Two Year Anniversary

Hi, guys! I can't believe it, but today marks the two year anniversary of Storyland Amis! It was two years ago on November 30th that I opened up my Etsy shop and started sharing my creations with the world! I had been preparing for my big opening for months, almost a year to be exact. I wanted everything in my shop to be designed by me and I wanted to be prepared and have a lot of inventory before I started. Plus, before November 24th I hadn't even graduated from high school yet, and my parents wanted me to wait on opening my shop until after then. (Being homeschooled, we had our school year from January to October, hence the reason I graduated in November.) I remember how excited and nervous I was listing my first two products which happened to be a tiny Princess Leia, and a tiny Eeyore, and then opening up my shop for business! It looked extremely shabby at first with a blurry shop banner and only two products, but it was mine and I was so proud of it! I also remember how surprised I was when I got my first listing view on my tiny Eeyore. I was like, "Wow, someone's already looking at my stuff!" It took two agonizingly long weeks before I finally sold something - a tiny monkey to Hawaii. That was one of the most exciting and invigorating mornings of my life! If you have a small business you know just how exciting it is to make that first sale. I still get excited whenever I sell something, but that sale had me smiling from ear to ear. Can you relate? Business was really, really slow for me for about three or four months and I got extremely discouraged at times, thinking that maybe this wasn't going to work after all. But then the custom orders starting rolling in from people who wanted to buy a lot and were willing to pay my price. Then I got on Instagram and other social media and things started looking up! Now here I am two years later with not only an Etsy shop but my very own website and a large and wonderfully supportive following on Instagram that give me encouragement and keep me going! I never dreamed I would be here. I love doing what I do even more now than I did two years ago. My style has evolved and things keep changing, but I'm grateful for every moment! I'm thankful to my parents who have supported me from the very beginning and to my older sister, Heather who had an Etsy shop before me and taught me so many things about running a business. Seriously, guys, if you're thinking of starting your own Etsy shop, talk to someone who already has one and get some advice before plunging in! I got a huge jump start on my business with my sister's advice. I'm also so thankful to God for answering my many prayers about my shop. I am passionate about what I do and I could talk about my business for hours, but I'll stop now. I'm thankful, though, that I can share my thoughts here on my blog! Thanks for continuing to follow along on this journey! I can't wait to see where God takes Storyland Amis! ~Holly :) Follow my blog with Bloglovin or subscribe via email! The post “Two Year Anniversary” first appeared on Storyland Amis