pursue your dreams: melissa of bubby and bean

Pursue Your Dreams is a weekly mini-series brought to you by a handful of talented handmade artists, bloggers, small business owners, and ladies who are chasing hard after their dreams. The series focuses on 3 insights they've learned about staying inspired, dealing with negativity, business tips, blogging, setting goals, marketing yourself, and more!

Hey, you guys! Many thanks to Jenny for inviting me to be a part of this inspiring series! My name is Melissa Baswell Williams and I'm a Chicago-based blogger and designer. I'm also a traveler, a music lover, a wife, and most recently, a mama (my favorite pursued dream so far!). I started my first small business,

Mountains of the Moon Eco-Fashion

almost fourteen years ago, and then a little over three years ago, opened up two other businesses:

Bubby and Bean Art

, and the

Bubby and Bean lifestyle blog

, which is now my biggest focus of the three. Although I'd be lying if I said being an entrepreneur was without its challenges, I'm incredibly grateful to be able to do what I love. It's also important to me to encourage others to fight through the setbacks and use road bumps as motivation to make their dreams realities. Today I'm going to share three tips based on lessons I've learned over the years as a small business owner.

1 // Accepting change can open new doors

At some point, there will be a time where you'll be forced to make changes within your business(es), or even in your career. If you're mentally prepared for the possibility of change and willing to accept it rather than fight it, you can use it to your advantage rather than allowing it to crush you. I faced some major struggles with my clothing line when the eco trend became huge, and then again after the economy crashed, and I spent a lot of time trying to fight a losing battle because I didn't want things to change. I burned myself out and felt really miserable for a while. When I finally let go, allowed myself to branch out in new directions, and made the decision to be open to what came out of it with a positive attitude, amazing things happened. New projects formed out of this change, and although I now divide my time between several businesses rather than just one, I somehow have more time to enjoy life. I'm also more creatively fulfilled than I ever was before.

2 // Embracing your mistakes will make you a better business owner

James Joyce said, "Mistakes are the portals of discovery." I started my first company with absolutely no business knowledge (I have an acting/theatre degree!), and I made all sorts of mistakes. And I still make them all the time. When you're unhappy with the outcome of a business decision, instead of feeling discouraged, use it to your advantage. In life, we learn by doing. Mistakes help us gain wisdom and are essential to improvement. The same can be applied to running your business or blog. This can be a hard pill to swallow, especially in blogging where there is so much pressure to appear "perfect." But ultimately, as with life, it's our scars and flaws that make us unique. You will be faced with situations where you regret choices you've made for your business, but try to view them as awesome learning experiences. Creative businesses are full of heart and soul, and I feel that it is real experiences - both good and bad - that make them that way. The trials and tribulations you face with your business or blog are what end up giving your company character and making you a wiser and more seasoned business owner/blogger.

3 // Taking time off to enjoy life is crucial

I'm going to be honest here and tell you straight up that this was the hardest lesson for me and the concept that took the longest for me to grasp. And in the end, I think it's the most important of all. For more years than I care to admit, I worked every single day, from very early to very late, including on the weekends. No matter how much you love your job or how motivated you are to pursue your dreams, this is no way to live, and it usually backfires. I had convinced myself that the only way I could really succeed was to devote myself completely to my career. And you know what? I really burned myself out, I missed out on a lot of fun, and my work suffered as a result. Thankfully, I did allow myself to travel during the workaholic years, and it was on trips that I always felt the most inspired. Eventually I saw a pattern in how much more productive I was at work after allowing myself to enjoy life away from it. Now I take weekends off, and I try to limit my work weeks to 40 hours max. Having practice with a more healthy life/work balance also made the transition to work-at-home mom easier for me. (I don't know how I would have handled a new baby with my old work ethic!) It's not always easy to create a good balance when you do what you love for a living, because the line between business and pleasure in your life becomes blurry. But if you can establish a clean, clear line between time for what you do for a living, and time for what you do at living, I really believe that your chances at success are greater - whether you're just in the planning stages, or you're already established.