So I made my way into a small “gift shop and creative hub” down the street from my house in Oakland, hoping to have a riveting conversation with the owner about why he started the business, how the classes are going, if he’d like to appear on my blog, etc. Instead I walked in, browsed the store, and bounced within 3 minutes without even saying as much as “hello” to the owner.
I’ve been doing sales as a full-time job for years, so I wonder why it is so hard for me to strike up these creative conversations. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I am currently the only person who will read this blog post, outside of my occasional visitors from China (Helloooo China! I love you!!!!), only have like 80 followers on Instagram, and don’t really consider this project legit just yet.
What will it take for me to feel “legit” so that I can approach creative people with more confidence? 500 followers and 10 daily visits? 10,000 followers and 100 daily visits? Or maybe I can just embrace this project as something that is important to me and stop worrying about metrics that others will find impressive.
And as the author, Neil Gaiman, said in his Master Class, “The important thing is that you took the boat out, you tried and you learned. It can be just a short trip and you may not succeed, but at least you went on the trip.” Thanks, Neil. I went on the trip. And I’ll be back in the boat tomorrow.
