09 Jan A Year in the Life of The Pillow Goddess – 2017 Recap and 6 Tips to #BeBOLD!

2017 was quite a year! In fact, I think it was one of my BEST year’s ever, because I turned 60 and was determined to seize every moment of the year.  You know, that number on my cake could easily be 50 or even 40, cause as the saying goes, you’re only as old as you feel, and I feel like I’m just getting started.

My plans for my 6th decade are like I handled my birthday, with the philosophy “Go Big, or Go Home”.  I had 6 cakes and 80+ guests (yes, I did invite almost everyone I know in Austin….lol) because I knew it was probably going to be the last BIG party I throw for myself.  It was all I dreamed it to be!! A party full of family (my cousin came for a week), friends I’ve had for a lifetime, and new friends.

I’ve always enjoyed meeting new people, buy I’ve found that to be even more important as you age. Making younger friends is a way to stay in the game, keep up with the times, and keep on moving. What a way to kick off my spring as it was SO MUCH FUN!

But by the end of 2017 I was bushed and ready for a break. It’s always nice to pause a little during the holidays to have some down, non-work time, and refresh.  In looking through my images on my phone (yes, I have over 6,000 and I need to do do something this year about that) I was AMAZED at how much I actually did this year, all I accomplished, all I learned, all I enjoyed and the new friends I made.  I encourage you to go back through the photos of your year, because you’ll be surprised what you find.

This truly was a year I really pushed myself out of my comfort zone and I learned so much! That is one important aspect of life, either personal or professional, that I’ve learned in my 60 years – you always have to be willing to try new things, make mistakes and #BeBold. And this was the year I did it all!

Starting off with a bang up 60th birthday party with 80 + friends (Yes,I invited every one I knew in Austin) I wanted to set the tone for this next decade. Not that I’ve really Sat around waiting for life to happen to me, no, that’s really not the kind of person I am. But as all artists and solopreneurs do, we all have our moments of doubt. But I wanted to set the tone the minute I turned 60 and let people know I’m still in the game.

So the year created a highlight, turning 60 and having a blast doing it! But here’s the year in review and my focus on to #BeBOLD paid off. There were a lot of “Firsts”. I share those with you here with 6 Tips to stretch yourself in 2018 and #BeBOLD.

#1 Enter art and design contests: In February, my husband and I attended the Imagine juried art exhibition at Texas State University in Round Rock. To my surprise, my couture pillow art was recognized and I won Honorable Mention for the first time in my life. I had already been rejected for many larger art shows, but being involved and applying to “Calls for Artists” (which I started in summer of 2016 after taking an Art Career online course) through Round Rock Arts, helped me really get my work seen and appreciated in the art world, at least on a local level. (Here’s a blog post about 2 exhibitions with the IMAGINE recap in 2nd half)

My work was also accepted the very next month for a small Fiber Art exhibition at Round Rock Arts (which has an art exhibition once a month for their 1st Thursdays) .

I met so many wonderful people at both these art exhibitions and became a member of the Austin Fiber Association.  I even (below) got filmed by Round Rock Arts. This was all even before my birthday party in April!

#2 Stretch yourself beyond your comfort zone and keep trying new ways to express your creativity.

Then my work was accepted for the annual West Austin Studio Tour (WEST). This was very exciting, because the EAST Studio Tour is huge in the fall, and the West Studio Tour, in May, is growing. I had always wanted to try it.

So I was in three art shows in the first half of 2017, which was a goal of mine when I first started to apply to art shows in 2016.  But if I hadn’t gone through all my photos, I had almost forgotten I had three!

WEST was hugely fun and put my work in front of a whole brand new audience. I opened up my entire home and studio to the public along with four other fantastic artists, Judith Simonds, a sculptor and Yuliya Lanina who creates collectible music boxes and more and Annie Darling and Denise Jaunsem, who paints pet portraits.

We had a wonderful display of artwork from all five artists as soon as you entered our home (below) and then guests saw my studio and walked through our home in a circle to the great room where we transformed our living/dining room into an art gallery for all the other artists to exhibit their work. It was for two weekends in May and we hope to do it again this year.

