Posts Tagged ‘business creativity’

What do you do?

When someone asks that question to most people, the response is simple: they do what they are paid to do…their J-O-B. But, for a small group of people, what they do and what they get paid to do are two very different things. A growing trend has formed, people who have a day job that pays their bills, and a secondary job, one that they are passionate about but doesn’t make them much (or any) money.

The following 3 women all have real jobs, they all work very hard in their companies but all have a passion for something else. They want to do something bigger than just work in an office…

In order to learn more about them, and what they do vs what they are paid for, I interviewed each one. Below are their answers, straight from them, about what they do, why they do it and what they hope for in the future…

Kristin Ausk, Meringue Bakeshop

1. When did you first realize that you loved to bake? I was going through some really stressful times 5 years ago. I’d just gotten married, moved to a new city away from all my friends and family, changed jobs, bought a house, became a landlord, and I was becoming overwhelmed by it all. I found that baking gave me an opportunity to forget my stresses and just be in the moment while I was mixing and testing and tasting recipes. It helped relieve some of my stress and I felt really relaxed and comfortable in the kitchen. And the best part was being able to share my creations with others. I loved the way it made me feel to make someone happy even for just a moment.
2. When did you decide to turn it into a business? I decided to turn it into a business when I started getting asked by coworkers, friends and family if I could bake them cupcakes and cakes for their personal events. I started to get more serious about my baking – recipe testing, learning more about the chemistry of the ingredients, started to look at what I was doing from a business perspective. I also really enjoyed knowing that my little creations were helping to make someones day even more special.
3. What has been the biggest frustration with your business? The biggest frustration hands down has to be finding a county approved commercial kitchen to use that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. Los Angeles has a great program called Chef’s Kitchens were small businesses can rent out kitchens based on their needs -hourly, weekly or monthly. I found that there is nothing like that in Orange County. It’s a shame too because I get so many emails from other people like me in Orange County wanting to move their home kitchen hobby into an official business. Candy, cake pops, cakes, homemade jams, salsas, snack mixes. All this opportunity for new small food businesses in Orange County (and nationally really if you consider online food sales) and we can’t find a space to make our businesses grow.
4. What is the biggest accomplishment? Hmm…. can I say it hasn’t happened yet? I recently decided to participate in the LA Cupcake Challenge, Feb 20 at the Renaissance Hotel in Hollywood. It’s a daunting task but I think it will be really fun and a great opportunity for me and my business. I will be competing against some other great cupcake bakeries and other smaller custom cupcakeries from Orange County and LA County. They are expecting to get over 550 attendees with media from OC Register, Orange Coast Magazine, OC Weekly, LA Weekly, LA Times, Metromix, LA.com, Eater LA, Foodbuzz, Flavorpill, Gayot, about two dozen food bloggers and possibly KTLA. I think it is going to be a real challenge for me to pull this off but well worth it in the end. Definitely using some of my vacation days for this one! If I can pull this off, that will definitely be my biggest accomplishment to date.
5. What do you do IRL, and when can you imagine doing this more full time? My day job consists of me sitting at a computer in an office working on SEO, SEM, our company websites (4), doing research, and email marketing for my company and our franchises. I am a Marketing Manager. In a perfect world, I’d be able to run Meringue Bake Shop full-time within the next year but in reality, that isn’t going to happen. My current job is just too lucrative for me to give up at this time, in this economy. I’d love to be able to work par- time so that I could participate in local farmers markets but again, not going to happen. Do I think I would succeed as a store front? Yes, definitely. But I don’t have the financial backing that I would need to make that dream into a reality right now.
6. What else can you tell us about Meringue Bakeshop? I know that there is a lot of buzz out there about cupcakes and how it’s just a fade. And quite a few people open up shops just because, it’s the latest trend. I am not that person. I truly love baking, whether it’s cupcakes, cookies, cakes, muffins, bars, biscotti, pies, etc. I like working with my hands, the sound of the mixer, the smell of the ingredients. I strive to make Meringue Bake Shop that place you come to for all the great moments in your life – your graduation, your wedding, get that great client in your business, birthdays, your baby shower, then baby’s first birthday. That is what I love about baking the most – sharing these moments with you. When I open a store front, I want to be that neighborhood business, a business that is involved in the community and knows their customers. I know someday it will happen. That is why I chose to name by business Bake Shop, which I know can be confusing for some people because I don’t have a store front. But I am a forward thinker see?

