Business Update: Going Sideways

It’s been way too long since I last gave you an update of how my life as a sewing entrepreneur is going.  Since so much stuff has happened lately, I will split this update into several posts. And remember to check out my other business posts too if you want to learn more about my journey (and the struggles!).

Back to a day-job

Yes, this spring I made the decision to get a a day-job again after working full-time on my business for over a year.

To give you some back story, in case you don’t know: About a year ago I left my career in communications for a large non-profit organisation to focus solely on The Last Stitch. 

The decision was partly driven by the fact that I was severely burnt out after years and years of juggling a full-time job with a growing business. So something had to give, and I decided to take the leap and jump into uncertain waters. 

Finding my footing

For the first ten months or so I loved working full-time on my business, but after that I began to feel a bit alone and also missing the structure that an office job provides. But I didn’t need or wanted to go back to full-time work. Plus I am still struggling with the aftermath of said burn-out, and I didn’t want to get myself into that hole ever again.

Luckily a part-time opportunity came up and it’s been great! I get to hang out with people again, do work that I really enjoy, and get an extra financial cushion too. The latter feels extra important right now, when a lot of signs are pointing to a recession or at least a substantial cooling of the economy.  It’s not a permanent position, so who knows what the future holds? But for now, this is a great solution.

Juggling two jobs again

With all that said, getting a day-job again has definitely slowed down my business progress. So most of my business time right now, apart from all the admin, is devoted to working on the book about pattern fitting for knits. I will do an update about that book project in another post, so stay tuned.

So the work/work “balance” is yet again a challenge, especially since I don’t ever want to work myself to the ground again. But hopefully this slower paced progress will yield great results eventually. 

I have so many ideas and projects planned for The Last Stitch, including my first sewing video course! It is all filmed, but has yet to be edited, which I just can’t find the time for right now. But it will be out this fall, I promise!

Keeping it realistic

So there you have it. It’s not all roses and a steady upwards progress, running your own business. Sometimes there are steps sideways or even backwards, but those are important to embrace and talk about too. And for me I find a lot of solace in sharing those aspects, and hopefully some of you reading can relate