small business owner

So, what exactly is procrastination paralysis? It’s usually when you’re feeling overwhelmed and anxious about starting/finishing tasks, that often results in delays (or even avoidance) of taking any action. It can affect your overall productivity/progress, and even lead to missed opportunities. And yes, increased levels of stress, frustration and guilt are usually included. Sound familiar? […]

The Rested Entrepreneur. Is it a mystical creature or does it actually exist in real life?! Haha, yup they really do exist! I know I’ve been talking about rest a lot lately and for a good reason – when you’ve been in business for as long as I have (30+ years!) I’ve learned a thing […]

It’s not you… Has this ever happened to you – a customer comes into your store or booth, looks around for a while and then when you ask them if they have any questions, they say “no thanks” or even a “there’s nothing here for me”?! Ugh. Customer rejection can feel like a gut punch […]

You can call me the Queen of Procrastination* *sometimes ;) Some days I’m killing it, getting stuff done, really knocking it out of the park. But then on those “other” days, dang, not even close. So, I wondered why that was, why are some days so damn awesome and others are total duds? Sure, there […]

Every year, for 4 years in a row, I would faint at work. It was always the second week of December, usually on a busy Saturday. And every year, the firemen would come to resuscitate me. The third time the firemen came, a couple of them recognized me from the year before. Didn’t this happen […]

REST for entrepreneurs. Is that even a thing? I think rest gets a bad rap from us entrepreneurs – we seem to see it as a sign of weakness or some sort of luxury that we simply can’t afford. Do you find that small business life gets to be a bit much some days and […]

Ah yes, the early days when you started your small business… For some of you it might’ve been during the pandemic. For others, it’s been a long time, even years. No matter the timeline, think about when you FIRST started… It was pretty exciting, right? Maybe it started as a hobby and then family/friends started […]

Real world small business experience is pure gold. Back when my husband and I started our first company, Essential Packaging, small business wasn’t ANYTHING like what it is today. We simply didn’t have the same support and resources that are now easily available almost anywhere. When we started in 1995, you couldn’t Google marketing strategies, […]

My weekend at Yellow Point Lodge was a nostalgic experience unlike anything I’ve ever experienced…     A Nostalgic Feel- “Oh, we don’t have room keys”, said the lovely staff person when I was checking in.  No room keys. Ok. This felt a bit like when you used to leave money on your door step […]

The future of small business… There was a day last December that just sucked. I was feeling weighed from all these negative things piled on me. Never-ending product shortages, shipping delays, vendor price increases, holiday season stress and a bunch of other stuff had really worn me down on that particular day. In addition to […]