<http://schema.org/articleBody>
" I met Gena Perdue one evening two years ago while speaking to a group of entrepreneurs about how to grow their businesses. I complimented her on her bright cloth purse and learned about her dream \u2014 which was to sell her handbags in top stores, like Barneys and Gump&amp;#039;s.  Gena was just 5 years old when she developed her love for sewing \u2014 a passion that she shared with her mother and grandmother. Through the years, she made everything from dresses to hats to baby blankets. Gena and her husband, Jason, both 38, even turned their bedroom into a sewing studio, while they sleep in a smaller room! Though she&amp;#039;d been running her own business \u2014 providing facials and skin-care regimens for clients \u2014 this Santa Rosa, CA, mom yearned to make her creative pastime a bigger part of her life. She was starting to feel burned out from her business and found sewing \u2014 and the reactions she received from people who loved her designs \u2014 more satisfying.  To give her passion room to grow, Gena scaled way back on her skin-care work, and she and her friend Debbie began designing and making purses to sell at fairs, at Tupperware party-style gatherings, and at trunk shows (where designers show shoppers their wares). The hit-or-miss results frustrated Gena, so I started helping her to clarify her dream and to make it work with her life. Here&amp;#039;s what she learned, and how you, too, can help your dream take shape \u2014 and take off!  STEP 1: Put your dream into focus. Early on, I asked Gena what was really important to her: &amp;quot;I want to make something fun and creative, together with my daughter,&amp;quot; she told me. I then asked her if creating something she could do with Beritt, now 7, was more important to her than creating purses to sell in homes or to department stores. Gena realized that this was true; she didn&amp;#039;t love going to fairs, or dragging plastic bins full of purses into someone&amp;#039;s home.  Next, I asked her to create a mental picture of her ideal day \u2014 something I could snap a photograph of. This is what I call your compelling vision. Here&amp;#039;s what she described: &amp;quot;After Beritt gets home from school, we play together, then spend time sewing together, each making our own creations \u2014 anything from purses to hats to scarves. The next day I see my work in the windows of some of the top boutiques on an upscale shopping street in a major U.S. city. It feels great to see what I&amp;#039;ve made in a shop!&amp;quot; We then looked at what was stopping her from making her vision real. Gena&amp;#039;s top priority was to have a business that would accommodate her family life. She realized that this was her project, that she didn&amp;#039;t want a partner, and that she didn&amp;#039;t want to make only handbags, as her friend Debbie did. &amp;quot;The thought of doing something on my own makes me feel so proud!&amp;quot; she told me.  Gena had the difficult conversation with Debbie, and fortunately, their friendship remained intact. &amp;quot;The hardest part for me was figuring out how to divvy up the assets,&amp;quot; says Gena. &amp;quot;I didn&amp;#039;t want to deal with it, and I love Debbie so much that I just gave them to her.&amp;quot; Gena was uncomfortable with putting a financial value on her work and felt anxiety about negotiating money issues \u2014 both fears that would crop up again for her down the road.  Revitalized by her newfound independence, Gena decided to give her business a name. She&amp;#039;d have it silk-screened onto labels and put it on business cards \u2014 and it would help to make her new dream real. Gena chose the name Whim Creations by Gena Perdue. &amp;quot;The word &amp;#039;whim&amp;#039; gives me the room to make whatever I want for as long or short as I want and as many or few of any item as I want,&amp;quot; she explained. &amp;quot;It feels just right.&amp;quot;  ACTION PLAN:    Create a compelling vision. Mentally picture what your dream will look like once you achieve it. Ask yourself: Where am I? What am I doing? Who is around me? Then write out your vision and reflect on it daily. The more that you think about it, the clearer and more real it will become.   STEP 2: Get informed.  To move her dream forward, we listed what Gena wanted to learn. She decided to take a class on starting a business and attend a seminar on budgeting. She also wanted to stay abreast of trends and find the best boutiques, in hopes of selling her creations there. So Gena went to the closest major shopping city \u2014 San Francisco \u2014 to see what the stores were showing, and she checked out retailers in other states online. &amp;quot;I like having a focus, but I also want to know what&amp;#039;s going on in the world in case I want to participate,&amp;quot; she said. &amp;quot;And I want to make sure I&amp;#039;m not doing exactly what others are doing.&amp;quot;  Gena then asked herself what I call an inquiry question \u2014 one you ponder to help figure out your next steps and achieve your goal. Her question: How can I find sewing supplies at really affordable prices? So she went online again and found popular sewing sites and potential resources for design supplies.  ACTION PLAN:   Figure out what you don&amp;#039;t know. List what you need to learn to make your dream happen, from how to determine your costs to where to take business classes.  Become an expert.   Look at the latest projects of people in the field you&amp;#039;re interested in to get a sense of the trends. Read trade publications. Go to trade shows. If your dream industry has an association, join it.  Ask yourself the tough questions. What creative marketing strategy can I use to get clients? How can I get more support at home? Reflect on your questions daily, and give yourself days or weeks to find solutions. STEP 3: Expect success.  