You know those movies that start in the middle of the action and the main character stops the scene and says… I bet You’re wonder how we ended up here?
That is like this story…
Right now…
I am in a middle of an adventure where I am chasing a runaway train 🚂 with no idea of where it is going or what is going to happen next…
Before we get to that we have to go back…
A long long time ago… Halloween 2019
I decided to start an Etsy shop for some completely random and forgotten reason… I mean I didn’t even shop on Etsy or have a clue what it actually was or how I was going to conquer this platform… but on that day I listed my first item for sale and little did I know… my whole world was about to be turned upside down.
4 days later…
My eldest son, injuried himself requiring multiple surgical procedures, therapy and lots of help.
I had a coaching business at that time, that was doing ok but faced with a major emotional crisis it was near impossible to show up the way that was needed…
Then came the bushfires followed by COVID-19 🦠
After 3 major blows…My coaching business was over! I had no clients, no money and no real hope that it would work again.
Oh and that Etsy business…
It was dismal. I had done the research, listed products that I thought would sell (they were selling for other people), learned SEO and so much more but nothing seemed to work. I had a few sales here and there but the cha-chinos were few and very far between.
I felt useless, stupid and confused. I had failed again and had no idea how I was going to make money to survive.
Then lockdown happened. I had been training for this my whole life! Suddenly able to spend hours and hours working because 90% of mum duties were cancelled! My inner workaholic came out to play.
Sitting on a bean bag on the floor of my son's room with my laptop on my legs, Working 18 hours a day, I rebranded the Etsy shop, changed out most of my listing, taught myself how to use illustrator, photoshop and Canva to do what I needed to do…
totally focused on a hunch that I could make this work! There was no other option because getting a real job was just not going to happen!
My boys would often ask me…
Is all this work worth it? I mean I was working for less than $1 an hour at that stage. I replied Yes it will be.
Then on April 1st 2020, 6 months after I listed my first item… I hit 100 sales.
It was then…
The Etsy shop took on a life of its own…
There was not roadmap… no guide to show me exactly what to do… there was helpful knowledge but nothing that was directly connected to MY business. I was just making it up as I went!
Flash forward 13 months to May 7th 2021, my eldest son’s 23rd birthday…
That random idea of an Etsy shop hit 10,000 sales!
From a single digital product to a company with over 20,000 templates in 18 months and I am still pinching myself to make sure it is not a dream.
Which brings us to where we started this story…
In the middle of this crazy adventure Chasing that runaway train!
Because while I love hearing my phone go cha-Ching… ok let’s face it… it never gets old…
What drives me is the difference I get to make along the way…
The people I am helping on their adventure to build their empires… one side hustle, one small business, one product, one sale at a time.
The people that now have hope and confidence that their dream can actually come true.
So as I continue to figure all this stuff out and embracing the unknown in my real life ”choose your own adventure” story, I invite you to join in because together this wild ride will be so much more fun!