After running some test bakes and sharing them with a select group of friends and family (soft launch?) I was ready to TAKE A REST!

I needed some time to recharge, think, plan, organize and reset. For a long time I wouldn’t honor the need to rest, thinking that I had to keep grinding—immediately—or else momentum would be lost. The reality is, we all need the opposite of grind in order to keep balanced. There is a time to grind, a time to laze. A time to bake, a time to cool. A time to disco, a time to… okay, you get it. (If you know the opposite of disco please let me know, no, the answer is not heavy metal, you Detroit Rock City fans).

I also was going through a very normal period of self-doubt. Are the cookies good? Were they good enough? Did anyone like them? Should I keep doing this?

Am I totally crazy for focusing a big portion of my energy into this instead of finding freelance graphic design work?

What do I expect to even happen if I keep doing this? What if I make myself nuts for nothing? How much money would I even make doing this, is it worth it?

Before I answer any of those questions I think the period of self-doubt, when we start anything new or unknown, is completely normal and probably operates cyclically. It makes sense to have a safeguard in our brain to keep us in check. And after going through my period of self-doubt I was able to quiet the anxiety in my mind. Notice I didn’t say I silenced the anxiety. The anxiety is okay as long as it doesn’t take over control or kill your spirit!

Back to my questions, I did answer each of them.

Turns out, the cookies were good. I thought they were very good. My husband told me they were phenomenal (isn’t he a great guy?). And then I heard directly from a few people who tried the Love Mix. Positive words. Questions about how often I plan to make cookies. Will I do more holidays? Do I ever have any cookies regularly? This feedback came directly at the height of my were-they-good-anxiety.

Yes, I am partially crazy for focusing a big portion of my energy into baking cookies and slowly developing a micro-bakery. You have to be a little bit crazy to start your own business. It is not easy. It is not simple. It is scary. I accept this. I am a little bit crazy to begin with, so this is perfect!

And in terms of finding more freelance graphic design work… the reality of graphic design, in general, is that there are cycles of ebbs and flow with work volume. The current reality of graphic design is that we’re in a serious ebb, jobs are being cut and not replaced, and AI is crashing in. I believe the work will always be there, and will flow back in time.

I don’t know what I expect to happen as I keep pursuing The Disco Bakery. It’s a journey (love that for me), so I’m going to keep going. And then keep going a little bit more and see where it takes me. And then when I get there, I will probably keep going.

And in terms of making money, sure, that would be nice. But that was never my main goal. Read my About page. I don’t think anyone who is passionate about what they create has an end goal of making millions of dollars at the inception of their idea. You can argue against me. There are financially successful “bakeries” out there that do not produce anything tasty. And there are incredible bakeries that are financially successful. There is a serious difference between them, and what comes first.

Follow the joy, make the human connections, and sparkle through the fog of doubt.

Keep it Disco!