12 years ago today, I launched this blog. If you're curious, you can still find the evidence here. It came into being before anything else, as I was still finding my feet and developing what would become my own design brand. Where oh where has that time gone?
I was in my second year of a BA in Fashion at the University of Lincoln when I started to build the bare bones of what I wanted my business to become. It seems like a good time to start, whilst I was fully immersed in fashion learning and had the time and the impetus to do it.
And, apart from the business itself, it is the one thing that has remained consistent in my life since then. I have moved home, city, studio and allowed my business to evolve through different guises and unexpected challenges. We've survived a pandemic. We're trying to survive a cost of living crisis.
My business is the one thing that keeps me focused and rooted in reality, because everything else seems so uncertain. Even if I never earn any money from this venture, what it is can still exist because I have designed it to be self-reliant and less fragile than many businesses. We don't take risks. So although it may not be much, it is still here, and I expect it to remain so.
This blog has been the anchor point for everything. For my venting, and my congratulations, for the launching of new side hustles and new ways to promote my business in an ever oversubscribed industry. I have added YouTube to my side banner in recent weeks, and now an independent online shop, something which I hope will unshackle me from the uncertainty of Etsy and the world of the ecommerce marketplace. It has created new challenges. There are no easy answers. But every challenge is a learning curve. And we rise to those challenges because what else can we do?
I'm not sure that the landscape of being self-employed has changed much over the last 12 years. It is still a struggle. It still presents opportunities and problems. Where will I be in another 12 years? Who knows. I can't even imagine where I will be this time next year. Nothing remains the same for long, it seems.
But I am glad that you are still here, and still reading, as I am, still writing. I hope you are enjoying my foray into YouTube. I have taken a particular angle on it, inspired by others. But I also include a few voxpops that are really just another way for me to blog. Sometimes it's more coherent when I speak, and sometimes it's better when I write. I hope you enjoy both possibilities.
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