March Mood Board '21
March — a time for new ventures, letting go, and taking time to be inspired.
I received a little note in my inbox today that made my heart smile and remember that there are kind people in the world.
So alas, here I am, Ashleigh, 6 months later with a lot to share.
NEW VENTURES
To answer your question, Ashleigh, I’ve actually been doing quite well.
If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you know month-long hiatuses are (shamefully) kind of my thing. Although they’re usually surrounded by self-doubt or me spending hours trying to perfect a project, this hiatus has been much more productive.
I am currently in the process of launching my own interior styling and design studio! It’s exciting, and scary, and takes every ounce of my free time outside of my corporate job, which means that I’ve (sadly) had to take a few steps back from the blog.
But I love it.
Some days it’s hard and frustrating and makes me want to scream and cry at the same time and other days it’s rewarding and makes me feel like I am right where God needs me.
Overall, it’s a rollercoaster and has me feeling a lot differently about so many things I use to be so sure about.
I thought I’d never want to own my own business, yet here I am.
I thought I’d never really use my dual marketing & entrepreneurship business degree or use buzzwords like “minimum viable product” in real life, yet here I am.
I thought interior design would casually walk into my life in my late 40s after I had accomplished everything I wanted out of my marketing career, yet here I am.
And I also thought that I would’ve talked myself out of this crazy idea by now seeing as I have no interior design background and am literally learning everything from scratch…yet, here I am.
What started as a simple thought mid-pandemic in July 2020 has blossomed into a budding brand and business finally taking its own form of life.
I still have so much to learn, and so much to do, but I’m also recognizing how far I’ve come and celebrating the small wins. (Like Living Spaces reposting my work on their Instagram page!)
So far, it’s been a journey. And even though I have a long ways to go, as of now, there’s nothing I’d rather be spending my time doing.
IN OTHER NEWS
I am absolutely floored (!!!) at the number of visitors that I’ve received on this blog even amidst my lovely hiatus. I’ve already seen over 11k unique visitors on the blog in the first two months of this new year.
I didn’t have a chance to do an end-of-the-year blog recap on here, but my top 3 posts from the last year are from a sporadic array of categories.
To give you more context, my #1 google search that’s been driving visitors to my page is “north-facing windows”.
Who knew that so many people would be interested in how the window direction affects the type of sunlight you receive in your space (which I BRIEFLY added to a blog post about how to find an apartment)?
My second top viewed post is about my boss leaving, which is both a little humorous and concerning at the number of individuals who found the post simply by googling “my boss left and i’m sad”. It reminds me that we’re all going through it… and also warms my heart to know that something I wrote when I was sad, broken, and vulnerable is helping others who are in the same place.
The third top viewed post, 10 Black-Owned Candles You’ll Love, is less surprising and actually makes the most sense because 1) everybody loves candles, and 2) supporting black-owned business is thankfully becoming widely-accepted. So out of all of the posts that somehow caught by Google’s little gnomes, this one was the one that probably followed the SEO strategy the closest.
Yet, it’s the third.
I’m saying all of this to show you that you can try to be as strategic as possible, play the SEO game, listen to every tip and trick from the “How to Build a Blog” YouTube videos you watch, but the majority of the time, it’s really out of your control.
Sometimes, you’re picked up by Google because you spent hours diligently optimizing your post.
Other times it’s because you’ve searched for a new apartment for months and don’t want other people to make the same mistakes you did.
And other times it’s a sad journal entry about change that you need to let out so it doesn’t eat you alive by holding it in.
Either way, the formula is rarely ready when you are. If it’s going to happen, then it will. And the only way it will is if you keep going.
When I wrote both of those posts, I was averaging about 13 views a month and had no idea that it would be 8 months later until readers actually found the content I had spent years writing.
Allow yourself time to grow. Trust God. Give yourself grace. And keep going.
If you are new to the blog or found yourself here from any of those posts… welcome! We are so glad to have you, no matter how you stumbled your way upon this blog. Grab your favorite glass of wine and stay awhile. x
VIBE OF THE MONTH: LETTING GO
This month, we’re focusing on letting go of perfection and being agile. I wish there was a prettier word for agility… maybe fluidity? Agile sounds like you’re sitting in a business seminar, not on a blog reading someone else’s personal thoughts.
But until I can think of a better word, agility it is.
Kendra and I decided two weeks ago that we were tired of complaining about where we were in our businesses and decided to do something about it. Doing, and then adjusting. Not taking hours and hours to worry about if it’s perfect, which has been a flaw that I’ve carried for the majority of my life.
When I touch things, I want them to be perfect. Unless it’s art. Then I want it to be real and raw and a little messy. A little messy makes it unique and adds to the rare beauty of the piece.
So, I decided that I was going to approach life like it’s a piece of art. Just go in with my paintbrush and make it happen.
And honestly, it’s been working out so far. I finally started posting on my business Instagram page and trying different things on my stories to keep an engaged audience. Some of them are working, some of them aren’t. And for the ones that aren’t, I’m taking notes, pivoting, and trying something else.
It’s both rewarding and freeing to untie myself from the chains of perfectionism. It’s also rewarding and freeing to know that some days are harder than others. (Like the time that I felt like something I posted on my story actually alienated my audience). It’s a process, and a journey and most of all deserves grace.
ON MY CALENDAR
Sometime this month, I will launch my interior design studio website. And if not this month, then sometime next month. (Grace, remember?)
Either way, I’m excited because I feel the pieces slowly starting to come together. I’m identifying my signature style and how I want my brand to be perceived. I’m learning who my target audience is and the best way to reach and talk to them. And I’m finally getting my systems together to make the process smoother for my clients (both present and future).
As you can see, I can talk about this stuff forever (and will willingly do so if nobody stops me). I’ve thought about running a segment on my blog called “Building Your Own Business” but then remember that I actually don’t know what I’m doing or talking about. So maybe it will be more of a Business Diary where I take you guys along in the process. If you’re interested, let me know in the comments below!
INSPIRED BY
Surprise, surprise. My current inspiration and Pinterest boards are either full of interior spaces that draw me in or brands that I admire.
Surprisingly, building the brand for CQ Interiors has been a harder process than I thought it would be (seeing as I literally work in marketing). But there’s a big difference between helping an established brand solve branding and building one from scratch.
So many times throughout the branding process I had analysis paralysis. I felt like my choices would dictate so many important elements, how I would be able to position myself, the way a potential client would feel interacting with the brand, the style and direction of the corresponding elements… and so many times it left me very overwhelmed and severely uninspired.
One of the ways that I was able to combat that, was to look to my peers to see what works and what’s not. Keep scrolling for a few of my favorite branding elements I stumbled upon on Pinterest that are beautiful.
Wedding Dress Boutique
mini home tour
As your new favorite interior stylist, I think it’s a right of passage that I share with you this beautiful Tuscan-inspired home by GSiD. Enjoy. :-)
At the core of it all, thank you for being here, thank you for sticking around, and most of all thank you for stumbling upon my little corner of the internet.
Love always,
The Corporate Queen