Letters Vol.01 - You don’t need to do it all to be successful.
I wanted to take a moment to write a series of letters to my past self - That young designer with a ton of heart and whole lot to learn.
Dear younger me,
You thought “success” meant saying yes to everything. More clients. More services. More hours. More marketing.
You wore busy like a badge of honor and thought that burnout was just part of “making it” .. because that’s what you were told, right?
If you weren't working late into the night, squeezing in one more "I need it launched yesterday" client or trying to create the next new thing, you weren't doing it right.
You thought you had to "earn" rest and that spending a Saturday on the beach in N.C. with friends wasn't allowed — work was allowed.
But success isn’t built from exhaustion. It’s built from intention.
What changed?
You simplified. You let go of trying to prove you could “do it all.”
You focused on what you were reallllly good at and what made your heart happy.
That meant creating evergreen products (hello, templates) and, more importantly, semi-custom brands that perfectly blended your OWN creativity while still working with clients (and on a quicker turnaround).
Signs You’re Doing Too Much:
You’re always working weekends (or those super late nights)
You say no to dinners, rest, or even just doing nothing (like even taking a shower ;)
You feel like the quality of your work is slipping (more client revisions)
You feel guilty for taking time off
4 Ways You Simplified (and found more freedom):
Automated your onboarding (Dubsado was a lifesaver to be more organized)
Narrowed your offers to what you love doing most (cutting custom websites & branding)
Created Made-For-You products (Canva templates, Workbooks, Websites)
Did monthly check-ins to ask: “What am I dreading? What can I cut?”
You didn't need to do it all. You needed to do your thing really well — and give it the space (AND TIME) to grow.
If you're feeling stretched thin right now, I was too. I had weeks of pure burnout.
I'll never know if my late nights and overworking are what got me to where I am today, but I wish I would have done it just a little bit differently.
So, tell me…
What’s one thing you *wish* you could take off your plate or refine?
This post just came at the right time — thank you Angela🤍
I don't think there's necessarily something I want to take off my plate because all of it feels essential for the season of life I'm in. But I also recognize that the pace I'm working at isn't sustainable, I need to be more intentional with having fun. Good old fashioned child-like fun.