It’s the last day of 2018, which means it is time for all of the cheesy things that we all do as the New Year approaches. I started to write a caption for the video I am posting today and I thought that it should really be a blog post instead (because y’all know that I love to ramble in my captions). As I reflect on the last 365 days and the year of 2018, I am in absolute disbelief. I’ve never been big on “resolutions” but I’m big on goals any time of year. When I bring in a new year, I use it as my time to think about my goals for the coming year and reflect on the goals that I set for the year that is ending.
In my personal life, 2018 was a year that I had been glorifying in my mind for years because I was finally going to be done with school and be what I referred to as “a real adult.” However, 2018 was SO much more than that. I did finish school and obtain my Masters of Business Administration. But, I also did a few other really big things. I got to add two new countries in a new continent to my “Been There” list. I moved halfway across the country to the Midwest where my boyfriend and I ditched long-distance and moved in together.
Pause. Before I can go any further into my personal life, I have to talk about my “Bossy Brushstrokes” life. One of my 2018 goals was to grow Bossy Brushstrokes, but I didn’t really have a plan for what that meant. A year ago today, I had less than 400 followers on Instagram. As of today, there are 12,700+ of you guys who follow along with me. WHAT?! In January, I launched my website/blog. In February, I launched my online shop. In April, I officially became an LLC. I can sit here and tell you with 100% honesty that I never saw any of those things coming. I didn’t have any plans and I pretty much just kept winging it and now we are here. I never thought of myself as an entrepreneur. I never saw myself as a business owner. To be honest, none of my decisions were really intentional. I was just sharing what I was making on my iPad on Instagram and then I found a community. So, then I just wanted to share how I did things and then I just wanted to help inspire and empower others to do the same and then I found myself having built a community of my own within that community that I loved. I found myself in a position to add value to the world in my own way. I found myself in a position to connect and help others who needed the push to follow their own journey. I found myself receiving messages from people around the world thanking me for the kind words and telling me how I inspired them. I found my purpose. I know that sounds really dramatic, but it is so true.
Back to my personal life. When people asked me what I wanted to do after I got my Masters, I always responded that I wanted to work full-time and I wanted to stay in the marketing/public relations realm. I didn’t have a specific vision. I knew that I wanted to be happy and I wanted to be working for something that I believed in. I remember seeing the job posting for my current position and it was like everything clicked. For those who don’t know, I accepted a position at an Entrepreneurship Center at a University. *angels sing* Yep. YEP. I never would’ve discovered my purpose without Bossy Brushstrokes and now I get to live my life every day playing my role in inspiring and empowering the next generation of entrepreneurs. That’s pretty cool, right?
One of the big goals of mine that developed halfway through the year was that I wanted to speak about my experience so far with Bossy Brushstrokes. I wanted to get to do what I do on social media, except in real life. In the month of November, I got to do that. I got to speak to a Women in Business group on a panel of female entrepreneurs. I also got to speak as one of four on a Young Entrepreneurs panel. I got to represent for those of us who aren’t “full-time entrepreneurs” and talk about the passion that I have for my side-hustle and how that translates to how I work in my actual job.
2018 was an amazing year that held more than I could have imagined a year ago today. 2019 will come with challenges of it’s own, but I’m excited to bring in a new year and set goals for myself and my business intentionally this time around. Because of the natural progression of things and what has been accomplished, I can’t wait to see what I can accomplish in a year being intentional and having a better idea of the direction I’d like to go and what I want to do with my business. I’ll still be winging it though.. just winging it with some direction. Don’t worry.
Anyway, I’m saying all of this to let you in on a bit of my life AND because I couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you for taking the time to read this and for supporting Bossy Brushstrokes and what it has become. I love you all so much and am so thankful to get to have the platform I do. I am so thankful for the friendships I have made and the messages I get to exchange. Here’s to 2019.
Until next time, stay bossy y’all.
** If you’re interested in the mockup that I used for the featured photo of this blog, you can find it in this set on TheHungryJPEG. I LOVE this set and I’ll talk about it more on my Instagram soon. The link is an affiliate link. If you purchase using my link, I do make a small commission at no extra cost to you. XOXO. **
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