Happy 3 Years! How it all began...

Well, yesterday was the 3rd birthday of my company, although I was doing a few bits before then, dabbling a little bit, it was on the 27th October 2010 that I thought to myself 'I can actually DO this!' I stopped job hunting for a nice stable admin job and put my heart and soul into growing my business. You might think 'so?' but for me, at that time, that was a huge deal. At the time, I was as down as it's possible to get, certainly as down and out as I've ever felt, I couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel and I actually remember saying to mum on the phone late one night 'if this is my life, I don't want it' I had recently gone through an awful lot of bad stuff and was in severe depression, most days I couldn't even leave the house - hard to believe knowing me now, right? Even I don't recognise the person I was back then! Now I realise sometimes you have to fall apart a little so you can put yourself back together a better way.

I'm sharing this because I want anyone out there feeling the same way to know that you CAN do it! You can achieve anything you set your mind too. It may take longer than you'd like, there will be setbacks (just because I haven't shared them all doesn't mean they haven't happened! I just try to keep my blog positive) not everything goes perfectly, there will be disappointments and rejections, some days you will still feel down and miserable and wish you'd gone for that nice steady job instead, you might feel alone and sad, there will be days when you feel noone understands you or everyones against you - in my 3 years, I've been let down, I've been copied (lots!) I've been ripped off, I've been bullied and slated and had rumours made up about me (had to check I wasn't still in high school *sigh*) things that were promised haven't worked out BUT it all came good in the end, I've achieved more than I ever thought I could, these things still happen, but you develop a thicker skin and learn to ignore the bullies and copiers and haters (who said let your haters be your motivators? do it! it's true!) and your success cushions the disappointments, you learn from your mistakes and build on them, people judge you by what you do in the end, so get the dream moving, prove yourself, be kind, work hard, take a risk and put yourself out there - one of the great things about starting from nothing, is you have nothing to lose! I'm so pleased I took a risk, because if I hadn't, I wouldn't be where I am today, and today, I'm happier than I ever thought possible, my company is growing amazingly, I'm working on super exciting projects, I get to write, draw, create and imagine all day long, I work with fantastic people and have the daily support of my lovely OH (and Fuzzybutt too of course!) it truly is my dream come true and I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. It wasn't easy, but it was worth it.

I'd love to hear how you made (or plan to make!) your dream come true, I wish you all lots and lots of luck and success - you can do it!

Thank you for dropping by today
Sarah x


p.s. a big thank you to my lovely friend Di who gave me the courage to share this, she's a fantastic motivator and encourager and just a lovely positive person! :o) x