Since you guys seemed to enjoy the awkward blog so much I thought that I would attempt to entertain you with another slightly embarrassing story about the challenges of starting my own business.
Added bonus…this story comes with a big finish and a massive announcement…at least massive in my world.
Here it comes…
One of the most terrifying things through this whole process of starting a business…in fact THE thing that kept me from moving for a long time…is…THE POST OFFICE!!!
I know…it’s absurd…ridiculous…irrational…I’m sure it’s lots of other things too but I can’t think of anymore right now.
I think it has something to do with the way I grew up. We moved a lot, and I spent quite a bit of time growing up in third word countries. When I moved back to the US for college there were lots of things that scared me…and not like made me uncomfortable or I just things I didn’t like to do…but legit scared me….
Sometime I will share with you stories of how I overcame my fear of the grocery store…lets just say it includes tearful phone calls to my mother from the parking lot and once I even abandoned a full shopping cart at the checkout line because I realized I didn’t know if you were suppose to bag things yourself or not so I panicked and fled!
So, this week I started thinking about how scared i am to actually open frippery house because it means I have to mail things. And I decided to conquer my fear step by step…just like I did the grocery store…hopefully without any tearful phone calls to my mom from the parking lot…I am 35 now…I can do this!!!
So this week I “practiced” going to the post office.
I had a pep talk with a friend who has an Etsy store, I read every blog I could, I read the USPS website, I weighed my package…I spent 24 hours prepping myself…and then I decided to give it a try.
So, I opened my Etsy store…posted 1…and only one…item for a dear friend and 24 hours later I was on my way to the post office!
Oh, and this week was also monumental in that I opened my Etsy store made my first sale AND sold out the store!
I took help to the post office with me…a 10 and a 9 year old so that they could encourage me and we could all learn together. The lady at the post office was SUPER helpful and she did a great job of helping me figure out where to start with shipping. She treated me like I was a normal person just starting a business and figuring things out.
When we decided on the best option she typed in the address…and my cover was blown…I was literally mailing my package across the street…I was not normal!
She asked me why I didn’t just hand deliver it, especially since we had already established I was with the children of the recipient…save myself some money. I told her I needed to practice…she looked at me funny…and then we all laughed.
The next day the package arrived and my mission was deemed a success…I have conquered the post office…and now that the final piece has fallen into place I am filled with the confidence to make my massive announcement and take the next step for Frippery House…
Tuesday, August 23 – FripperyHouse.com
will go live and my first line of jewelry will be available for purchase
I’m super excited and I’ll be super busy the next 10 days getting ready with lots of sneak peaks and more dedication pages for you guys.
omg!!! well then… this post had me in all sorts of emotions!! haha def made me laugh– I hate uncertain things too!!! but it’s good to see you bab step your fears! haha and the surprise twist of where the package was going hahaha nice =D and wowww am I so excited to see your store up!!!! congrats friend! this is the beginning of something AMAZING!
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Hey Katie, have you researched stamps.com ? From what I’ve heard it’s like having a post office at home.
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I have! I’ve researched a bunch of different options but for now I think I’m going to stick w going to the post office so that I can get over this fear!
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