Why You Don’t Have to Choose Between Being An Entrepreneur and Having Fun

You Don't Have to Choose

A permission slip for the woman who has been waiting to let herself have fun

I'll be honest with you. Just a few hours ago I was sitting here trying to talk myself out of something I already knew I wanted to do.

I've been relaunching my creative brand Gallery 713, a handmade home decor and lifestyle brand featuring little clay keychains, charm sets, art prints, and all the fun things that make my heart squill. I've been trying to build this business for years now and for the first time in forever it finally feels right to me. The products feel right, the timing feels right, the vibe feels right. Everything just makes sense.

And then my brain started looking for everything wrong with it.

What if you get tired of the whimsical vibe. What if you have to change everything again. What if this isn't really you. What if other people don't like it. Then what will I do?

I know I'm not the only one who's had those thoughts right?

Why our brains do this

Here's the thing you may not know. When something feels genuinely right, clear, and exciting, our brains can actually respond with more overwhelm and anxiety because now there's something tangible at stake to lose.

Psychologists call this a threat response. Your nervous system doesn't always know the difference between a dangerous risk and a vulnerable one. Committing to something you actually care about is very vulnerable. So your brain creates exit strategies before you've even gotten on the highway. It disguises fear as logic. It makes "what if this doesn't work out" sound like a reasonable concern when really it's just protection.

Protection from what? From fully showing up as yourself and having people see you.

The choice I kept trying to make

For years I felt like I had to choose between two versions of myself.

There's the sophisticated version, the one who loves neutral tones, clean lines, and structure. The one who's built a second business about brand strategy and design. The one who loves a linen, espresso, and olive color palette. Who's Minimal and simple most of the time.

And then there's the other side of me. The girl who used to draw just because she had an idea. Who made things with whatever she had, I used to use a bus card as a ruler and it worked just fine. I didn't need the right tools or the perfect setup. I just wanted to make stuff and I felt so happy doing it without a care in the world.

I kept trying to separate those two parts of myself. I made separate brands, separate aesthetics, and I was essentially creating separate lives almost.

And every time I tried to separate them something felt off. My businesses never fully took off, the words on my website felt like they had no depth to them. I didn't fully know why I wanted to have this business but that was because I was building around an incomplete version of myself.

What changed

I started making miniatures. LOL!

I made tiny clay foods mostly. A little croissant, a waffle with melted butter on top. A stack of blueberry pancakes. Little things like that just because I wanted to.

I started because one night I fell asleep watching YouTube videos of other people making miniature foods and when I woke up I thought I want to do that. And so I did.

And something changed for me. Not just in my business but in me.

Making things with my hands, turned out to be one of the most grounding experiences I've had in years. I have OCD and the repetitive, detailed nature of working with clay genuinely helps with the compulsive checking that can take up so much of my time and mental energy. I didn't know this could help my OCD It just happened because I allowed myself try something for no reason other than it seemed so cute and fun.

That's the thing about giving yourself permission, you don't always know what you're going to find on the other side of fear. But you don't find anything if you never go.

For the woman who feels like she has to choose

If you're reading this and you're nodding, or if you've been telling yourself that you're too old for that, too serious for that, too professional for that, too something for that, I want you to hear me out.

You are not too old, or not ready enough, or not good enough. You've just been waiting for someone to tell you that you are allowed to take up space.

The sophisticated woman and the playful woman are allowed to exist in the same room.

And you don't have to have it all figured out before you start. You don't have to know if you'll love it forever. You don't have to commit to a whole new you overnight.

You just have to allow yourself to try one new thing.

Where to start

Start small, seriously.

Swap out one thing in your space for something with a little more personality or razzle dazzle as I like to say. Add a tray on your desk in a color that makes you happy. Add a keychain on your bag that makes you smile when you reach for your keys. Add art prints to your wall that has a little more character than you'd normally allow yourself to do.

You're not redecorating your whole space just yet. You're just making one small step that says I'm allowed to have fun, I'm allowed to express myself, and I'm allowed to be the whole me.

And then see how it feels. 

Gallery 713 is a handmade home decor and lifestyle brand for the woman who is sophisticated and a little whimsical, neutral toned, and dreams in color, who is done apologizing for being everything all at once. Every piece is made by hand with you in mind.

Welcome my friend. You're allowed to be exactly who you are here.