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The other day, I took Lennon shopping to spend the Christmas money he’s been saving up. To my surprise, he decided to use the money to buy rollerblades! 🛼 He got the chance to try it recently at school and turns out, he really liked it. This is a bit of a side note, but I’m actually so glad that rollerblades have made a comeback! I used to rollerblade everywhere as a kid and now I put them on and wonder how in the heck I had the leg strength to do that. It is SUCH a workout! But I digress… 🙈  We got home with the rollerblades and of course, he put them on immediately. But then, he was a little stuck on what to do next. He didn’t have enough confidence to start zooming down the street and I couldn’t give him much advice other than “don’t fall.” So, he thought about who could teach him and of course, YouTube came to mind. If you have a kid between the ages of 6 and 16, you get it. 😂 We found a “Rollerblading for Beginners” video and in no time, he was doing all of these cool moves and just felt more sure of himself. We talked about how he could have probably learned these things on his own, but learning from an expert saved him so much time and frustration. Instead of practicing (and falling) for weeks or months to learn these techniques, he was able to get the hang of them in just an hour or so! In my own experience both as a designer and business owner, I have learned a lot of lessons and techniques from people who are successful in these areas. But do you want to know something interesting? I have actually learned way more from people who are just slightly ahead of me than I have from industry “experts” who are miles and miles ahead of me. I’ve shared this story a lot, but my dad was a teacher and when he passed away a few years ago, a bunch of his past students reached out to my family to tell us how much he had touched their lives and how great of a teacher he was to them. After hearing from all of these people, I had a bit of an “aha” moment. I started thinking, “What if I were to build a mentorship side to my business and teach people how to become brand designers?” It would be a great way to make more of an impact with my knowledge and even though it scared the living heck out of me, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. So, I put my big girl pants on and I led a group of 30 women through a virtual design workshop. When it was done, I received SUCH positive feedback from the people who attended. After that, I created my signature design course, The Brand Design Academy. This course is one of the main ways I am able to mentor aspiring designers. You can learn more about the course here! It feels so good to share my knowledge and honor my dad’s legacy in this way. There are always going to be people who wish they could do what you do, and when you put yourself out there to become a mentor – or make YouTube videos – you’re impacting people in a bigger way than you realize. You might be opening them up to a new hobby or even a new career path! Have you ever pushed yourself out of your comfort zone to teach something to someone? Share your story with me – and any lessons you learned from it – in the comments! 
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As I’m writing this, Lennon and I are settling back in after two long weeks on the road for the holidays. We visited five cities, including my hometown of Torreón, Mexico. We saw family, we saw friends, and we ate a LOT of good food. It was so good to have that time with loved ones, but now I’m ready to dive into work! I’m starting the year feeling calm for the first time ever. I have some amazing clients lined up who are eager to work with me, a quiet home office, and most importantly, access to a coffee station in my building that brews Starbucks coffee! I am the epitome of #blessed. 😄 To be honest with you, 2022 was a hard year both personally and professionally (but mostly personally). It has also been hard for Lennon. We went through some tough transitions as a family and there’s just no shortcut to moving past things like that. You have to go through it and come out the other side. The other day, he was having a particularly tough day so I gave him my phone. I told him to go through the photo app and find one happy memory from each month of 2022. He was able to find lots of good moments and I think that helped him have some perspective. For me, I didn’t really want to do a highlight reel of my year. But then I thought about it and realized I need to walk the walk if I’m going to talk the talk. Also, I think it’s really important that we share our tougher moments along with our successes. It’s so much more real. Before I share my word of the year for 2023, I wanted to drop a little visual recap of 2022:  Putting this together and seeing the full scope of my year helped me put things in perspective. Yes, there were tough moments but there were lots of good ones, too. I’m proud of the work I did and of how I pushed through when it didn’t feel easy. I’m also really proud of the breaks I took. Every single one of them was necessary, even if I felt guilty about them in the moment. As I look ahead to 2023, I want to do what I can to set myself up for success. So, I’ve chosen the word “consistency” as my word of the year for my work and my life outside of work, too.  I will intentionally be consistent in the following areas: 👩🏻💻 Career: I will stay consistent with my launches and follow through with my marketing plans to achieve my financial goals. 🙏🏼 Spiritual: I will consistently set aside time to start my day feeling in alignment through journaling, card pulling, or intention setting. 🤓 Developmental: I will consistently make time to keep learning something every week, either personally or professionally. 👥 Relational: I will stay consistent as I make time for my friends and family so they know how important they are to me. ❤️ Health: I will consistently take care of my body this year by exercising at least three times a week and by taking my supplements. I know that writing it all down and putting it out into the universe (and in front of the eyes of everyone who reads my blog posts) will help hold me accountable. The rest is up to me! Now I want to hear about your intentions for yourself this year. Please comment below and tell me if you set a resolution or picked a word for yourself for 2023. I’m always so inspired by people’s goals so I definitely want to hear yours! As always, for being here. It means a lot to me! Well, here we are at the end of another year, and I wanted to take a few moments to get a little bit sappy. Tis the season, am I right?  