Operating a small business is work well loved but often hard and lonely with little support.  So during my “big” birthday month, I’m going to be sharing with you some wonderful businesses and each of them will be giving away one thing to one lucky person. I’m sharing these small businesses because my heart is with the business owner struggling to make it, but really passionate about serving people.  Any given day, I may fit that description. 😉 This month I’m offering a Newborn Special coupled with a chance to win free sessions.  If you’re expecting a little one, read this post for details.

Here is a link to all of the giveaways I’m hosting this month.

And now let me tell you a little bit about today’s small business owner.

Cathy

Another God Sized Dreamer (can you tell that these girls had a HUGE impact on me over the course of the last year?!), Cathy wants to write and encourage.  Part of her dream was to open an Etsy shop selling these darling little Scrabble themed gifts.  So for a year now, she’s been working hard on that dream. Cathy is fun and creative and she loves her girls! She sells a fantastic Clean Up Game for kiddos that might be hopping in my cart soon!

One Word Scrabble Decor

Cathy could have chosen any of the following amazing items from her shop.  I think all of these are fantastic gifts for the picky ones in your life: Coasters Name Plates The Clean Room Game 😉 However, she want each of you to dream about one word to focus your heart on for the following year. My one word for 2014: Faithful.  What’s yours?

Contest Entry Instructions

Leave a comment below telling me your favorite piece from Cathy’s shop Celebrating the Moment and what your one word would be if you would win.  Keep in mind your word must be under 9 letters long! Make sure to include a way to reach you if you win. Giveaway Closes on January 31st. Winner will be chosen through a random number generator and notified on February 3rd. Shipping is for US only.  International winners will pay their own shipping if they win.

Operating a small business is work well loved but often hard and lonely with little support.  So during my “big” birthday month, I’m going to be sharing with you some wonderful businesses and each of them will be giving away one thing to one lucky person.

I’m sharing these small businesses because my heart is with the business owner struggling to make it, but really passionate about serving people.  Any given day, I may fit that description. 😉

This month I’m offering a Newborn Special coupled with a chance to win free sessions.  If you’re expecting a little one, read this post for details.

And now let me tell you a little bit about today’s small business owner.

Barbi Haase

Barbi is probably one of the most unique business owners in the area. Barbi has 6 kids and she knows the cost of feeding a large family healthy food!   So she devised a solution: she and some friends pooled money and purchased produce in bulk at the local farmers market.

From these humble beginnings,  Barbi began a produce ordering cooperative called The Noisy Rabbit.  Members pick up a basket filled with produce at a local host’s home each week.  A basket of produce averages out to a cost of $15 a week and there’s no way you could get the amount in your basket for that cost at the grocery store!   There are branches all over Greenville county and a couple in Pickens and Spartanburg county.  One of my favorite parts about being a member was cutting down my grocery store time with 3 young children in the cart 😉

However, my favorite part of Barbi is her heart.  More than once a year she organizes special events that deliver boxes to home bound and less fortunate people.  At Thanksgiving, nominated families even get turkeys and hand baked goods from members to enjoy.  And every branch of The Noisy Rabbit has a “blessing basket” where extras and produce member don’t love are placed and donated to a family in need.

One Week of Free Produce from The Noisy Rabbit (Greenville, SC Local Only)

Contest Entry Instructions

Leave a comment below linking me to your favorite vegetable-heavy dish.  It can be a casserole or pasta or a side dish or a salad or even those sneaky desserts with more veggies than you could dare to imagine. Barbi curates an amazing set of Pinterest boards with recipes specific to each vegetable in their basket.  I hope you can find something she doesn’t already have pinned!

Make sure to include a way to reach you if you win.

Giveaway Closes on January 31st.

Winner will be chosen through a random number generator and notified on February 3rd.

Giveaway valid only for those living in Greenville County in Greenville, SC (or those close enough and willing to drive to a branch listed on their website).

Operating a small business is work well loved but often hard and lonely with little support.  So during my “big” birthday month, I’m going to be sharing with you some wonderful businesses and each of them will be giving away one thing to one lucky person.

I’m sharing these small businesses because my heart is with the business owner struggling to make it, but really passionate about serving people.  Any given day, I may fit that description. 😉

This month I’m offering a Newborn Special coupled with a chance to win free sessions.  If you’re expecting a little one, read this post for details.

Here is a link to all of the giveaways I’m hosting this month.

And now let me tell you a little bit about today’s small business owner.

Delonna G.

Delonna is also a member of Holley Gerth’s God Sized Dreams Team.  I also was able to meet her at Allume in October and this girl prays big prayers.  Her God-Sized Dream was to sponsor Orphans through handmade jewelry.  Her shop Clothed In Love is doing just that.  50% of profits go straight to children in need!

If there’s one theme I’m noticing with all these business owners, it’s how big their hearts are!

Clothed in Love: Multicolored Bracelet

This is sure to brighten any sour mood and remind you to pray for orphans 🙂

Contest Entry Instructions

Leave a comment below telling me your favorite piece of jewelry you see on Delonna’s Facebook Page.

Make sure to include a way to reach you if you win.

Giveaway Closes on January 31st.

Winner will be chosen through a random number generator and notified on February 3rd.

Shipping is for US only.  International winners will pay their own shipping if they win.

