happy day after easter! i have a severe easter hangover...as in - for some reason i've never felt more tired in my life. maybe it was because of all the winning i was doing yesterday.

winning at the egg hung.
winning at baseball. (did someone say home run?)
winning at a board game.

it was a great easter sunday, to say the least.

but now it's monday - and another edition of monday mama is right around the corner.

(as a quick reminder - i'm running this monday mama series because i was really curious as to how all these moms were doing it all and still looked to have their sh*t together. i wanted to learn from them...ask them questions. and that's how the series was born! i digress...)

today we have Madison of Grace + Vine. madison is a fellow designer with a great eye for keeping it clean and simple and organized. a designer right after my own heart. she works in the wordpress platform for her developing while i work over in squarespace. girlfriend could teach me a thing or two for all you wordpress lovers out there.

(seriously...i tried wordpress for two seconds and nearly lit my laptop on fire.)

KARLI | where did your idea for your small business come from?

MADISON | I studied graphic design in college and once I got married, started doing some free lance work on the side. As my client list grew, I started to realize how much I enjoyed doing custom work for clients, especially small businesses and bloggers. After working for a packaging company for two years and losing my job (right after finding out I was pregnant), I decided to take my business full time and I haven't looked back at the corporate world since.

KARLI | who is your biggest support?

 MADISON | Definitely my husband! He celebrates with me, encourages me and helps manage our little guy when I am behind and need to get extra work done. He's also works full time to support us while I'm building my business up!

KARLI | what's been your biggest win?

MADISION | I think my biggest win has been a set of events that have taken place over the last six months or so within my business. I hired a business coach, invested in a freelance business owners course, raised my prices and managed to book three months out for my design calendar. The last six months there has been a lot of a-ha moments of finally figuring out more about my business and where I want it to go.

 KARLI | any valuable lessons you've learned?

 MADISON | You hear it all the time as an entrepreneur that when you start investing in your business and raise your prices, you'll actually grow your business. I had been terrified to do that and alienate a certain demographic I had been attracting and when I finally did raise my prices and refine my packages, I really began to find my ideal clients. So I guess the valuable lesson is to stop procrastinating and actually raise those prices and reap the benefits! Another huge valuable lesson I've learned is that building a team is so important. Over the last year or so, I've hired a business coach, graphic designers, a copy writer, and a virtual assistant. Working with those contractors when needed has opened up my schedule SO much. I didn't think I could afford the investment, but I started to realize that the time I was taking to do those tasks that didn't bring me joy, was taking me away from spending time with my son, which wasn't a feeling that I loved. By investing in help, I have more time to do what I love, design websites and build brands plus family time, and I have to spend less time doing the mundane work I don't enjoy.

KARLI | what would you say to someone who wants to start their own small business?

 MADISON | Do it. If you are passionate about it, sit down, make a plan, make the small sacrifices and start building your dream career. It's so worth it!

KARLI | how do you balance your business and your babe?

MADISON | Before my son was born, I was a bit of a workaholic. I was literally always working and yet somehow always behind. After having my son, I was forced to slow down. I was forced to figure out how to work less, but still get more done. Ever since my son became mobile, I have stopped working while he's awake which has helped me to really focus on spending time together. So the balance comes in splitting my time by working during nap times and a few hours at night and being totally present when he's awake. It's helped me work smarter when I am working (instead of getting lost on Facebook for hours...ahem) and allowed me to relax and be fully present when I'm not working.

KARLI | where do you see Grace + Vine in the future?

MADISON | Keep growing! I would love to build out different packages to work with different levels of business owners and bloggers (beginners to established), design courses, build a video library of WordPress tutorials, so many things. I've learned to take it one step at a time and really learn to do one thing well before adding another.
______________________________

madison! thank you so much for reaching out and sharing your story for monday mama. you're super talented and i could definitely learn a thing or two! let's partner up on some projects one day. i'll do all your grunt work...nudge nudge...hint hint. ;)

friends - you can show her all the social media love just here...


______________________________

and hey! are you a mama or know of a mama who wants to be featured on Sept. Farm for the Monday Mama series? i'd absolutely love that. the only criteria is that you have to be a mama AND have started your own business...you know, so you can share your wealth of knowledge on how you're keeping your sh*t together while simultaneously tending your children throughout the day AND working. hello power-multi-tasker. just send me an e-mail at karli@sept-farm.com.