Don’t get me wrong for even one second. I LOVE LOVE LOVE what I do. In fact, I wrote a whole post about it recently on our Leaders Blog. I sincerely believe I have the best/coolest/most rewarding job on the face of the planet. And really, who could argue with this cuteness? But that’s where the conversation usually ends with most people who also think they have the “best/coolest/most rewarding job”. Most business owners I know won’t openly divulge the icky, not-so-fun parts of what they do, which is terribly unfair. Business ownership is often put on a tall, shiny pedestal without so much as a mention of how that pedestal was built, how it stays standing and polished, and what it takes to stay there living the perceived awesome entrepreneurial life. Want the honest to goodness truth?? It takes a lot of hard work and grit. We are talking serious determination. Long hours. Unpaid work. Tons of trial AND error. Revisions like you wouldn’t believe. And so on and so on… There are things I have dealt with as a business owner that I never Read More
We Wrote A Book! “Counting Through the Seasons”
For the past few years, I’ve been writing educational songs to help my clients meet their goals in our individual and group sessions. This includes writing TONS of new material for our Listen & Learn for Little Ones Groups. Last fall, Rachel wrote our first counting down from 5 style song (Little Red Apples) that used visual aids to help children work on counting in every group. It was a major hit! So as our classes continued and the seasons changed, we went from Apples to Pumpkins to Leave to Trees and so on. We developed 2 new songs for each season until we had a full set of seasonal counting songs. We know how much our families have loved this music. SOOOO…. to make it the best resource for YOU, we took all of those song and turned them into a book! Counting Through the Seasons is a digital download that includes: 8 Original Songs with Lead Sheets & Full Lyrics Song recordings Printable Templates for Visual Aids Helpful Videos with Tips and Tricks on Using the Materials and Photos and Read More
Using Music for Personal Healing
Yesterday afternoon, my mom called to tell me my great aunt had passed away. She was in her late 80s and not in great health. She had been in and out of the hospital a lot recently. So it wasn’t entirely unexpected, but that’s not to say that it didn’t break my heart a little. We weren’t terribly close, but my Aunt Lorraine is one of the sweetest people I know and has always treated me splendidly. She and my uncle Jack have always supported me in everything I have done (including generously helping me buy attire for pageant I didn’t place in) , sent cards for every holiday and major event, and spent time talking with me fairly regularly. I was distracted by the news and was having trouble focusing on things. My stress level was already high and the loss I felt wasn’t helping. Certain songs kept playing in my head distracting me even more from what I was trying to accomplish. So, I put everything down and listened to what the music was trying to tell me. I Read More
It’s Tuesday… and I’m Exhausted
Actually, to be honest, I was exhausted yesterday when it was only Monday (and even the day before when it was Sunday) and that feels like that was forever ago. Really, truly, Monday feels like it was at least three days ago. But why am I sharing this? Why do I sound whiny instead of sharing something useful? I need to be honest and vulnerable with you. I can preach things like self-care, simplifying, and work flow until the cows come home, but you have to know that I still struggle with these things. I struggle to take time for myself when I need it, say no when people ask for things, or simplify when life gets too busy for me to actually accomplish everything I want to. I still struggle and I know I’m not alone. So, by telling you the truth that I’m exhausted and having a hard time accomplishing what I want to right now, I hope it gives you the room to be honest with yourself and do what you need to in order to better Read More
Test of Trust
This year has been almost like one giant trust exercise. Like the trust fall you see in Mean Girls… but only an entire year of being vulnerable, putting my truths out there, and hoping people will catch me. (So not truly like the scene in Mean Girls, but you get the point.) Trepidatious. is a word I commonly use to describe myself. In other words, I am often apprehensive and have trouble accepting help or jumping in to new things because I get anxious and feel as though something bad or unpleasant is going to happen. The unfamiliar and new can be really REALLY scary. So, I sit and think of every possible question or problem that could arise before moving forward or handing over the reigns. I organize and try to solve problems before they even seem to be there… But what else does this make me sound like? A control freak, maybe? Definitely. Probably. But as long as I’m in control and asking the questions and handling things then less can go wrong, right? WRONG. Trying to do it all Read More