What in the world is “success” anyway? Good question. And honestly, I think only you can answer that for yourself. For example, I’m not all that great at math. In college I only had to complete two algebra courses in order to finish my degree (in philosophy).

I went to every class, turned in every assignment, and voluntarily attended a free tutoring session twice a week that my college offered. At the end of each of these courses I got the same grade, a “B.” To me, this was major success! I was, and still to the this day am, so proud of that grade!

I know some students would have been disappointed with a “B,” as they would have been striving to receive an “A.” The point is, you decide your goals. You make your dreams. And this gives you the power to be successful. It’s totally in your hands.

I could have compared myself to other students who received better grades, but what’s the point? I worked hard and achieved my goal. That is success. No comparisons needed. 

I don’t know everything (like at all). And I certainly don’t know everything about success. But, what I have learned over the last few years I’m happy to share with you. Here are my secrets:

1. Positivity is a powerful force.

Being positive about your ideas is like allowing a plant to get sunshine. Good luck growing anything in the dark. I know lots of people who never actually do anything because they think all their ideas are too dumb, impractical, too random, or that if they put anything out there they will get made fun of or criticized.

Listen, the whole world is filled with critics. It’s the people who choose to be creators who stand out. Choose to be a positive force in your life. When you have an idea, instead of immediately thinking of all the reasons why it’s not very good or won’t work, spend a few minutes thinking about how it could be improved.

Assume you have a good idea; now how can it be better? Some ideas will end up getting discarded, but not every single one. Be positive first, then think critically to refine your idea. 

Also, and this one is hard, strive to surround yourself with people who build you up (rather than tear you down). Having a constantly negative friend or family member can make it difficult to achieve your goals.

How you navigate those situations can be tricky, but staying positive and surrounding yourself with positive people is one of the keys to success.

2. Make realistic AND lofty goals.

The fact that I’m encouraging you to set goals probably doesn’t surprise you. If you don’t have goals, you likely won’t get anything done. But have you made it a habit to set goals that you know you can accomplish as well as those that scare you a little?

If you don’t have a goal in your life right now that absolutely terrifies you, like you don’t even want to tell anyone about it because it’s so crazy, get one in your life. Now.

Attempting the seemingly impossible over and over again is good practice. You won’t achieve it every time, unless you’re Superman or something. But, like most things you practice at, you will achieve it some of the time, and as you get better and better you’ll have more and more success.

I don’t know about you, but I’m willing to fail 100 times if it means I’ll achieve one impossible goal versus never failing and never achieving that lofty goal. Failure is often just a step toward success.

Pro tip: Don’t put all lofty goals on your to-do list. You’ve got to keep those more realistic ones on there too. Failure, although a key a success, is also super discouraging.

Achieving those realistic goals keeps you grounded and will help you through those discouraging moments.

3. Don’t wait for perfection. 

Sometimes we all need a drop-dead date, you know? It can be hard to finally let your idea out into the world. We all have a tendency to keep refining things, wanting to make them absolutely perfect before we show anyone.

And I do think a certain amount of this is totally worthwhile and professional, but sometimes you just need to set a deadline and hit it. Even if the result is less than perfect. 

For example, we have over 4,000 posts on this blog. Guess how many of those were absolutely perfect before we pressed publish. I don’t know, but it for SURE wasn’t all of them! Not even close.

And yet ABM attracts right around 1.5 million readers every month. That’s right, an imperfect website has that kind of appeal. We strive to produce the best articles we can, but if we waited until everything was perfect we would not be where we are today. 

I’ve also been conducting a bit of an official experiment for the past year and half or so. I try to note every time I find a typo in books I read. Guess what? Since starting this experiment I haven’t read a single book that was 100% typo free.

Many of these books were NYT bestsellers and/or written by famous authors with impressive bodies of work. My point is not to focus on flaws, but to know that flaws do not equal failure. Success is often imperfect.

So, you don’t have to wait on perfection before you put your work out there. Strive for it, but don’t wait on it. Press that “publish” button, and if something isn’t perfect, well, you’re gonna learn something that will help you keep moving forward.

You’ll never learn anything by hiding your work behind a closed door.

4. Start now.

This one I am SO guilty of. I think, “Oh, I’ll have more time next month to do XYZ. So, I’ll work on it then.” Or, “I don’t feel great right now; I’ll work on that later.” And so on. I like to think that I’ll do everything tomorrow, never today.

And that’s a great way to get nothing done. 

Start right now. Make a goal, make a plan to achieve it, and then immediately start taking steps to complete it. Do something today to move toward your dreams. Planning counts, but you can’t plan forever.

