Dream Bigger

It’s amazing when things come full circle. Have you ever had one of those moments when everything just clicked? I’m having one, right now, and it is so affirming.

Right now, kids are napping, and I’m working on some of the details for the Dallas Authenticate workshop. I hosted a branding workshop in Oklahoma City back in April, but at that time, I handed out the workbooks with a cover sheet that said, “This Puppy Needs A Name”. My local entrepreneur friends attended to offer me feedback, but it wasn’t till my trip to Florida for the Savvy Workshop that the Authenticate name came to me. Click. The sound of everything falling into place.

In editing the content for the workshop, I just came across some notes I had from a strategic branding session that were dated 2002. That would be a decade, folks. It’s affirming to see that I have core values that haven’t changed. Maybe I lost sight of a few of them along the way, but they’re still that important to me, and I needed the reminder. Under passions I have listed “paper, small business, girl power, continued education”. Still me! I don’t know why it makes me so excited to see that ten years later, I’m still the same, but it does!

Under the question, “What three new things would you like to try in the next six months?” I listed web design, yoga, and guitar. We will now interrupt this blog post for a moment of laughter, please.

Some things never change. Thank goodness. While I’m normally a big lover of change, today, I’m grateful to see some consistency in life.

One thing that has changed, just because of experience, is my specialty. Ten years ago, I was just breaking into the wholesale imprintables paper and stationery market. While I will never be able to get away from the fact that I understand the paper and printing industry backwards and forwards, after a decade of navigating the stationery industry and business in general, I feel like my specialty is now better oriented towards helping other women understand who they are and how that relates to their businesses.

Can I say one quick little thing here? I’m big on humility. You could say it’s a core value. And I would really, really, hate for anyone to ever accuse me of being arrogant. So, just for the record, if it ever sounds like I’m bragging on this blog (and heaven forbid, I work so hard to keep from sounding like that), it’s only for this simple reason: I set some big goals for myself and my business back in 2002. According to my notes, I’ve achieved every one of them. (Note to self: time to set some bigger goals.) And if I can do that, YOU CAN, TOO. You’ve got this. I know it.

I’m so excited to be able to share what has worked for me, what hasn’t worked for me, and help some other women put the framework around their dreams at the Authenticate workshop on December 8th. I’m excited to get a community of women together who get excited about building big things.

I needed a graphic for this post, and as I was trying to come up with something that would be good, this thought slipped through my mind, and was closely followed by some inner negative voice that told me how audacious it is to think that we could all “have it all”. But then a tiny, quieter, voice stepped out of the shadows and said to the big bad negative voice: “But the world needs more of that–more people who are willing to dream big dreams, challenge the status quo, and work hard to make the supposedly impossible, possible.” It just all starts with letting yourself dream big.

If you’re on the fence about registering for Authenticate, shoot me a note and let me answer any questions that you might have. It’s going to be a pretty incredible day. Originally, I set the number of tickets at 25, but in talking to a few people who are coming, I realize that the intimacy of the group is of primary importance, so I’ve reduced the available number of seats down to twelve.

OK, now that I’m done talking about the voices in my head, I’d like to invite you to check back tomorrow. I’ll be giving away another Day Designer this week, as well as doing a recap on the new Partner Program that GetPapered.com just rolled out!