This one's a bit of a special one for me because it's my 5 year business anniversary and I love to reminisce. So let me do a little story time.

Sometime in June, five years ago (don't ask me the exact date, I genuinely don't know it, I wish I'd written it down lol), I started my business. This wasn't actually a very conscious decision. I decided to start an Instagram for my designs but I had NO CLUE all this would be the outcome.

But anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself. Here's what happened.

It started with a YouTube video

I had just got married and had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with my life. My background was graphic design, UI, and digital illustration. I had some freelance work going but it dried up, and honestly even when I was in the thick of it and "thriving," I wasn't actually fulfilled by it. My soul felt low. Something was missing and I didn't really know what.

Then one day I was scrolling on YouTube and a random video popped up from Abi Connick. She was doing a branding project for some swimwear shop and I just fell in love. Like genuinely, immediately, this is it kind of love. It was everything I already loved about design but with actual story and meaning poured into it. Helping someone build something they're passionate about, something that could change their whole life. I think I'd been missing that without even knowing it.

So that day, a few hours after binging about a million of her videos, I made myself a logo, got on Instagram, and decided I'd just post every single day and see what happened. That was the whole plan. Meaning there was no plan, really. Just post, post, post.

Year one was WILD

I had a good feeling about it so I kept going. Three months, six months, one year, two years, three, four, and now five years.

Year one though. WOW.

It took me six months to get a single lead. Six months. My actual first paying client paid me, I think, fifty bucks. Maybe a hundred. Genuinely don't remember, that's how small it was.

But I kept going and took whatever tiny clients I could get, learned on the job (never studied design formally by the way, no uni, completely self-taught), and eventually worked my way up to charging $700 a project, which at the time felt MASSIVE. So proud of past me for that, because for past me that number was very very big and very very scary. Past me would never have dreamed of charging what I charge now, and that makes me feel so blessed and so humbled

The work I did back then was questionable. I literally would just learn as I went, so thank god for all those clients who decided to take a risk on me while I figured it out. For some it went well, for others, yikes and I'm sorry lol.

But I don't look back and cringe at year one me. Like genuinely don't. She made me who I am now.

Lesson number one: you have to start somewhere, so just keep pushing, keep going, and have no regrets. Only lessons learned. Embrace the cringe.

What I'm actually most proud of

What happened after year one? I just kept pushing, kept growing, made a lot of mistakes, and learned a lot. But what I'm actually proud of isn't even the money or the clients (though truly, so grateful for all of it). It's my process now.

I had NO idea what I was doing back then. None. And now I feel so confident in how I work, in my skills, in my whole approach. That shift from winging it to actually having it down, it's the truest sense of calm I've ever felt.

Every other time I've rebranded or reworked my process, it still felt like "okay this is closer, but I know I'm not quite there yet." This is the first time it's actually felt like I've got the foundation right. Like what comes next is just refinement, not still figuring out the basics. Which feels really sick to say out loud, not gonna lie.

Five years. A lot has changed.

It takes time to grow and develop, it just does. There's no shortcut. But as overwhelming and frustrating as that may feel at times, the journey really is the reward.

If you're early in your journey, or mid-spiral about whether you're doing it right, just know it really does take time. All of it. Just keep going, even if that means being a little delusional about it sometimes.

I'd love to know how you started out. Leave a comment or reach out on Instagram, I read every single one.