Action makes things happen. Maybe you will have more time next month, but so what? What can you do today? Maybe you can’t do as much as you’ll be able to next month, but I bet you can do something. Do it.

Don’t ever wait for your dreams to come to you; go get them. Today. Now. There will never be a better time than right now to start. 

5. Expand on success, learn from failure, and if necessary, quit. 

You know how people say, “Quitters never win.” I could not disagree more! I don’t know about you, but my life is not full of endless resources. I have the same number of hours in my day as you.

I’m good at certain things and weak in other areas (like math, as I’ve already admitted to you). To have success, you have to take all of your life’s variables into account.

When you do have success, first off, celebrate (you did it!!!!), then evaluate why. What about this situation worked? Did you discover certain natural talents or abilities you may have?

Did you uncover a collaborative relationship that worked really well for you? Expand on these things. How can you have even more success in these areas?

When you fail, first off, celebrate (you learned something!!!!) and evaluate what you learned. What didn’t work about this situation?

Did you find that you are not gifted in certain areas or you just plain didn’t enjoy something like you thought you would? How can you pivot from this experience toward success?

If necessary, quit. Sometimes things don’t work. It might have nothing to do with you. It could be that the industry you are working in is going through a bad time. It could be the medium you work on is undergoing change. Or it could be you; you may just not be good at something. That’s okay! This has nothing to do with self-worth.

You are MUCH more valuable than your current accomplishments, and you always will be. But if something isn’t working, my best advice is to quit now and move on to something else.

I don’t want to be a broken record too much here, but my best example of this is when I quit pursuing my dream of acting and moved back to my hometown to work with Elsie.

This was one of the very best (and most successful) decisions I ever made, and it all started with me quitting. Quitters sometimes win big. Don’t be afraid to change course if it feels right.

No matter where you are at in life right now, hear this: you are awesome. You are original. You have great ideas. And you can totally achieve your dreams. I believe in you 100%. You deserve to hear that every single day, so please at least hear it from me today.

Never be afraid to dream big. Never be afraid to quit something if needed. You are as free to live a successful life as you let yourself be. Thank you for being a part of my story. xo. Emma

At our business, one of the toughest questions we ever face is whether an idea (be it product, venture, etc.) is strong. If it's not, this could lead to lots of lost time, money, and resources.

Over the years, Elsie and I have tried a bunch of different business ventures. We opened a local vintage shop, started a catering business, sold advertising on our blog, launched our own independent (handmade) dress line, collaborated with larger companies on products (like clothing, accessories, camera bags, shoes, etc.), published books, self-published e-courses, and released an app for the iPhone and Android market. All of these business ventures seemed like good ideas to us at the time. Some made a lot of money, some made basically none (or we lost money doing them). Some of these projects we absolutely loved working on, and some turned out not to be what we expected. We've learned a lot over the years, making plenty of mistakes along the way! As we work to grow our little company and attempt to be savvy business ladies, we're still faced with choices all the time on whether a business idea is strong or not. 

Sometimes you can fall head over heels in love with an idea before you evaluate if the idea is strong. This usually makes us really attached to the idea, and it can then be very, very difficult to let it go if it's not the right fit or the right time.

5 Tips for Evaluating a Business Idea:

1. Risk—What do you have to risk in order to make this idea happen?

In my opinion, this should always be your first question that you ask once you've formed your idea. What will it cost to produce? How long will it take to bring this idea to life? Will you have to give something else up? Will you have to add any additional overhead to your business (e.g., will you need to rent space to house the product, build a website, hire an employee, etc.)?

Business is risky. Always. It is pretty much impossible to predict the outcome of any business idea you may have. A big reason for this is because it can be very difficult to predict human behavior (how customers will respond). You could take a survey of all your friends and ask if they think a business idea is good, and 100% of them could say yes (and mean it). But then when you actually take your idea to market it completely flops. Did your survey respondents lie to you?! Probably not. It's more likely they are just like you, unable to guess how they will behave all of the time. If you are the type of person who really doesn't enjoy risk, starting a business is probably not for you.

Assess how risky your idea is. Now, I bet you think I'm gonna say, "If your idea is too risky, it's a bad idea." And you're half correct. Risky ideas should be something you try once in a blue moon.They aren't bad, they're just… well, risky. If you have a great idea that isn't very much risk, now that's something you should probably do. Why not? 

2. Audience—Do you have one? Will your audience love this product?

No matter how awesome your idea is (it could seriously be the next iPhone), if you don't have anyone to sell it to it doesn't really matter. First thing's first. You need an audience/marketplace to take your product to. Think about it. Where do you see your product being sold? Who would love your product? Where are they?

