Archives for October 2012
Making What Matters Happen
It’s not about making BIG things happen; it really isn’t. It’s about making what matters happen: streamlining work so that you have room in your brain / heart for family at night, connecting with the right clients so that you can do your work with a happy heart and earn a living for your family, taking care of yourself so you can be a better mama / wife / friend / daughter / etc.
These amazing photos are from Gina. She took them about a year ago when we were in NYC for Making Things Happen. I’m writing from Chicago, but was just thinking about this night. I love these images so much.
In a city that’s so focused on things that don’t matter, it was so amazing to take a break and talk about what does from the rooftop of our hotel.
xo,
Introducing Gina Hafley
I am beyond excited to introduce you all to Mrs. Gina Hafley. Gina is absolutely amazing and has been my right hand gal for a few months now. Gina is a Southern gal at heart and is from Pennsylvania where she met her husband (who is one of the coaches of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the reason why Gina is a Tampa Bay girl now!). Gina and I immediately hit it off when we met at Starbucks one day to chat. She’s amazingly sweet, very organized and has a very similar background to my own (non-profit management and fundraising — goodness, that seems like a lifetime ago!)
All of you who order from our little shop will have your items created with love and carefully packaged by Gina. She manages our shop and Etsy shop and is starting to help with our wholesale partnerships. I can’t tell you how amazing it’s been to have Gina as part of our little team. If you ever have order questions, Gina’s your gal. She can be reached at gina at emilyley dot com. The ever-amazing Marissa and Nicole are still here too helping us with things as we grow. A bazillion thank you’s will never be enough to say thanks for all these three girls have helped me with over the years.
I’m so grateful to have Gina as part of our little team. In fact, I don’t think I could have survived the launch of our shop without her!
Join me in welcoming Gina here! : )
xo,
Emily
Grace Not Perfection, Part 2
A little over a year ago, I wrote a post called Grace Not Perfection. It all stemmed from an exhausted conversation I had with Lara regarding life as a new Mom. Since then, the words have impacted my life over and over again. They’ve become a catalyst for converstaions between women about what really matters. I’ve been amazed as this phrase has become a mantra for women balancing life, work, children, marriages and friends (among a billion other things). I’m convinced those words were a sweet message from the Lord reminding us to focus on what matters most.
I’ve loved watching this little message spread through Pinterest and across blogs. It even made it onto Glamour.com and onto the lovely Lauren Conrad’s Pinterest board.
So three days into our last Making Things Happen tour, I thought I’d create a few badges for those of you who believe in this message as well. Please feel free to post them on your blog or site to help spread this good news to other busy women attempting to do it all… perfectly. Simply right click the images below and save to your desktop to upload them into your sidebar. If you’d like a print for your office or home, we still have a few limited edition prints of this phrase here. For a limited time, all our gold Grace Not Perfection prints are $20.
In exchange, I’d love for you to leave a note here letting us all know what Grace Not Perfection means to you. It’s time to hold ourselves to a higher standard – a standard centered on what really matters. Love to you all.
xo,
Emily