I am more than..
I am more than the work I have done and the titles I have earned. I am a mom, daughter, niece, partner, caregiver, dog mom, and yogi. I have been a single parent, foster parent, and adoptive parent. I am a divorcee, at one time I was married for almost 20 years. Each of these identities holds a story—and each has shaped the woman, educator, leader, and creator I am.
What Happens When You No Longer Need Permission?
A mentor recently asked why I thought I was experiencing so much joy while creating my business.
I wasn’t really sure.
He said, “I think it’s because you’re free.”
Free to build. Free to decide. Free to move when an idea comes. Free to create without asking anyone for permission.
That stayed with me.
Perhaps I am not only building a business. Perhaps I am discovering what becomes possible when I am free to trust myself.
Skill Stacking: Learning More Than I Thought I Was Learning
I didn’t know anything about skill stacking. When I began learning about affiliate marketing, I thought I was learning how to recommend products, create pins, and share links. I didn’t realize I was also training my eye.
Through that process, I started paying closer attention to images—how they are positioned, what they communicate, which colors work together, and how a photograph can make someone pause and become curious. I was learning how to select visuals with purpose.
That learning followed me back to my own webpage.
While updating the three-part section at the beginning of my Walking With a Vision website, I added my own photographs and graphics. I wasn’t simply filling empty spaces anymore. I was curating images that supported the message, reflected the brand, and helped tell the story I wanted visitors to experience.
That is skill stacking: learning something in one area and discovering that the skill becomes useful somewhere else.
Affiliate work taught me visual curation. Visual curation strengthened my website. Building my website is teaching me product development, brand storytelling, visitor experience, and how to communicate a vision clearly.
Every part of building this business is becoming a teacher.
Sometimes we think we are learning only the task directly in front of us. But one business activity can quietly prepare us for the next one. The skills begin connecting, layering, and becoming part of how we create.
I’m not only building Walking With a Vision.
I’m also becoming the person who knows how to bring the vision to life.
Funny small-business lesson
…sometimes product development includes designing, ordering, tracking…and launching a family-wide package investigation. 😂📦🔖
The Bookmarks Took the Scenic Route
My GotPrint bookmarks went missing locally and somehow arrived in my sister’s mailbox! :D
I had been waiting for my bookmark prototypes from GotPrint for over 2 weeks and wondering where they had gone. According to the tracking, they had made it to my area- just not to me directly.
Yesterday, I finally received them. Somehow, after getting lost locally, they ended up in my sister’s mailbox. Apparently my bookmarks needed to take the scenic route before finding their way home.
It was funny, but opening that package still felt meaningful. These weren’t just bookmarks. They were the first physical prototypes of an idea I had been carrying: combining something creative with a practical annotation and reflection tool for readers.
That is becoming one of the lessons of this creative-building journey. An idea may not always arrive exactly when - or how - you expect it to. Sometimes it takes a few unexpected turns. But when it finally reaches your hands, you get to hold proof that something you imagined is becoming real.
I’ll put them all in their own boxes haha! 😂
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Today's small-business lesson:
Sometimes the best way isn't the fanciest way. It's the way you can actually figure out and get done.
I'm learning Canva. I'm creating products. I'm building a business.
And I'm taking notes on ALL of it. 😂
#BuildingMyBusiness #SmallBusinessJourney #LearningAsIGo #CreativeBusiness