This Weekend I Did Something Wildly Out of My Comfort Zone

Have you ever done something so good, but so scary, you couldn’t even sleep? That happened to me this weekend. I signed up for a coaching program that’s twice as much as I ever invested in training before.

As you know, a couple years ago I spent all my money and a whole year taking business courses. This is embarrassing, but before the pandemic I didn’t even know online courses were a thing! I always went to the library to research how to do things. Then the libraries closed and I discovered a lady named CiCi who taught a course called “Canva Like A Boss”. That was incredibly inspiring and I’m still using her tips to this day although CiCi sadly passed away a few years back.

I guess since I bought a course I got on some list somewhere and all of a sudden my social media feeds were full of people selling other courses. I took a bunch of them and learned everything from building funnels and email lists to Pinterest marketing. I had varied success with all these classes. Some were worth the investment and others weren’t. Overall I am glad I took them; my income rose 25% after implementing all I learned.

I still haven’t met my goal to run a mostly online business, however. Now that we are almost empty nesters and own our mountain cabin, I am preparing for a life that allows me the freedom to travel more. I don’t want to be tied to my house because I have to take doll hospital patients and ship orders. I’ve moved a lot of my inventory to fulfillment centers and invested more time creating print-on-demand goods. The tariff situation only makes my goal more urgent. Over the years I’ve gone from mostly from selling vintage dolls to selling more doll supplies, almost all of which are made overseas. 

I don’t see doll supply production returning to the US. We started outsourcing toy manufacturing to Asia starting in the 1940s. There are no factories here anymore; they just don’t exist. For 70 years parents have been able to buy cheap imported toys for their children. Kids went from having one or two toys, like my mother, who had to choose whether to get a doll or a bathrobe for her present one Christmas, to having rooms packed full of them. My sisters and I had a whole basement full of toys! It’s going to be extremely hard to change that expectation and go back to a time when toys were a significant investment. And unless we can change it so people think it’s worthwhile to pay $100 for a Barbie doll or something there won’t be a lot of people who can afford to open toy factories here.

It just feels like a good time for me to pivot, and after a couple coaching sessions I feel really good about it. I am scared but also excited. I will have a team of specialists who will help me set up everything for my new endeavor, from the tech to the structure. We agree I am the perfect person to meet a time such as this, because of my experience starting a business from nothing.

I went from being completely broke and pregnant with a newly-disabled husband to owning a chain of 14 online shops, teaching doll repair to thousands of people all over the world, publishing my own books, one of which was the #1 New Release on Amazon, and achieving Top 5% Etsy & eBay Top Seller status, all while raising three special needs children. I know how to start a successful business without spending a dime and I’m an experienced teacher. I have more than 4000 positive reviews, many of them about my great tutorials. With so many people experiencing economic pain out of the blue, just as we did back in 1998, I know there’s an opportunity for me to have a huge positive impact in the world.

I’m beyond excited but also terrified. I keep waking up at 3AM, like every day. According to the Internet this might mean my Circadian rhythm is off… or I was born a witch. I guess instead of the Hogwarts letter I get early-morning existential terror! 

I was lying in bed on Friday watching the ceiling fan spinning and wondering how I will ever pay for this coaching program. Then I remembered the Leanne Lopez Mosley Productivity Queen podcast episode I listened to the other day while driving to pick up our son from track practice. It was about moving forward even when you feel unready. She said you have to stretch yourself to become the person you want. You have to move forward through the fear. When you invest in yourself you have to trust the money will be there when you need it. 

Sure enough, on Saturday one of the coaches helped me get a 21-month interest-free loan. Now the terrible pressure I was under to make enough money every month to avoid credit card interest is off. As soon as I relaxed into a trusting mindset my sales, which had been stagnant since Trump’s tariff announcement, picked right up!

When I look back, I can see all my successes in life have come from the times I stepped forward even when I didn’t know what I was doing, even when I was afraid. I just want to share that with you today. If you want more for yourself, or you want to change your life, don’t be afraid. As difficult as it is, just remember when you jump the net will appear!

And please don’t worry about my current shops. Nothing is changing right now. It’s still a couple years until our son graduates from high school so I’m not going anywhere yet. Even when I do make the transition I may use a fulfillment center to store and ship physical orders. I will just have to see if the market will bear that cost. Stay tuned to this blog and mandaline.com so you won’t miss what I do next!