Inspiration/Motivation

  • 3 Ways to Amp Up Creativity

    Hey! I did a little Facebook Live video the other night (messy hair, no makeup and all, girl!). I shared three ways in which I get my creative groove going. If you missed it,  you can watch it below. Not gonna lie – the video took a bit of a turn when the kids crashed my party. But that’s how I roll, and I know you get that if you have been following PLC for anytime at all.

    So, what is the deal with creativity? Well, in my world, she is sometimes an elusive mistress. If my day is going a little weird and I’m not feeling it – she doesn’t want to even be seen with me. And that’s all grand unless you are getting paid to use your creativity. So, I kinda need her to buddy up with me so we can get stuff done and pay the bills.

    In the video above I explain my top three ways to get Lady Creative on my side. But I am going to paraphrase it here because sometimes we have things to do other than watch videos. I get that.

    1. Mindset. Each morning I wake up and head out to my deck where I sit in silence (until my kids find me). It’s a noisy world out there and it’s hard to come up with fresh new ideas when yesterday’s commercials and newsfeed are still buzzing in your brain. So, I very intentionally get still and silent. I listen to birds. I write down my goals in my journal (so important!). I meditate and I pray. Or I listen to a positive book on Audible. I also drink my coffee or water. This ritual has become so important in my life and I am very off kilter when it doesn’t happen.
    2. Intentionally Finding Beauty. I purposely find beautiful things that inspire me. Sometimes I read a new book that lifts my spirit. Other times you will find me cruising Pinterest for gorgeous visuals. If I can’t stop working, I do something as simple as light a candle. I started a ‘thing’ last year where I would light two candles each day that I was working. One for God to show up, and one for creativity to join me. It sets me in such a good frame of mind. Who can be all nuts when God and Creativity are joining you at your desk?  Not me. And from time to time, intentionally finding beauty means spontaneously getting away to my favorite hotel that is 3 hours away from my home. Road trip, kids!
    3. And lastly, decluttering. I wish this one didn’t work so well. But it tends to work so well…darn it! I am messy by nature. I like to see my work sprawled about so I feel I have control over what all is going on. Until I don’t. I can work like this for a bit but the older I get the more I realize I need organization and a zen-like environment to churn out my best work. But decluttering and tidying up also gives me space. It’s like a breath of fresh air that gives me time to think while cleaning somewhat on auto-pilot. And that is where the bonus magic is in this practice.

    Giving yourself time to decompress from all that is going on is crucial to being creative. And no matter what your line of work (or play) it almost always involves some level of creativity. So, what are the ways you get yourself in the creative zone? I would love to hear in the comments below.

    Stay creative. xx.

     

     

    Ready to dive into more creativity? Join me for my FREE digital design course! Sign up below to get all the juicy details. The course includes free graphics, free ideas on how to use digital graphics, and an invitation to my private Facebook group.

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  • An Interview with Courtney Lyman of Charity Sparrow

     

    I am excited to get this interview out to everyone.  Courtney Lyman of Charity Sparrow is one of those women who believes in community and putting positive vibes out there. Finding other women you connect with in business can be such a huge asset for all involved and when we support each other, we all win. At PLC, we share in those beliefs so when Courtney crossed our path, I knew I wanted to talk to her and get her business story.

    So, today, I am sitting down with Courtney to chat about Charity Sparrow, her AH-MAZING Facebook group – the Junkin’ Sisters Tribe, and building your business from the ground up.

    Courtney, I am so glad you are here. I love the name Charity Sparrow. It just makes me happy. Thank you for taking some time out to tell us a little more about your business. 

    Kelli, I’m so excited and honored that you wanted to do a feature on me and the projects I have going on. I’m a big fan of yours and of Pink Lemonade Company so it means a lot, thank you!

    I own Charity Sparrow, LLC. along with my husband, Larry, and my youngest daughter, Cassi Leigh. Charity Sparrow is the umbrella, so to speak, under which we have the blog (of the same name) for vintage lovers, and will soon have other projects that we’re working on as well.

    Charity Sparrow was my 11th great grandmother born in 1640. I found out about her on my quest to learn about my ancestry, which was a period that also birthed the Facebook page, Distressed Nest, which evolved into Charity Sparrow. It was a turning point in my life and in finally defeating depression, and I hope to use all of what we’re doing now as an inspiration to others who may be going through some of the same things.

    I guess if I had to pinpoint what I do, I’d say at the core of it I’m a peddler of hope. If I can get back up, and make something out of nothing, so can anyone.

    Peddler of hope. I love that. So many women-owned businesses start from a place similar to yours and it’s always such a victory when we evolve to become our own heroes.  Once we find that purpose, that passion, and find a way to put it together for the good of ourselves, that’s when the magic happens and we find out how strong and unstoppable we really are. Women can be such an inspiration for other women through business.  How did your venture start for you?

    So, Cassi and I started Distressed Nest as a Facebook page to show some things we were making and selling for a thousand dollar pledge she’d made thru her Church Youth group. It was her pledge, but I jumped in there with her to help and to find something positive to do to pull myself out of that funk I’d mentioned. Our Facebook page started taking off and that was fun, then when I began making our own graphics it really took a big turn. I’d found something I was good at, and enjoyed doing, so I went with it. People were requesting a website so we decided to go for that, too.

    Digital graphics for the win! Ha! What has been one of the best parts of your business?

