A New Red Door

Before the baby arrived, we wanted to complete a slew of home improvement projects: a new fence, a paved driveway, and a freshly painted house. I convinced my husband that a red door would look fabulous, and of course I was right. But as I got home that day to see it for the first time, I got a little choked up. It was because Roseville Designs paid for this door. As creative business owners, we don’t work simply for the money. Of course it’s important, but the main drive has to be passion for what we do; otherwise failure is imminent. In a recent webinar hosted by Ashlee Proffitt, she discussed the importance of defining what success means to you in your business. I thought about it again when the bill came for the housework, and I made a hefty transfer from my business account to my personal one to cover the costs. This, I thought, was success: doing what you love for a living. Let’s be clear, Roseville’s not buying The Shannon Family summer home in Nantucket any time soon. And a formula that works now will most likely need to be reevaluated as life changes and an industry shifts. If there’s one important lesson I’ve learned as a small business owner, it’s that you can’t rest on your laurels. You’ve got to stay hungry + motivated.

But today I decided to bask in the glory a bit, as the sun shined on my new red door.