hello 2015.

Posted in My Life by

my first time back on here in awhile and i found my first post…resolutions for 2014.  how did i do?

1. Marry my best friend and have an amazing time with my family and friends.

2. Find a way to give back on a consistent basis

3. Be the best aunt I can be – stay involved

4. Health = happiness. Do it for me.

5. Don’t let fear, self-doubt, or failure stand in my way.

i am pretty happy with the progress i made in 2014…got married (it was amazing), improved my health, started my eBay shop with plans to expand, and enjoyed weekly conversations about “going on the potty” with my godson. success. 🙂

 

New Resolutions for 2015….

1. Hit my personal weight goal – that number is for me to know, and me alone…i’m brave, but i’m not THAT brave.

2. Participate in another race – type/date/place to be determined.  terrified = motivated.

3. Grow gently loved fashion – time to take this to the next level.

4. Establish **** & ***** – this is a total teaser (sorry!) — more news to come on this!!

5. Find a way to give back on a consistent basis – adding this one to 2015, because i kind of slacked on it last year…oops.

 

What do you want your 2015 to look like? I would love to hear about it!

 

gently loved fashion is back!! ((in two weeks))

Posted in The Shop by

i am back! gently loved fashion is back!! okay…not for another week, but i could not wait another week to post.  i am going to go sit on a beach with my husband for a week first, and then i will be back at it.

wedding planning took over 2014, but now that the wedding is over (officially at wife status), i am putting all of my energy towards finding fabulous fashion for fabulous women.  don’t worry man friends…there will be some items for you too!

game plan for 2015:

1. get all of the items that are sitting in the GLF closet posted

2. get a consignment program posted so maybe we can work together? 🙂

3. shop, shop, shop….sell, sell, sell

 

see you soon!

my personal assistant…meet Ted

Posted in My Life, The Shop by

my cat, Teddy, has been a real joy to work with…  he often jumps into product pictures, keeps me company at my desk, and constantly reminds me how important it is to get ample amounts of sleep.  i am lucky to have such a great “employee” – he is content being paid in catnip and head rubs.

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i try my best to “catch” him in the pictures, but sometimes easier said than done (See above).  hopefully my ebay buyers see it as a unique/fun quirk.  at least i hope so!

learn as you go…

Posted in The Shop by

success is amazing…but also scary.

i posted 4-5 items out on my ebay shop a few weeks ago and anxiously awaited the e-mail telling me i had a sale.  a week passed and i started to think this whole consignment shop thing might be a bust.  but then i got the e-mail!! i could not contain my excitement….i got out of bed (it was like 11:30 at night) and went to work.  ebay and paypal made it pretty easy…determining shipping method, printing the postage and a packing slip, etc…thankfully i had a few random boxes around so i packed it up, put my custom sticker on for extra flair, and planned a trip to the post office the next day.

i was so excited…it was hard to contain my excitement the next day at my actual job.  i posted a few new items and they sold within days! this time i was not so prepared on shipping…no more random boxes laying around!  i ended up shipping it in the box for the shipping scale i had bought (amateur move!)….and immediately bought some poly mailers on amazon.

now that my poly mailers have arrived, i am ready to post more items and hopefully continue to have some sales!

i am sure i will continue to have ah-ha! moments where i realize i don’t have something i need…but i am learning as i go and i couldn’t be happier with how things have started.

 

figure out what you want…and then go and get it.

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so i took off from my corporate job this week in order to work on my ebay shop – gently loved fashion.  working on something that is all mine and something that allows me to play dress up all day = energizing! just what i needed after a few very stressful months at work.  i have never sold items on ebay before so i am going to start small, but have a closet full of things ready to go!

there are so many steps in the process and new things come up each day, but i love it.  it sounds cheeseballs, but i love learning and picking up new skills.  owning my own business, even if it is just a small ebay shop at this point, is the perfect fit for me.  i have had a urge to own a small business for a few years now and the past few days of working on gently loved fashion has validated that this is what i need to be doing. hopefully it will be a full time thing sooner rather than later!

the past few days have involved new purchases (body form, business stickers, earring backs, etc), competitive pricing analysis, photography, and learning about shipping methods.  i haven’t used my brain in so many ways since college! i am also planning to meet with somebody who owns their own boutique. if i do decide to take this a step further and do a retail location or to start buying new merchandise, i want to be as prepared as possible – information is power!

if anyone that is reading this has that same desire to own their own business, i strongly encourage taking time off from your current job to explore that desire.  don’t keep making excuses….take the time to get away from the things that hold you back/bring you down, and figure out what it is that you want….and then go and get it.

 

 

 

Transition and Failure.

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So the online consignment shop is still not up and running…slacking mucho. I am actually a fairly productive person and only slack in the areas where I assume failure is inevitable….losing weight, starting my own company, etc. It is a silly way to think, but I have a feeling I am not the only one…

I have made some progress on weight loss – the first time in a long time – so that gives me hope that this consignment shop may come to existence eventually. I am not sure how I define failure…only that I stop myself from doing things, because I may fail at it. Take the eBay shop as an example…besides Adam, nobody really knows I am even attempting to start such a thing. I am currently working with items that I had purchased for myself so there is no financial investment at this point. So really…no money to lose and nobody to not impress.

In this scenario my thought process has always been go big, or go home. A HORRIBLE thought process to have when starting a new business, because the reality is you have to start small….small steps make it possible when you have a wedding to plan and a job that consumes 50 hours of your week. I am trying to change my thought process…slowly, but surely.

That went on way too long…I will keep the rest short.

I had a few wedding appointments this past weekend. Because I am such a fan of small businesses, I have made it my mission to use only small, local businesses as wedding vendors. It was really inspiring to meet with these vendors and learn a little bit about their transition into small business ownership. I am hoping as we continue to work together on wedding plans, I will learn and absorb even more lessons and experiences they have to offer. My end goal is to have my own business and one that I can rely on for my full income…I imagine the biggest and scariest part is that transition from a side project, to a full time commitment. It is terrifying, but also amazing, to envision my life without a “stable” and grueling corporate job. I look forward to the adventures ahead of me.