You have two options here. You can take your product to a marketplace, or you can build one where you are. Our blog is kind of like our marketplace. It's filled with readers (like you!) who are interested in all sorts of things: crafts, fashion, photography, food, etc. If we have a strong product, we can develop it and bring it to you. And, fingers crossed, hopefully you'll love it. If you're a blogger, you can (or already did) cultivate your own audience through your site.

What if you don't have a platform? Where can you go? I highly recommend beginning to create a platform, in whatever way you want. But, there are also plenty of marketplaces already out there. A great example is Etsy. If you have a great idea for a handmade product, you should consider joining the Etsy community. It's a ready-made place filled with other handmade-loving customers. People could easily discover you by using the search function on the site, or you might even get featured on the home page or the Etsy blog. This represents a much stronger way of bringing your idea to market rather than creating your own independent website to sell your products (where customers are less likely to stumble upon you). 

3. Demand—Is there space in the market for your product? Could there be a demand for it?

There are many different versions of consumer demand. Some things we buy because we need them (e.g. parents of newborn babies need diapers). Some things we buy because we want them (e.g. big screen television). And some things we buy because we need them AND we like them (e.g. clothes, your favorite brand of bread or favorite vegetable, etc.). Consider where your idea falls. How can you make your idea more in demand? It can be a need, want or full-on luxury, but make sure there is space in the market for it. Is someone else doing something similar? What makes your idea better answer the demand? If the demand doesn't currently exist, can you create it?

4. Sustainability—Will this idea work in the long run? Can you sustain the amount of work or cost?

This is an especially tough question to ask yourself sometimes since the future can be so unknown! Think about your idea. Does it rely on very specific resources that might not be available in the near future? Is your idea so time-consuming, from a production standpoint, that you don't know if you'll be able to continue to produce at that level for many years to come (or grow if your idea takes off)?

Can your idea be scaled? Meaning, can it grow without breaking the bank or your back? If you start a catering company, let's say, at what point do you anticipate you'll have so much work that you'd need to hire additional help? Would you be able to afford extra help at that level (meaning you're making enough money to pay someone a fair wage to help and you still are turning a small profit)? If the amount of work has to double or triple before you could afford help, that might not be a good thing. Consider this before you dive headfirst into a business venture, as you could end up burning yourself out quicker than you think.

5. Love—Do you love the idea? Would you buy this product? How much would you pay for it?

Most people start with this question. And while I wouldn't start here, I do think it's an important one to ask. The truth is, if you wouldn't buy your product or use your service, etc., then what makes you think anyone else will? Good ideas are born out of passion, love, and hard work. If you've already gone through the first four questions but then find that you're not absolutely in love with the idea, it might still be a good idea, just not the right idea for you. Save your resources for your passions. 

xo. Emma

Credits // Author: Emma Chapman, Photography by: Elsie Larson, Emma Chapman, Sarah Rhodes and Float Away Studios.

Let me sum it up for you as best I can. I am a co-author of A Beautiful Mess. I write a blog that millions of people read. I am a co-owner of a #1 selling app. I am a published author. I am a co-owner of a million dollar business(!!).

I can’t word how lucky I feel to get to say this: I am happy. I know this probably sounds like bragging, and it is a little. But what can I say, I’m proud. And I want you to understand something about my life: I am living my dream. 

But this was NOT always the case. I’d like to pretend that this has always been the course of my life. It’s embarrassing sometimes to open up about your past and your failures. But I’m hoping that if I do, maybe someone out there will feel some encouragement, depending upon where you are in life.

Here’s my story. I went to college mostly because my parents wanted me to. I had no idea what I wanted to major in, so I started off studying photography. I also worked as a wedding photographer.

Eventually I realized I didn’t want to do wedding photography forever, so I quit that job and also changed my major. I eventually graduated with a BA in Philosophy. I studied philosophy simply because I loved it, and I had no idea what else to study.

During college I mostly worked for Elsie. Remember how I said I was a wedding photographer? Well, so was she. She had a small business doing wedding photography and portraits, and I mainly worked as her second shooter.

Sometimes I did weddings on my own if we booked two on the same day. After that ended, I worked for a little while at a pizza place, and then I worked for Elsie again. She then had a thriving Etsy shop, selling prints and original artwork.

I managed her customer service as well as packed and shipped orders. I did this throughout college.

During college I also started performing in plays and taking acting classes (outside of my college classes). I had a few friends who were really involved in local theater, and I enjoyed it too. I really loved doing anything comedic.