This won’t be a long post, but I just wanted to take a moment of your time to say THANK YOU for being a part of my 2022 journey! More than any other year, I have benefitted from the support and kindness of those in my circle, including you! It means a lot that you’re here reading these words. Truly. I felt so much support from people beyond my blog this year too. Whether you attended one of my workshops, purchased my course, booked my design services, referred a potential client, or simply engaged with my emails or social media posts, I am so grateful for the time you spent supporting me and my business. I’ve been working for myself for 2 years full-time now, and I am still learning new things all the time. This year, I learned that the community I’ve built for myself, mostly online, is so much more valuable and meaningful to my life than I could have ever imagined. While there are a lot of great things about owning your own business, I did encounter my fair share of challenges this year. And if I didn’t have a community full of people like you — people who are SO quick to cheer me on with an encouraging message or a sweet emoji — pushing through them would have been a heck of a lot harder. Please just know how grateful I am for you. Wishing you and yours a healthy, happy holiday season! I’m still flying high from a very special “happy mail day” I had recently. I got a letter in the mail from Graphic Design USA magazine letting me know that not one but FIVE of my designs had been selected to receive an award in 2022.  That brings my total up to 21 design awards since I started my business. Yes, typing this out totally feels like a humble brag, but I’m working on confidently sharing my work and the recognition it receives. And it feels especially good to be recognized by others in my industry! It’s easy for me to let my own work take the back burner and prioritize client work and everyone else’s needs first. True to form, I procrastinated a bit when it came time to submit my designs for consideration. As one of my favorite internet “friends” Elyse Myers has said, “There is nothing less motivating than having enough time.” Ultimately, I had a little pep talk with myself and my co-designer Ingrid and I submitted our designs just about an hour before the deadline. Ingrid very kindly suggested we start a 2023 file and add our work to it as we go so we’re more prepared for next year… and that’s why I love having her on my team. 😊 Winning these awards also means a lot because I was never the type of kid to get an award in school, other than maybe perfect attendance (my parents didn’t let me miss school, no matter what). . I felt a lot of pressure because my brother was always an honor roll student and my twin sister is super smart, too! I’ve kind of always felt like the odd middle child. I never really excelled in anything until I discovered graphic design. As always, I am so grateful for our amazing clients who give us the opportunity to be a part of their dream and who give us a reason to do what I love most! If I wasn’t doing graphic design, I have no idea what I would be doing but I know I wouldn’t be as content as I am doing this every day. I also want to thank you for supporting us and cheering us on. If you’re reading this blog post, it means you are part of our online community and that’s something I don’t ever take for granted. If you’re a procrastinator like me, don’t worry — this is a safe space! I will never judge you… but I would like to help you, especially if you need a new brand identity or a refresh to your existing brand. My design services can be found on this page or you can contact me to chat 1:1 about your ideas! You deserve the spotlight in 2023! I believe in you and your abilities, so let’s make it happen together! In case you didn’t know, my mom has been living with me the past few months to help me move in and get settled. Really, we were unpacked and settled in about a month, but she’s retired and she wanted to spend some extra time with me and Lennon, and who am I to say “no” to that? In a few weeks, we’ll drive back to Mexico together to spend Christmas with my siblings — the holidays are still really tough without my dad, and it helps when we’re all together. After that, my mom will stay behind in Mexico and Lennon and I will head back home. I’m not going to lie to you. It’s been a challenge at times to share my tiny new space with my mom. I love her, of course, but there have been a few sacrifices I’ve had to make. For one, she’s been using my bedroom which means I haven’t had a chance to enjoy my fancy shmancy new “hospital” bed that I bought to help with my GERD (old lady alert #1). Instead, I’ve been sharing a room with Lennon and sleeping on his bunk bed, which is not *quite* the same experience. Anyway, the other day my mom asked me if I could take her to the mall. She wanted to visit her favorite department store, and I agreed. Now, I am not really a “mall person” and on that day, it was SO packed. I instantly got overwhelmed. Thankfully, I’m always able to find a “waiting area” where I can get away from all of the shoppers and just sit and wait.  Me waiting and wondering if people know that online shopping is a thing. 😆 As I was sitting on the comfy sofa away from the crowds, it hit me that I’ve become my dad. He never EVER wanted to shop. So, he would always find a sitting area where he could wait for us. He was a man who never needed anything, and as I get older, I also feel like I have enough awareness and gratitude in my life that I don’t really need much, either. Having a roof over my head and good health is so much more valuable to me than a new dress that I’ll just end up donating to Goodwill in two years (old lady alert #2). Not only that, I believe we have everything we need when we have love in our lives. And I feel so much love every day from my son, my family, and from all of the amazing connections I’ve made online through my business over the past few years. Today is my birthday and I’m turning 37. I know this blog post makes it sound like I’m turning 67, but I’m actually really grateful for the insight I’ve gained as I’ve gotten older. If it isn’t abundantly clear by now, gifts aren’t really my love language. So instead, I’m spending my birthday with Lennon, exploring a new-to-us biking trail in our newish city, and eating all my favorite foods. When it comes to my business, my wish this year is that we continue to support each other and lift each other up. I would really love it if you could share something about my business in honor of my birthday! I don’t expect you to buy anything, but if you know someone who could benefit from my services or courses, you could refer them to my website or share something about my business on your Instagram Stories! It would truly mean so much to me.  I want to make sure it goes both ways, though. If you own a business and I don’t know about it yet or follow you, send me a DM on Instagram and I’ll be sure to check out your page and put you on my referral list. Just because it’s my birthday doesn’t mean I can’t reciprocate! Well, I’m off to eat some birthday spicy Thai that I will 100% regret later when I lie down to go to sleep on that bunk bed. Here’s to 37! |
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