Shut It Down

How to Shut Down Your Inner Critic by Ciatta-Mae Stubblefield

“No one likes any of this stuff. You shouldn’t try to make anything new” a voice hissed as I packed up the last of my merchandise at the market. As I tugged my suitcase out the door of the event hall, her voice would not relent. “You wasted your time making all of this and no one bought much of it. I mean, look at all these leftovers. You’re not a real maker”. Ok. I had had enough. I spun around to face this nasty person but I found myself standing alone in the parking lot.

Sometimes we speak to ourselves in a way that if we heard one person speak to another person that way, we would give side eyes all day. So why do we allow such cutting, toxic and negative words to be spoken over ourselves? Sometimes such negative self-talk is an indicator of how we truly see ourselves or how we feel deep down inside. We take such care to craft beautiful hand made designs, let’s take care to speak beautiful words over ourselves.

As makers here are three things we can do to walk away from negative self-talk and kick our inner critic to the curb:

Avoid absolute words such as never because it only sets you up for failure. You have the power to create your best life. You are not defined by absolute words like “never” and “always”.
Focus on the positive. Take a minute and write down things that are going great when you feel the critic in your arise. Focus on the good instead of centering on the bad.
Turn it around by speaking life over yourself – Try saying, “I didn’t sell very many goods today but I will sell more goods at my next market” or “The sale of lack of sale of my goods are not a measure of my talent.”

What will you do to shut down your inner critic?

Image Credit – Jack Canfield

Lessons Learned from Craft Savvy Market 4

We held our fourth Craft Savvy Market on November 16,2019 and this market proved that we cannot remain stagnant at any point on our journey as entrepreneurs. No matter the challenges, we must push through and persevere in order to grow. Below, we wrap up and share part 1 of our lessons learned. Check us out in Instagram and Facebook @craftsavvymarket to see more pictures and videos from the event.

Trust

Trust. I’ve always struggled with trust issues – relationships, projects, hopes and dreams. It really wasn’t until my thirties that I realized that my struggle was not a lack of trust in people but a struggle with fully trusting God. As we started planning for Market 4, my old struggles were back and doing a number on me.

With one team member pregnant, we were down to a team of three. I kept wondering how are we going to pull this off with only three people? How would we make this market better than the last? Who was going to do all this work? What was really going on? Somewhere between July and November, I realized that I didn’t need answers to my questions. I just needed more of HIM. And God came through.

At Craft Savvy Market 4, we increased the value of our market by adding the talents of Atlanta influencer Trina Small; we rolled out new merchandise – Craft Savvy Market Creative Creed magnets and added more vendors to the room. We even created a new craft wall. It wasn’t easy but we did it. We did more with less.

I just want to take a minute and put my God on blast for who He is – mighty and wonder-working. He’s worthy of all my trust. I am so grateful that I serve a God who blesses me in spite of me. I’m taking my testimony from Craft Savvy Market 4 into the next decade as we plan for Craft Savvy Market 5! Trust.

by Ciatta-Mae Stubblefield

CSM 4 LESSONS LEARNED

1.Market, Market, Market – This time around, I realized that money spent in marketing is money well spent! For market #4, we decided to increase our marketing dollars to help get the word out to more people and we saw a difference. It is also worth mentioning that marketing dollars must be spent in the right place – i.e. where or who you market to matters. Marketing must be targeted and specific. It must put you in front of YOUR kind of customers. In the past, we’ve tried different forms of marketing that did not always pay off. I believe that we are moving closer to formula that works best for us.

In addition to paid marketing, we must not underestimate the power in free marketing – i.e. telling your friends and family about what you are doing and asking them to share the good news. This year, I was especially blessed to have many of my family and friends make special efforts to come and see what Craft Savvy Market was all about.

2. Work the system and let the system work for you – This year, we tried a new system that made the day so much easier and peaceful. Don’t be afraid to try a new system that may work in another area of your life. I took something that I had used in a different area and tweaked it for Market #4 and we were pleased with the results. The more systems you have in place, the smoother the process is. A smooth process means less stress and more smiles. Consider implementing systems for social media, customer communications, product development, etc.

3.There is power in relationships – While every market may not result in millions of dollars worth of sales, there is always the potential to connect with people who can open doors for greater things down the line. One thing that Craft Savvy Market has helped me to work on is being open to talking to more people and connecting with them. Sometimes I like to stay in my shell, but being a business owner has pushed me to slowly get out of that. This year, I was afforded an amazing opportunity by someone who visited my booth at market number 3. That person did not buy anything at the time, but I still took the time to strike up a conversation. Imagine if I had not made a good impression when the individual stopped by.

Establishing relationships or even striking up conversations may not always result in a sale, but it has the potential to lead to so many open doors. So I challenge you to step outside of your comfort zone – smile with more customers who come up to your booth, strike up a conversation. Who knows were it will take you?

by J. Harris

It’s Important to Believe in Yourself

By: Mina Jartu-Mantor
Self-belief is very important as a creative. The equation for success is confidence and trusting yourself as an artist. To live life to your full potential, you must fully believe in yourself and your ability. I’m learning that I don’t need to be great at everything and that has taken away a great deal of self-doubt. Sometimes your difficulty in believing in yourself can stem from not really giving yourself anything to believe in. Other people cannot make you believe in yourself; they can only support you.

When you believe in yourself, things are made easy. If you feel that you are lacking in this area, or just want an extra boost, consider these ideas to help improve your self-belief.
A. Have confidence in your own abilities to get something done.
B. Trust yourself, and even if you fail you will learn from your mistakes.

Speaking of confidence, a few months ago my back was against the wall. I was faced with fear and doubt. Around Mother’s day this year, a few women at my church were given fabric to sew and wear on Mother’s Day. Unfortunately, I got my fabric late and didn’t have anyone to help me sew it. So at 10 pm on the Saturday before the service, I decided to sew my own dress, but still had some doubts within myself. I kept on telling myself, “Mina you can do this” so I went ahead, cut the fabric and went from there.

During the process my husband stayed up to encourage me to the finish line. Long story short, I sewed the dress and wore it to church the next day. It turned out great and I had a lot of compliments! That boosted my self-confidence. From that moment on my confidence got stronger.
The Importance of believing in yourself comes with some benefits:
1. You have faith, no matter what happens to you
2. You are motivated to get things done
3. You recognize your ability to accomplish your goals
4. You know you can do anything, deep down inside
5. Others become attracted to you