Recoloring The Bar

On this episode of She's Crafted to Thrive, you guys, I am so excited and happy to have Teresa Haddo on the show. She is a watercolor artist and she is the maker and owner of Create Kit. She, um, the kit is a subscription box meant for kids and their families to work together to create crafts, um, just what they need, not more. And she has worked it all out. I can't wait for you guys to hear more about that kit. And the show. But this episode is really awesome because we talk about something that I think happens to all of us where we are going along on a path and then something changes, like whether we're going to school or going to work, or we have this life plan and things change, things shift. And she shares her journey of pursuing law and then turning into this beautiful empowerment for our families with their kids and something that's really helped her in her life along this journey. So I can't wait for you guys to listen and tune in and learn more about how you can empower your journey no matter what roadblocks you encounter. So stay tuned.

Welcome to She's Crafted to Thrive. I'm your host, Nikita Williams, and this show is for all the ladies who are making and creating things that they love. You will hear conversations about the real everyday struggles of juggling life and business while trying to maintain passion and harmony. As women, we have the skill of getting things done, but sometimes we get in our own way. It's here where you'll see that you're not alone. You'll discover that success does not mean perfection. Fear and negative thoughts and challenges are all a part of the journey. And on this podcast, you'll find the inspiration and tools you need to have a life and business that thrives. Hey everyone, I'm so excited to have Theresa on the show. You guys, I have been following her for a while. You guys know, um, a lot of the women I've had on the show have come from the Jasmine Star tribe of social curators, and this is another one of those fabulous ladies. She is a mom, a watercolor artist. I always say that all really country. That's where the country comes out. Um, but I'm just super excited to have you on the show, girl.

Thank you. I'm so excited to be here and gotta shout out Jasmine for bringing us together. Virtual Curator is so awesome. I love it so much. I've learned so much about my business and connecting with people like you is just so amazing and it makes entrepreneurship not feel so lonely.

Exactly. Especially online, right? Like you can feel really isolated when you're doing this business.

Yeah. You stare at a computer screen a lot and you're wondering who is even watching, who's paying attention. But then I connect with people like you and it just makes me so happy and makes me feel like what I'm doing is actually making a difference in people's lives. And I love it so much.

Well, I love your work. Let's first say that, like, I know I kind of skipped the part, but we'll get there in a second. I just love your work because I, I love flowers. I love watercolor. But it's one of those things that just seems so abstract to me. Like, I've tried it myself and I don't have the patience for it. Um, I think it's super pretty. It just reminds me of like the beautiful things we see in creation. And for someone to be able to paint that and make it come to life, like on, on canvas is like, good for you because not everybody can do it. I'm like the stick artistic person thing. I can draw flowers, but I cannot draw paint. Let's just put it that way.

I love it.

I love it.

I mean, as long as you are using your creativity in some way, it doesn't have to be with a pen or watercolor, but your podcast is how you do your creativity and that's awesome. And I think that it translates really well and you have your creative outlet. So everyone can find what they're good at and what sparks joy and go with it. Go with it.

Yes. Well, speaking of things that spark joy, tell us about yourself. Like we kind of just like started having a conversation and my listeners are like, who is this chick? So tell us who you are, what you do, and give us a little history for you. Okay.

