Here for the Cake
It’s fortuknit’s birthday month!
I can’t believe it’s been more than a year since my first blog post & almost a year since launching fortuknit’s online shop. So, as you can imagine, this has been an incredible time for reflection.
I am blessed with many nieces and nephews. Many is not an exaggeration—I’m talking close to 30! One niece in particular has chosen to celebrate her birthday, every year, with the same exact cake. If no one else is buying Carvel’s Snowman ice cream cake, they can be confident that my niece will! But seriously. How cute is this little guy with his knitted hat, scarf, and mittens?
I admire my niece’s commitment to this choice. And while it’s not the most difficult decision (because, who doesn’t love ice cream cake!?), there is something to be said about the consistency in having the same cake every year. (Thank goodness for candles and photos so we can at least tell the years apart!) If there is anything I learned in the last year of being a first-time business-owner, commitment and consistency are everything.
This morning, as I prepare for a day of inventory to review on-hand skeins and cakes of yarn, I reflect on how she and her sister came to help me with my very first inventory day. They helped me get everything sorted and organized, when I’m sure they had much better things to do. It was Black History Month—perfect timing for kicking off a Black-owned, woman-owned business. In that moment, I was proud to be an example to them that they can also be goal-achieving, successful young women (and they are!)
Since then, it’s been one busy year with long hours dedicated to website development, blog posts, social media posts, paperwork, and lots and LOT of knitting! I’ve done the majority of all of these things on my own. I never saw myself as having an entrepreneurial spirit, so the very decision to start my own business came after years of doubt and fear and hesitation. But after spending the last few years participating in events through my alumnae association, the message was clear. Get over it! There is nothing for you—there was nothing for ME—on the side of fear and hesitation. Without saying a word to anyone, I formed fortuknit LLC. And that was it. Like the Snowman cake, I was committed. And there was still fear and doubt and hesitation, but this time, driven by purpose and excitement and anticipation.
I didn’t know what I was doing. I don’t have a business degree. But I have spent the last year learning so much and gaining input and knowledge from every possible source. I’ve applied the tools, lessons and skills I picked up from working my past sales jobs and my current project management day job. My artiste extraordinaire boyfriend has taught me and helped me with things that I just couldn’t have had the time or knowhow to execute. I’ve relied on my sisters for their business experience and am happy to be joining them in the business-minded sisters club (membership card is in the mail 😉). My family, friends and colleagues have gone out of their way to provide messages of encouragement and feedback—and I’ve appreciated every last bit of it. Thank you, from the whole of my heart!
And though, as a creative, I’ll hit moments of creative block and won’t know where to go next, I’m excited in that I can rely on the commitment I made to myself and the one I made to my customers when I started fortuknit.
Thank you, readers, for being here with me for a whole year. And HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FORTUKNIT! 🥳🎈🎉
