Latest / Crafted Connections / EP 38: SOLO – End of Beginning – The Story of Saying Goodbye to My First Company

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EP 38: SOLO – End of Beginning – The Story of Saying Goodbye to My First Company · Crafted Connections

• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, welcome to Crafted Connections.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Kaelin Calhoun, and this is a podcast all about storytelling and building genuine community.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: Here we'll dive into the art of storytelling, unpack strategies for making meaningful connections, and hear from incredible humans who are using their story to create impact.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: So grab your favorite beverage, settle in, and let's craft some connections.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: Hello and welcome back to Crafted Connections.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Caitlin Calhoun.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: I created this podcast to speak to people that I know that are really, really epic and cool and gather their stories.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: I am a storyteller with a strong video production background, and I really utilize story in people's marketing.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: So last week I didn't record an episode because I was taking a very intentional trip to Indianapolis.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: It was a trip that I'm really excited to share with you here now on the pod.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: So, first things first, it came to my attention that uh today is National Entrepreneur Day.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm recording this on National Entrepreneur Day two days before the release of this episode.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's just a really special thing because if you're new here or if you haven't heard in past episodes, I used to have a video production business back in Indianapolis for eight years, actually.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: I worked at most of the marketing companies in Indianapolis and did some self-driven projects and also did some direct-to-client projects, and it was a whirlwind and a wonderful time, and there were a lot of failures.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: So I ended up closing that company about this time last year in 2024 and opening Calhoun Creative Consulting, which is much more of a consulting story strategy, bigger picture vision of your marketing and your story-specific marketing.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: I want to dig in to share the full story, but essentially I realized about two months ago or so that I had never taken the time to actually say goodbye to my four book company, which was called Teardrop Pictures.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: And it was something that I created as a 24-year-old, and it was such a huge part, if not the biggest part of my life for eight years.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: It was I just I grew up so much in that in that container, right?
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: And I knew in October 2024 that I needed to pivot out of that because we had me and my family had moved on.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: We no longer lived in Indianapolis.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: I no longer only served people through video production and and it was time to close it.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: Honestly, do a quick rebrand pivot to know that I was going into 2025 with with this new face on, right?
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: Uh this new direction, this new um version of of the way I work.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: Come to realize I never said goodbye.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: I pivoted and I just let this thing, I said, okay, bye, see you later, bye.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: This is, I mean, this is a common thing that I do, uh, where I'm just like, cool, it's over, bye, done.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I never really take the time to mourn a thing or or say goodbye to a thing.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: So last week I decided that that was really important for me to do.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I spent uh a few days in Indianapolis celebrating and grieving and loving on the experience that I had with with this business, with that container.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: And to continue that celebration, I'd love to share the story of what it was like to start a business as a little baby 24-year-old, and what it was like to essentially realize that I had outgrown that business, I had failed a lot of ways in that business, and also to celebrate the successes that were a part of that business.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: It was such a huge part of me, right?
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: Anything that you do or create, it it's a piece of you.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: And in a lot of ways, there was like a lot of enmeshment between me and this this form of business I had.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm just, I'm really feeling like a wink from the universe as I realized that, you know, I very much intended today, was the day I was going to record this episode, a week after the the time that I spent with with the business in Indianapolis, and then to find out this morning that it was entrepreneur day, right?
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: Which is such a thing, right?
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: As an entrepreneur, it's something honestly, I resisted that identity for a very long time, but I was but I was one the whole time.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: As an entrepreneur, there are so many failures, and oftentimes you'll have multiple businesses, whether they all stay open, whether you know you try them for like short bursts of time, whether you hold them for eight years and then you have to close them like I did.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: It is such an experience.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: It is it's a weird way to live, and I also wouldn't have it any other way.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: So with that, I would love to share the story of my first business.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: Rewind.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: It's uh it's 2016.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: I have worked at a at a newspaper in Indianapolis for about a year, year and a half at this point.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I always was interested in video.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: As soon as I realized that video was an option, I was in, right?
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: I now looking back, reflecting on everything, realized that it was story all along.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: The visuals were just such a fun creative thing to infuse with story, and and I do love those mergings, but now I've found similar creative satisfaction through solely story type pursuits, right?