So my name is Teresa and I live in Austin, Texas with my husband who is my best friend in the entire world and my now 2-year-old. I cannot believe that I have a 2-year-old, but time is going and he's growing up. I haven't always been an artist. I started out thinking that I was going to be a lawyer. I finished law school and I took the bar 3 times and I failed every single time. And it took a lot of strength and soul searching for me to sort of allow myself to take a creative journey, But I realized that my outlet for stress is painting. And so when my son was born, I was going through some postpartum depression because he had an undiagnosed flippen tongue tie. He was negative 2 percentile for weight, and I put a lot of that blame on myself. Realize now it's not my fault, but in order to get out of that depression, I turned to painting. I had studied oil painting and acrylic painting when I was in law school, and I realized that with a toddler, you can't really put the brushes down and pick it back up at a moment's notice because your supplies will get ruined. So that's when I dove deep into watercolor and just completely fell in love. And I started sharing my work online, and my friends were like, 'You can sell this.' I was like, 'That sounds nice.' And it sort of just steamrolled from there. And then when my son was around a year old, we were going to a lot of story times and things like that. And I realized that a lot of the crafts that they had at these events were too old for him. And we felt left out of the crafting fun. And so I would come home and come up with craft activities for us to do together. I shared those online as well. My friends loved the things that I was sharing, and I was like, well, I can send you the supplies and teach you how to do this with your child. It's not hard. And that's how my craft box, the Create Kit, was born.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. I feel like I just learned a whole bunch of stuff, like, in 5, 2 minutes. Like, what happened? Like, I need to— like, I need a second to dissect what I just heard. First of all, you guys, the Create Kit is super cool. I don't have kids. I just think it's cool that there's something like that out there, that you thought of this and it's like your baby, your other baby. And that it's so cool because you're bringing kids and their parents together without a screen to like do something. And I think that's super, super awesome.

I love it. So the parents get all the materials that they need to complete 2 craft activities with their kid. I also work with a woman who is a child therapist, and she specializes in kids with ADHD. And so she helps me write a developmental guide. And so that way the parents can see all the learning that's going on when you're crafting with your kid, because they're having fun sticking a sticker to a piece of paper, but you don't realize that that's helping their fine motor skills, that's helping them figure out how to dress themselves. Like, there's all these things that happen when you're crafting with them. And on top of it, you're bonding and having fun. So it's such a gift that I am able to do this. And getting pictures of kids crafting with their parents, seriously, is the best. Like, oh my gosh, every day when I go online, there's a new mom that's sending me pictures of them crafting with their kid, and it's It's so incredible.

I bet that's so cool to get that. Like, I can only imagine because I get like from people online who like listen to me and I'm like, you listen to me? Oh my gosh. Like, I'm like, oh, and it's like, it worked for you? Oh, great. I mean, I knew it worked, but it just makes you feel like, oh yeah, I helped somebody.

Exactly. Like, I know that, well, because my son is my product tester and so I know how much fun we have and I feel like a lot of parents feel so overwhelmed. They feel like they need to spend hours on Pinterest and have everything be all perfect, but that's not real life. We don't have time to go to 5 different craft stores to get the supplies for one craft activity, and you can't buy a single sheet of construction paper anywhere. And so I make it so that it's easy, accessible, and affordable, and they learn while they're doing it. So it's It's so much fun.

Well, that's very cool. You guys got to check it out. We'll have links for all of that in the show notes. But now that I've had you talk a little bit more, I'm going to go back to some stuff you talked about in the beginning of this, which I didn't realize. First of all, I don't know if the audience knows, but I wanted to be a lawyer too. I actually was in college— I mean, in high school, and I was on the debate team. I was going— I started thinking I was going to do paralegal work. I actually worked in an attorney's office. In a real estate firm doing the closing documents. So I kind of thought in my head that I would be a lawyer. And then I realized I didn't want to spend that much time in school, so I didn't do it. But being a lawyer takes a lot of work and a lot of effort. And so was that like, was that a goal from like young to like, like, how did, where did that happen? And then when did you I mean, a lot of people fail the exam. Like, I've heard people take it like 10 times and they failed it, and on the 11th time they're like, oh yeah, I did finally pass it. So like, what made you say like 3 is enough?

