LEAF LANE STUDIO IS THREE! | MY BUSINESS STORY

Yesterday marked Leaf Lane Studios third birthday (whoop whoop!), I can’t believe it to be honest! It is one of those feelings where you say to people ‘it’s gone by so fast’ and then, on reflection you think that it feels like forever too! You know that feeling right?

Starting a business is kind of like starting a new relationship; you have to learn so many new things and work out how you are going to exist within it; you face times where you just don’t understand what is happening and definitely times where you are too exhausted to continue. But then you get these amazing highs, times where you feel like you are working together, things just flow and magic happens.

Business is tough though, that much I know, but I honestly wouldn’t want to change it for anything.

I remember exactly when I decided I wanted to work for myself; I was driving to my full time ‘muggle job’ (someone in my coaching group calls it that and it always makes me laugh!), it was about 6.15am, I was exhausted and just not feeling like I wanted to put on a smile that particular day. I actually really loved where I worked and the people I worked with; we had so many laughs, but where I struggled was that I always felt like I was jack of all trades and master of none. I felt like I was expending so much energy and never seeing many results from it. Anyway, back to my morning epiphany… I was listening to a business podcast, ‘Being Boss’, and loving how independent, knowledgeable and sassy the two girls sounded. They talked about everything about their businesses, reflecting back on the beginning and how hard it was and compared it to where they were then. I found it so exciting and it ignited a fire in my soul. I downloaded as many business podcasts as I could find, listening to them on my hours drive to work and back again and began to form some ideas of what I might like to do.

Quite honestly, and I always say this, because hindsight is a wonderful thing, if I had started sooner, Leaf Lane Studio would be well over five years old by now, but I was a bit slow getting my shit together because I was so fearful. I felt like I needed to know everything about everything that would end up making my business run. On reflection I definitely realise that isn’t possible, but at the time I think I was just self sabotaging and trying to prevent myself taking the leap if I am honest!

I still love painting these personalised, botanical initials so much! Find them HERE!

I had a very fortunate thing happen to me, which made all the difference; I was lucky enough to get some free business coaching with a lovely soul called Gemma (who is now a firm friend of mine). It was free because she was launching a new offering and I think (if I remember right!) needed a couple of people to test her coaching package on. Whatever the reason, I honestly don’t know if this business would exist without Gemma, she kicked my butt and I have so much to thank her for.

The biggest changed happened when Joe and I moved to Cornwall, our dream location, and it was that move and Gemma’s coaching that forced my business hand! Gemma always said to me that starting a business was the easy part, it was the running of it that was the hard part and I always used to think ‘how can it be hard, surely starting is the hardest thing!’, but of course she was right!

I had some serious fear-hurdles to jump before I could even launch the business, which scared me to the point of almost not doing the thing at all. Looking back they were utterly ridiculous, but I thought I would share them in case it helps you in any way!

• Suppliers | I was so unsure where to turn to get my wedding stationery products printed and even more terrified of what I needed to do in order to prepare my products to go to print. This was my biggest hurdle for sure. I felt embarrassed that I didn’t know more, but I soon realised that was normal and I wasn’t meant to automatically just know how to do it all! Three years later and I have definitely built on my knowledge but, more importantly, I am much better at asking questions. It’s also worth noting that sometimes you can do everything right your end and something will still go wrong! You have to just learn from the situation and move on (and find new suppliers if you have been really annoyed!).

• Branding | As much as I did the research for what I wanted Leaf Lane Studio to be, it is something that is still evolving. I have a few things I am still shaping to form my vision even now, so I guess my point is that you will never be fully perfect when it comes to launching (in my opinion). A great example of that is my first website where, looking back, I really just threw things all on the home page and didn’t think too much about SEO either. I am by no means an expert now, I have a lot to learn, but I think you just adapt to each season of your business. The website design I have today was still done by me (thanks to Squarespace templates or else I would be lost!), has plenty of room for improvement but I feel like I am earning my stripes by going through these processes. Maybe one day I will be able to pay someone else to do all the design but for now I like doing it for myself/have to do it myself anyway! I highly recommend Fiona Humberstones branding books ‘How to Style Your Brand’ and ‘Brand Brilliance’ if you want some help; they are my faves!

• Impostor Syndrome | We have all suffered from this, but it will paralyse you if you let it. I am not convinced that this is something that will ever truly vanish for me (or anyone actually) but I feel like I am getting better at dealing with it. The first thing is this: don’t let it stop you from starting. At the beginning I spent hours looking at other peoples wedding stationery and admiring it and feeling ‘less than’ in comparison, and that still happens, but I feel it is so important to not judge anothers story on the chapter you come in on. If you are just starting, you are on chapter one, so comparing yourself to someone who is ten years in is utterly pointless. I had to reach a point where I just stopped looking. These days I look at peoples work that I admire and I look at competitors for market research but from a truly loving place (for them and for myself). There is room for everyone and I am a big believer in community over competition, and I think it is good karma too! Just give yourself a chance to ‘do you’ or else you will try to be someone else instead, and that has already been done!

I hope this post has helped in some small way; I try to talk as openly as possible about my business, and do that the most via my YouTube Channel and my Studio Vlogs, so head over there to check those out. I think it is nice to see an honest look behind the scenes sometimes, I love seeing other creatives at work!

I have so many plans for the business going forward; 2020 was meant to be the year I went ‘all in’ on weddings, as my focus had been a bit all over the place, but the pandemic put a stop to that! I am still creating new wedding stationery collections, like this weeks release, Meadow, and will continue to build on that side of the business and hopefully be able to hit the ground running when things start to return to normal again!

I will be launching a whole new stationery collection this autumn as well as two limited edition boxes in September, so stay tuned and be sure to follow on Instagram as you will definitely hear about things first over there!

Feel free to pop a comment below or drop an email to hello@leaflanestudio.com for a chat!

Have a great day!

This thank you card is from my newly released ‘Meadow’ wedding stationery collection; you can personalise it with your favourite shot from your special day, isn’t it cute!