courage to follow

I've touched on it a few times before, the name game.  What it means and how it relates to you, it can be tricky.  To be known as something rather than someone.  To be branded.  When I started my accessories company in 2010 I already had a blog url that was a test blog for my photography business, it was just where I popped in images and tweaked the code a little so it would format correctly on my very confusing layout I had with a different platform.  I figured I was making things and the name was cute, not much thought went into it and its been one of my biggest regrets.  I tried working with Just Lovely Things the best I could and even shortened it up and had a cute customized url when I rebranded to JustLove.ly.  Still, it never felt honest and it never felt like me.

This year has been nothing short of a learning experience and one aspect that keeps coming back to everything I do is asking myself how I can continue doing something, when it just doesn't jive.  Moving up here to Portland was a huge step in the direction I wanted my life to go.  Simplifying business interests by selling Love Club and closing Fawn & Flora was another and going a year without releasing any new collections for JustLove.ly was the break I needed to tell myself it was okay to step away from the business and remember who I was, what I loved and what I wanted to do for me.

Its okay to feel lost, tired (oh so tired), broken & bored and choosing to explore these feelings rather than sweeping them under the rug has been one of the best things I could do for myself and my livelihood.  Finding me was the next step.  Aspen Summit means so much more than I could explain that would make sense to anyone else, but it feels like everything I've ever needed to be able to move forward with the business side of myself and the personal side of my own passions.  I'm Heather- wife, daughter, sister, friend and Aspen Summit is everything else.

To share just a bit more so you aren't in the dark- the name is actually the street I live on, my first place in Portland. Aspen trees are native to the north and grow in colonies, they can survive fires and produce new growth. When they do die, their roots stay and can produce new trunks.  The word Summit means a point that is higher than all other surrounding points.

I like to think of the name as a journey.  A climb in which I leave my mark.

I hope you stick around for a few new changes, all good ones- I promise!  I'm slowly catching everything up to where my mind has been these last few months so it will take a bit to switch things out.  My new online market though, I'm taking my time with and will probably open it after enjoying the rest of this beautiful season and the holidays with my family.  Something as simple as taking time off like this is something I haven't done in years, its okay to say no even if its to yourself.  Thanks for listening. xo