You can read a WEST recap HERE on our blog. It was THE best experience getting to know other artists and having people see my studio filled with textiles.  Below, this one guest, was a real trooper and posed for a photo with her 1960’s dress amongst many of our luxury pillows made from vintage fabrics. In fact, that small polka dot pillow to the right of her is handcrafted from 1960’s hotpants. So as you can see, it was too irresistible not to ask her!

#3 Network in your industry and attend tradeshows and other events:

Then on the spur of the moment I hightailed it up to Dallas for the June Total Home and Gift Market and had the best two days I’d had in awhile seeing old friends, making new ones, and being inspired by interior designers, their products, and showrooms.

I attended the grand opening of the NEW Interior Home + Design Center and met two designers I had longed to meet and two more as a bonus. It was hugely inspiring, and it’s important for artists and designers to be continually inspired to create great work. In fact, I’m on my way up there next week for the 2018 Winter Market, so stay tuned for a pre-market post about the exciting events to attend!

The two talented interior designers I met to see their new furniture lines and showrooms were NYC-based designer Robin Baron (Read about her new showroom HERE) and Michelle Workman who launched an Art-Deco inspired furniture line FACET for French Heritage (Get inspired with 7 networking tips and read about Michelle’s new collection HERE). It was so amazing to meet these two designers I’d been friends with on Facebook, to see their beautiful work, and meet two more designers, Michelle Nussbaumer and Nancy Price  on a panel discussion.

Meeting new designers and seeing new product is aways inspiring no matter how many times you do it. I loved meeting Michelle Nussbaumer at her Book Signing (above). Just when I thought to myself “Oh, I don’t really need to go to market in June”, then boom, my Linen and Wood pillow gets selected by Dallas Market Center and is featured in the window on a Peninsula Home chair.  You can find this series of pillows at Peninsula Home Collection.

The saying goes that half of life is “Showing Up”. Well that holds true for whatever industry you’re in too. I had so much fun with old friends and making new ones and came away incredibly inspired!

#4 Start a blog and enter blogging contests: Then it was summer and although I wanted to take some time off like I usually do, it didn’t quite work out that way. First a PR Company for which I write luxury brand posts, reached out to me this summer and I wrote three sponsored posts. Here’s one sample on the Verona range:

I’ll be writing more about luxury brands in 2018 so be sure to sign up for our blog on the side bar!

Then I decided on a wild fluke to #BeBold and enter a design blog contest. It was the most challenging blog I had ever written!  I was in way over my head, but I specifically entered the contest with the goal to push myself and to learn more about professional blogging. And to my surprise I won 2nd place! You can read my award-winning long blog post HERE.

I believe the reason I even placed in the national contest is because I invited seven top experts to feature in my blog post.  So that get’s to my 5th Tip.

#5 Collaborate with others in your industry on projects. I learned so much from working with these design friends and trend experts and I learned a lot about proper etiquette when featuring designer’s work and how to coordinate a blog post that big. It was challenging, but hugely rewarding and I’m so appreciative to those designers who had faith in me to represent their work well.

Then I got the phone call of a lifetime and something worth celebrating (like I did above) a thousand times over!  Again, just when I thought I’d have some down time during the summer, Julia Molly of BOLD Summit called to invited me to be a Showcase Designer at BOLD in September. I had zero cash flow and frankly I was scared!  BOLD Summit is a BIG deal, where all the powerhouses in the Business of Luxury Design meet up every two years and it’s a 3-day intensive training. I held her off. I didn’t say yes. I had to really think about it. It was a huge time and money investment and all my confidence went out the window. But I had to remind myself that Julia would never have invited me if she didn’t think I was ready. So after much inner debate, I took the plunge.

Here I am (below) after our studio, Deborah Main Designs, created 20 new pillows just for BOLD, shipping them to Chicago. The Pillow Goddess’ life ain’t all glamour my friends, no matter how many event photos you see on Facebook!

#6  Be Bold – Do things that you don’t think you’re ready for because you never know what might come of it.

