Welcome to another edition of my Weekly Journal! If you're new to grace + hudson, I use this space to share about my journey from lawyer to jewelry business owner. This week's journal entry is a continuation from last week's where I wrote about the sacrifices that are required when you start your own business. So many of you tell me that you want your own business someday but, at the end of the day, very few are willing to do what it takes to make that dream a reality. It can be scary, uncertain, and risky to take real steps towards your dream. It also can require a lot of work, a lot of long nights, a lot of discipline, and a lot of sacrifice. In writing about this topic and sharing with you what it's really like to pursue a big dream, I hope you can get honest with yourself. Am I willing to do these things? Or am I comfortable where I am and want to stay here? There is no right or wrong answer - it depends on you, your current circumstances, and what you want to prioritize both right now and in the future. But what I do want to offer in this journal entry is the encouragement to get CLARITY on what you really want and what you're willing to do.

Why is this important? Well, if you've had a strong desire to start your own business, I bet that you've had a running conversation in your head about the pros and cons, the shoulds and shouldn'ts. This conversation probably takes up a LOT of your mental head space...and therefore your time and energy as well. Am I right? I thought so. Getting clarity gets you out of this space where lots of energy is expended but literally nothing gets done. It's all in your head at this point, and if you've been in this space long enough you know how exhausting it eventually gets. Striving for clarity on what you really want and what you're willing to do to get there allows you to free up this mental space so that you can either (a) start taking the first baby steps towards building your own business or (b) start enjoying life a little more right where you are, in the here in now! In other words, you can admit to yourself this just isn't going to happen (at least right now) and you can use all that energy for other things or, dare I say it, nothing at all and just have more downtime for enjoying life or resting.

Don't get caught in the "should I or shouldn't I?" space for too long. I know people who've been talking about starting their own business for years and years. And I mean really talking about it - down to logo colors, spaces to lease, etc. Do you know how much mental energy that has robbed them of? They are always living in the "what ifs" of life. It robs them of the present time, the here and now. At some point, you have to get down to it and really decide - yes or no? If no, then embrace that and own that decision so you can enjoy other parts of your life. And - most importantly - let your dream go so that a NEW dream can come. Does that make sense? When you're stuck in "maybe" you're not realizing your current dream and you're also blocking new dreams from coming to fruition. Maybe the next dream will be better - maybe it will be one that you ARE willing to make sacrifices for. You see my point? Wishing you clarity as you mull over your dreams this week! 

If you'd like my Weekly Journal sent straight to your inbox every week, click here to subscribe. I hope you're able to learn something valuable from my business journey and my experiences!

P.S. Are you on Pinterest? I created a Weekly Journal board so you can easily navigate all of my journal entries. You can view and follow the board by clicking here. I've written so much about quitting my lawyer job to start g+h and I want to make it easier for you to access and read the entries that resonate most!

xoxo,

Stacy

Welcome to another edition of my Weekly Journal! I use this space to share about my journey from lawyer to jewelry business owner. In this week's journal entry, I want to talk about the "life checklist" that so many people chase and why it's so important to chart your own course and live intentionally if you want to find true joy and peace in your career and in your life.

What's this "life checklist," you ask? You know it well, I'm sure. It goes something like this: go to college, go to grad school, get the best paying job you can, get married, buy a house, get a dog, have 2 kids... or something very similar. So many people chase this path or some version of it, thinking that happiness is waiting for them at the end. They can finally be happy, having achieved all of these things. The problem is, happiness is not waiting at the end of this checklist.

Before I went to law school, I spent one year after college working at a big, big law firm in New York City. It was in Times Square on the 42nd floor of a big fancy building. This was one of the best law firms in the world and they therefore attracted graduates of law schools like Harvard, Columbia, etc. They paid even the youngest attorneys very, very well. One thing I noticed about these attorneys, especially the young ones, is that they seemed to "have it all" but they were miserable. I was only 22 years old at the time, but this observation made a huge impression on me. I thought to myself, these people are only like 30 years old, with huge salaries, a husband or wife with just as good of a job, a recently purchased beautiful new condo in the heart of NYC, a fancy car (even though they don't really need one in the city), a beautiful young child with another baby on the way... basically on their road to multi-millionaire status and a picturesque life. What gives? Having gotten to know some of these attorneys quite well, I think many of them felt led astray. Something to the effect of, "I have been told that if I chase these things and achieve them, I can be happy! I have all of these things now, but I'm not happy. In fact, I'm quite unhappy. And quite unfulfilled. I'm only 30-something years old - where do I go from here?" They felt very stuck. They already had a fancy car, a million dollar condo in NYC, etc... in other words, in order to afford the life they unintentionally created, they had no other choice but to stay put in their high paying attorney job even though they were incredibly unhappy. They were handcuffed to a certain salary so they could continue to afford all of the things. It's much harder to start over and rewind your life choices when you have all the obligations of a million dollar life. Never, ever assume that someone with a "great job" and a high salary is happy. Many are not. There's a reason that drug and alcohol abuse is incredibly high in the legal profession, just as one example. 

