get out of it what you put into it. Other than that, you kind of have to figure it out on your own. I could give you step by step instructions based on what worked for me, but the truth is that it might not work for you. And even if it did, you'd miss A TON of learning opportunities on the way. I still answer the individual questions I get on this, and I dole out information on a case by case basis so don't be afraid to contact me. But don't be offended if it takes a while to get a reply.

Second, it feels like there's a big ol' target on my back. There are a few individuals who just seem to want to make my life difficult in an attempt to . . . what? Break my spirit? Insult me? I don't know. I'm a competitive person by nature, but when it comes to business stuff, I really wish nothing but success for other sellers. I don't see increased competition as a bad thing because there are certainly enough buyers to go around. But I won't feel bad about my success either. It hasn't been at anyone's expense (other than maybe my family's at times). It's been because of A LOT of hard work and I'd like to think a little bit of talent on my part. I don't ever respond to this kind of message because, well, I don't really know how to respond. I'm aggressive (AGGRESSIVE) about running my business with integrity and because of that there's really not much I can say other than, "I'm so sorry you feel that way." This has been frustrating, but this is the first and last I'll talk about it here.

3. Breastfeeding improved quite a bit. I used up my supply of frozen milk and had to supplement with formula for three or four days. I saw my doctor and she gave me lots of advice that really seemed to work. I think the best thing she did, though, is gave me permission to stop breastfeeding. It's not that I needed her permission, but I think I needed someone to look at me and say, "It's ok if you don't do this. It's ok to stop trying." I think her relieving that pressure actually helped me work through it.

My estimation is that I was down to 6 - 10 ounces a day, which wasn't great for a kid who needs 30 - 40 ounces a day. So, I pumped and nursed and pumped and nursed and took loads of fenugreek and pumped and nursed some more. My milk supply finally rebounded. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done but I'm glad to be nursing again.

I have seen a drop in supply again over the last few days and I've already decided that if it doesn't rebound, I'm not going through all of that again. My hope is to make it to the summer. But right now, I'm just looking to make it to 6 months. I'm just thankful to live in a day an age in which there are healthy substitutes.

4. I was kidding about the ravishing good looks thing. But I'm sure you already knew that.

Any other questions?