Hello Beautifuls!

Happy New Year! We are so excited for you to join us for another year on our Self Help Happy journey. In case you can’t tell by the title, we have quite a few updates and beary-exciting news to share with yall! I have some updates regarding my chronic illness and how my health is doing as well. As y’all know, my health is an uphill battle, with a new, currently unknown illness adding to the mix. Many appointments and changes have been happening at once; it’s been difficult to keep up. Despite these adversities, I am pushing forward to better my physical and mental health. We are also excited to announce some news regarding our small business, including NEW RELEASES, the opening of a new Etsy Shop, and much more!

My Illness is Chronic, but my Business is Iconic!

With the stress of everything going on from 2020-2023, my mental health was rapidly depleting and unknowingly took a heavy toll on the physical side of things. Lately, there has been an ongoing battle trying to explain what is causing these endless symptoms. I’ve been having relentless fatigue that no matter how much I sleep, rest and try things to boost my energy, I’m still drained before the day truly begins. The chronic migraines I’ve experienced for years have now been amplified with constant headaches and neck pain. We also noticed my memory has gotten significantly worse, to the point I forget what I say almost immediately. There are far too many symptoms to list, but you get the point: it’s endless.

I went to a neurologist and was referred to two neurologists specializing in MS for a second opinion due to my symptoms and family history. The first neurologist seems very eager to help, order testing, and provide treatment as soon as the MS specialists provide a second opinion to verify. The first MS specialist was very kind and helpful, and I really appreciated this considering the severity of the potential diagnosis. Although I completely forgot to get him the disks of the MRI and other scans(love my great memory), he was patient with me. He carefully listened as I explained my health history, as well as the symptoms I am currently having. We were able to go over the major life changes I’ve experienced in the past few years and their potential effects on my physical health as well as mental. Unfortunately, we ran out of time to be able to get a baseline exam so he could really assess where I am currently.

Because of this, I was sent to a third MS specialist to get a baseline exam, and thankfully, I remembered the disks this time. However, the provider stated the imaging was very unclear and that he was unable to see what my neurologist saw. This was quite confusing and concerning to me, as I was eager to get a diagnosis and start some kind of treatment. I tried telling him I would gladly go to the local walk-in radiology clinic and redo the scans so he could actually see and verify a diagnosis. He was very dismissive and basically diagnosed me with chronic migraine with aura – we knew that already.. Now I’m still in the same position as back in October when I first took the steps to get help with my symptoms

Thankfully, I’m scheduled to see the original MS specialist this week, and I’m highly optimistic. I was so much more comfortable with him and I feel he will listen when I ask for further testing to really verify a diagnosis. I’m optimistic that no matter what the news is, I can get through it. Now, I have a team of two dedicated neurology providers who can help figure out why I’m feeling this way and get me on the right track!

Making Friends in the Business World

I know I have a great support system in my daily life and I couldn’t be more grateful. However I’m very excited to say I have begun building with a supportive and ambitious community of beautiful people who share similar attributes so we can support each other and help each others grow! After only a short time using threads and working with the small business community, I’ve met so many lovely supportive individuals. It’s been so inspiring to connect with such incredible and successful women, and it’s given me such a boost of motivation.

I could not be more excited that I made some friends with local small business women, we even have a meet-up scheduled to connect and network! I’m so proud of myself for branching out and being brave enough to do something like this! I’m still very shy and self-conscious, and definitely experiencing imposter syndrome right now, but I know I’ll be able to make it through and make progress in more ways than one. I keep feeling like I’m back in school where I’m scared I won’t fit in or that I don’t belong, but each time we talk, I’m reassured it’s where I belong.

I’m so thankful to have begun building a tribe with a strong community that wants to better themselves and is working hard to improve their lives. I feel so optimistic about being surrounded by these wonderful women who I know will have a great impact on my life. Each of them inspires and motivates me to be a better woman and businesswoman! I have learned so much in the past few weeks alone, including some amazing options for shopping from more ethical businesses for small business suppliers🥰

Hey Etsy, Here We Come!

Starting this past week, we are now on ETSY! It took a little bit to work out because technology is not my friend. I was struggling to get everything transferred to both Etsy and Shopify; after quite some time, I finally figured it out, and we are now up and ready to go. With that being said, you now have more ways to shop with us, view our products, and leave reviews. Multiple NEW RELEASES, updates to products, and much more coming soon.

We are so excited to show off the new products we will be offering early in this new year! We have been doing a little shopping ourselves with some amazing small businesses whose products will be joining our products! We love supporting multiple small businesses while also filling our inventory with incredible products. Speaking of inventory, we have some amazing products on the way. Stay tuned and follow along on threads for a more day-to-day BTS view and regular updates on products and more!

Bringing in the New Year Right

I’ve been anxiously awaiting the arrival of about to four more orders I’ve purchased from other small shops. We could not be more excited to put together these goodies and release even MORE new products we have coming! We have been doing a little shopping ourselves with some amazing small businesses whose products will be joining our products! We love supporting multiple small businesses while also filling our inventory with incredible products.

We have so many plans and exciting things coming both inside and outside of the small business! I’m so proud of myself for how far we come already. I still can’t believe we have five sales in the first month we were open (even if three were friends and family). We are so grateful for all the support and can’t wait to make you proud! Stay tuned and follow along on threads for a more day-to-day BTS view and regular updates on products and more!