Putting My Trust in Myself

As we approach two months since I officially launched Pages Custom Journals I wanted to take some time to reflect on what I’ve learned so far from the journey. If you had told me going into college or even my senior year of college that after graduating I would be starting my own business, I don’t think I would believe you. This wasn’t a path that I saw for myself, but I’m so glad I did it.

I don’t think I would’ve had the confidence to do it if I hadn’t started my Etsy shop in 2020. Building up Digital Redesign was challenging and fun, and a great way for me to prove to myself that I can handle being my own boss. After lots of encouragement from friends and family, and many hours of reflecting on my own, I eventually decided to give Pages a shot and really go for it.

Running Pages has definitely been a different challenge from Digital Redesign, but it’s given me so much first hand experience at having to do everything to keep the business going. From content creation to product design to website design, I’ve gotten to strengthen skills I already had as well as develop new ones throughout this process. It also has confirmed how much I enjoy content creation for social media because most of my day is spent planning, creating, and posting content to advertise Pages and expand the audience.

My next hurdles for Pages are Black Friday and Cyber Monday approaching as well as learning more about the world of email marketing. I have some experience in email marketing for other organizations I’ve been involved in, but this will be the first time I’m doing it independently. I’m excited for the holiday season coming up, and hoping for an increase in sales as people are looking to buy gifts, but I’m so proud of myself for going after this and chasing my passion even when it’s hard or scary.

So for anyone else out there who is considering starting their own small business, follow your gut and go for it. You never know what you will learn about yourself in the process, and I’m so glad I decided to give this a try.