Um, okay, so first it's a really funny story why I wanted to be a lawyer and why the seed was planted. So in 4th grade, I wanted to be a football player. I was determined to be the quarterback for the 49ers, the San Francisco 49ers. And I was obsessed— this is gonna date me— um, with Steve Young. He was like my hero and he could do no wrong. And so I remember I was sitting with my grandpa— I was raised by my grandparents— I was sitting with my grandpa and we were watching football, and the conversation that comes up was, what do you want to be when you grow up? And so I was like, I'm going to be a quarterback like Steve Young. And I really pride my grandpa in his response because he could have been like, oh no, girls can't be quarterbacks or play football, but his response was, well, you may want to come up with a career to do during the offseason. Like football's only 12 months and like the other months you still have to work. And I was like, okay, well, what's Steve Young? And he was like, Steve Young's a lawyer. I was like, all right, well, I'm going to be a lawyer. And so that's what planted the seed. Um, but then there was a lot of other factors. My dad was in prison until I was 12 and then I went to undergrad and I actually ran a program where I gave inmates legal information, and so that really helped drive the passion. And then when I was in law school, I went to school at night while I worked full-time as a paralegal. Um, and then ultimately the decision to not keep taking it was financial. It is a very expensive test to take, and you have to basically not work for the 4 for 6 months that you're studying and then you have to take a class while you are also studying and that class costs money. And so it just wasn't something that I could sustain taking over and over again. And so pivots in life, everything happens for a reason. So grateful for my education because they can never take that away.

Yeah.

Wow. I didn't know that you did have to take the test. I didn't know about all the other stuff though. That's probably why I didn't go to college for very long. Um, but wow. I think, That's pretty, pretty— that is a lot to kind of like try to do. Um, and now it makes me like even more understand why they, one, charge so much money, and then two, um, like have a little bit more respect for that process, um, of taking that test.

They're all trying to pay off their student loans, let's be honest.

Yes, yes. So what I, I know you kind of mentioned, um You know, you kind of shifted to doing the creative piece because it was your stress relief. Was that something you kind of discovered while you were going through this kind of transition or was it after when you decided, okay, I need to do something different?

Um, it was a little bit of both. So it was really just forgiving myself for the failure. Yeah, um, because I felt like— I realized now that this was something that I built up in my own head, that I was disappointing people in my life by not passing. And in reality, I had built up this career to be the end-all be-all, and I had no alternatives. And so my husband got an opportunity to move us to Texas. I'm originally from California, and when he presented it to me, I was looking up jobs and Paper Source came up and I had just gotten done planning our wedding. I did all of the crafts and fun things for that. And I was like, I can work at Paper Source. And so I was actually hired as their workshop coordinator, having no like formal— you can't see my quotes because we're on a podcast.

It's okay. I do it all the time.

Formal like crafting experience, but I showed them basically a profile of all the things that I made and they were like, uh, yes, you need to teach one, our staff and our customers how to do these crafts. So it made me realize that all of these things that I've been doing on the side and sort of hiding from the world was actually something that they wanted to see.

Wow, that's kind of cool. It's like so cool when I hear so many creatives kind of have a moment where someone else validated something that they just thought was like this hobby that had like nothing. They're like, yeah, I just do it on the side. And then they showed it to somebody like, oh my gosh, can I pay you for that? And it's like, wait, what? You want to pay me for this? So that's pretty cool.

Yeah, that's actually kind of how the watercolor stuff started. So I had been— there's this, what's it called, it's the #100DayProject, and it's where you pick a craft or activity that you do for 100— every day for 100 days. And so mine was watercolor. And so I was posting stuff online, and then I kept having people contact me because I was like, I need more ideas. I have to paint for 100 days. Like, I don't know what I'm going to paint. I can paint flowers every day, but I don't know. Then I started reaching out to my friends and being like, hey, do you want me to paint you something? And all of them were like, yes, yes, but we have to pay you. And I was like, no, no, no, this is just for fun. And then my husband was like, no.

Yes, yes, yes.

Come on! So yeah, it was just the encouragement, one from my group of friends and then my husband, to be like, yes, you are talented, you can do this. And then it was a lot of trial and error and believing in myself. So I'm very thankful for that 100 Day Project and for the individuals who gave me ideas for free and It taught me a lot, like shipping, how you need to pack things or else the post office will bend it because they don't care.