I made plans with a friend of mine to move after I finished college to pursue acting in Los Angeles. I knew less than five people in LA. But I loved acting.

So we did it. We moved into a TINY studio apartment in Hollywood. I took improv classes at Groundlings. I took commercial acting classes. I worked as an extra (a lot). I got my SAG card. After a while I got a commercial agent. I went to a few auditions (not many). I worked odd jobs. I was very, very poor.

After about three years I was nearly out of money. I was tired of my life in LA. And I was nowhere near becoming an actress of any kind. I wasn’t sure what my next move should be. I was very seriously considering taking out loans and going to law school. I even took my LSAT and started the application process. But I dunno. It didn’t feel right.

During the three years I had been living in Los Angeles, Elsie and I had remained best friends. Her Etsy store had grown into a small, local shop that she supplemented with her blog, but she was having a hard time maintaining everything. She had lots of big ideas but hardly the time to execute everything and still manage all the other parts of a business you don’t see.

Most of our phone conversations over those years ended with her trying to convince me to move home and be a part of her business again. It was tempting, but a part of me had wanted to move because I didn’t want to be just “Elsie’s little sister/helper” forever. I wanted to do something on my own.

There was a little part of me that always felt like if I worked with Elsie I would forever be the “second shooter,” if you know what I mean.

Out of money and ideas, I finally gave in to her requests and moved home. Elsie was moving her business into a much larger building and expanding into selling vintage. I went from living on my own in Los Angeles and pursuing a career in acting, to living with my parents and helping my sister open her new shop location.

Can you even imagine a more cliche situation? I won’t lie—I threw myself some pretty big pity parties those first few months. I cried a lot. I felt really defeated. I felt like I would forever be labeled a failure.

After some time of feeling sorry for myself I finally picked myself up and started to put together the pieces of my life again. I had started a food blog back in Los Angeles, and I decided to keep growing this passion in my life since, well, I could. I blogged more. I cooked more. I started a sweet shop and catering business in conjunction with Elsie’s local shop.

I also tried to find how I could be useful within her business. I started getting all of her books and financials in order. I took over managing her blog’s advertising program. I helped run the day-to-day at the local shop. I made myself valuable, and we eventually updated the business and blog into a partnership.

And together we thrived. We found ways to expand on our successes and abandon anything that wasn’t working. I had no issues with abandoning things then. Our blog readership grew. Our business grew. We started making more money.

I was able to save up enough to put a down payment on a house (and move out of my parent’s home). We eventually started hiring more people to work at our company. And last year, 2013, was our first million dollar year.

Success is not always measured in dollars made, but we are feeling like our small business has a new momentum to it. And I feel as though I’ve gone from being a failure to being a success story. How did that happen?! Well, I’ve certainly learned a few lessons along the way.

1. Move with the flow of life, not against it.

Life is absolutely full of opportunities. Don’t let them pass you by simply because they aren’t the opportunities you thought you wanted. We don’t always know what direction our life will go. I think it can be wise to try anything that comes your way, especially when you are young and trying to “figure it all out” (Spoiler: You won’t. Life is never that simple).

Don’t set your heart on achieving one thing, only one specific way, in order to feel happy and accomplished. An amazing opportunity disguised as a mundane option may come your way tomorrow; don’t miss it.

2. Be honest about your strengths and expand on them.

I was good at working with my sister. We have always made a good team, because our strengths and weaknesses compliment each other. This was hard for me to see when I was younger, because I always felt like her achievements outweighed and looked better than mine. Instead of running away from a good situation, I should have fought to make it a great situation.

Sometimes you have to be honest about what you’re good at. (A great place to start if you’re not sure is asking those closest to you.) If you enjoy something but it’s not a strength of yours, it might make a better hobby than career choice. That ended up being the case for me anyway.

3. Dreams don’t have to die, but they do sometimes have to change. Embrace it.

Even before I moved home from LA I felt afraid to do so, even though a part of me really wanted to. I felt that if I turned my back on my dream (to be an actress) then I was a failure. Being a “failure” is just a label that you give yourself. Don’t box yourself in like I did! It’s ok to change your dreams.

It’s OK to pursue something else for a while if your current efforts don’t seem to be working. Embrace where your life seems to be headed, and forget the labels. Moving in with my parents after being a failed actress was the most cliche and embarrassing choice I’ve ever made. But it was also the BEST choice I’ve ever made.

