Hello lovelies! 

It's been a crazy couple of months that none of us expected to happen. Who knew 2020 meant we had to tackle a global pandemic and economic collapse?! It's wild to say these things out loud, no matter how long we've been cooped up in our homes, you can't help but feel some disbelief in the current state of things. But we must go on in our own pace and in our own way.

Back in March I had a full time job to help support my WASI business. It helped me financially to pay the bills while having more room to produce what I would like. The goal was to eventually take WASI full time later on in the year, but the universe had a different plan. Late March I ended up getting furloughed from that full time job and panic mode went into full effect! So many questions were popping up in my head. Is WASI going to be enough to get me by? What other side hustle can I do to make income? Can I even do any other side hustle in this lockdown? Can I do WASI full time?

All these fear based, doubtful questions clouded my brain and after sleeping on it, I woke up the next morning and quickly worked to adapt to this new normal. I saw the blessing in disguise for my personal journey. I could now do what I've been wanting to do, TAKE WASI FULL TIME! And that is exactly what I did. I started to sketch more, put more work into marketing, spoke to customers more, promoted more, worked on videos, got on tik tok! All this time I was so fearful to take that leap of faith for my business, and when that was forced upon me, I saw how great this was for me. I needed that push to realize that I can make this happen. That I always could make it work. I am a person who is so rational, likes to plan and panics the moment things don't go according to plan. I'm a hesitant, cautious person when it comes to running a business and for good reason. I saw my parents go through the 2008 recession and I saw first hand what it did to their small business growing up. But when you run a business, as wise and as logical as you are with your decisions, you also have to take bold leaps of faith to have a successful business, so here I am, 2 1/2 months into quarantine and my business is thriving! 

As grateful as I am of this growth, it did not come without sleepless nights, and hard work. When you start your own business, know that the beginning of it means you need to be ok with doing everything! Know all the skills, you don't have to the master of all but be a jack of all trades. It will help you in the long run if you know how to edit photos, know photoshop, lightroom, know your way around shopify/web design, have knowledge on marketing, graphics etc. This way you can do things in your business rather than sourcing out and adding expenses to your business. I know not all people have the same story as mine but take my story as a learning canvas of how things can go smoother when you start a business or want to grow your already existing business. I am lucky to have worked in the fashion industry for a decade before starting my own clothing brand. So these are the skills I already had when starting my business: 

1. Photoshop skills

2. Illustrator skills

3. Knew my way around a DSLR

4. Had experience in mock designs and linesheets

5. Experience designing lookbooks

6. Knowledge on casting models 

7. Sewing skills, pattern making, designing, garment construction

8. Screen printing & DTG printing knowledge

9. Extensive Pre production and post production experience 

10. Skills at sourcing textiles and trims 

But then here is a list of things I added to my skill set when starting my business. I chose to take time to learn these skills so I could do them myself rather than sourcing out: 

1. Self taught in Lightroom 

2. Learning video marketing knowledge 

3. Researched how to advertise and run ads through various platforms 

4. Definitely had to learn how to start a business with California sales & tax laws

5. Practiced my beginner skills on graphic design and am now extremely     proficient and graphic design everything for WASI

6. Self taught on Procreate

With all this shared info, I hope I leave you with a sense of hope, determination, intimidation and passion for success! All these things are necessary to push yourself towards your goals of running a business. No one goes into this as a know it all. We take our skills we do know and expand from there and teaching yourself new skills is ok and so necessary. Thank you for tuning in. Stay safe and keeping dreaming BIG! Chase that growth. 

Much love 

Vanessa - Wasi