Want

I've got some news. Three weeks from today I will be leaving my full-time event planning gig. It has been a really interesting experience and I have learned a lot, particularly about management - the good, the bad, and the ugly.

I am very excited to see what happens next in my career and I'm sure big things lie ahead of me. But, I will definately take what I've learned here along with me wherever I go.

This train of thought was sparked by this article from inc.com: 10 Things Employees Want Most. You tell me, if you got all of the things on this list from your workplace, would you ever leave?

1. Employees want purpose.
2. Employees want goals.
3. Employees want responsibility.
4. Employees want autonomy.
5. Employees want flexibility.
6. Employees want attention.
7. Employees want opportunities for innovation.
8. Employees want open-mindedness.
9. Employees want transparency.
10. Employees want compensation.

After years of management classes in business school, I think this sums everything up very well. When it comes time for me to be a manager of my staff, I plan to post this prominently on my office wall.

From the Desk of...

As you can see from my Strengthsfinder Signature Themes, I'm a bit Futuristic.

So, I'm visualizing the future in my new trailer.

My Vintage Year

I know I am crazy.

But I'm also crazy for vintage travel trailers and my birthday is coming up so...

What if a bunch of people gave me a couple of bucks and I could buy this little baby!

Let's get real here. This thing costs $2000. I have officially applied to have this project hosted by Kickstarter.com but that's a bit of a process.

My plan: Buy this trailer and turn it into my craft studio/home if I become homeless for some reason. I would totally remodel the thing, paint it, throw my Queen B Quilts logo up there. It would be amazing.

So, I'm not kidding (please refer yourself here, here, here, andhere. Help me out! You can give me a really great birthday gift and hopefully it will add up to a number that will warrant me buying this cute 1955 Vintage Duggan canned ham. If I don't get at least $1400 from this fundraising effort I will return all of your hard earned money (just make sure your mailing address is correct).

Thanks guys!

Let's See...

I Love You a Little $2.00 I'll Give Up a Beer for You $5.00 Pickpocketing is a Crime $10.00 I heard American Apparel is Going Under Anyway.... $20.00 I'd Like to Reserve a Night $100.00

Thinking Outside the Box

As you may, or may not have noticed I own a t-shirt quilting business. For the last four years I have been creating custom quilts for folks and it has been really great and just the right amount of work I was willing to do in my extra time, after the full-time job was finished.

However, I started thinking that I should get more creative with this business. When I had only been targeting a very specific group of people based on the product I offered: people who don't know how to sew. So I started to think outside of the box and came up with a few new ideas, one of which finally came to fruition tonight!

I am teaching t-shirt quilting classes! The first one was at Assemble Gallery & Studio in Greenwood and I am hoping to offer these classes at other crafty locations. From there, I thought... Why not in people's homes? I am hoping to get some attention about this opportunity to host a t-shirt quilting party.

This is one of my favorite parts about business - creating something new! Brainstorming! Putting an idea out there and seeing who grabs it! I was told that my class actually gets the most interest of all the classes offered at Assemble and that it might be in the upcoming Sunset Magazine... I am OVER THE MOON about that.

The class tonight was super fun and I can't wait until the second part next week! Lovin' my life as a business owner!

The Board

How do you stay motivated as a solopreneur? I've been asking myself that question because I am a people person and, quite frankly, the businesses I run very rarely involved working with others except for my customers. BUT have you considered having a Board of Directors for your freelance life? I have heard this idea... somewhere (forgot)... but many large, publicly-traded companies as well as all not-for-profit organizations have a Board of Directors to help in making decisions and so, why not your business too?

Ok, you might have to do some serious schmoozing to get some people on the board if you don't have the cash to pay them for this but I think it could be an informal group. Maybe just a few specific people you meet up with or talk to each week to discuss your new marketing or product ideas and get some feedback.

I have had a few friends ask me for business advice recently and due to the fact that I LOVE small business, I am totally psyched to help them out. Obviously it's one of my favorite subjects so why would I say no? I'm sure there are many others out there like me.

I love this idea and I'm thinking right now who I should pick. It could even be a group of other business owners that gather each week to drink coffee and talk business. I think it would be worth it. You would stay grounded and motivated (and caffienated).

Startup Quotes

via Startup Quote!

A List

Obviously, things have been a little crazy around here lately. I'm still limping quite a bit due to my sprained ankle and I've been all over the place trying to run my summer events. In about 2 weeks things should be slowing down again (finally!).

Here are a few things I've been reading about lately:

-When Less is More in Consumer Choice

-Are you an Early Bird Entreprenuer?

-Retail Analytics

-Researching Packaging Design for a new project I'm working on

-Finding new things to do on Friday Nights