Hey, that's a good point. Yeah, you know, kind of, yeah, I'm at the place where you were years ago with, with my shop where I'm trying to start my shop and there's things I'm realizing, like I thought it would be so simple, like just to ship things. And so what I have done for the last 3 months is buy a whole bunch of stuff from other people to see how they send things and then realized how, like, if they didn't do it a certain way, how, like you said, the postal office does not care how your stuff shows up. They don't care. So you gotta make sure it gets there the way you want. So I think it's Um, really cool that you did that. So for someone who's a creative entrepreneur, who's kind of thinking about this road of being a creative person, what would you give them as far as advice just starting out? And I'm saying this for myself personally, even for me, I am a creative people person, if that makes sense. So I know how to connect people. To people. I know how to connect with people. My marketing background and just understanding the business side of things, I get. But when it comes to like selling a thing that's yours or— it's different.

It is different. So my first piece of advice would be to be nice to yourself. It is a head game a lot of times because you often think, well, I'm not getting the traction that I want. Things are moving really slow. You want everything to happen overnight and that's not reality. So a lot of the people that I look up to, like Jasmine Star, Rachel Hollis, Amy Porterfield, they have been in their space for years and I look at them and I'm like, they can do this so easy. But no, they've put in the work. So you have to give yourself grace and not give up. If you have made this a goal, then just keep showing up every single day and things will start to happen. Another thing is if you are— if you have an idea, test it out with your friends. See how they like it, send them stuff, and they're gonna be really nice to you because they're your friend, but also they'll be honest because they'll say, hey, this arrived, it was broken, or hey, look at how the postman put this in here, this is ridiculous, how can you like change it so they can't bend a piece of paper? Also finding your own community. I have a lot of other artist friends. And I think it's really cool because I was really scared when I first started sharing my work and doing markets at events that there would be a lot of competition between me and the other artists. And there isn't. There's— they are so helpful. Everyone wants to see everybody else succeed. And I think that instead of— because I have to remind myself of this often— that if the person next to me is selling hundreds of dollars worth of stuff and I'm not, good for them. That is awesome for them. It's not a reflection on me. And so I need to remind myself to be happy for my friends and to keep going.

You know, I love that reminder so much because it kind of reminds me of how I think about like when we ask people what is their favorite plant. So I don't know what your favorite plant is or your favorite flower. Mine is a dragon lily. It actually goes between the lilies and the peonies and the roses. It's between 3 that I love. But if I ask other people and then they tell me theirs is dandelions and a sunflower or, and a tulip, I'm not going to be like, my flowers are ugly. Like, I can't believe— I don't understand why you don't love the flowers I love. It's completely different. We all have different likes and dislikes. So in a, in a, in a market or wherever you're selling, even in just business, whatever kind of creative business you're in, we all are going to attract different type of people. And sometimes those people aren't in the circle that we're in right now. It doesn't mean, like you said, it's not a reflection that your work sucks or it's ugly or it's horrible. It just means that your people aren't there today. Yes. And it's such a good reminder.

I have the perfect example of this. This happened last night. I, ACL, it's Austin City Limits. It's a really big festival that's going on right now. And so there was an event at a coffee shop that I was at and there was a— I don't want to call him a gentleman because he was not. It was a man. I'm sorry.

So I have to tell people when I record these episodes, you guys, I do it with video. And so I can always see when— what you're hearing and then the facial expressions that I see, it just cracks me up. This person really was not a gentleman at all. You could tell by her face right now, but continue.

But he was standing in front of my table. I sell, I have 3 really big originals that I have, but then I have them up there so people can see that I also have prints so they can see, oh cool, this is what the original looks like. It matches the print and I can't afford the original. I can at least get a print. So he looked at me, looked at his friend, and then said, "I can't believe she's at a coffee shop trying to charge this much for one of her pieces. It's not worth it." Yeah, so I looked at him and smiled.

No, he didn't, girl.

