As you all know I am all about encouraging women! So, to celebrate hitting 1,000 views I asked two very special women to answer some questions for me to share with you! Before I get to the interviews I want to tell you about these women.

One of the women I interviewed is Summer. Summer is the owner of Loud Summer Designs where she creates beautiful earrings (feel free to shop till you drop here https://loudsummerdesigns.com/ )! I’ve known this beauty for a few years now and she never fails to inspire me.

The other lady I interviewed is Kym. Kym is not only one of my best friends she’s also the strong talented voice behind A Dose of Douglas (which you can read right here http://adoseofdouglas.com/ ). She has always helped me be the best version of myself.

I knew if they both inspired me they could do the same for you! So let’s get to the interviews!

In the interviews I touched on many aspects of life and am so excited to share their interviews so here we go! Starting with Summer!

Me: What made you want to open your company?

Summer: I have always been into “making” in all different mediums but clay is a medium that has been so much easier for me to get all the creative thoughts I have out into physical form. If that makes any sense at all!?! The colors and shapes just spark so much creativity in me and it’s a bonus that I get to make that into jewelry that makes people happy and feel beautiful!

Me: How do you juggle having 3 kids and running a business?

Summer: Okay so I don’t have this one figured out yet! I often times struggle with not having a solid few hours to create something. I do have to state that my family is my biggest priority and my business comes second. I’m learning every day and trying to become better at being flexible with my work time.

Me: Who is your biggest supporter?

Summer: I could never name just one person! My husband, my mom and most of all my friends!! They have all been instrumental in me taking this exploration into clay to a full fledged business with its own website.

Me: To what do you attribute your success?

Summer: The little success I have seen so far comes from the love other people have for me and what I create. They see my creativity and they are willing to support it and wear my goods! I also come from an entire family of entrepreneurs that are involved in so many different businesses. Watching them and learning from failures and successes have helped me become the woman and small business owner I am today.

Me: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting their business, what would it be?

Summer: Practice, practice, practice and do a lot of research into the realm you are entering. Google and YouTube videos were essential to me growing a hobby in to a business. I pulled on any resource I could find and watched so many how to videos.

Me: If you could only give one piece of relationship advice, what would it be?

Summer: COMMUNICATE!! Communicating is essential to every healthy relationship. You have to do it effectively though and not just blurt out every feeling or thought you have. It’s all about helping the person you are in a relationship with understand your feelings. You know the person your with, so use that information to help you communicate with them effectively. My husband and I have learned to not “over communicate” since we are both good at that and to think a bit more before we talk about our feelings when we are upset.

Next up is my interview with Kym!

Me: How did you manage the transition from working mom to stay at home mom?

Kym: The transition was actually fun. I decided that going back to being a stay at home mom was what I needed to do, so I really had fun with the first few days while the kids were still adjusting to me being home all the time. We had to establish a routine that worked with all three of us, and we got one down pretty quickly, but we also had to change a lot of our routine to fine tune it.

Me: What made you want to be a writer?

Kym: I’ve always loved writing. It’s been a passion of mine since high school, and even before that I could only really express myself well in writing. I get nervous talking to people, but I felt a strong need to communicate, so it was really an easy segway into writing. I decided I wanted to become a published author because one of my favorite past times is reading, and I saw myself creating stories and characters in my mind, so one day I started writing it down and now I’m hooked, haha.

Me: How do you juggle having 2 kids, being a blogger, and writing a book?

Kym: Juggling everything is definitely a struggle. I had to find a system that works for me, and I found that working in 30 minute blocks is just enough time to make a tiny bit of progress on something but still give me the chance to take the kids for walks or read to them, etc. Blogging and writing kind of have an equal footing in my work every day, I try to balance the two so I don’t get burnt out on one or the other, which helps me be more productive with both.

Me: Who is your biggest supporter?

Kym: My biggest supporter is definitely my husband. With my book, him and I talked about the plot and the outline for a few days until I started actually typing it all out. He actually came up with some great ideas! He also is just the most supportive person I’ve ever known, and he would gladly go along with any of my crazy ideas just to make me happy. With my blog, he doesn’t really ‘get’ the topics I write about, but he always tries to understand it better. He also knows I like privacy when I write anything, but still always stays close in case I want to bounce some ideas off of him.

Me: If you had one piece of relationship advice to give, what would it be?

Kym: The one piece of relationship advice I have is just to stay open with each other. Be as transparent as you can. I shut down a lot, and my husband knows that I just need some time when I do this. When I do this, I am aware of it and I am working on it. I always try to let him in on what’s going on in my head, otherwise he probably won’t understand.

Me: If you had one piece of advice to give someone just starting to write, what would it be?

Kym: For someone just starting their writing journey, I would say, your work is unique, and the world has never seen it before. If you think that it’s not good enough or that it’s been done before, you are actually on the right track. Keep striving towards better, and you will get better. The only way to develop your voice is by writing what you know, which is what you’ve read so your work might come out sounding like your favorite author, but that’s how you get better. That’s how you learn your own writing style. You work with one style and choose what you like and then you work with another style and pick out some things, and then you are well on your way to developing your own writing style. Also, never give up. It’s good to take breaks, but never give up. It’s a hard journey and you’ll be better because of it.

There were so many things I learned from Summer and Kym just from this interview! I hope if any of you out there are starting a business, blog, or struggling in your relationship that you learn from their advice. Starting a business is a scary thing to do but Summer is doing fantastic! Don’t forget to check out her website, you will not regret it! Putting your writing out into the world (via blog or book) is extremely terrifying and Kym is KILLING IT! Check out her blog for some great reading and, if you let it, I guarantee it’ll change your life.

I can’t thank these two enough for allowing me to interview them! Don’t forget to check out their sites! If you have someone who encourages you to be a better you tell me about them in the comments!

I also want to thank all of you again for helping me hit 1,000+ views!!