Jodi: Mommy’s going to be a what?!

I took part in my first teleconference today and I rocked it! I’m 39 and I was genuinely terrified to do this call. My husband who has done a thousand of these calls is out of town so I didn’t even have him to lean on. I was on my own. Just me. Okay, let me back up a bit.

I’m going to be a Creativity Coach. An actual Kaizen Muse! This time last year I was a burnt-out daycare provider. I was also an uber-talented photographer (in my own mind) and a wannabe writer. I needed a change. Badly. I felt like I was going to explode. I made the decision to close my daycare and be happily unemployed until I figured out what my next move was. In September 2010 I started my blog, Living Life Photographically. In November 2010 I opened up my first Etsy shop and filled it with my best prints. I joined a few teams and held my breath. I’d never sold anything before and had no idea what I was doing.

One morning in March 2011 I finally got my first sale from a stranger for one of my prints. I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. I hollered for my hubby to come downstairs to confirm that what I was looking at was my first sale. It was indeed, I’d made my first $30 from my photography! I sold a few more prints after that and I continued to blog my butt off. My readership grew to in the 400’s and I was now lining up guest posters and conversing regularly with some crazy talented women. In the meanwhile I had come across Studio Mothers and Miranda graciously said yes when I e-mailed her to see I was Studio Mother material. I discovered (and have a total girl crush on) Goddess Leonie. I joined her forum and started networking there.

I then got the itch to do something a bit more hands-on with my photography. I’d created my ‘Write’ print and it was selling fantastically. I wanted to be able to offer it to those who didn’t want it as a print. Long story short, I got into the jewelry biz. I shrunk down my images and made jewelry from them. My jewelry then started to outsell my photography so I closed up my Photography by Jodi shop and opened up Creative Life Designs. I transferred over my favorite prints and sold them in this shop instead. It was the best decision. I maintain 1 shop and sales are steadily growing. I was officially a WAHM. I was making my own money!

But something was still missing. I was using my hands to fill my creative need but my brain was craving more. I then came across Miranda’s coaching site and filled out her questionnaire about my creative habits. It took me 45 minutes and I tried to be as honest as possible. It was while answering these questions that I realized I wanted to do more for my fellow creatives. If I could, at 39, have so much fun writing for my blogs (I started a 2nd blog, Creative Life Designs), enjoying my photography and making jewelry, why couldn’t others have this same opportunity? I know that sounds simplistic. I know that not everyone can quit their job tomorrow to pursue their dreams, but what if I could give them a gentle nudge to at least consider this possibility? And if they considered it, what if I could help them realize it?

I was them. I’m still them. I could help them. I could help ease them into a creative life. I could help them realize that they are worth the effort.

I needed some credentials. I was positive that “Mom to 4 who has dabbled in a thousand creative areas” was not going to get me clients. I hit my bookshelves. I waited for a sign. It came one day in the form of Jill Badonsky’s The Awe-Manac. When I opened up that yellow book and read what was inside, I knew I’d found my calling. I could not get to her website quick enough! It had to be fate that she had a Kaizen Muse Creativity Coaching session coming up in less than 6 weeks. And then I stopped dead in my tracks. Unlike all the other courses online that I’ve paid for and taken, this one required that I e-mail her and tell her why I should be accepted into the course. I sat and stared at my laptop screen. What in goddess’s name would I tell her to convince her? I had no background in this field and haven’t had a “regular” job in 7 years. I walked away from my laptop. Defeated. I moped all evening. I finally convinced myself to try again the next day — what was she going to do? Ridicule me? Not answer my plea? I wrote what was in my heart and she replied a few hours later.

“You wrote a beautiful application and you are wonderfully suited for this training. I think you will be thrilled with it. You have a great experience in the creative process and I can tell, a full heart. This model combines the spiritual with the scientific and you seem to be dwelling in those realms as well.”

I was in! I couldn’t believe it. I hadn’t told anyone, hubby included, in case she turned me down. Now I had to convince my hubby that I would be the best Creativity Coach that the coaching world has ever seen. Gulp. I turned on the charm and here I am. I have the textbooks, I have a brand-new funky binder filled with my Code of Ethics and lesson material. I bought new highlighters. I love to highlight!

I love my life and I adore my hubby and kids, but, I am educated and I need to be doing more. I have a spark now that I have not had in years and it feels fantastic! I feel fantastic! I can’t wait to see where this journey leads me…here I go!

Learning the Kaizen Way.