RANDOM THOUGHTS FROM A #MOMBOSS - Kendra | Kendra Allen Design + Photography

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Hey YEG Boss Babes!!

I’m Kendra of Kendra Allen Design + Photography. I have a branding firm that specializes in helping small businesses look great online. I do brand design, brand photography, as well as consulting, content creation, and social media management. I am currently working towards launching more consulting services and workshops this year specifically for women who need clarity on their brand image.

After the birth of my first daughter, I found my passion in helping small local businesses and entrepreneurs after my time making hand printed baby apparel and selling at local markets. I was freelance designing on the side, but this was when I found my niche and dream clientele!

Being a mother is a whole circus act of it’s own. Having my first daughter right out of college, my drive to hone my craft of graphic design and photography pushed me into entrepreneurship.

You could say I gave up a traditional career at just 19 years old when I took my first gig as a self employed brand designer. I had been freelancing for the past three years while in school, and now, as a new mom, it was a perfect fit. My partner had a steady job which allowed me to stay home with my daughter. But this wasn’t without a whole lot of mixed emotions.

While in the depths of post-partum depression,  I knew I needed a steady flow of creativity back in my life. Enter, House of Posie Design and Apparel. It was 2014, and this was before walmart, superstore, and all the rest started carrying cool kids clothes. Believe it or not, I couldn’t find anything I loved in stores. Target, sometimes, but then it went out of business here in Canada. I felt an indescribable need to start up my own clothing business. I had this crazy idea of doing things as handmade as possible.

After having been working on a computer almost exclusively while I learned Graphic Design, I needed to get my hands dirty again. Back in high school I had learned the art of lino cutting, also known as block printing. This allows oneself to print things by hand without the annoyance of burning screens with chemicals in the dark like screen printing. My favourite part about lino cutting was the unique look of an illustration carved into a block. To me, there was nothing more beautiful. Fast forward a year and a bit and I was expecting my second child. Another hard pregnancy called for me to slow down with the hand printing. While I adored the local handmade community that I discovered on Instagram and in local markets, my passion project quickly became too hard to maintain. And I knew that with two littles, I would never catch up. Next came a diagnosis of hypothyroidism when I was 19 weeks pregnant. I had to listen to my body and pull things back a bit. But, I couldn’t stop creating. I learned that already.

Around this time I decided it was time to finally take my Graphic Design and Photography a bit more seriously and at least make an instagram account to showcase my work. After my two year old would fall asleep, and my ‘morning sickness’ would subside, I stayed up late laying in bed working away on my laptop. My body would rest, but I was still fulfilling my need to create. With my clothing business for babies and toddlers, I realized how much I LOVED helping handmade businesses with their businesses.

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I joined the local chapter of Tuesday Together by The Rising Tides Society, and became fascinated with creative entrepreneurship. I was enthralled with all of the people I had met both online and in the community. And I knew I wanted to help these people grow their businesses.

I started photographing friends and making logos for local brands and was finally putting my long-time love of brand design to work! I had been doing the odd job of logo design over the past couple years, but I decided to take it a bit more seriously and go after the work I wanted.

Now, I am in my 6th year as an entrepreneur, and my 4th year as a mother; with my second daughter being born just a year ago. After 6 years, I may have finally come to terms with who I truly am. An entrepreneur by blood. I am still figuring everything out as I go, but I can feel that this is the year for me to finally align my goals for my business with reality! Being a mother and working from home (although by choice), isn't easy. And I commend all who do it! I treasure this time I have had to figure out who I am as a person and raise my babies. Now, on a new path as a single mother, the #momboss game has shifted a bit.

Instead of juggling a million balls at once, I am now able to take my time with my children and dedicate it fully to them. And then once they are with their dad, I can focus on my work. It makes it so my work schedule is a bit all over the place, but it works for now! So what have I learned from all of this? Let me break it down for you.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

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1. One thing you can be sure of, you never know what the future will be like. So ride the wave, have big huge goals, but, be willing to adapt to the ever changing world. For example, social media has exploded since I was in school, so I have now added social media management and content creation to my expanding list of services! Being adaptable and keeping up with the trends is what will allow you to make this all work.

2. If you have a kid like my three year old, you won't get any work done until they are in bed. Most times I pass out at the same time as them, so ya, its an every day struggle! She is currently sitting on my lap drinking a yogurt drink and my one year old is standing up in her high chair. Don’t worry, multi tasking quickly becomes a mom bosses best skill.

3. Indoor playgrounds and kid cafes are amazing for meetings with fellow mom bosses. Edmonton is totally rocking it lately with kid friendly cafe’s! They are popping up every where. And I am talking super chic adorable places with little play areas in the corner. Awesome instagram stories of fancy AF lattes, here I come.

4. Non work related, but if you are a mom-to-be, expect to have to sacrifice your cute styled coffee table and anything under, like, 3 feet for years to come. Thrifted and pre worn items make the vandalism of children slightly less noticeable and also less heart breaking when you haven’t spent a ton of money on it. Is shabby chic still cool??

5. The soundtrack to my life is baby bum youtube nursery rhymes. Now that I don’t have my kids half the time, I am trying to bring music back into my life that is actually made for people above the age of four. I am looking for playlist recommendations and suggestions on your fave vinyl records!!