4. Success is a process, not an event or state of being.

Being successful in whatever you are pursing in life is never going to magically happen one day and then it’s done. It’s an ongoing thing. You don’t always feel it. It doesn’t look the same in everyone’s life. And another really weird thing about it is you don’t always know it as it’s happening.

Like I said, choosing to be a failed actress is what led me to my current dream job. This was a successful move, but it sure didn’t feel like it at the time. I felt anything but successful that year of my life.

Don’t be discouraged if you’re not feeling successful this year. Keep going. Work hard. Play to your strengths. Take opportunities as they come. Be brave.

No matter where you are in life, I already know one thing about you: You are not a failure. Even if you’re feeling like one lately, please know I’ve been right there with you. I believe in you. You should believe in yourself.

Thanks for letting me share this (somewhat embarrassing) piece of my life with you. xo. Emma

Related: See all our Advice articles here.

1. Make a to-do list. I am absolutely lost without a to-do list! I (try) to write out a list every morning just before I begin the day. I’ve also found that if I’m feeling overly anxious about a big project at work or looming deadline I sometimes make my to-do list the night before. This makes me feel like I’m getting a jump start on the day.

2. Give yourself small rewards for completing big tasks. I don’t know about you, but I am all about rewards. It might be something as little as, “Once I finish getting through all my emails I’ll go make my afternoon cup of coffee.” Little rewards don’t have to be about money or things, get creative and find small ways to motivate yourself to hustle.

3. Find ways to break up your workday (or night). I feel like I have a pretty decent attention span, but I’m not super human or anything. It’s good to break up tasks that take a long time or that are physically demanding in any way. For example, let’s say you’re a photographer and you have about five hours of editing to do one night. Work for three hours then give yourself a snack or paint your nails. Then finish up that work. Also, if you sit a lot in order to work make sure to build in a few stretch breaks into your day. You’ll feel better!

4. Avoid addictive time wasting activities. I recently confessed my love for Candy Crush Saga. I’m no stranger to time wasting activities. Facebook can be a trap. Smartphone or internet games can also get super addictive. Avoid these when you’re trying to get something done. Check your FB during the last five minutes of your work day (maybe as your reward?). Also set limits for mini “time wasting” sessions. It’s ok to need a mental break, but don’t get sucked in. For example, next time you go to check Instagram while you’re suppose to be working look at the clock first. Give yourself only 2-3 to scroll through your feed then stop.

5. Get as much done as early in the day as you can. It’s a ripple effect thing. Personally, I’m sort of morning, sort of not a morning person. You know? I have a hard time getting up in the morning! But I’ve noticed that when I do get up and get rolling on my to-do list for the day I already feel so accomplished by nine or ten in the morning that I feel confident about the rest of the day. Start your day with a bang! The momentum will keep you rolling. Then you have the evening hours to relax and unwind.

6. Tackle that really tough to-do first. I know. You don’t want to. Me neither. But once it’s done it’s done! I find that I’ll often leave a really tough or bummer to-do at the bottom of my list for days and days longer than it should have been there. And it’s just looming over me the whole time. Just do it. You’ll feel better. And then you’ll only have the easy stuff left to do.

7. Showcase your success. This is motivation fuel for the future. It’s ok to feel super pumped and proud when you complete a tough goal or finish a super long to-do list. Tell your significant other. Instagram that finished project. Call your mom. Pump your fists in the air. Celebrate—you did it!

8. Tell someone your goals. Now they are your accountability partner(s). Boom. I don’t know about you, but I am WAY more likely to finish a goal if I’ve told someone else about it. This can be as public as you like. You could tell your sister a personal goal. Or you can start a monthly blog series where you share your goals for the month (like 4 Simple Goals) and then you share progress. You decide who you want to tell, just tell someone.

9. Be realistic. We all need breaks. Plan to come back to difficult or frustrating tasks later. Sometimes things don’t come together like we’d hoped. Sometimes a task turns out to be way more physically demanding than we thought. Be honest with yourself. Take a break if you need. Just be sure to make a specific plan to come back to the project, maybe seek out some help if you need.

10. Make goal setting a habit. Maybe the whole to-do list sounds annoying, or cheesy, or overwhelming to you. Find what works for you. And don’t worry if it feels weird or even scares you a little at first. It will start to feel like a normal part of your daily life. And you’ll start to feel weird/off if you miss it. It’ll become habit, like brushing your teeth. It’s not overwhelming or annoying to remember to do this simple task twice every day. But it wasn’t always a habit, probably your parents had to remind you a lot at first. Let goal setting become a routine and positive part of your everyday life.