Yeah, he did. Texted my husband and I said, "I'm never doing another market again. These are so stupid. It's a waste of my time. I cannot even—" believe this. Less than 5 minutes later, a woman walked up to me and said, "I had already gone through and looked at your stuff. It really resonated with me, so I'm back to buy something. This piece right here reminds me of my favorite uncle and I have to have it. I'm gonna treasure it forever and you just made my entire night, so thank you so much for creating this piece." I just got goosies, oh my gosh. It's a definite reminder that that dude, he's not for me. That woman, she does value my work and she's the reason why I'm creating the things that I'm creating.

Yes. Oh, totally love that story. I'm so glad you said that. Uh, yeah, that gave me goosebumps because I hear that a lot. We make decisions as business and I think more so as women, we make decisions purely based on a lot of times of what other people are thinking of us. And it's that one person, like it's that one person that can like just completely throw a wrench into your everything.

Why do we give that one person so much power when like he doesn't even matter? Like he doesn't even matter. Like his opinion doesn't matter. And I was really mad at myself when I realized that I was going to let the person that doesn't even matter, like dictate my business and how I was going to run it. So don't be like me.

I think that also the moral of the story is that it's gonna happen. I think that's the thing. It's going to happen. You're going to have people who are like Mr. Rude Guy, and then you're going to have people who love what you do. And it's, it's, it's just the gamut of how beautiful and unique each and every one of us is. It's, it's not a, it's not a reflection on you. It's just that we're all unique and we all have different things that we like and we don't like. So, you know, that's okay. Like, why are we trying to make everybody be okay with the same thing? That don't make no sense.

And don't let the opinion of one person stop you from chasing your dreams. Like, you can't. If you're a creative, you feel it in your soul. And if you stop creating, you know what happens. You feel sad, you get depressed, you go into that bad, bad headspace and cycle. And so you can't let people like that dictate your life.

Yeah. So, okay. So what inspires you to do what you do?

Honestly, it's gonna sound so cliché, but my husband and my kids are the reason, my son are the reason why I do everything that I do. My husband is so supportive and amazing. He is able to support my dreams right now while I stay at home with my son and run these two businesses. And being able to connect with my son through crafting with him and then have my creative expression with painting, it's just the most amazing gift. And I don't know how I'm so lucky to live this life.

Well, I love that you just said that, of course. And it's not cliché. I think we need to stop saying this because I feel bad when I hear people like, what do you mean you're inspired by your husband? I'm sorry, if you're not inspired by your husband, that is your problem. I'm just saying, me and my husband, like, me and my husband are probably similar to you and your husband. We're best friends. That's how we started. We were best friends in the beginning. Even when we broke up at one time, we were like really upset with each other, but we were still friends. Like, that's what keeps us together. Like, especially when things are really hard, like all the sexy, cute, nice, all that stuff is gonna go away at some point. Like, the ugly is gonna be really raw and you need a best friend. And that's my, my man is my best friend and he inspires me and he's also my greatest support. So I'm not gonna say this cliché, I'm gonna be like super happy and toot that horn 'cause I got a good man. You got a good man and I'm all good with that. You know what I'm saying?

He's so amazing. He sets up my shows. I do art shows every single weekend in the Texas heat. It is so hot. I am ready for fall. Where is it? Yeah, where is it?

It's not here.

But he sets up my shows every day or every weekend and then takes my son. Well, cause he's also a co-parent with me and he is such a good co-parent. He, he does it. He's in the thick of it and it's just— I'm so lucky that I picked a good one.

Well, I love that and I think it's really nice that you have a support like that because I do know there's a lot of people out there that don't have that and that's difficult. I want to touch back on something you mentioned again earlier in the show about dealing with postpartum depression. And I don't have that, obviously, because I don't have any kids, but I went through something and I don't think people realize this. So after I had my hysterectomy back in December of 2017, I went through a really weird emotional state of like, it felt like it could have been postpartum depression even though I had no children. Right. So Yeah. And so I can only imagine that either the, that, that your creative space was either, did it grow or did it, did it get hindered by, by that type of that experience?

