Wednesday, May 11, 2016

// signs //

First things first... OMG!  My heart is happy!  Thank you for all of the love!  I have received so many sweet messages, emails, and texts about my last post!

Everyone really wants to know all of the deets – I know :)  I just can't quite let the cat out of the bag yet! Instead, I am going to ramble a little today about how CRAZY this entire experience has been!

I believe in signs.  I actually LOOK for them.  When I came up with this crazy idea to create this journal, I spent a lot of time visualizing it.  I wanted to see it in my mind, see people using it, and see their lives changing!  

Throughout the design process, there have been so many walls.  Some days I wake up and feel super confident about my ability and my idea.  Other days, I wake up thinking that I better quit before I get too deep.  Of course Christian has really been pushing it.  He has been my number one supporter and may very well be my first customer - LOL!  When I thought my ideas were nuts, he kept telling me, "do it from the right place, do it from love."  Still, I needed more.

The first step to deciding if this was even a good idea was of course "market research" – aka, find out if anyone already has your idea.  So, my friend Heather and I went to our first ever trade show. Wow! (More on that later)  We arrived downtown at AmericasMart where we pulled in and I spotted a perfect parking spot.  We got out and Heather said, "We should take a picture!" So as I am posing I look down and notice the parking spot number – 143. Many of you may not even remember this but when we were in high school and college, few people had cell phones, most had pagers, Christian included.  We used to make up cheesy codes to page each other with.  One such code was "143" which meant "I love you."  So cheesy, I know.  However, it hit me.  Christian was always telling me to create this journal from a place of love and there was my sign!





Another crazy coincidence came when I put a post out on our neighborhood page looking for a web builder.  Several people responded but one neighbor in particular really drew me in.  She was super casual and offered to meet for coffee (even though she only drinks tea – hi Katuschka!) As we were texting on the details she asked for a little background as to what I was creating.  I sent her my preface which included some references to our adoption journey.  She responded back and said that she is actually an adoption specialist – I then told her that we were actually starting the process again. I asked who she worked with and to my surprise it was the SAME agency! It was so crazy! The crazier part is that because of our proximity to each other, she should be our social worker but for some strange reason, they assigned us to someone else!  No conflict of interest meant that she was hired!  I couldn't help but think that this was all God's hand.  He led me to someone whom he knew would share my vision.

The third coincidence or "divine intervention" involved the design... and Target of course.  I had been trying to visualize my logo and brand identity. I was really struggling here. One night while laying in bed just staring at the ceiling praying for a sign, one came to me... a palm leaf!  I wrote it down so I wouldn't forget it in the morning.  The next day I sketched the design, sent it to my designer to finish and there it was!  All day I still wondered if it was perfect... that afternoon I walked into Target and the first thing that my eyes saw was an advertisement that had a giant palm leaf on it.  I knew that the palm was it.  Yet, another sign to guide and energize me!


Like I said, there have been a dozen crazy moments that have given me the confidence to move on - I have written them all down and perhaps will share some more of them along the way.

Thanks for following along!


xoxo

Katie







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