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A creative atelier curating brand and web designs for women-owned businesses.I design and curate intentional brand designs and websites to cultivate your idea and bring your value out there.
A creative atelier curating brand and web designs for women-owned businesses.I design and curate intentional brand designs and websites to cultivate your idea and bring your value out there.
Hold on tight because for this month's episode of my Freelancing Stories blog series I've invited Rita Bellati of Myselfie Cottage to join us and share her freelance wisdom. She's an Italian social media coach and Instagram expert, basically a visual communication godness if you ask me! Yes, I couldn't be more excited to have been able to interview her for today's episode!
This time we're chatting about how to evolve with your business as a solopreneur. How to let things go when they are not as you planned. How to be able to read the signs your business is changing, and how to adapt to it, growing stronger and wiser. And she's also spilling some secrets here and there! I'm sure you'll find it inspiring...
I am what you’d call a solopreneur. I run my own business called Myselfie Cottage, teaching freelancers and small business owners to promote themselves through visual communication and particularly through Instagram.
Actually everything started almost four years ago, and my business was very different at the time. I started a small blog about children activities and DIY projects when I was on my second maternity leave. I realized I had a creative instint that needed to come through, somehow. It didn’t took much for me to realize creating was what I was made for!
I started making a line of handmade customized necklaces, called Myselfie (this is where my business name came from). They were hand-painted wooden necklaces representing the person who was receiving them. It was thanks to my Myselfie necklaces that I started seeing my business evolve. And of course that’s the time when you have to evolve with your business as well.
In only a few years my business has changed into a place where lifestyle simply goes hand in hand to the desire of telling a story through images and texts. Visual communication has served me well to promote my product, my necklaces. It has served me that well that I started dreaming about teaching my method to others, helping them promote theirselves efficently through social media.
More than a decision, it was a choice of allowinging my business to evolve and recognize what I’m good at. Following the path that was growing in front of me was easy at that point.
Being able to make of my ideas an actual job that allowed me to always be there for my family. It’s happening and I couldn’t be happier!
It was frightnening, yes, but life taught me if something goes wrong maybe it’s worth taking a different path. I would have never expected to see my work changing so frequently. Nor that as solopreneur you have to constantely evolve with your business. But mostly I would have never expected to see such a strong support from my husband during this process, who I’ll never stop to thank!
The biggest difficulties I go through have to do with time management and the risk of letting my job define what I do and what I have to do. I believe the biggest challenge for freelancers and solopreneurs is trying not to become that severe, irritating boss to yourself. Someone that always asks too much, that soffucates you and leave no space for your personal life.
It’s fundamental to define spaces and times, give yourself some limits and consciously use tech and social media without abusing. To plan things and let some breathing space to be able to change plans if things unexpectedly evolve.
And then sometimes things don’t go as planned, and in these cases you have to decide whether to let the pressure crush you, or get back up, dust yourself off and start again. Even stronger and wiser.
In part it’s what I’m already doing: teaching how to use social media while being conscious of its utilities but also of what its role should be in your life. I also love to dream this method of mine, of using visual communication consciously, could one day become a school subject.
No secrets! Only great determination, a lot of study and just enough intuition to take the right path and have courage to risk it all. BUT! There’s something I live by and believe always makes a difference: you need someone in your life that loves you and appreciates you enough even before actually seeing the results of your work. He or she will be the one person to turn to when doubts will make your life stressful (and it’ll happen pretty often). The one person always knowing the right answer to get you going.
Want to be featured in the next episode of Freelancing Stories? I'd love to hear from you! If you run a freelance business (of any kind) and would like to share your inspiring story, please feel free to get in touch!
I'm Giada Correale, brand and web designer of Miel Cafè Design graphic studio. I design intentional and editorial brand identities and web designs for heartfelt women-owned businesses.
I'm Giada Correale, brand and web designer of Miel Cafè Design graphic studio. I design intentional and editorial brand identities and web designs for heartfelt women-owned businesses.
A creative atelier curating brand and web designs for women-owned businesses.
I design and curate intentional brand designs and websites to cultivate your idea and bring your value out there.