In It.

I'm 6 months into this new adventure of starting my own business, Braid Creative & Consulting, with my sister, Tara. And boy, have we grown in that 6 months. In 6 months we've learned so much - about ourselves and the kinds of clients we love. We've uncovered patterns and have developed authentic brands - digging in deep is a part of our daily grind.

But if I'm being completely honest, I'll admit that I thought we might fail. Not because we aren't smart or talented but because I thought success on our own was somehow too good to be true. And I'm always reading stories of entrepreneurs who try dozens of times before they get it right. And what about the economy!? But we quickly became successful with full calendars and consistent paychecks. Every day there was a new challenge - a new problem to solve - and it wore me out. It didn't always feel fun or like a dream. I was balancing a matured skill set and point of view with the struggle of navigating a creative business in its infancy.

The paranoia of failure kept me somewhat unattached to this little company of mine. But every day continues to prove me wrong - we keep landing great clients and even had to hire an employee to help us with our project load. Tara and I show up every day and put in the work - side-by-side. And lately, we've been reassessing our goals and dreaming big. We've been reaching out of our comfort zones - and it turns out that's where I'm most comfortable. We've been brainstorming new ways to work with more people like us - the driven and the weird. The small and the independent. Creatives who are redefining what it means to be an entrepreneur. But more on that later.

The point is I'm excited. And I'm in it. I'm really in it.

Braid Is In It. from Rory Gordon on Vimeo.

Small business photo essay and video by the very talented Rory Gordon - whom we also blogged about over at Braid.