    I’d say the best part of what we’re doing, for me, is the people. We’ve received messages from people all over the world, going through all kinds of things, and when we hear that we made someone smile through a bad day with their PTSD or a chemo treatment, it really makes our day. If we made one person smile that day, or feel inspired, it was a good business day.

    Man. You have some good answers. We are soul sisters! 😉 I have a Post-It Note on my vision board that says “Serve first and money will follow”. And I have yet to be proven wrong. Okay. Let’s talk about it because I can’t wait anymore. Your Facebook group is phenomenal. I was in the group the other day and saw you have over 25,000 members! It’s such a fun community. How did all that get started? 

    Thank you so much, and I’m glad you’re a tribe sister, too!  I didn’t intend on starting a Facebook group, really, but I’d made friends with the admins in our own small tribe  (Jane of Grit Antiques, Heather from Wholehearted & Co., and Kim from Kim Finds and Redesigns) and as we supported one another and had fun doing it, we thought about other women with similar interests who could use a tribe, too. I was always that quiet kid in the neighborhood who’d try to get the other kids involved in some shenanigans of one type or another. I think this is just my grown-up version of that. Hey, let’s all play and hang out and talk about what we love doing. Back then it was bike riding and Barbies and now it’s junkin’ and hitting the flea markets or vintage shows.

    The Junkin’ Sisters Tribe is a supportive group for creatives, business owners, junkers, and lovers of vintage who are looking for a fun, drama free atmosphere to share and grow in. Anyone looking for a group like that is welcome to request to join the shenanigans.

    If you aren’t a member, go join. It’s a great group to soak up some inspiration, get your junkin’ fix on, and just be among ladies who are doing their thing and sharing it with the tribe. Courtney it has been so nice getting to know you better. One last question -where do you see Charity Sparrow going from here?  

    That’s a good question, and one I’m trying to dream about and work on right now. I want to keep improving the blog and hope to start a line of inspirational and fun products as well. The rest I’m sure will evolve just as this whole process has, with an idea followed by a leap of radical faith, and finding my wings on the way down.

    I think you have a good plan there. In my own business, I don’t always know what exactly I want next but it’s amazing how when you show up every day and keep it positive, things unfold and ideas come to fruition even when you aren’t completely sure what those ideas are in the beginning. Thank you so much for sharing Charity Sparrow with us. I know good things are in store for it, and you, and your family. 

    Thanks again, Kelli. It’s been a pleasure!


     

    If you would like to learn more about Courtney and Charity Sparrow, you can visit her website at http://www.charitysparrow.com. If you would like to request to join her Facebook book, just click here

    Courtney is one of our members of our digital graphics website PLC Creative Living. If you would like to sign up for free graphics you are welcome to below.

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  • The best thing you can do for your business today

    Showing up on social media for your business is important. Making sure all is working correctly on your website is pretty important, too. And, of course, you have to always work on building your email list.

    Those three things, in my opinion, are all paramount to a successful online business.

    But there is something that is equally, or perhaps more significant, than all those three combined. But I didn’t know that for years running my business. And I stayed at the same place for a long time. That place kept me struggling, not being able to pay all of my bills, and staying in a relationship that was not good for me. And my business wasn’t adding value to my life but rather it was sucking out my soul for the most part. That sounds extreme – but I take business very seriously and I was burning out quick. I was running in circles, working harder and harder, and nothing seemed to be making a difference. I am stubborn by nature and I thought if I forced it hard enough, it would work.

    I was doing all I could logically using social media, working on my website, and building my list. Shouldn’t success be showing up already?

    So, apparently, I was missing some part of the equation. I started reading books about gratitude and mindset in business and things started shifting. Nothing monumental but I noticed things getting better. So, I started reading more and absorbing all I could. Things were getting better. Still not great but I was on to something. I just didn’t know what. God was already a part of my business – I frequently prayed about my little business and told God about how much life was sucking and how my business was letting me down on multiple occasions. I was committed but this was a semi-pathetic way to live. I soon realized I was going at this all wrong.

    I saw a quote that was nothing new (I had seen it before). But something struck me and it really changed the way I approached life.

    Lightbulb moment! I understood! All I had been doing was complaining of my business problems and unintentionally focusing on that (even if it was in prayer some of the time). I needed to rewire my mindset completely. I needed to start having massive gratitude for things that hadn’t even happened yet! I needed to start thanking God and approaching my business as if it was already giving me the freedom I was really wanting and needing in life.

    Things changed. Things changed in a big way that it still gives me chills just writing this. My perspective did a 180 and I had a renewed energy. Day by day, that energy grew and I started working on my business from a place of gratitude and success. It was so simple yet so profound. I no longer complained about things going poorly. I shouted about things that were going right and every day small successes started adding up to bigger ones, and the momentum grew and grew.

    My dear business owning friend, the best thing I have learned about business is that mindset is a HUGE player in success. It trumps out any marketing campaign or strategy that I have in my playbook. It has made such a profound difference that things look the way I want them to now. I got rid of the nagging inability to pay bills. I started to see my own worth and value and left the toxic relationship. I stopped feeling defeated. As cheesy as it sounds, I found my own freedom.

    The BEST thing you can do for your business today is work on your mindset. Nothing, nothing, nothing else matters in the scheme of business or life until that is sorted out. All else will fall in line when you start living each day as if your prayers have already been answered.

    I wish you and your business all the best!

     

    Want more? When you sign up below, I will send you my latest free guide on 10 profit producing things you can do for your business now. (They have nothing to do with selling!). You will also get instant access to the PLC VIP business resource library, and an invitation to our private Facebook group.

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