Sometimes people see things in you before you fully recognize them in yourself. Julia was a friend and a savvy business owner I greatly respect.  I had to trust her belief in me and I had to mentally prepare myself to #BeBold. This was a career-changing, important decision for me and my business Deborah Main Designs. This was THE #1 most valuable Investment in myself and my business that I’ve made in all 13 years of my business. I am not kidding. You can read about my leap of faith and the Designer Showcase HERE.

Watch for my Gold Nuggets coming up in February of all I learned at the BOLD Summit and am putting into action in 2018. Because of the beautiful and talented Julia Molloy of BOLD Summit, above, Deborah Main Designs’ 2018 is going to be even more BOLD!

Then, who would have ever guessed a dream of mine would come true. Not only did I meet one of the Top Luxury brands I most admire, KOKET, but the ownerJanet Morais, my idol, saw my new sexy UnZipped Series, fell in love with it, and within two weeks after BOLD my work was gracing her gorgeous furniture at High Point Market in North Carolina. If you had told me that would have happened in my lifetime, I would never have believed you.  It was a dream come true! (Read blog post about it and get 5 Tips about statement pieces HERE)

Always be open for unpredictable magic to happen when you start to #BeBOLD. By the time September came, I went to the conference fully confident. I met leading experts in the field of luxury design and came away with tools to last me all through my business to help take it to the next level. Because I was open for anything to happen, more happened than I could ever have imagined…..and it continues into 2018.

I’ve run out of time because I have to get this posted immediately so my new web hosting company, Blue Host, can migrate my website and blog over to their server, so my apologies for not being able to tag everyone and triple proof read. There’s so much more I wanted to share with you!

To wrap up the year (and this post!), I fully believe that because I chose to #BeBOLD in 2017,  I had the busiest fall/winter in 13 years. Not only did I do High Point, but a custom order came in out of the blue, Peacock Alley opened an Austin store and started carrying my line, I had holiday rush orders, reorders of our ornaments, and I was referred for my 1st Commercial job. (Please enjoy some end of the year photos and inspiration throughout the year below).

These things do not happen unless you #BeBold!! Build your confidence, network, collaborate and go into 2018 with optimism, hope and all the boldness you can muster.  Your confidence will grow, as mine surely did, and you will soar. Thank you everyone for all your support and a fantastic 2017!

Till next time, when I share 5 “must-see” events at Dallas market, I wish you the happiest and most successful year of your career in 2018! XO PG

My husband David and me attending friend Rob Giardinelli’s first book signing.

New luxury and couture Deborah Main Designs pillows above at Pettigrew showroom in the Dallas Design District and a new Ornate Jewel pillow below, Le Bleu, made with rare vintage French trim from our collection.

Inspired by an old Singer sewing machine at an abandoned gas station in Round Top, TX.

New Linen and Wood pillow at Peninsula Home Collection’s Dallas showroom. Subscribe to receive my next blog post featuring events to attend in Dallas, including one of their cocktail parties.

Inspiration at Brooklyn Botanical Gardens above and at Women and Their Work art gallery below.

More inspiration – Art exhibition and artist’s weaving from dyed bra straps above and the sunny Texas coast below.

Hard at work preparing our pillows for BOLD Summit with my team.

Attending fashion designer Celestino Couture’s show above and meeting for the first time the talented bunny artist and super nice man, Hunt Slonem.

Peacock Alley Trunk Show above and little video below.

Inspiration with a lawn of wild onion flowers, above, on a beautiful night in Austin and fun times at High Point below Zipping it Up and Zipping it down with our sexy UnZipped pillow Series.

I ran out of time to talk about this (because of my website migration to a new host that has to happen TODAY!), but I was invited to join Design Society Dinner Club (the group above founded by Kravet rep Oscar Lupibo) and you can read more about the holiday event I attended HERE. 

The Christopher Guy 10th Anniversary Limited Edition Petite Mirror I won on Instagram above and our holiday Open Studio below. Thank you to everyone who attended one or both of our Holiday Parties.