For years, I was obsessed with productivity hacks, morning routines, and squeezing every drop of efficiency out of my day. I devoured books, podcasts, and articles from so-called "hustle culture" gurus promising that if I just woke up earlier, worked harder, and pushed through burnout, I’d achieve success. Spoiler alert: I didn’t.

If you had told me a year ago that in-person networking would completely transform my business, I wouldn’t have believed you. As a web designer, my work is inherently digital. Logically, that should mean all my marketing efforts should be online too, right?

Planning your year with intention is more than just setting goals. It’s about aligning with your values, embracing flexibility, and letting go of what no longer serves you. Explore how tools like tarot, the moon’s cycles, and authentic reflection can guide you toward a purposeful and fulfilling year.

As a small business owner, I get it. Getting organized is hard, especially with so many options out in the market. When I started my business back in 2019, I was overwhelmed by the options. So much so that for a few years I hopped around from platform to platform. Asana, Trello, ClickUp, Airtable, Notion, Basecamp...I’ve tried them all. Ultimately though, the platform that I ended up sticking with was Notion.

Today I wanted to get a little bit personal with you. Many of you may not know my story of becoming a designer, but I thought it would be fun to share how I got here! It was a long and windy road, so strap yourself in for the ride. We’re going to go way back and start the journey in childhood.

Have you ever practiced affirmations? They’re a tool used to shift your mindset and improve the way you think about yourself and the world around you. For me, I’ve found that they’ve had profound effects on my business over the course of time. I’ve honestly been surprised by this revelation because when I started practicing affirmations I didn’t think I’d see any tangible results.

I am starting a new series on the blog. As you can probably tell from the title above, it’s called Diary of a Human Being. This is going to be an off-the-cuff series where I go all-in on a topic that I feel like discussing. There won’t be an agenda. There won’t be an outline. There won’t even be research (unless I feel like diving into research.) The idea is that I will discuss from my heart and share what’s on my mind. There won’t be any goal to the posts themselves except self-expression.

Creating my oracle deck was the first time I ever interacted with a force other than my own. Something grand that was compelling me to create art. I didn't know why I was doing it, but I knew I had to.

For those of you that don't know, I'm a podcast fiend. I'm constantly listening to them to gather ideas for my business, life and everything in between. Fun fact, before I became a full-time designer I would spend my mornings commuting to my 9-5 job while listening to entrepreneurial podcasts and I still listen to entrepreneurial podcasts to this day.

In the following blog post I’m going to outline each and every step I take in my morning routine, how I do these steps, and explain why they are a part of my routine.

A lot of business owners think that blogging is just something that bloggers do. Now, things are much different. Businesses have come to realize that blogging is a really powerful marketing tool. This is why, if you’re not already, you need to start blogging now.

Do you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur? Entrepreneurship is hard. It’s not for everyone. It really isn’t for the faint of heart. For those of us that have chosen to be entrepreneurs, incorporating mindfulness practices into our daily lives can make the path much easier.

In this post, creative digital designer Alex McGinness shares insight about using Photoshop to edit photos from a photo shoot and how that relates to perfectionism.