You see, we are all created differently, with different talents, gifts, skills, and destinies. It is absolutely absurd to think that all of us should follow the same path in life - that the same things that make you happy are going to make me happy. Yet, for some unknown reason, most people think that if they achieve these things on the life checklist, they will finally be happy. Happiness doesn't come from checking things off a list. It comes from living life intentionally. Ah, that's one of my favorite words - intentional. In other words, rather than go through life like some sort of robot chasing the next thing on the list, you actually take the time to think about and decide what would make YOU happy and you chase those things instead. You don't just go through the motions, but rather you intentionally decide what YOUR path to happiness consists of and you try to achieve THAT.

You're going to face some questions if you live intentionally - that's just how ingrained the "life checklist" is in our society. If you choose the job that will be fulfilling over the one that pays more, your parents might have some questions for you. If you decide not to purchase a home so that you can instead invest in your dream of starting a business, you're going to face some criticism. If you decide not to get married, people will ask you why. If you decide not to have kids, there might be some rumors floating around behind your back that you can't actually get pregnant. People on the life checklist path are so, so critical of people who are not. Why? Well, it's likely because they are unhappy themselves. People who are genuinely happy with the way their lives have turned out generally don't spend time criticizing the life choices of other people. The people who will criticize you probably bought the life checklist mentality hook, line, and sinker. They found out it doesn't pave the road to happiness, but they don't know how to start over and extract themselves from the life they unintentionally created. Don't let these folks stop you from living life on purpose and deviating from the set list of things that will supposedly make you happy.

If you find yourself in the midst of the life checklist path, and this resonated with you, the first step is to really sit down and decide what would make you happy. This might feel uncomfortable (I know it was for me the first time I did it) because we've been living life by other people's standards and expectations. We have never actually given good and decent thought to what would make us truly happy. It might even take you months to figure out. Don't expect to have all the answers the first time you stop to think about what an intentional life might look like for you. But it's well worth your time and energy. If you live life intentionally, your chances of finding long-term joy and peace in your life are infinitely greater than the folks who just go through the motions.

I hope you're able to learn something valuable from my own experiences. My wish is for everyone to know the feeling of doing work that brings them joy. It truly is an unbelievable gift to not dread Mondays and hope for Friday's fast arrival. If you'd like my Weekly Journal sent straight to your inbox every week, click here to subscribe. 

P.S. Are you on Pinterest? I have a Weekly Journal board on Pinterest so you can easily navigate all of my journal entries. You can view and follow the board by clicking here. I've written so much about quitting my lawyer job to start g+h over the past couple years and I want to make it easier for you to access and read the entries that resonate most!

xoxo,
Stacy

Welcome to another edition of my Weekly Journal! I use this space to share about my journey from lawyer to jewelry business owner. In last week's journal entry, I gave you something to think about when it comes to finding career happiness in 2023. And in this week's journal entry, I'm encouraging you to take a risk. Bet on yourself. Life is short. If there is something you feel possessed to do, do it. You can always go back to your "old" life if it doesn't work out!

Whether you feel called to start your own business, switch career paths, or just take a completely different route within your established career path, there are no guarantees that it's going to work out well for you. Heck, there are no guarantees that any one of us is going to wake up tomorrow! At some point in time, you are going to have to take a risk and decide to go for it (or not). But here's what I want to tell you. Here's the perspective shifter. It's not about whether the business succeeds or whether the career change turns out well for you. It's about what you learn along the way and how you grow and develop as a person as a result of the experience. You've heard me say it before and I'll continue to say it again: it's about the journey not the end result. For example, perhaps you'll quit your job this year and start your own business, and perhaps it'll fail before you can even blink. But along the way, you meet so-and-so and they are starting this other new company and, when your company goes belly up, you go work for them. And at that new job you meet your future husband, etc, etc, etc. You just don't know WHY you are being called to do something when you are called to do it. Perhaps, like in my example, you'll look back and see that it had nothing to do with your career development but something else wonderful came of it. You just don't know. Don't let another year go by playing it "safe" if you have a burning desire in your heart that just won't go away. Trust it. Trust yourself. Trust yourself enough to know that if it doesn't work out, you're going to be ok and you'll figure it out. You will!

