Survived and Thrived
What’s Blooming on Harrison is over. Yesterday was a FULL day of chatting and socializing and repping my brand. I’m quite proud of myself for not only putting myself out there but being my most social self from basically 8am to 8pm.
It was a beautiful day and I feel so deeply honored to have had so many friends and family come by to show their support. I accidentally startled a woman who was walking past my booth when I exclaimed “OH MY GOD HI!!!” because my mom, my grandma and my cousin came to visit unexpectedly. I had zero idea they were planning to come. Street fests aren’t really something my mom and grandma enjoy usually.
Within an hour of their arrival, my sister stopped by to check out the fest and my husband biked over with the kiddos. I felt truly overwhelmed by the support of my family.
In addition to my familial support system, I had many of my cohorts from the studio stop by to say hi and offer support. It was great to have a reprieve from “being on” and have a chance to drop the “perfect salesperson/joyfully confident” facade for a few moments.
I had an incident where several items came crashing down onto my table and a few things broke in the calamity. About 5 minutes after that happened a friend from the studio (who has been an amazing support to me as I have embarked on this whole selling journey) came by to see how things were going. She and her partner helped me recover from the crash and even helped hang the items that fell up again (in a much safer way).
The support I felt from my community made me feel real and legitimate. I know the quality of my work and am working on my confidence but to have so many people show up to give me support means the world to me.
Side note - I also saw many of the families from my kids school throughout the day and the amount of times someone says “IS THIS YOUR JOB?!” makes me think I need to talk more about it to other parents. I had one parent ask me “how does it feel to not only have a hobby but make your job something fun?” This is a true issue that parents run into where they can lose themselves and often with that their creative endeavors when becoming parents. I’m so glad that I’m able to pursue this side of myself and share it with the world.
