Life after Make It

Dec 12, 2013 | Sparkly Love

For the first time in a month I feel like I can finally breath! My life has been in fast forward mode since the start of fall, as Chandler and I busily prepared for our largest Make It shows to date. Almost every single moment of each day was filled to the brim with tasks and jobs to complete. It was a lot of fun and excitement getting ready for Make It, but an incredible amount of work too. I also moved to a new condo and hardly had time to unpack.

Both Make It in Edmonton and Vancouver were incredibly successful and I feel endless gratitude that so many people came out to support our beloved Makies. Shoppers were thrilled that both shows were so much bigger, especially the Vancouver show which was at the PNE Forum. We had over 13,000 people come out the Edmonton show and 15,000 in Vancouver. To think that many people made the decision to come to Make It continues to blow my mind! I heard many of the Makies had their best show ever and hearing this fills me with so much joy and excitement. It’s confirmation that the handmade revolution is here to stay!

Preparing for the shows was extremely difficult because between the two cities there were close to 450 Makies! This is close to double what we have ever had in the past. Figuring out how to manage the work load was not always easy, but Chandler and I worked as hard as we could to do our best. It paid off, and for that I am grateful.

When you take your business to the next level like we did with Make It, many emotions surface. The feelings I had were that we wouldn’t be able to pull it off, that Make It wasn’t meant to be so big, and that people won’t be there to support us. As much as I tried to stay positive and optimistic, these annoying, silly thoughts would creep in from time to time.

What I realize now, that if you don’t hear these nagging thoughts when you are achieving your dreams, it means that you are not reaching high enough! If Chandler and I walked in to the PNE Forum 100% confident that we were going to kill it there wouldn’t have been the drive and motivation to work as hard as we did. The doubt and fear was what kept us going to achieve what we did. It was a great teacher because it made us stretch beyond what we thought we could.

After such a whirlwind experience, I am conscious of letting the feelings of accomplishment and success sink in. One of my bad habits is to brush off my achievement and look to the future for the next challenge, but I know this does not serve me. When you fulfil a dream, like we did with pulling off a successful show at the PNE Forum, it can be a trippy experience. At one point in the show, I climbed to the top of the bleachers and looked down at all the people. For a few short moments I felt solitude and bliss when I recognized that Chandler and I had created this experience for all these thousands of people. It was humbling and amazing to allow myself to recognize how my thoughts had manifested into reality.

It feels weird now that I don’t have a million things to do when I get up in the morning. I am still getting used to it! One thing that I still have on my plate is the Make It Happen documentary. I am so excited to have teamed up with Pull Focus Film School to complete the project and we started filming last month. It’s been so exciting to work with a team who believes in my vision. There is now a director who is doing all the interviews and it has been a challenge for me to step aside and let a professional take over. Part of me still finds it difficult to not be so involved, but I know the project is in good hands, and that the outcome will be more than I ever imagined. This is such a great lesson in creative collaboration and hiring a pro to do what they are best at, so I can focus on my strengths.

In the New Year I am going to be working on completing the documentary and a book proposal. I am super passionate about both projects and feel so pumped to get busy working. So much so, that I have decided not to travel overseas like I usually do in January. As much as I love travel, the need to go somewhere hot and exotic just doesn’t appeal to me right now. I rather get cozy in my new home, work on my projects and hangout with my friends. I ever have been ponder the idea of adopting a cat! Before, I never wanted a pet because I loved to have the freedom to travel for months on end. Now I embrace the idea planting roots and becoming more comfortable at home. Weird!

At Make It, I had a lot of people come up to me and tell me that they enjoy reading my blog. It felt so amazing to hear that my words are able to inspire you to go after your dreams no matter what. When I am writing, sometimes it feels like no one will really read or care what I have to say. It’s heartwarming to hear that they do!

Thank you so much for all your kindness and support. I feel like such a fortunate person to get to do what I love.

Sparkly holiday love,

Jenna

Pssst! If you are interested in taking your passion to the next level, you should check out my comprehensive How to Start and Grow Your Handmade Business course. I will teach you exactly how to make your dreams into reality. It sure does make a nice holiday gift…to give yourself!

Meet Jenna

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