Operating a small business is work well loved but often hard and lonely with little support.  So during my “big” birthday month, I’m going to be sharing with you some wonderful businesses and each of them will be giving away one thing to one lucky person.

I’m sharing these small businesses because my heart is with the business owner struggling to make it, but really passionate about serving people.  Any given day, I may fit that description. 😉

This month I’m offering a Newborn Special coupled with a chance to win free sessions.  If you’re expecting a little one, read this post for details.

And now let me tell you a little bit about today’s small business owner.

Justine Register

This giveaway series is pretty much in honor of Justine.  She’s been coaching me for the past two months and whispered the encouragement I needed to face my fears of failure over and over.  Believe me, there has been a ton of failure in the past two months 😉

Here’s a little testimonial I wrote for her site to give you an idea of what she does.

Justine came into my life when I was right at the crossroads of deciding my direction in professional photography.  I had difficult choices to make about marketing and pricing myself to actually make a living.  But mostly I was facing fear.  Fear barking whichever way I went: pursuing the dream or giving it up.  I was scared to move.

Justine helped me move.  In our four sessions together (and in between), I developed a marketing strategy and took huge steps toward implementing it.  I walked into OBGYN and midwives appointments and dropped off coffee table books.  I talked to OBs about how I could serve them.  I asked a midwife center if I could help them by hosting a birth photography giveaway and placing images from that session in their waiting area.  I had the courage to call some folks who were targeting my target market and make real steps toward mutually beneficial relationships.  I applied for a Nasha loan to replace flooring in my studio destroyed by a flood. My calendar for 2014 is filled with post topics, email newsletter ideas, and a heart to serve and make an income with my business.

I’m not an organized person by nature.  I’m shy and generally intimidated by others in profession fields. In fact, I’m scared of promoting my business on Facebook on my own news feed!  I hate making phone calls.  And although I had to write a script for every phone call I made, I made those calls because I knew next week Justine would be asking me about my progress.

But not only did she hold me accountable to following through, Justine tenderly talked me through my fears.  I never felt as if she thought my fears were irrational.  And I always hung up encouraged and motivated to become the best businesswoman that God had designed me to be.

You know the most unexpected thing that resulted from our four calls together?  I’m actually teaching a small group of local photographers how to choose their target market and marketing strategies.  I can’t believe I volunteered for that gig.  Ofcourse, it’s coupled with a Noonday Collection Trunkshow so that my introverted self can escape for some downtime midway through the class before questions. Ha!

In these few weeks of our time together, I haven’t seen a lot of physical results yet.  I’m not getting more bookings yet or serving more clients; I’m pretty sure that will come in time.  But more importantly, I am different.  I’m not longer just a professional photographer; I am a business woman working toward making a living.

If you’re standing at a crossroad too afraid to move forward or back, give Justine a call because that’s exactly what I will do in the future.

Two Free Coaching Sessions with Justine Register

Justine coaches anyone standing at a crossroads (business related or not).

Life coaching is sort of forward based counseling.  It helps you work through questions of vision: where do you want to go?  And then follows through with charting the course to make it happen.  Please check out her website.

Ya’ll, this is an incredible gift. In fact it’s worth $250.  I sort of wish I could hog another two sessions all to myself :-p

Contest Entry Instructions

Leave a comment below telling me what your crossroads is.  How do you think Justine can help you chart your course through that area?

Make sure to include a way to reach you if you win.

Both Coaching sessions must be scheduled and completed  prior to February 28th.

Giveaway Closes on January 31st.

Winner will be chosen through a random number generator and notified on February 3rd.

Operating a small business is work well loved but often hard and lonely with little support.  So during my “big” birthday month, I’m going to be sharing with you some wonderful businesses and each of them will be giving away one thing to one lucky person.

I’m sharing these small businesses because my heart is with the business owner struggling to make it, but really passionate about serving people.  Any given day, I may fit that description. 😉

This month I’m offering a Newborn Special coupled with a chance to win free sessions.  If you’re expecting a little one, read this post for details.

And now let me tell you a little bit about today’s small business owner.

Mandolyn O.

Mandolyn is my friend from college.  We sang silly songs together in Anatomy Lab.  Well, actually, she did a lot of singing and I did a lot of holding bones and memorizing the protuberances by touch (different learning styles… ha!).  She’s also one of my two trusted child care providers while I photograph newborns.

Mandolyn is fighting a unique autoimmune disease that is slowly taking away her ability to use her body.  She’s unable to work in a traditional job at this time so she crochets to earn her living and sells through her shop Mandolyn Makes.

At the same time she’s an active advocate for the end of modern-day slavery through Not for Sale. She speaks by appointment about what we can do to end modern-day slavery as well as her experience in and redemption from modern-day slavery.  She’s really an extraordinary woman.

Mandolyn Makes: Set of 3 Crocheted Snowflakes

Need something to cheer up your winter blues?  These beautiful snowflakes would be beautiful hung from your ceiling right over your dining room table.  Each one is unique just like real snowflakes!

Here’s a picture of one pinned out and starched so it’ll be stiff enough to be lovely 😉

Contest Entry Instructions

Leave a comment below telling me which product you see on the Mandolyn Makes Facebook Page that you love the most!

Make sure to include a way to reach you if you win.

Giveaway Closes on January 31st.

Winner will be chosen through a random number generator and notified on February 3rd.

Shipping is for US only.  International winners will pay their own shipping if they win.