For a long time it got hindered until I finally told myself that nothing was getting accomplished by me watching Real Housewives over and over and over again. As much as Andy Cohen would hate to hear that. Yeah, it, it took a long time for me to pull myself out of it, but I started really slow. So with depression, it's really hard to get up and make yourself realize that you're worth the time and effort that it takes to even change your clothes or brush your teeth. And so you have to give yourself grace and know that every single thing that you accomplish is a win. And it did take about 6 months for me to start adding creativity back into my life. I'm so glad I did because it ultimately ended up being what I think saved me. But yeah, it, it took a long time. Yeah. And so while I was painting and creating, it sort of shut off the bad things that I was telling myself.

Yeah. Yeah, it takes time. Like, I feel like any kind of depression, severe, medical, whatever, whatever it is, whether it was circumstantial, circumstantial, it takes time for you to figure out where you need to be. And it ultimately is a conversation you have to have with yourself at some point to be like, I have to make a decision to do this one little thing differently. Like, I have to take one decision. And so you've said in the, in the show just earlier that you have to give yourself grace. So what does that look like for you? Like, what does that look like for yourself if you're feeling down or having a hard time?

It's just the constant reminder that it's all going to be okay. So it's just the, hey, I may have raised my voice at my son and that's not something that I want to do as a parent, and realizing like, well, what can I learn from this? Or what can I do different next time? And not just focusing on what is happening now and why I should beat myself up now. So what I can do in the future to make myself better or to make it so that this situation doesn't come up again.

Has there been some fears like with, with working within, dealing with like starting a business that's so creative and also the what-ifs and having that positiveness? Like, has there been some fears or maybe some things that you're like, oh my gosh, what am I doing? A moment. Like what have those been for you?

Every single day I deal with that. Um, it's just, yeah, it has, and I deal with it, but then I've also like made the commitment to myself that I am going to give myself a year to see how this business grows. If it grows and it's awesome, then that's fantastic. But if not, I can go back and be a paralegal. The end of the day. I can still create and do all of those things outside of work if I need a paycheck to help my family live. But I know that this is a goal that I'm giving myself for a period of time, and I can either exceed it and blow it out of the water, or I can go back to what I was doing before. And right now, with the amount of dedication and things that I am doing, I'm blowing it out of the water. And even though it doesn't feel like it some days, my little cheerleader, my husband, is constantly reminding me like, "Hey, you tripled your subscribers for the Create Kit in the past 2 months. That's awesome." That is awesome. Or, "Hey, you may not have gotten as many sales as you wanted, but you do know that that person that you met 2 weeks ago is now contacting you because they want a commission piece. And that means they like your work. So as much as you don't like it right now, because you've been in it for 3 weeks, they're going to love it. So it's having a really great support system like that really helps pull you out of your own head because I can, like we were kind of talking about before, I'm a people pleaser and I want people to be happy. And so when I don't see the results right away, I can get very down on myself. So having an amazing support system really, really does help.

So who is your support system besides hubby?

So I have a lot of really good friends. I have a woman that I met through another online community, and she happens to live here in Austin. We met through— we were doing Whole30, and there was a Whole30 mama meetup in Austin. And so she and I met and connected that way. And then I was also part of an online community in Reddit where all of the people that were pregnant in September or end in September of 2017 all got together and one of the moms also lives in Austin and so she and I hang out. And then people like you, you comment and reply to my stories and it just makes me so happy to even feel seen in this big ol' internet world. So amazing friends and people that I've met through other online communities have been super helpful whenever I feel down on myself. It's like you guys know and you just are like, you're doing great, Teresa. Yay!

Well, you are, Teresa, doing like really well. I've been following you for a year now. How long has it been though? Has it been a year? Have you been a Social Curator for longer than a year?

No, I only started Social Curator 4 months ago and I started because— No way! Yeah, I started because I'm actually going to a conference in 2 weeks where Jasmine Starr is going to be speaking and I was like, I should probably find out who this person is that I'm going to be seeing. And then I completely fell in love. Completely. Oh my goodness.