And for goodness sake, give up the false assumption that your corporate job is "stable" and "secure" and therefore not worth giving up. This is one of the biggest road blocks to starting your own business or switching careers. And it's especially applicable this year! Layoffs are going to be everywhere you look because of the economy. That corporate job does have some risk to it. Don't be fooled otherwise. Listen, I know a little about layoffs because I used to be an employment lawyer and as part of my job, I sometimes organized and approved them from a legal perspective. It pained me to know that I had a list of names of people who were going to be laid off in a few weeks or a few months and they had no idea. No clue! In a small business, where you're really part of the inner workings of the business, you might have an inkling that layoffs are coming because you know the company stats and the revenue numbers, etc. But in a big corporate America, where you are just a cog in a wheel and there's no transparency, you have absolutely no idea how the company's budget is allocated and where it's suffering, or even if it's suffering, and how the leaders are going to handle that problem (i.e. by getting rid of you and some other employees). So stop kidding yourself. A corporate job is not stable. People are blind-sided by layoffs every. single. day. So please don't use the excuse that your job is "secure" as a reason to not pursue what's on your heart. And as I said before, you can always go back if it doesn't work out (or to another corporate job - because there are millions of them)! 

I hope in this new year, you get the courage to follow what's on your heart. You just don't know where it's leading you!

If you'd like my Weekly Journal sent straight to your inbox every week, click here to subscribe.

P.S. Are you on Pinterest? I have a Weekly Journal board on Pinterest so you can easily navigate my journal entries. You can view and follow the board by clicking here. I've written so much about quitting my lawyer job to start g+h over the past few years and I want to make it easier for you to access and read the entries that resonate most!

xoxo,
Stacy

We sell a lot of bridesmaid jewelry over here at grace + hudson so I wanted to write a little something about how to choose the right jewelry for your wedding day. When I was thinking about this topic, I perused some of my own photos from our Collection for Brides and Bridal Parties and realized there's one thing that brides never think to think about. It's totally understandable given there are 1,387 things to think about when planning a wedding. Let's play a little game before I tell you the answer to this question. Look at the photos below and pay attention to where your eye looks, upon first glance at each photo.

Photo Credits: Morgan Miller Photography; Gerber Scarpelli Weddings; and d'Anelli Bridal

Did your eyes immediately go to the bold statement necklace and earrings in the first two photos? What about the last two? Did your eyes see their beautiful faces first, and then their gorgeous dresses and veil?  

So that's it! That's what most brides forget to think about when they're selecting wedding jewelry. How will this jewelry look in my photos? Will it distract from the look of love written all over my pretty face? Will it distract from my beautiful dress? (I sure hope not - you spent a pretty penny on that thang!). You might be the biggest fan of the boldest crystal statement earrings, but think about how those earrings might steal the show in your photographs. 

The same is true when it comes to your bridesmaids. But what I also want you to think about here is that big picture - you know the one - the big line up of your bridesmaids with you smack dab in the middle. Let's play that game again...

Photo Credits: Aaron and Jillian Photography; Knot Just Pics Photography

You get the point by now, but did your eyes quickly notice the bold statement necklaces in the first photo? As a distraction from the bride? Yes, me too. What about in the second photo? I first noticed the lovely bride - as it should be.

This is why you should keep your photography in mind when selecting wedding jewelry. I keep photography in mind when I design jewelry for my Collection for Brides + Bridal Parties. I only offer one statement piece in this collection, called the Grace Necklace, and the remainder of the pieces are dainty. The most popular pieces are simple pendant necklaces and earrings that come in circle, teardrop, and petal shapes. I'll share those with you here, and leave it to you to explore the rest of the collection on graceandhudson.com!

Our most popular style is called Sophia (teardrop shape). The Sophia Necklace and Earrings are each under $50. Choose from 6 sophisticated colors, in silver or gold. We also offer bridesmaid earring and necklace gift sets in this style.

Our second most popular style is the Lily (circle shape). The Lily Necklace and Earrings are also under $50 each. Choose from 8 sophisticated colors, in silver or gold. Bridesmaid earring and necklace gift sets are available, too.

Our third most popular style is called Emma. The Emma Necklace and Earrings are each $74 and resemble a floral shape. Choose from silver or gold, and 8 sophisticated colors.

I hope you enjoy exploring the collection and if you need some help deciding on your wedding jewelry, don't hesitate to send us a note. Whatever jewelry you choose, look forward to receiving pretty wedding photographs!

xoxo,

Stacy, Owner + Designer of grace + hudson jewelry