She Works Hard For Her Money...

In my former life, I was a busy Internist, working 75 + hours a week.  I was, and still am, a single mom, who at the time, literally never  saw her kids.  Never, ever?  That's right, never ever.  I would leave early in the morning, the nanny would arrive, and they'd be asleep.  I'd come home late at night,  and they'd be asleep.  This went on for way too long, until one day, I was in my office, and I received a call from my younger daughter's teacher. My girl was crying, because she hadn't seen mommy in five days.  Five days!!  It couldn't be!  But I sat down, and did the math...she was right.  Then I was in tears. What on earth was I doing?  Why bring children into the world if you can't raise them?  Several hours later, I handed in my resignation.

Now, I'm a work at home mom, and my children have blossomed. I don't regret my decision for one minute. Working from home has allowed me to spend more time with them than I had their entire lives. Plus, I was able to volunteer at their school, which they loved!  Their faces would light up..."There's my mom!". We played together, baked together, really had quality time together.

And now the flip side. Money was tight...really tight. Tighter than Spanx. I went from a physician's salary to a WAHM jewelrymaker's salary, receiving child support. Thank goodness I had a creative side,
because it took alot of creativity to make this work financially. Alot of garage sales. Budgeting.

The one thing that helped trim my budget, that I actually felt good about, is when I made my household "Green".  I stopped buying paper towels, straws, plastic water bottles.  I also installed a water filter.  There's a nifty website called http://reuseit.com, where I was able to purchase environmentally friendly replacements for many disposable products, that saved me money in the long run. That was just one step towards making my dream possible:) More next time...

http://sweetstellas.blogspot.com/2011/10/she-works-hard-for-moneybloghop.html

Logo Motion

A really great logo is an important part of branding your business.  I ought to know...I've had a couple that were 'eh, so, so.  They were designed by people who didn't quite know how to translate my vibe into a logo. Either that, or I was just sending out the wrong vibe. When people see your logo,  it should automatically evoke your business style, ethics, look...Think Target's red bullseye.

I'm in the process of having two new websites designed,  LexiBeads.com and alexisstudiodesign.com, and I decided to rethink my whole brand issue.  I tend to be a spiritual person, but nothing about my brand in the past reflected that. The lotus flower has alot of significance in eastern philosophy. So along comes Ashley Berthelot, owner of Fancy Designs in Louisiana, to help me achieve my goal.  We corresponded by email, which at times is challenging, but the result was worth it. Let me introduce you to my new business logo.  Drumroll please....