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: But I'll just say, at 24, I was at this newspaper, I was in an admin role between the sales and creative department.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and any time I could, I was creating videos for this organization and trying to share community stories, which is something I still do.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: And I had spent every extra minute on creating videos for this magazine, taking on small projects, networking with people that would would let me film with them, for them, about them, whatever I was I was in.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: I was waking up probably around five every day, editing until it was time to go to the office, or even editing in the office before everybody got there, and then working my admin work, and then filming maybe during my lunch break or in the evening at an event, and then putting things together and and being playful and coming up with projects, and there was just like a lot of a lot of fun creativity to it.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: Uh there was a lot of ping-ponging around, and you know, I I had a lot of energy at the time.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I was I was in my early 20s.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: It was, it was a magical, magical thing.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: And so at some point, the newspaper wasn't doing well.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it was like 2015, 2016, and we we had a series of layoffs.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I was, you know, lucky to not have been let go, but I remember thinking that weekend that I wish I had been so that I could be full-time in video and pursue this dream that I've had since I was 14.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: So at that point, right, a 10-year-long dream.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: I was ready to fulfill it.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: So I took the leap of working for myself about a month later.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: So a month after the layoffs, I found I've got 2,000 in my bank account.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I don't have that many bills, I've got a solid editing computer and I've got a solid hard drive and I can just take a leap.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: And and the goal was to take a leap, meet everybody I could, you know, maybe take on a few jobs here and there, but ultimately I fully expected to land full-time somewhere at another organization that solely did video.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: So I could continue just doing video.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I at that point was very resistant to the identity of an entrepreneur.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: I've never didn't like the idea of like the I think it was also like thick in the girl boss movement.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: Like I didn't, I didn't like that energy for some reason.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: It just it just didn't connect with me.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I just became this freelancer.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: But all the while, I also had a business.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: I created an LLC.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: And at the time, I I I did it because I was like, well, this is how you manage your finances.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I I never considered sole proprietorship as an option.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: I was just like, no, you need an LLC, and then you, you know, funnel things here and you do that.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's what I was doing.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: And the the the company itself, when I created the LLC, I envisioned myself getting a teardrop trailer and traveling the country telling stories.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: So on October 14th, 2016, a friend helped me create an LLC over beers at this beloved Indianapolis establishment, uh Bradwilber Brew pub.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: And from there, teardrop was born.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: So I continued with one foot in the freelancer space and a toe in the business owner camp.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: And my Indian network kept growing, and I found I found this family energy in that.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: It was tricky because we were all 1099 contractors, right?
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: But just among the folks, it was people watched each other's backs, you know.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: There were annual celebrations that were marvelous, and and it's just a good group of people, a good group of people who have been doing it for decades there.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: And and it's fun when you're in a community like that to see the different generations.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: I'm still quite connected with a lot of those Indianapolis folks, and I see this like next generation, and I would argue two different generations that are coming after the generation that I was in in that space.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: And it's just really cool to see how people approach business and creativity differently as life changes.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: So getting to know those folks was absolutely tons of fun.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I I found myself as this floating freelancer that never had like a set connection to one group or organization, especially when I was doing editing, I would I would go into people's offices for a few days and then I would move on to another office.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of the teams were super welcoming, and I felt like a member of the team for a day or two, but then of course they stayed and I went to a different space.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: And that was honestly incredibly lonely.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: I remember in particular, there was always that awkward, like they were all going out to lunch, and most of the time people invited me, but it was really like that that like, hey, can I join you moment was always really I could get in my head space about it.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: And it it wasn't because of anything.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, like when you're on a team and you see each other day in, day out, right?
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, there are goods and bads to that.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: Like I had the perk of never really butting heads with anybody because I moved on to the next.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: And also, I'm someone here for a temporary time.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, if you all enjoy me, then I'll come back.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: If I do a good job, then I'll come back.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: If I work fast enough, then I'll come back.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: But there was a lot of survival energy in that.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I both thrived on it, but it was also definitely hard and lonely.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: And then of course, you know, when the pandemic hit, people were very focused on keeping their in-house talent.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: As a freelancer, I found myself very available for many, many months.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: Thankfully, the first few years of freelancing between 2016 to 2019 were quite successful.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: I made a lot of connections, I did a lot of work, and you know, my family and I were in a good position.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: But that doesn't mean there wasn't that aspect, right?
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: Of of kind of feeling like an extra and outsider.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: I also wanted to start directing my own work.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: And no one was really rolling up to give me these gigs.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: I truly believe, you know, when you're a contractor, when you work for yourself, when you're you're in any industry, when you when you're a contractor or you work for yourself, it's really your responsibility to promote yourself.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: If you want to be doing more of something, it's it's leaning into seeking those projects out, connecting with those people, pitching yourself for those things.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: And obviously, sometimes that's a bit of luck, but you have to be clear on your intention because if the opportunity comes up and you're not clear, yes, yes, yes, I want that, or you're not prepared because you haven't done the training, or you're not prioritizing it, it's it's not gonna play out.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: So, with all that said, I decided I want to start directing documentary films.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: So I started fundraising and creating and marketing my own documentaries.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: This was all with teardrop branding and backing.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: So it all ran through my business.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: It all was documentary-based.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: When I would when I would put things out as the teardrop brand, it was very documentary.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: And that was that was the vision.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: The freelancing stuff, again, I invoiced people as through my teardrop QuickBooks, but ultimately no one was reaching out and being like, Teardrop, we want you.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: So all these films were with teardrop, you know, branding and backing.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: And my third film, Help Enter in the Blue, found some legitimate regional success and in a way led to growth in client work and opportunities and connections.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: The film itself released in early 2022, and then I found by the end of 2022 I needed to hire help.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: And so I ended up hiring a full-time employee.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: And then my ego took over and I hired two more because the math in my head was one employee is great.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: Why not three?
