Y'all. I'm officially home with my baby girl and back as a full-time artist! Yep, that's right after nearly 5 years being away from my personal business and 2 years out of the art scene all together
I. AM. BACK! The entire story is kind of crazy, and pretty faith filled so I wanted to share it with you. I'm gonna start at the beginning just as a refresher.
In 2013 Reed and I graduated college, had our first year of marriage under our belt and moved to the little ole town of York, SC. There wasn't much there for me to do as an artist so that is when I really started my blog and selling art online. After 3 years of this and 1 year of having a seasonal brick and mortar shop I landed my dream job as Gallery Manager for Sozo Gallery. This job was everything, my boss became one of my best friends, I met incredible artists and was able to use my love of business, art, and people every single day.
Then, in November of 2016 Reed and I knew it was time to leave York. (You can go back and read about that heart wrenching time for us and how we took bigger leaps than we ever imagined.) We moved back to our hometown of Columbia, SC and I got a job as a Member Relations Coordinator at the Capital City Club, a private business club. This change in career was HARD. Like way harder than I expected, but it turned into something so sweet as I built relationships with people that I never would have met otherwise. The year and a half I was with the Club I was really not doing anything with art. I was taking the occasional order, but I was not advertising, I was not creating for myself, and I contemplated closing shop for good. But, I was never at peace with that. I knew I was designed specifically by God to be an artist. That is my purpose.
Then April 2018 we welcomed our daughter, Langdon Jo, into our sweet little world. This changed everything. The snuggles, the drool, the sweet baby smells, it lit a fire under me hotter than anything else. I wanted to show her that God created her with purpose and for a purpose and that she should ALWAYS follow that. However, financially I couldn't just up and leave my job. So Reed and I quietly prayed that God would show us when it was time for me to step back into the role of artist. I returned to work at the Club in July and loved on my people fully expecting to have more time with them and to have LJ grow up knowing those smiling faces. Then, God moved. It was a small shift and a quiet whisper but He moved.
In the middle of August one of our dear friends texted in a panic asking for prayer, her childcare had fallen through. She just needed someone to watch her sweet girl for 2 days a week. Something in me said "tell Reed, and let's pray". So we did, we prayed, asked our friends to pray, and after a week I realized that this opportunity could give us the confidence for me to step away from the Capital City Club and back to my art. Orders were picking up, even without advertising and I was starting to pull late nights and early mornings while LJ slept just to get orders filled. God does this funny thing, when you ask Him to whisper and direct your path - He does. But you have to be watching and you have to be willing to move. I know that He could have just blown up my shop with orders to the point that I was an overnight success, but instead He used His still small voice to say "this is the way, walk in it".
So, I turned in my notice and am fully home as a new Boss Mom as of September 14th!
I hope that you will follow along as I walk this new path. As I juggle the diaper changes, and try to run a business based on a babies nap schedule. I know this is going to be hard. This is probably going to cause some anxiety and fear. But Reed and I have learned to move when God whispers. That if He ordained this path then He will provide for our needs.