Building a Business
08/9/2024
I guess I kinda always wanted to be a receptionist. I always liked going to my dad’s office and organizing his papers into piles based on no real category other than the colors that were on them or how the different paper weights evened out to make each stack of paper the same. So maybe it makes sense that I would start my own business and have to be my own receptionist and organize papers based on a more realistic categorization method, but nevertheless satisfying. The difference is all of the work that surrounds those papers and the deadlines that I need to set for myself when I do said work. That said, the hardest part of all this is that I’ve never done it before.
Have you ever had to figure out the cost of shipping a 9x12 paper envelope that weighs 0.28lbs to Nebraska? No? Yeah, me neither, but that’s something I need to figure out. Or also the fact that there’s different shipping costs for each thing not only because of different sizes and weights but also because of all the different packing materials that are used to ship different things!! I know I’m going on and on about this but it’s just something I never thought I’d need to know but now I’m learning it all.
People don't really talk about the fact that running your own business is like being in college for the rest of your life. I think I’ll always be learning about shipping and sales tax and material cost, and not to mention that as an artist I also have a lot of learning to do as I develop new designs while simultaneously marketing my work to the best of my ability. Also I work another part time job to help pay for all this sooooooooo. I think maybe I’m complaining.
I have nothing to complain about. I’m living a life I never thought would ever EVER be possible. And I like learning new things. Just today I learned that the second a man hears a woman’s voice on the other end of the phone, he can immediately treat her as lesser and be unhelpful and dismissive. That happened to me today. I was calling around trying to get shipment quotes and met the rudest man. Well I didn't actually meet him because he didn’t introduce himself. It was discouraging but I guess that’s part of all of this. Like I said I have nothing to complain about, except that I feel pressure to never complain because my life is really “easy”. It’s not like I’ve ever been sexually assaulted, suicidal, depressed, anorexic, bulimic, or verbally abused. It’s not like I’ve ever had a panic attack so bad that I couldn’t leave room for 24 hours. I have no complaints… but oh man do I have things that make being me a little bit harder. It makes starting a business a little bit harder too.
But maybe you’ve been through something similar? Maybe that’s why we all go through the bad, because we go through it together. Some people question why a good God would let bad things happen. I think a better question is why do we resort to focusing on bad things that happen when we could be praising a God whose goodness overcomes the bad? Praise changes a lot more than I thought it would. I hope my business, my art, my life’s work… I hope it points to Jesus. I hope it’s a physical representation of the praise in my soul.
So maybe I won't get the shipping calculations right the first time around, maybe I have anxiety about whether people will like my art, maybe my PTSD kicks in when someone tries to belittle me on a business phone call. Even when a voice in my head tells me I’m not thin enough to be an artist, even when I think it would be easier to be dead… Maybe it would be better to breathe? Maybe that guy on the phone doesn’t need my business? Maybe my art is not a reflection of what others think of me but rather a celebration of what God has given me.
Anyways, I’m excited to have you with me on this journey. If these are things you want to hear more about, then you’re in the right place :)
