I don’t know what I’m doing - and I feel like you should know that

I don’t really know if that comes as a shock to anyone 😅
But most days I REALLY don’t feel like I know what I’m doing. I am kinda just throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks. I’ve learned a few things over the years, and I’ve invested in education and systems to grow myself and this business. So I don’t know if I actually don’t know what I’m doing or if it’s kinda the same things as that weird age feeling where suddenly you're 36 and in charge of 3 kids but also feel like you aren’t even a real adult yet and still don’t wanna call to make doctor’s appointments. That’s basically every day - I get annoyed when someone acts like I don’t know what I’m doing, then when I have to be the one to do all the things, and there is no one to ask questions to, I feel like I have no clue what I’m doing! Truly, life is just weird, and being a busy mom and owner of multiple businesses doesn’t help.
Anyway, I’m gonna just ramble and hope you keep up, hear my heart, and maybe there will be some sort of encouragement or call to action; I don’t know.

Business in 2026 is wild. As I said up there, I don’t know if it’s me being crazy or if it’s because the world is actually currently crazy and I’m navigating things that only I am in charge of. But business is something: it’s hard, and beautiful, exciting, and exhausting; it’s thriving yet deeply not working. And that roller coaster is beginning to feel like it might just be too much. Not because I want to throw in the towel, but because I don’t know how much having 37 people seeing our social media, less than 3% of our email list clicking things, and countless weekends of ZERO people walking through our doors will actually keep working well enough to pay the bills. I honestly am amazed we have kept our doors open the way we have; it feels like that bible story where somehow the widow’s oil never runs out. We have consistently had just what we need to pay the bills, and that is all I can ask for. What an actual blessing to have a business that pays its own bills! A business that has built relationships and has tried and succeeded in doing new meaningful things in the community. So I don’t want this post to be a “woe is me” thing; I really just want it to be a “real” thing. I’m not sad, but I do feel like I owe it to you to be real. I knew that we either needed to gain more customers or we would eventually move along to the next adventure. Not a failure, just the end of something. I’m not sure this feels like the end, but it does feel like something isn’t working. Our fall classes are not even at our minimum capacity. How can we have a record-breaking summer camp season yet our classes can’t even fill up to the point that we can pay for materials? It feels surreal that those two things can happen within 60 days of each other. But if our classes are not the thing we are meant to be offering, that’s okay; we aren’t gonna shutter our windows just yet. I’m not sure what we will do, but I think we can hobble along a little longer. However, I can’t keep offering things that aren’t working. I wish I had the funds to just do things because I like it, and some other people like it.
So this fall really feels like it’s going to be an eye-opening season for us. Will we make it over that 3-year mark that so many businesses can’t make it past? Or will we be another small business lost to online shopping, Ai, busy schedules, and social media algorithms? I don’t know. I truly don’t know and I don’t know what we can do - I wish I could tell you I had a game plan. Right now my plan is to keep going, tough it out, hustle hard, try and trust big. But I can tell you right now that if something doesn’t change this fall and holiday season, I do believe the studio will have to make some massive changes; I won’t go away completely, but 2027 will be different one way or the other.
Again, please don’t take this as a woe-is-me thing; don’t rush to the studio and purchase things you don’t need, don’t sign up for classes and make your schedule even busier than it already is. But as you think about the studio and what it has meant to you, maybe say a prayer, share with a friend, send ideas, or just be kind as we navigate how to walk this thin line of a beautifully hard business ownership. I hope somehow this keeps going; I hope we miraculously have just enough to get us to where we are going next. As my friend, I wanted you to know, because if things change, I want my friends to know why. I don’t want you to feel like your investment in the studio was for nothing. You have been what has held us here for over 3 years. You have been the reason we have held countless events and created seemingly endless pieces of art; you are just as much part of this business as I am. So thank you for sticking it out with an almost 36-year-old that doesn’t really know what she is doing. I’ve loved every second, and I’m praying we get so many more together.