Swimming into August

I am so glad you’re here. It’s been two years in the making, but I’ve finally created the first ever (and hopefully not the last) March and Bloom newsletter. It was created for small business owners and lovers of design, stories, and the occasional food reco. Grab an iced coffee and take a read.

I had sketched this idea out so many times and yet hadn't been inspired to actually MAKE and WRITE it – two crucial components to a newsletter, right?! Then it all came to me on a Wednesday morning while watching aqua-coloured tiles pass slowly below me at 6:47am (which is a rarity as I’m normally asleep at this time) while swimming laps at my local leisure centre pool. The plan: I’ll set a word of the month to focus on and that will dictate my writing topic. I do better when it comes to a category to focus on (unsurprisingly, Scattergories is one of my favourite board games of all times). So, I bet you won’t be surprised when I tell you that the word of August is SWIM.

Just Breathe

Swim? I know, you’re wondering what swimming has to do with branding and graphic design. Well, as I was in the slow lane one morning, thinking in my head “stroke, stroke, stroke, BREATHE, stroke, stroke, stroke…” (you get it) and it came to me. Swimming feels a lot like running my small business: I needed to start with the basics and keep up those basics. I’ve told my youngest son many times that swimming is really only three key elements: arms, kicks, breathing. You have to work on each one separately first and THEN you put them all together and try to keep afloat.

And like in my design business over the past 4 years, I’ve gone from trying to figure out the basic elements (of which there are WAY more than three) to putting ALL the pieces together and trying to do more than just keep afloat. I’m trying to make even strokes with my arms (consistency), take as few breaths as possible to maximize energy (work smarter not harder), reminding myself to kick a little harder (propose those clients that seem out of reach). Oh and try to stay on my side of the lane as there are swimmers coming in the opposite direction (IT problems! Taxes!)! Oh and don’t crush your hand into the lane separator that divides me from the fast lane adjacent to me (overworking)! Oh and don’t be jealous of those flying by in that fast lane, they are doing their own thing and I’m doing mine. Just like in this design world, I see others and think “whoa, they have some really amazing clients and wow, check their work out and wow, they seem to always have their sh*t together”. But you know what, we are all in our own lane – they are in theirs and I’m in mine and you’re probably in yours and isn’t that what makes this beautiful world go ‘round?

Thanks for swimming along this month with me and I’ll see you in September! AND if you have a moment, I’d love to hear your feedback when you finish reading it all!