While running a creative business, I've found that it's really easy to put your head down and get caught in the grind, while also wondering if anyone even notices what you are doing. Well last week I was completely surprised with an email from USA Today 10 Best saying I had been nominated for this contest featuring best makers in the USA! Over the next month, readers can vote once a day for their favorite maker (out of a total of 20) and then the top 10 will be featured in their list.
I was totally shocked to be nominated for this award and immediately thought of so many makers I know that are equally if not more deserving! And then I took a step back and thought, you know what? I've worked my butt off these last 5 years and I do deserve to be recognized like this on a national level. Who knows where I'll end up on the list but I was filled with gratitude as friends and family shared the news on social media and wrote such lovely things supporting me, including an email from my dad that was otherwise unrelated but concluded with the words "voting daily!" :)
Like I said above, it's so easy for me to get lost in the work and wonder if anyone cares about my products or what I'm doing and this experience brought me back up to the surface and made me realize that people do. And while it means a lot coming from a national publication, it means quite a bit more coming from the people who I love the most who have supported me from day one.