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: That's math.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: One, let's add two more, three.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: And so that all happened in a time span of six months, my friends.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: Too fast, too soon.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: I wasn't ready for it.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, the finances and the income of the company were not ready for it.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: And sure enough, it was unsustainable and it all came crumbling down.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: Hey y'all.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: You know I love telling stories, gathering stories, and finding a way to help people connect their story with the people that will get it.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what my story strategy sessions are all about.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: So over at Calhoun Creative Consulting, my strategic storytelling firm, we do one-on-one and or facilitated workshops in relation to really honing in the strategy around your story.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: It's a bit of messaging, meets content creation, meets storytelling.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: And then how do we put that out in the world?
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: How do we show up regularly?
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: There's a bit of mindset work around it, right?
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: To actually tell your story, whether you're launching something new or trying to rework your brand or just feeling a little foggy on how to communicate with your people.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: This is how to get clear.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: We'll dig into things like your narrative, how to uncover what matters most, maybe map out a few content pillars while we're at it.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: You'll also get a recording of our session so you can revisit the conversation anytime you like.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: Let's shape a story that actually feels like you.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: So book yours today.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: There is a link in the show notes.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: And hey, while you're at it, use the code podcast, all caps, podcast for 25% off your session.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: I would be honored to spend time with you and suss out your story.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: Let's dive back into the episode, shall we?
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: Which then brings us to the past few years.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: I've carried a lot of guilt around that extreme failure.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, people don't actually look at you as much as you think they are, but it's something I've been telling a story about for, I mean, it's probably about two years now, and I've been extremely mean to myself about it and about my capabilities and about where I'm going forward, you know, carrying that around.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_00: And about a year ago, as I mentioned, I decided to close teardrop.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: I closed the accounts, I did the filing of disillusion, and that's it.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: I saw off launch Calhoun Creative Consulting in a week, and air quotes moved on with this new company in direction.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: And that new company was all very clear.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: I knew what that was, I knew what that entailed, and I was excited about it for sure.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_00: But what was not clear was whether or not teardrop was actually closed, right?
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: The the disillusionment papers, those are special, that's real, the accounts gone, whatever, like you can't receive money, I can't pay money, so that's great.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_00: But there are actual tax implications that as a first-time business owner, a first-time business closer, I had no idea what that entailed.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_00: Things that I'm still like sorting out and settling and figuring out that will eventually be sorted, right?
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_00: Where we are on the like, honestly, I'm thinking we're 60 days out from like finally getting that stuff all together, which feels really freaking good to like release that.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: And that is why I was like, I need also take some like emotional time, actually saying goodbye, actually spending time with this, actually celebrating everything I did in my like 20s, right?
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: Six years of that business were in my 20s.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: Six years of that business were honestly, for all intents and purposes, quite successful.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: I was able to qualify for a home loan, and and our family had a beautiful Indianapolis house.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_00: I was able to pay myself for at least six years of the journey, right?
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, there's definitely an experience when you're paying payroll where your payroll is the last one that you pay, except for that is a terrible decision, and I will never be doing that again.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_00: So, yeah, there were tax implications and additional paperwork that I was both unaware of and in some cases and in other cases straight up avoiding.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_00: So once that awareness surfaced, I began half-heartedly chipping away at it, right?
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: So I would say, you know, disillusionment happened late 2024, and then the the awareness, you know, was 24, 25% of it was, I was aware of 25% of it like right when the business closed, and a lot more came out and to the surface around February, March of 2025.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_00: And chipping away, seeking expert help, but not like keeping it at the forefront with regular follow-up, right?
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_00: It wasn't, it's not the top of my list every day.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what are we gonna do to move this forward?
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: What are we gonna do to move this forward?
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm learning, as as I know most of us know, that like you can't control everything, things are gonna move at their pace.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: So, how healthy is it to keep it at the top and always do that and be like, what do I need to do to get that done?
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: And also there's a time and place and move things forward.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: And and that's where my idea to to emotionally say goodbye.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, okay, what I can control is me taking some time with this experience and processing it.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm not saying that that trip last week processed everything, but it definitely was a huge chunk of it.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I actually, a good friend said to me, She's like, even if it heals 2%, that's a lovely percentage.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I I just loved that take.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: I think any little bit, right?
