Many of you know that I own a bead shop called The Peacock Shop. My little bead shop has grown from a corner of my livingroom, to its own bead room,to a kiosk in a bitty mall, to its current incarnation (and first storefront location) a 170 sq.ft. shop. My goal is to continue growing incrimentally until I have a mini Beadlush (a wonderful bead shop that I used to work at, located in Charlotte,NC. Stop by to see Lydia, Vanessa, and the girls if you're ever in town;). Eventually I would like my shop to occupy around 1500-2000 sq ft, but I've got a long way to go!
What am I doing to ensure survival? you ask....On top of working my 45 hour week as the sole (yet unpaid) employee of the shop, and lone teacher of classes both public and private. I often wander home at the end of the day and continue working (bagging, tubing, pricing, searching for the next cool thing) until it's time for me to pass out, and do it all over again. My 'days off' are spent taking pictures to list on one of my Etsy sites (Gypsybeads and ThePeacockShop, if you're interested), testing class 'ideas', and sometimes teaching private lessons. I blog, I Tweet, I update my shop's Facebook Page a couple times a day most 'working' days. I host Crafternoons, I teach at bead shows, as well as the shop, and sell my jewelry in person at shows both night and day. In my 'spare' time I come up with new ideas for classes and kits, and teach private lessons. Recently I've been working with Bead Unique Magazine in the hopes of getting some of my work published more nationally.
For those of you who are wondering: Yes, I am married, Yes, I do make time to 'be married', and Yes, I am exhausted most of the time....but I'm hoping it will pay off in the end :)
How do I do it? With the world's most fantastic support group, of course! From my best friend Shannon who gives advice both personal and professional, and is always ready with a Margarita, to my husband who seems to understand when I need to just run with something, and not be bothered, to my wonderful beaders and crafters who purchase things from my brick and mortar and online shops, and let me know what they want the next 'big thing' to be, I thank you all! I really couldn't have done it without you.
So here's to the first 'real' 6 months...May there be many more to come!
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