Business Inspiration from Ruthie Sommers

As I recently mentioned, I am only two weeks away from obtaining my Interior Decorating certificate. I should be dying of excitement, right? Instead, I'm finding myself nearly paralyzed.

You see, becoming an interior designer has been a dream of mine since I was 8 years old. I just never thought it would be something I would do as a career, and instead I spent years trying to find just what that career would be. Three career attempts later, in 2007 I finally took the leap and started taking design classes in order to make this dream into a reality.

After all this time, it does feel thrilling to see the light at the end of the tunnel, knowing that I am so close to finally doing what I believe I was meant to do. But instead of this light being bright and sunny, it's a bit gloomy. Blame it on this economy. All I hear is how designers are struggling to stay afloat and that nobody is hiring right now. People are telling me to stay put in a place where I don't want to be. I am seeing all of these roadblocks to having the life I want, and all of this negativity has been putting a damper on my spirits.

Source

Enter Ruthie Sommers, of Chapman Radcliff Home. Like many of us I'm sure, I've had a "design crush" on her since that first Domino cover. When I found out she is a UVA alum, like me, I was even more interested in learning more about her and how she got to where she is. Well, just today, in need of some positivity and motivation, I came across an article of how she built her business on Ladies Who Launch (great website btw).  

In the article, which you can read here, in addition to telling her story, she shares her secret to success:

That is exactly my problem: over-thinking. I analyze things like crazy, become so calculated in my actions that I allow fear to set in and it ends up stalling my progress. This needs to stop. I've been working too hard to just give up now. Sure, times may be a little tough right now, but it doesn't mean I can't continue to follow my dreams, or at least continue to take steps towards it. There are so many of us out there doing this as we speak, so it possible to do what you set out to do, regardless of the economy or other perceived roadblocks. I just need to stay positive and believe in myself! Thanks, Ruthie, for reminding me of this.


On that note, I hope you have a great weekend! I will be working on digging myself out of this funk and focus on what I need to do to succeed. If you have any words of advice on how you stay on track, I'd love to hear it!