Makers Gonna Make! And - we’re gonna grow through what we go through as we do.

Growth - it’s one of those things that is natural, common, and often unexpected. These days we’ve all had to grow and adapt in a rapidly changing environment (thanks,COVID). For many of us that means learning how to balance work and family time while working from home, finding new ways to connect with loved ones, and new hobbies to keep our minds busy and souls filled.

My small biz journey began at the end of 2018. As I neared the start of my first round of IVF, already years into our journey to baby, my sister suggested I find a hobby. I opened Farmhouse Fluid Art as an escape, a form of self care, and an outlet for my creative self expression. By August 2019 we had gone through 3 embryo transfers and I was pregnant with lucky embryo #3. My business sat practically dormant for my entire pregnancy until the summer of 2020.

By then Covid was in full swing and as I started my business essentially from scratch I realized that my interests had changed. I went from making home wares and paintings to stationary and jewelry almost exclusively. Early into the fall season I began talking with my family about rebranding - a change was needed. The idea of changing my business began as a thought of changing my logo and soon blossomed into a desire to change everything. I wanted to build a brand that matched me, where I am in my life now, and the items I love to create but I was stumped.

For weeks I felt like I was just throwing names at my husband trying to see what stuck, but nothing felt right. Time and time again I felt like I was starting all over. I started to feel immensely defeated and honestly really tired.

Back to basics I went. Let me preface this with saying that I am by no means a marketing expect. I love making graphics on canva and procreate, but when it comes to my own company I tend to have blinders on sometimes.

First step - I knew who my audience was but I sat and created a mood board to help me get a feel for the new business. Once I had all the pieces laid out I knew I wanted my company to be modern, fun, and a little bit funky. I went through all of my marketing pieces and decided on which colors I wanted to keep and eliminate from my new brand.

Then came the hurdle, what was this new company going to be called?! I knew I wanted to continue with jewelry, but I wanted a company name that could be inclusive to my ever changing interests as well. I wanted to also include my baby in the new company. Farmhouse Fluid Art began when I wasn’t sure if this family would become reality and I felt it would be fitting that I include my girl in the new brand. My little lady’s name means oak tree so I had the idea that I wanted to include “acorn” either in the name or logo.

Once I had my new name I began to think about my logo. A logo can say so much about a business. When I sat down to start workshopping a logo I ran into so many mental blocks. Most of my best thinking happens while I’m trying to get my little lady to sleep, though, and as luck would have it one day as I sat rocking her I turned my head and saw her stuffy. Months before she was born I bought four bunny stuffed animals. The bunny is carrying a blanket with moons on it and it says “guess how much I love you”. A light bulb went off and suddenly I knew what I wanted to have as my logo. Soon I had created my logo, a secondary logo, and a watermark excited about this new direction for my business and the opportunity it represents for me.

For many years I based my view of what being successful was on the views of those around me. I tried to fit a mold of what was expected of me as a daughter, wife, and now mother. This past year has been a roller coaster, but if nothing else it’s taught me a few things. Growth and change can be incredibly scary, but also can be liberating. In an ever changing world where face to face interactions are limited what better time to embrace the changes we want to see in our own lives. Whether it’s something small or big like taking the plunge to achieving your dreams 2021 is all of our time to shine.