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: I I emailed my newsletter a couple weeks ago about marginal gains, uh, and that that whole idea of like 1% improvement over time is significant and also exponential.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, it hit me that I had never actually, you know, got my karma right between myself and this entity that I danced with for eight years.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's like if you were to break up with someone and moving right on to the next and never providing yourself any closure, uh, which in my history I have done as well.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, uh patterns are patterns are patterns, my friends.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: But anyways, I decided I was gonna create uh this container for myself last week and I planned a trip to Indianapolis.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: I spent Monday and Wednesday, I kind of sandwiched the Tuesday by myself goodbye with lots of coffee meetings and lunches and catch-ups because you know I've got this beautiful networking community in Indianapolis that I love, love, love, love, love.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: But I held a lot of space on Tuesday to journal.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: Most of what I'm saying right now was me kind of writing out my experience and and what I remember and what what the actual story was versus the story I've been telling myself, which is like you went too hard too fast and you suck, right?
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_00: But actually writing the like the like the slow-paced boldness that I that I leaned into and did and and uh and what did work and what didn't work and you know what I'm proud of myself for and what I would do differently next time and and taking that time was so essential and so necessary, and even talking it out like right now is really good too.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_00: And it's you know, it's gonna be a continual process, a continual sifting through, right?
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_00: As is any healing process, but I'm really proud of myself for doing it.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: Indianapolis was my home for so long, it is where I turned into an adult, it was teardrops home, and I spent time in the places where I did a lot of the work for the business.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, I went to that Broad Ripple Brewpub, that's where I made the LLC.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_00: I had to have a round there, and then I also went to this coffee shop that I quit my full-time job in September of 2016, and that December they gave me a Christmas card because I was there so much.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I didn't have an office space.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: I needed somewhere to go so I wouldn't go crazy or drive my roommate at the time crazy.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_00: And so I went there and I probably did like two or three hours of journaling, and it was flipping fantastic.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: I want to conclude my story with something that a mentor told me right before the trip, I stayed with a mentor in Muncie.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: And we did not intend for us to have like a three-hour coffee that morning, but we're both early risers and her coffee was ready to go.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_00: And so from like 5 to 8 a.m.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_00: that morning, Monday morning before my final landing in Indianapolis, we drank coffee and we talked about stuff, and the mug that she gave me said, Let shit go.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, she was asking me all sorts of questions because I met her right as things were on the downtrend with with teardrop.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: And she was like, How long did you have the business?
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: What made it go down?
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: I named those things eight years, and this one specific thing that I did was kind of like the turning point, the the the tipping point, if you will.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_00: And she was like, Oh, well, that's not a failure.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_00: Like you clearly learned, and eight years is a very long time.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_00: I also like had several years of like a hundred thousand dollars growth, right?
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: That's like not common for a lot of businesses to go beyond five years and to have multiple years of over six figures.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: Like, it's something to like really be proud of, and all the beautiful work I created along the way.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_00: I think I I forget that too.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_00: That like not only was my work like income, you know, generating, but it also is something that like I grew a lot in.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_00: I'm very proud of.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_00: It's a very creative field, it's a very um emotional slash impactful field, and I'm really, really proud of it.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_00: So with that all being said, I want to first and foremost thank anybody who's listened to this episode because this is definitely a raw one for me.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_00: I'm definitely I'm sharing, and I also know that like there's still lots to be processed with this experience, but I want to offer an idea to you.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe along the way, during me sharing all this with you, you have thought of something that maybe you need to let go of, or something that you think you've let go of, but you really haven't taken any time to actually say goodbye yet.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_00: And what is that thing?
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: What if you give yourself the time to do that?
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: Think about it, hit me up, let me know.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_00: Y'all know Crafted Connections Pod on Instagram and and if you know me, you might even have my phone number or my email.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_00: So please let me know.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_00: It would be wonderful to hear from my friends and anyone who enjoys the show who is a future friend about what you're hoping to maybe release or or grow from.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: Because you know I care about you.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's also one thing that's really important is reminding ourselves that would would we be as hard on our friends about this.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_00: That was another friend during this trip.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_00: She asked, like, if I would be saying these mean things or thinking these mean things about a friend.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: And in that moment I said, Yeah, I would.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_00: And that's so not true.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I'm not that kind of person.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_00: But when you are thinking really harsh things about yourself, sometimes you do think that.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_00: So feel free to share in whatever capacity you feel called, or to journal on it with yourself, you know, you, yourself, and you.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm really grateful for any time you press play, and I'm really grateful that I got the chance to not only have this company and like dance with this company that I had, but also to to share its story with you all.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_00: All right, we'll be back next week with another episode.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_00: So appreciate you.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: Have a really, really good life, my friend.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_00: Crafted Connections is lovingly produced by Calhoun Creative Consulting, a strategic storytelling firm dedicated to helping people and brands tell their stories in a way that resonates.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_00: If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe and connect with us on Instagram at Crafted Connections Pod.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_00: Keep creating, keep connecting, until we meet again.