🔋 Mood: Trying to mentalise myself that this is my life now… I still cannot believe it.

☕ Drinking: Berries milkshake

🎶 Listening: I’m an Albatraoz, by AronChupa

When I started preparing everything for my first market, scheduled to take place on June 18th, I wasn’t expecting it to be the turning point that would change my professional life.

But let’s go back in time… to June 5th, my last day working as an office administrator. The job wasn’t my dream, but it was quite comfortable. The schedule was 100% flexible, allowing me to work from home, and it provided a steady monthly income in my bank account.

However, the company was experiencing financial difficulties, and the owner had to make some tough decisions, which included terminating the contracts of the entire administrative department, including mine.

Well, the situation wasn’t truly dramatic. I had just finished university with a First Class Honours Degree and was confident that I would eventually find something.

And I did. It took me nearly a month, but on June 29th, I received an email with my new contract: 8 hours per day in an office located next to a beautiful cemetery, doing another administrative job for a minimum wage. It didn’t sound very exciting. I spent the last 5 years without going to an office and just the idea of having to do it again was absolutely terrifying.

I NEEDED TO FIND AN ALTERNATIVE SO THAT I WOULDN’T HAVE TO SIGN THAT CONTRACT, DEFINITELY.

They wanted me to start on July 10th, which meant I had 11 days to come up with another option. No, it didn’t seem like a lot of time.

Let’s fast forward to June 18th, my first market.

For my first market, I decided to prepare some prints and stickers. As I mentioned in this newsletter before, it was a complete failure. The event’s marketing was very poor, there were hardly any visitors, and I didn’t sell a single print.

However, I found myself stuck with a stock of high-quality prints ready to be sold. That’s when I thought it might be a good time to open an online shop and sell them.

At the same time, my university was offering funding for entrepreneurs, and I applied for it and received it. It wasn’t a large sum, but it was enough to test an idea I came across while scrolling through TikTok: on-demand clothes with my designs. I created three designs and placed an order to check the quality of the products.

The day I received the order and saw the excellent quality, I couldn’t help but cry. It felt too good to be true. That’s when the idea struck me to open an Etsy store and sell these clothes.

The pieces were falling into place, but something was missing.

On July 4th, I found the missing piece, and everything changed.

I simply wanted some additional funding. Maybe with some extra money, I could search for a part-time job and dedicate the rest of the day to my business. So, I decided to ask for it. I attended a meeting and gave the worst business presentation ever. I blushed, stuttered, and stammered. But I also spoke about my aspirations: I showed them the numbers, the website, the pictures. I shared my ideas, the logistics, my degree, and the story behind it all. I spent an hour there, and when I walked out that door, I couldn’t stop smiling.

I didn’t just receive some help. I was given a whole year. A year of freedom to build my company. A year without worries, a year of peace and trust. I had one year to prove them right, to demonstrate that I deserved that trust and that it would work.

That same morning, I wrote an email declining the job offer a 3 days later I opened Kamila Muffin Shop.