We believe in you! Make your life full of successes! And if you have any additional tips or specific examples of things you do to stay on track please share them with us. xo. Emma

1. Vehicle Use. Do you use your car for work purposes? Did you know you can deduct the business use of your vehicle? There are two methods for calculating the use of your vehicle, you can learn more about it here. In our opinion the simplest solution is to keep a log of your work related mileage (either with excel or an app). Also save any receipts from tolls or parking fees, but file them as an expense (business travel expenses can be deducted as well).

2. Office Use. Do you rent a space that you use as an office or studio? If you have a designated home office space you may be able to write off a portion of your mortgage or rent. There are a few rules about deducting the use of a home office, namely that you must use it regularly. You can read more about this option here. 

3. Business/Office Supplies. Chances are you bought all sort of things last year that you needed in order to conduct business. This might include the following: a computer, a camera, a printer, printer supplies, pens and pencils, software, postage, apps, online fees for web hosting or blog platform fees. It is best to keep a record of these expenses throughout the year, saving receipts in an organized fashion in case you ever get audited. This may seem like a pain at first but it's worth it, trust me. Also, more expensive items that you will use over the course of several years (like a computer or digital camera) will need to be depreciated over several years. A tax pro can help you with this step, just save those receipts!4. Education. It costs money to get an education, and the IRS allows some tax deductions in this area. You'll need a record of your tuition, fees or student loans. Read more about educational tax deductions here. 

5. Insurance. If you are self employed chances are you pay your own health care premiums. These are tax deductible. If you own a small business and have any kind of business insurance, these premiums may be deductible as well as renter's insurance for a rented office space or car insurance on a company car. 

6. Advertising and Promotions. Do you have costs associated with advertising your business or product? Do you send out mailers? Do you utilize an email marketing service? These costs can be tax deductible so long as it does promote your business, and you have some documentation of the transactions.

7. Banking fees. This one's often easily overlooked. If you pay lots of fees associated with your bank or Paypal. Keep track of them, as they can be deducted.

8. Retirement Plans. If you are an employer most of the time you can deduct employer contributions on behalf of an employee. If you are self employed (the recipient/employee) then this can become more complicated as there are more rules regarding if you can deduct funds to a retirement account. Check with your tax pro for more information.

9. Tax Preparation. Ok, full disclosure, I'm peppering this one with my personal opinion. If you are a small business owner or self employed I HIGHLY recommend getting your taxes done by a tax professional you use over the course of many years. Yes, you can deduct the fees associated with this service the following year (for personal taxes there is a limit to the amount you can deduct). But even more important than this I've found that having a second person with more knowledge and experience take a look at your receipts/books is the number one thing you can do to save money during tax season.

10. Moving Costs. This won't apply to everyone, only those who move for work related reasons. And there are limitations. Be sure you know what address is your tax home. You must move at least 50 miles. You must be there (the new, moved-to area) for at least 39 weeks during the first year of employment (or 78 weeks during the first two years if self employed). 

If you've got your own venture that's spending and making money, it's never too early to start thinking about taxes. Create habits. Save receipts. Always try to learn more about the system. It will be so beneficial in the longrun. And don't be discouraged if you didn't do everything absolutely perfect last year. Being a good small business owner is a learning process. We are always learning new and better ways to do business every single year. You can do it! xo. Emma

Credits // Author: Emma Chapman, Photography: Elsie Larson. This post was written with considerable assistance from our accountant Jason Jordan. Resources linked throughout.

Elsie and I started dreaming about writing books together probably about two weeks after we began working in our local shop every day. When we are together for long periods of time we usually start dreaming. We've been that way since we were kids. And, like most dreams, this one felt completely unattainable. In our minds it MIGHT be possible to get a book deal SOME day. Maybe. If we were lucky. I think actually trying for the things you want in life is often the biggest and scariest step of any journey.

We wanted to do a DIY inspired entertaining book. Throwing parties is so fun and fun to photograph plus it fits in well with our interest (crafts, decorating, and recipe creation). We made, what we thought, was  an awesome book proposal. We dreamed of pitching it. We sent a proposal out to a publisher we loved. We received NO response. In fact, the only real feedback we ever heard about that book idea was "entertaining is a dead category" in the publishing world. That was discouraging. We had put our hearts into that idea, not to mention hours upon hours of work, other resources, and we'd even hired  a photographer to shoot the concept. It all felt like such a waste of time.