B the Gossip Girl

1. Why did you decide to start the site? I hadn’t been able to find a site that supported community amongst women, while still embracing the feminine. I wanted a site where women could go to detox and let their hair down a little bit. That’s what Gossip Girl B offers, a place where no topic is off limits. Gossip Girl B provide an environment where women can have fun, laugh, while supporting each other. So often I think women forget we are on the same team, we are always competing with one another. Gossip Girl B provides the best girl talk you will find online, you can compare it to having drinks or coffee with your best gal pals.
2. What has been the most powerful article you have written? I have a section called on my mind and it’s my own personal soap box. I try not to stand on it too often, but it does happen from time to time. Hula Dancer Pilgrim Girl was an article that really got me to thinking. The woman I wrote the article about inspired me in a way that no one had in a long time. She made me stop an evaluate how serious we take our lives and how much fun we are really missing out on.
3. What about email you have received? E-mails can get pretty interesting. My favorites are the ones where I get asked out on dates. I get about 20 of those a week from people across the country. It’s sweet and I always reply with a very gracious, thanks but no thanks. I would say the “love letter” type e-mails have picked up since I started writing The Dating Diaries and everyone knows I’m back in the land of the singles. I do love to travel so who knows, maybe if I happen to be in the area of one of my “love letter” e-mails I will taken them up on their offer for dinner. Love in the blogosphere, now wouldn’t that make for a good article.
4. What do you do IRL, and when can you imagine doing this more full time? In real life, I’m a writer. It’s a little more cut and dry, press release and web content, stuff like that. It pays for my shoe fetish, but doesn’t really light that fire in my belly. I also just finished a novel that I’m wrapping up with edits. Fingers crossed I will be able to find and agent who believes in it as much as I do. Gossip Girl B however is where my heart is. It started out as a hobby and has grown into a passion. If my projections work out within the next year and a half the blog will be a more full time gig.
5. What else can you tell us about B the Gossip Girl? I’m simply a 25 year old woman with a dream and I want to get there in fabulous shoes. I drag my laptop and camera with me everywhere I go, but most of my writing is done from the comfort of my sofa with my long haired Chihuahua, Edward, on my lap. Everything to me is a potential blog or storyline, so it makes life even more interesting. Everyone in my life knows the disclaimer, if you are around me there is a very real chance you are going to get blogged about. I am who I am and I never make apologies for that, and that’s the exact philosophy I want my readers to have. I live my life, I make mistakes, and I keep learning every single day. If at the end of the day while I’m lying in bed I can say I learned something or I’m a better person, then the days events no matter how hard were worth it.

Trish Forant, eMailourMiliatary

1. Why did you decide to start eMailOurMilitary? I was working a mundane job in IT and 9/11 made me take a hard look at myself and ask “what difference am I making in the world?” “What legacy would I leave behind if I died today?” “Who have I REALLY helped?” I wanted to do something to help after 9/11 but like many people I had to work full-time so flying to NY and volunteering wasn’t an option. When I heard the DoD canceled the “Any Service Member” mail program due to force protection concerns, I knew I could step in and fill the void. It was perfect for anyone who wanted to more but couldn’t spend hours volunteering.
2. What has been the most powerful thing you have seen happen because of the site? The building of a community that doesn’t take party affiliation, race, religion, nationality or logistics into account. I’ve seen our community band together to help wounded warriors, veterans in need, and active duty military far from home.
3. What has been the toughest thing about this site/passion? Disconnecting can be really tough. My heart breaks each time I see the statistics on how many of our service members aren’t making it home or are coming home physically and mentally wounded for life.
4. What do you do IRL, and can you imagine making a profit from eMailOurMilitary? I don’t know what the future holds financially for eMail Our Military but I haven’t taken a paycheck in 9 years so I’m sure I would start now. When I’m not in the eMOM office I’m working my social media mojo as a social media consultant and of course, I’m a full-time mom to a 4 and 5 year old. (I also have one totally cool 20 year old too!)
5. What else can you tell us about eMailOurMilitary? eMail Our Military makes it easy for anyone who wants to support the troops to do so from the comfort of their computer chair. We’re always looking for service members who are in need of support and civilians to support them.

I want to say a big thank you to these women for their time and answers! After talking with each of them and learning more about what they do, I learned something very important – if you love something enough, a paycheck doesn’t matter as much…

Do you do something for the pure passion? Share your story in the comments as well!

I know that everyone has a different reason for reading my blog, or for writing their own. But, after spending the last 6 months working on this one, I have figured out that there is one main point that I have to think about: Am I creative for me or my readers? The answer is, and must be, both!

I *try* to write everyday for those 2 reasons: me and my readers. It is important for me to think about both when writing, because if I lose one, I will lose automatically lose the other. A blog can not function without readers. Okay, it can, it just won’t have the same results. And it absolutely can’t function without posts.

For example; If I were to stop writing for me (or about things that I care about) I would have no desire to write. No desire = no posts. No posts = no readers. On the other side, if I were to start losing my readers, I would do one of two things: think that people have gone crazy or think that my writing has become poor. Either way, I would change what I was writing about to try to attract people back, in turn, I would now not be writing for me and wouldn’t want to write anyway! Which means no readers = no desire, and using the transitive property we already know, no desire = no posts. (Wow, my alegebra teacher would be porud of me!).

Vicious circle, I know.

So – how do you stop it from happening? The simplest answer: make sure that whatever reason you have for writing is fulfilled and you can avoid the trap of the transitive property!

For me, that means that I make sure that I like what I write, why I write it and the conclusion I make.  It also means that I try to pose questions, stimulate conversation and write about things that can help the people who read my blog.  People don’t come back to be bored, they come back to find ideas, motivation and inspiration.

What does it mean for you? What is your reason for writing? Do you think my formula is crazy or brilliant (or neither)? Feel free to share with me on how I can share better with you!