Where is Your Water?

“Where is your water? Know your garden.”
Hopi Teaching

Self care doesn't come easy in the small business world. Dusty and I recently took some time to think about the things we love about our business and how we could do more of it. 80 hour work weeks are the norm, but not the goal. If our business is our garden, our water is working closely and collaboratively with a few clients at a time. One at a time ideally - but no more that 3, for sure. Our water is taking time to experiment, play, push boundaries and adventure.

The last 6 months have been busy. At one point we had almost 20 active projects in various stages. That wasn't our water. That almost washed our soil out. 

We're working to move towards a more slow and deliberate pace with our design work. At first, it was hard saying "No," or "Not yet," or "We can't make your deadline and do our best work, so sorry." Now I think I'm finally in a good place with it. I woke up to an email this morning about a project that we couldn't complete within the client's deadline and I happily sent a list of brilliant designers who may have more availability. There was so much peace in that.

It's easy to get sucked into the trap where you feel like you need to take on all the work - that work is scarce and hard to find - that you'll never get "there" if you don't hustle 24/7. That's not our water. I want to be a designer for a long time. That will take a lot of water, and sunlight, and time, and laughter, and joy. Growing slow is okay with us. 

---

photography by Angie Webb, styled by Madison, for Marie Mae Company
succulents on loan from Brenda's House of Flowers, thank you! :)

How to Produce Content when You're Totally at Capacity

Producing content.
What does that even mean?

I started out last year with this grand *MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS 2016* plan, but it wasn’t practical for our team of two with a full design schedule. I was struggling to keep up and feeling like a failure. This year, I don’t have a marketing plan - or pan for communications or content. As it stands, we have 6 months of work waiting to be blogged, formatted into case studies and added to our portfolio. (2016 was quite the hustle year for us.) Our social channels are quiet and I don’t quite know how to break the silence there.

It’s hard not to look at that stack of “we should’s and should be’s” and feel overwhelmed. Producing content feels like homework.

A business coach once taught me this awesome way of reframing things. You get up out of your seat and literally move around the room and think about things from a different perspective. It’s so helpful to take time to think of things in a different way. If I feel stuck, I try to move around. See what things look like from over there.

Maybe producing our content should feel more like a celebration. I want that.
Aha... Now, how do we get to there?

Most importantly, how do we get to there without burning out, without throwing our other systems into chaos, and without destroying the joy I want it to bring?

I tend to go 180% full throttle into new things. This makes me an excellent learner, a great problem solver and a good consultant. But that full throttle can wreak havoc on my inner peace if I don't keep it in check. I have a hard time scaling my goals to my capacity.

Lately my solution for this has been writing out everything I want to accomplish and choosing 5%. I identify what the most important items are and scale them back. By just working on the 5%, I build momentum. After I successfully, non-stressfully can accomplish that 5%, I’ll add another 10%.

My 5% looks like:

• crafting an email once a month for clients and people in on the behind the scenes newsletter
• posting to Instagram 1x a week, I’ll have it auto push to Facebook
• posting a blog post 2x a month
• continuing to add work to our portfolio, scaling back the intensity of our case studies, 1-2 hours/week

Let’s see how it goes. How do you handle your social media and producing content? What would be your 5%?

Any tips, tricks or questions?

P.S. If you’re ever looking for help on the writing front, let me suggest Signify! We recently designed their branding and site. I can tell you, Kristi is on point!

Apple Orchard with Family

My brother, Jacob and Jackson

We snuck away for a day in Ellijay, Georgia with my sweet sister-in-law, my brother and their beautiful twins.

To me the best part of fall is the way family and friends pull in a little closer. It’s an unconscious and subtle thing. Soups and chilis make their way onto menus. All the recipes that beg to be shared with big groups. Festivals pop up almost every weekend, and the weather is perfect for wandering. 

I guess it’s harvest season, right? The time of year when everyone pulls together. I love that.

Here’s a few of my favorite shots from this weekend. 

Liam

Jenny, the coolest mom I know

Texture study, #artsy

Brotherly Love

The Cartecay River

My Dusty Beau

One of the hardest thing about running a business of your own is that there are very few true vacations. An urgent email or last minute opportunity is sure to pop up. Honestly that part of entrepreneurship really disappointed me at first.

Truth is unplugging for a week is not realistic right now. But. Unplugging for a day is very. very realistic. So we will pepper in more days like this. Days of mountain air, sweet moments, and small adventures.

xo,
Mads