I wonder if I was following you before Jasmine Starr. I should go look back. But anyway, I think, I feel like we've been knowing each other for like a year. But I just, you know, that is a testament to how you work, like how you post on Instagram, like your stories. Like that's how much I think I know you. Like, I'm like, I feel like I've been talking to you for like a year. So what are you talking talking about? We just started being friends on IG for 4 months. I'm like, really? I feel like, I feel like that's wrong in some way. But anyway, the point is, I was going to say, the point is you're doing your IG stories, girl. You're doing the thing. Okay. I did a couple shoutouts.

Yeah. Because I'm killing it in stories.

So what are some tools that you are like loving in your business right now that's helping you like grow? Um, and I'm going to ask you another question about what you just said about tripling something, but what are some tools that you're using?

Social Curator. Everyone needs it. I was so overwhelmed with being consistent on social media. I didn't know what captions to write. I didn't know what pictures to post and that honestly has been a game changer. Um, and then the community in that group is just so incredible. I also invested in Marie Forleo's B-School through Amy Porterfield, and that has definitely taught me a lot of things about business and marketing that I would probably still be researching right now. So those two things have definitely helped grow and change my business completely.

Yeah, I've heard a lot of great things about B-School. Is it called B-School with Marie Forleo? Yeah. I've heard a lot about it. It's really great for people who are kind of starting a business. I wouldn't say if you've been in business for like 3 or 5 years, that's the place for you. But it's definitely if you're thinking about starting a business, it's definitely one that you want to check out because Marie Forleo is definitely like the guru of starting up a business kind of person.

Yeah. And there's a ton of free resources that she has online. So if you are not sure if it's the right investment for you or your company, then I suggest she has a YouTube channel and you can go down that rabbit hole. Yeah.

She's got, yeah, she's got tons of free content, you guys, like so much free content. So it's not like you're not going to learn something if you're trying to figure it out.

Um, But yeah, I really think that there's a lot of really great free resources that are out there. Like I said, Amy Porterfield's podcast is amazing if you're starting an online business. And then before I invested in B-School, I learned a lot of things from Skillshare. They have a lot of really good, helpful information. Um, it does take a little bit of time to dig and find out if the thing class is right for you. And that's ultimately why I decided to join B-School, because I was spending so much time watching videos that were kind of not in the direction that I needed the help with at that exact moment.

Gotcha. Yeah, that makes sense. So you say you've been growing, and I saw this on your Instagram. You were saying your subscribers has grown 3 times. So what did you do to experience that?

So I, it's just really just sharing on social media and growing my email list and I created an opt-in and I've been working with collaborating with other members of Social Curator and using their platform of already existing members and sharing the tools and resources that I have. To give to other parents with kids. And I think that people, as soon as people hear about the Create Kit, they are like, "I need this." So it's one of those things that sell itself, but no one really knows about it yet. So I have to do the work every single day to educate not only my audience, but other people's audience so that they know that this is a resource that is available to them.

Yeah. Collaboration is the biggest tool in business, in my opinion. Look, in my humble opinion, collaboration is— especially online, it's kind of like networking, but online it's more— people call it more like collaborating, but it's the same thing. It's networking. It's like getting in front of the right people who will support you, who will cheerlead you, who will share with their tribe without having a huge ta-da about it. They just really believe in your calls or what you're doing and you are sharing something valuable to their audience. And I think I can tell that that's working for you just based on like the different connections you've been making, like you were saying. And the fact that you've seen that in your numbers is like proof that being consistent isn't necessarily always about posting. It's about consistently reaching out to people that are your people, right?

And to be of service. Like when I go on someone else's Facebook group or website, I'm not selling anything. I'm giving them stuff for free. And I'm saying, hey, look, there, here's 5 free crafts that you can do at home with your kid right now. And if you like the way that I'm teaching you and what you're learning, then you can come over to my site and see if what I have is right for you.. But if you don't, that's cool too. Take these crafts and go have fun. I just want people connect with their children and provide them pretty things for their space, really.