Though Gena was committed to her goal, she often spoke tentatively about her business. I encouraged her to show more confidence and to stop using words that diminish her message, such as &amp;quot;try,&amp;quot; &amp;quot;little,&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;just.&amp;quot; For instance, when asked about her designs, she used to say, &amp;quot;I just sew a little and sell a few things.&amp;quot; We changed that to &amp;quot;I have my own company, selling handmade custom designs for women and girls.&amp;quot;  That air of confidence transformed Gena. &amp;quot;Changing how I speak about my business makes me feel more confident about it,&amp;quot; she told me. &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;ve also noticed that more people are excited about it because I am. I&amp;#039;m getting requests from store owners and people in the community to visit my studio and see what I&amp;#039;m working on.&amp;quot;  ACTION PLAN: Own your confidence. When you speak, be upbeat and self-assured. And stand up straight \u2014 this helps you project your voice and conveys authority and energy. Notice how much more responsive people will be to you \u2014 and how much more positive you&amp;#039;ll feel, too. (For more tips on speaking with confidence, see &amp;quot;Are Your Words Holding You Back?&amp;quot;) STEP 4 : Fine-tune your goals.  The newly confident businesswoman was now ready to revisit her game plan to make sure it was in step with her deepest desires. For starters, she needed to decide whether she wanted to mass-produce a few specific items or create one-of-a-kind crafts. She decided on the latter, knowing that the fun for her was in making anything she wanted \u2014 from baby blankets to hats to coats for girls to coin pouches.  Next, I asked her if the stores she originally targeted still felt like a good fit to her. They didn&amp;#039;t. Instead of trendy shops, she now opted for baby boutiques and &amp;quot;artsy&amp;quot; stores that carry unique, handmade items created by local designers. As Gena explained: &amp;quot;Those are the stores that I like, not only because of what&amp;#039;s in them, but because they&amp;#039;re small mom-and-pop stores. I know those people; I like those people. Plus, I like keeping the price of things I make at a place where both the consumer and I feel comfortable about it.&amp;quot;  Gena then came up with a list of stores that might want to sell her creations. She started by looking up retailers who carried items from designers she likes, such as Dagmar Daley, who makes children&amp;#039;s clothing. Then she took a closer look at each of those stores to see which ones best fit her target consumer. We also discussed how many stores she wanted to be in this year \u2014 and the next, and the next \u2014 and how to make that happen. For instance, she could create samples to show when she was ready to drop in on or call store owners.  Suddenly, Gena became nervous. &amp;quot;What if my business grows so much that it makes me sacrifice too much time with my family?&amp;quot; she asked. I told her that her business could be as big or small as she desired \u2014 and that the &amp;quot;problem&amp;quot; of too many customers is something to look forward to. That dose of perspective helped ease her anxiety. &amp;quot;Being able to shape things the way I want is something I&amp;#039;ve always wished for,&amp;quot; she said. &amp;quot;And knowing that I can do that helps me think more clearly about my business and feel more in control.&amp;quot;  ACTION PLAN: Write out your dream-related to-do&amp;#039;s. Break down larger activities into smaller tasks so that you won&amp;#039;t become overwhelmed. Add completion dates, and you&amp;#039;re on your way!  Break through your emotional roadblocks. Often people don&amp;#039;t take action because they believe that achieving their dream will come at too high a cost (say, they&amp;#039;ll be so successful that their dream will take over their life). Write out what&amp;#039;s in the way for you \u2014 you&amp;#039;ll likely become more objective about the facts and expose your fears for what they are: largely unfounded emotional worries that hold you back.  Allow yourself to tinker with your dream. Never see reining in your dream a bit or changing your mind about your goal as a failure; it&amp;#039;s simply a different and better choice for you. STEP 5: Find your cheerleaders. Enthusiastic as she was about making her dream happen, Gena still sometimes needed a nudge to stay on track. Having a life coach to report back to and cheer Gena on helped her keep moving, but I wasn&amp;#039;t her only source of support \u2014 there&amp;#039;s also her husband, Jason. &amp;quot;He&amp;#039;s my number one fan,&amp;quot; she told me. &amp;quot;He&amp;#039;s a great listener, and he encourages me.&amp;quot; To give Gena time to sew in her studio, Jason watched Beritt a few nights each week.  Because pursuing a dream can be stressful and isolating, turning to others to inject enjoyment into the process is key. So Gena hosted a &amp;quot;sewing bee&amp;quot; and invited women over to learn how to make a bag. Then she hosted a workshop in which moms and daughters made hula hoops together. &amp;quot;Both were so fun!&amp;quot; Gena told me. &amp;quot;We all got a chance to connect and be creative, and when it was over, I felt totally energized!&amp;quot; And, of course, these events also helped Gena expose more people to her work.  ACTION PLAN: Get support. Don&amp;#039;t underestimate the power of a friend to keep you motivated \u2014 and hold you accountable for making your dream happen. Set up a regular time each week to talk about your aspirations and celebrate your accomplishments \u2014 or brainstorm solutions to new obstacles.  