As luck would have it an editor contacted Elsie. She seemed legit, she was from a big publishing house in NYC. She wasn't interested in doing an entertaining book though, or a craft book, or really any book idea we had been dreaming about. She wanted to do a self-portrait book, tips and tricks for taking your best self portrait. She had been researching self portraits on the Internet and found an old blog post Elsie had written. She liked it, so she called us just to discuss. She was very kind, complimentary and willing to work with us as first time authors who really knew nothing about the book publishing world. I remember we thought the concept of doing an entire book based on self portraits sounded really hard because it was such a limited concept. A whole book of photos of just us—would anyone buy that outside of our mom? But this was our chance to get our foot in the door of the publishing world so we kept a conversation going.

Around the same time a literary agent (also from NYC) contacted us coincidently enough. I remember we talked on the phone with her for the first time while we were out Christmas shopping one day. Lindsay seemed really cool, and we could tell she had read through our blog and knew a little about us. She asked to read through some of our e-courses so we sent them to her. We talked a few more times via email and over the phone, and it just felt like a good fit. She then started joining in the talks with Julie, the editor we'd been talking to.

This was all really exciting, but talking to people on the phone isn't exactly a book deal. We didn't know if a contract was going to come out of all this, but we, of course, got our hopes up and started dreaming up the best possible self portrait book we could imagine. And we waited to hear what would come of it all. We kept working at our shop, and we kept blogging. We just kept doing what we had been doing and just hoping the phone would ring. Even if we didn't end up getting a book deal out of all this, we felt like our new relationship with Lindsay, our agent, had been a positive step in the right direction.

We always worked until 7pm (when our shop closed), and I often had to bake for the sweet shoppe afterwards (the commercial kitchen space I rented only allowed for me to bake late at night). One night, after getting home around 10pm or so I saw I had a missed call from Lindsay. I actually saw it before I left the kitchen, but I didn't listen to it until I got home. The whole drive home I felt nervous and was already trying to talk myself out of being sad if things didn't go our way. In her voicemail Lindsay sounded upbeat, and she said that she would be sending over an email later with all the details but that we got it. We had a book deal! Not only were we signed on to do a photography book but our contract would also get us a second book that we and our publishers could decide on the topic at a later date. And just like that we had a two-book deal with Random House. We were going to be authors! I kind of wondered as I listened to her message that night how often Lindsay gets to tell first-time authors they just landed their first book deal. It must be one of the best parts of the job. The next day, while we were still at the shop, Elsie and I had a short phone meeting with her to go over the contract and connect about the whole deal. We couldn't believe we were going to get to write TWO books.

Soon our photography book concept changed, and they wanted a lifestyle photography book, rather than just a book on self portraits (YES!). This proved to be an even stronger concept for us. We love snapping photos of our lives, so sharing tips and tricks we've learned over the years was a dream come true. Even though we had never dreamed of writing a photography book, it actually felt like the perfect fit.A few things we learned from getting our book deal:

1. Dare to dream. Writing a book is just like any other dream you might have right now. It feels crazy out of reach! Just keep dreaming anyway. That's where it all begins.

2. Take small steps toward your goals. We wanted to write a book one day. Big dream. In the meantime we did our best to write quality blog posts and e-courses that we published and shared. It was a blog post that lead our editor to discover us. It was our blog and our e-courses that got our agent interested in our work. We probably wouldn't have a book deal today if we hadn't already been writing and publishing work while we were dreaming about being authors!

3. Be flexible. We wanted to do an entertaining book. No one wanted to publish that at the time (maybe someday!). Our first idea wasn't to do a self-portrait book. But we felt we could take that concept and do a really good job, so we accepted the project. There are times when you have to flexible. There are also times when you have to stand up for your ideas—don't get me wrong. But when you are starting out or working with people more experienced than you, it's a good idea to listen and see where you can fit in, not make demands. We've learned so much from our publisher and agent over the past few years. Their experience is the best crash course in publishing we could have ever received! 

Thanks for letting us share our book deal story with you. Next up we'd like to share more about what it was like writing our first book. Let us know if you have any questions. xo. Emma (and Elsie too)

*First photo by Arrow & Apple. 

We recently made the difficult decision to close our local store. We are researching options and will likely be holding an estate sale later this summer to sell our remaining inventory. I realize this may sound like very sad news. But once you read this, I think you’ll understand why it’s the smartest choice for us right now. Owning our two local stores created some of our happiest memories. Even though retail isn’t our dream for the future, it’s a super special part of our past. I hope you enjoy our story! November 2008: I announced that we were planning to open our first local store and website!

I had recently started dating Jeremy (awwww!), so, when I look back on this season, I remember it as being one of the first big career developments we experienced together. We leased a building where I lived upstairs, and downstairs we set up his studio in the back room and my (teeny tiny) first local shop in the front room. In February of 2009: Filming a segment for our local news with Rachel the day before we opened. Major butterflies!