You know, you're, you're a smarty pants. Like, that's like, I'm sure that gives you a lot of feedback too on like the crafts that you do later for your subscription box. It's like a really great way to do like a free, what is it, a free test group or something like that. Um, Does that help you?

Yes, I have so much. I spoil my subscribers. This last month I gave them 2 extra crafts for free just because I couldn't decide what crafts to include, and I was like, I'm just going to give them all. That's awesome. So much fun.

That is so awesome. Well, you guys heard it here that if you sign up for her, her subscription box, you're going to get extra goodies. And lots of value. And I just think it's really great what you're doing. I honestly feel like somebody also needs to come out with one for like couples, like things that you do, because my husband and I always have this conversation. We're like, like if we want to do something that's not screen related, it's like a really hard thing to do. Like, you know, I'm saying, like to get that out. Yeah.

You don't want to go out to a restaurant and spend like $100.

Yeah, no. Yeah, exactly. So that's like adult friendly. But anyway, I love that you're doing this. I am so excited that you've been— you're like on the show and you're sharing your, your story, your gems with us. I have one more question. And that question is, what has been your biggest biggest fear to date that you have now, like you look at it and you're laughing at it, like you're like, why in the world was I afraid of that?

Failing the bar. Failing the bar and then failing again and then failing the third time because like the third time it's like supposed to be the good luck time, you know, like third time's a charm or whatever. Not knowing how I was going to face and tell people that I failed again. And now I'm just like, why did I even care what they would think? It's not their life. They're not the one that has to go and have their soul sucked at a law firm every single day and work a job that they're not passionate about. I'm sure that I would have helped a ton of great, amazing people if I would have taken that career path. But I would have forsaken it for my own happiness. And I realize now that that's not worth it because I'm not living my life for them. I'm living my life for me.

Wow. Okay. All right, cool. I love that you shared that. Yeah, I didn't expect— I mean, I guess that's a good point. I mean, we can kind of get stuck. You can kind of get stuck in thinking about the what-ifs in life. I know I used to do that a lot.

Like, this is what I should do. Yeah. Why? Who told you that?

Yeah, I used to do that a lot. Uh, that's a whole— that's a solo cast episode. That's not— that's not even— that's not a conversation we're having right now. But anyway, um, thank you again, sweetheart, for being on the show. It's been so nice. Tell us how we can find you online, where And we can shop your kit and buy your amazing watercolor. By the way, you guys, this is a plug for Miss Teresa because she is and she will be doing something very soon for She's Crafted Thrive. And I am commissioning her to do some work for me. I'm so excited about it. Um, but shh, it's a secret.

I'm so honored that you invited me and Everyone can find me at Theresa Haddow. I'm @TheresaHaddow everywhere. T-H-E-R-E-S-A-H-A-D-D-O-W. It's like there's a shadow without an S. That's where my website, you can find the Create Kit, my art, and contact me about your own commission piece.

Well, that is a wrap, ladies. Thank you so much for joining me and Theresa for this episode of She's Crafted to Thrive. We'd love to hear from you, especially if you've experienced anything like this. Like if you were on a path and you thought this is where you were going to go and something changed, I want to know how you, how you recreated yourself, or what did you do to really embrace where you were? What were your hurdles? What were your struggles? I want you guys to share that with me on sheescrafted.com in the comments for this episode.. So definitely check out that on the website. Also, if you want to share a little bit about this on Instagram, I will be listening. I will be reading and commenting back and forth on @sheetscraftedtothrive, and that is an IG. So definitely check us out there. But you guys, you know, there are so many more episodes coming up with so many more amazing women, but it all doesn't really matter that much if I don't hear from you guys. So I really want to hear what you guys think about this episode. I love having these conversations. With women. They are amazing for me to have with them. I just love it. But I also want to know if it was helpful for you, so definitely leave me notes and comments on the website at sheescrafted.com or on our IG at sheescraftedtothrive.com. So in the meantime, just remember, yes, yes, yes, ladies, you are crafted to thrive.