Find the fun. Meet a friend for a walk or for coffee while doing your peer coaching. Join a networking group for entrepreneurs \u2014 or start your own group of business owners. STEP 6: Make your dream a priority. Now it was time for Gena to create more room in her life for her dream, so she could kick it into high gear. She decided to carve out three to four hours, four days a week, in the early afternoon before picking up Beritt from school. She&amp;#039;d also set aside about an hour most evenings after Beritt was in bed. Reserving this time meant Gena sometimes had to say no when asked to help out with community and school activities. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s tough for me to say no, but I&amp;#039;m doing it,&amp;quot; she told me. &amp;quot;And my family and friends now know that I&amp;#039;m not available during times I&amp;#039;ve reserved for work.&amp;quot;  Indeed, what will move your dream forward more powerfully than anything is a willingness to be uncomfortable \u2014 that&amp;#039;s what it takes to get you past the place where you want to stop. So when you start to feel uneasy, pat yourself on the back and take action anyway.  Time wasn&amp;#039;t the only obstacle threatening to derail Gena&amp;#039;s dream. &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m uncomfortable asking people for money for what I make,&amp;quot; she told me. So I asked her to tell me how it felt when someone paid her for a purse or a hat. &amp;quot;It felt absolutely exhilarating!&amp;quot; she said. &amp;quot;I was happy that they appreciated my work enough to pay what I was asking for it. And I immediately wondered if I priced it too low!&amp;quot;  That&amp;#039;s when she realized that her dream was not just to sew \u2014 it was in fact to make money to keep sewing and to contribute to her family&amp;#039;s income. To increase her comfort level, we role-played a conversation in which a store owner (me) asked her about her prices, and she recited the costs to him/her. We did this a few times until Gena said the prices without hesitation.  So she was brimming with confidence when Carol Sauers \u2014 a mom from Beritt&amp;#039;s preschool and the owner of Twig, a local crafts store \u2014 asked to order bloomers and blankets. As word about Gena&amp;#039;s work continued to spread, she sold hats and scarves to some moms at her daughter&amp;#039;s school, and the school gift shop ordered several of her creations.  Her next step: Find more retail outlets. Soon, she landed her blankets in a Santa Rosa specialty shop called Michel &amp;amp;amp; Company. And she continued to fill orders for people in her community, which came through referrals from friends, friends of friends, and moms from Beritt&amp;#039;s school. She also started selling her designs in local crafts fairs and began working on launching a website.  To keep her momentum going, I advised Gena to do what I call daily success practices \u2014 meaning, actions that get her closer to her goal. For her, thinking ahead was key. &amp;quot;I look at my calendar and plan, plan, plan the tasks involved in the business, from dyeing to designing,&amp;quot; she said. &amp;quot;And every day, I decide the first thing to accomplish the next day.&amp;quot; It was around this time that Gena changed the name of her business. &amp;quot;Whim was what I was feeling at the time I came up with a name, but for me, it never really stuck,&amp;quot; she explained. Her new pick: Monkeyporkbun. &amp;quot;I was born in the year of the monkey,&amp;quot; she said. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s in the same vein as Whim because I chose Monkeyporkbun on a whim. Plus, it rhymes with fun. It&amp;#039;s fun and silly and a little gross. I wish I had a more profound explanation for it.&amp;quot;  In the midst of all this change, Gena and Jason learned they were expecting another child! Their baby girl, Eliot, was born on September 7, 2006. Gena has been adjusting the time she spends on her business based on her household priorities. In the meantime, she feels her venture is enhancing her relationship with Beritt because she&amp;#039;s working at home, where the two can be together more. In fact, thanks to Eliot&amp;#039;s arrival, Gena and Beritt have taken an interest in creating stuffed toys and tooth-fairy pillows.  &amp;quot;The best part so far,&amp;quot; says Gena, &amp;quot;was when Beritt ran toward me after school, beaming, and said that her teacher was excited to see my blankets at Michel &amp;amp;amp; Company. I was excited that she was excited about someone else being excited about my designs! That made me so proud of what I&amp;#039;ve accomplished.&amp;quot;  ACTION PLAN:  Use daily success practices. These small actions (for instance, making one phone call to connect with a store owner) get you closer to achieving your dream.  Celebrate the successes along the way. Tell your friends and family about your accomplishments. Or keep a success journal and write down your wins. Or celebrate them out loud with a &amp;quot;Yeah! I&amp;#039;m so great!&amp;quot; Let that feel-good momentum propel you forward.For this month&amp;#039;s Live Your Dream story, REDBOOK paired up a creative mom with life- and business-success coach Caterina Rando (caterinar.com). Rando is the author of Learn to Power Think: A Practical Guide to Positive and Effective Decision Making. WHAT&amp;#039;S YOUR DREAM?  Are you ready to make it happen? Tell us \u2014 and you could be chosen to work with a life coach and go for it! Write to us at Live Your Dream, REDBOOK, 300 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019, or liveyourdream@redbookmag.com. More Live Your Dream: Live Your Dream: Denise Mabilog Live Your Dream: Deb Busser Live Your Dream: Cate Colburn-Smith "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.redbookmag.com/life/money-career/advice/a2257/lyd-gina-perdue/>