In 2009, our first store location opened, along with our first website. We sold lots of handmade things and paintings, along with small runs of t-shirts and accessories. It was an exciting time! The store was open six days a week, and I worked there 4-5 days each week by myself for the first year. At nights I would stay up late making paintings and accessories to sell on our website. We were barely making ends meet. It was hard, exhausting but so fulfilling and special. 2010: We shot these photos in an abandoned elementary school building.

In 2010 we were falling hard for vintage style and clothing. We started experimenting with some fashion photo shoots. I started reworking vintage clothing for our online shop and dreaming about selling clothing locally.

In the summer of 2010 we had a chance to buy a large, fully stocked vintage business from a woman who was ready to retire (she was selling her vintage inventory and handing over the lease on the building). We jumped on this opportunity, even though it was a huge risk! 2010 was one of the happiest years of my whole life. After living in LA for three years, Emma decided to move home and become my business partner. We spent a month planning on the phone every day, and then I drove to LA and helped her move home. October 2010: Celebrating the opening of our second location with our family. We opened our doors after three months of rennovating our new location!

Aww, Hope’s owl costume on our opening night! 

These are the tags we designed using old family photos.

In October 2010, Emma and I opened the new location for Red Velvet, selling vintage, with an extra fun addition, a cupcake and bubble tea shop that she created in the store! Planning the menu and testing recipes was incredibly exciting.

In the months after we opened, Emma talked to me about feeling kinda “stuck” in her new venture. Developing the recipes and fixing up the shop had been so much fun, but the daily routine of making the same cupcakes over and over again wasn’t inspiring her. It was around that time I invited Emma to share some of her recipes here on ABM, and the idea of writing this blog together started to develop. Our first year at the new location was amazing! After it opened, we worked together 5-6 days each week for about a year. We had so much time to plan, to dream and to work on the blog. It was during that time we really started to envision what we wanted this blog to become. We posted more often (almost 3 times as much), started sharing DIYs and tutorials, and even hired our first shop girl (Kinsey!) allowing us to devote more time to the blog. Because of this, our readership started to grow… by 400% in a single year! In 2011 we experimented more with product development releasing our first dress collection. It was an amazing experience from both a creative and business standpoint. After our first collection, we realized we wanted to continue designing fashion and products. Another passion was born! In late 2011 we met our now literary agent, Lindsay. We had been talking to a publisher about a possible book deal around the same time. One day, while we were working in the shop, we got a call from our agent that we had our first book deal offer. There were tears… lots of happy tears. We had been dreaming of authoring a book together one day, but we had no idea this dream would happen so soon!

Over the next few months we rented a temporary studio for photographing our first book. We were working less and less in the local store, hiring more shop girls to fill in the gaps. Over the course of the year in 2012, we started thinking maybe retail wouldn’t fit into our big picture dream for the future. At first we were in denial. I would get very emotional when we talked about selling the vintage business. We put off making a decision. But even after the first book was turned in nothing changed. We still couldn’t make enough time to give the store the proper care it deserved. Finally, we admitted to ourselves it wasn’t just working on books that kept us from pouring into the store. We realized our dream had evolved to creating and sharing content, and it required more of our attention to do it right.2012 was a blur… a big, exciting, wonderful blur. We worked on two books, an app, multiple product designs and some really awesome campaigns on this blog. We started forming new dreams and a new five-year plan. Emma is the best partner in the world, and dreaming big together has been so amazing for our relationship, both business and personal.

We talked about selling the business and even showed it to a couple prospective buyers. We were taking our time and trying to find the perfect fit. But more recently the building’s owner decided their family would prefer to sell the building, rather than continue leasing it. So we are planning to hold an estate auction later this summer to sell the remainder of our inventory, which is still thousands of items (we have a fully stocked second floor too). At this point, we are no longer sad to see the store go. We’ve accepted that in life we simply cannot do everything, and we want to put 100% of our energy into writing this blog, our books and doing collaborations. We will always be grateful for the opportunity to open our local stores and the sweet shoppe. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that we are so proud of! One of the things we will miss most about our local shop is how we have gotten to meet so many of you there! Over the past couple of years, hundreds of sweet blog readers have stopped into the shop to say hello. We hope to find other opportunities in the future to connect with some of you again in person. We have already booked one opportunity this summer (we’ll announce more about this soon!) and we hope to find or create other opportunities in the future.  Thanks so much for reading and being a part of our story! xo. Elsie (and Emma)