6. Something I tell people all the time is, rarely take me seriously. If these random thoughts make me sound bitter, I am absolutely not. I like to find humour in life and I suggest you should too! Getting out of your head and just laughing about the ridiculousness of life seriously helps.

7. Mom brain is real… and there should be a support group for that.

8. I may forget a pen for our meeting… but I’ll always have diapers on hand.

9. Accept the ebbs and flows of work flow, and of your own wellness. I have personally struggled with a lot of health issues and drastic life changes likely, and it is ok to slow down. Slowing down is good.

10. Enjoy the little things. My favourite part about being a mother is being able to live vicariously through my children’s eyes. The taste of a bubble gum lollipop and the way the rain smells. One of my goals for 2018 is to embrace my inner child. We are all just pretending to be adults anyway, so why not let go of it all once in a while and just act like kids again. There’s nothing better. I would like to finish this final point off with one of my favourite quotes: “the creative adult is the child who survived.”

@kendraallen.yeg

Photo Credit | @_sydneydawn

10 YEGBOSSBABE HANGOUTS

Find all the boss babes hangin' at a few of our favorite places in YEG! Below we have listed 10 places to workout, meet for coffee, plan a play date or grab a drink from some local brewers!

Sculpt Barre

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YEG Cycle

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MyGym | #MOMBOSS HANG

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Cafe O'Play | #MOMBOSS HANG

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Tiramisu

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Die Pie YEG

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The Woodrack Cafe

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Little Brick

Little Brick

Alley Kat Brewing

AlleyKat

Town Square Brewing

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MAD LOVE MONDAY - Sonia Gonzalez | bSocial Communications Inc.

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Entrepreneur life can take you on so many different journeys. The most rewarding and exciting one for me so far has been my creative journey.

This whole business thing started with a hint of curiosity, a drive for creativity and a passion to help others. At the time when the idea of being an entrepreneur popped into my head, I wondered, “is there a way to combine my desire to be more creative with my communications experience and my love for local businesses? I’m sure there is, but can I pay my bills doing it?”

Thinking about going out on my own warmed my whole body. It ignited a fire within me. The prospect of using the wealth of creativity I knew I had available with my communications skills and putting that into helping small businesses was a dream job in my mind and one that I knew I had to pursue.

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That fire was the start of bSocial Communications Inc.

One thing I knew for sure going into my business was that it was going to be an extension of who I was. In order for this to be successful, the creative drive and exploration for myself and my business had to work together. It had to be authentic.

When I went full-time with bSocial Communications I instantly noticed the creative flow came so naturally. The creativity I was tapping into was really working for my business and clients. Awesome!

But then I encountered a challenge.

The nature of my business requires me to dive into that creative pool at all times. I write all day, every day. From communications strategy to social media marketing to content development for blogs and websites. I need to tune into that creativity to help my clients reach their audience and ensure their content is packed with their passion and personality. I absolutely love every aspect of this, but it does require a lot of brain power and time.

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I realized that there was such an abundance of creative opportunities for me in my business, but I was starting to pull back from making space to explore my creativity outside my work.

“Creativeprenuers” rely on their creativity to fuel their soul and to fuel their business. To nourish this talent, they need space for creative freedom, away from timelines, expectations and contractual obligations.

By implementing a habit of building in creative space, I stopped putting so much pressure on myself to be productive at all hours of the day and started to devote some more time to growing my skills and tending to my creative interests.  

Here are some creative space makers that have helped me grow in my business.

Exploring creative avenues outside my work that bring me joy

Allowing space for creative projects that make me happy has really upped my game. For me, this comes in the form of interior design and fashion. Whenever a friend or colleague asks for help with a home/office design project or a shopping trip to refresh their wardrobe, I’m all up in that and don’t feel guilty for taking time out of my day to enjoy that time with them.

Through these creative outlets I energize myself, I feel happy and confident and it helps me fine tune my design eye for when I do photos and video for my business. Win, win!

Exploring creative avenues that take me out of my comfort zone

This has proved to be both challenging and rewarding. No one wants to go out and do something they are not good at. What I have found is that by pushing myself through a creative project (at least once a month) that doesn’t come naturally to me forces me to grow in ways I didn’t know I needed. For myself and my business.

Going out of my comfort zone in a creative way has helped me learn patience and how to fail and be ok with it. Being creative isn’t always about rocking it and producing something that is perfect. There is a lot to be learned from the imperfections and we need to embrace that more as creative thinkers.

Creating space through meditation

I have found the best way to give myself creative space is to clear the space in my mind. I do this through a regular meditation practice (30 minutes every day). Meditation has been the most powerful creative source for me as an individual and business owner.

Sometimes you are so deep into the business you can’t see the most obvious and potentially most important opportunities in front of you. Meditation is a great way to look internally for answers and to allow new ideas to surface.

The #yegbossbabes community is full of creative, innovative women. One thing I’d like to share with fellow #yegbossbabes is to remember to be kind to yourself. Carve out space and time to explore your creativity, with no expectations and boundaries. It will inspire you to try new things and replenish that curiosity.

Isn’t that what got us into business in the first place?

Thank you,

Sonia Gonzalez

www.bsocial.ca

@bsocialcomm