In the event you are playing along with the Book Clubs, there was no week twenty-seven for abetterway.
We are still playing catch-up, but hope to be back on track for the July 25 Thursday Book Club post…
As a warm-up for today’s excerpt, I am going to post the first section of an interview given to me by a young woman who is partnering with me to monetize the books. It has taken well over a decade, but I am understanding that the point of a business is to make money. (no comment)
If you are interested in reading part of the day origin story, then today is your day…
What is your company about?
“What inspired you to start your business?”
I have always had ideas, but lagged on the skillsets to bring the ideas to life. I now know these skillsets have a name: executive functions. I write about them in abetterway. It was some time in 2011/12ish when I began suggesting that social emotional learning needed to be online. If I recall correctly, I think I began saying it aloud as if by saying it, it would happen. Many people were leaving the school district I was working in so it wasn’t unusual at the time to be considering alternate jobs. One reason people were leaving was because pay had been frozen. It was a reflection of the time that included the housing recession. I don’t remember all the details, but I don’t think I was the only one considering alternate ways of increasing income. I didn’t have a plan, but I had a strong desire to leave the familiar school job and figure out a way to facilitate social-emotional learning. After discovering mindfulness in the summer of 2012, and returning to a school year that included two suicide deaths, I exclaimed that I would leave the traditional job and focus on opportunities to facilitate mindfulness. This included focusing on everything I could to learn more about it. I was naive, always had been, and assumed I would begin a business as a mindfulness facilitator and be hired independently by schools. I also recall a proclamation at the end of that last school year that I was going to write a book.
The first business I began was short-lived and named I Am.LLC. It died out as I needed to return to full time employment. I registered again in the summer of 2022. I was going on a road trip to Florida and had the idea to put up blog stickers along the way. It was the previous summer road trip that gave me the idea. I was driving through so many towns and I thought it would be fun to share my ‘brand’ along the way. Because of my love for Lawrence, Kansas, I decided to focus on college towns and put up stickers, take a picture/video, and post on social media. I did this two years in a row. Year two included what I called ‘book drops’ and included video of me putting my books in little free libraries. These road trips are collected on my Instagram highlights. Because I was doing this, my mom suggested I register for an LLC and write off my trip as business expenses. My current LLC is Sally & Sifer. day LLC.
“How does your story inspire your business values?”
One way to answer this question would be to reference storyitell. From my perspective, it’s my story that influences the validity of what I’m sharing in my content, it’s all based on my personal experience. I value authenticity. I value the relationship one has with oneself. I value an irrefutable belief in possibility. I value wellbeing.
My story and how I live my life is ultimately the brand. If I don’t live authentically, prioritize the relationship I have with myself, hold true to what’s possible, and make lifestyle choices that continue to enhance my own wellbeing, then there is no brand, no business. It’s based on feeling in control of the storyitell. My story is one of an evolving awareness as to what it means to live authentically and prioritize self-care, possibility, and wellbeing for myself and others.
“In what ways does your business reflect your story?”
I am a late bloomer. I have been naive, impulsive, and outside of typical expectations my entire existence. The beginnings of my dreamy concept to facilitate mindfulness with no training or experience is a great example. The personal characteristics mentioned have led to a variety of experiences that fully embrace ‘outside of typical expectations’. Experiences are where the learning is. What may seem irresponsible on paper, may prove quite valuable as a life story unfolds.
My brand is possibility. The business is monetizing the books to expand the brand. The business was first initiated in the summer of 2012 as a result of a naive and impulsive whim. The business was rebirthed in the summer of 2022. Again, the result of a naive understanding as to the difference between a hobby and a business.
The business is growing and developing. Just like my story. It will continually evolve. It’s time to mature a bit and rise to meet and exceed expectations. Understanding what those expectations are is a next step in seeking a different way to brand and monetize day.llc.
“What difference do you expect your story to make to your audience?”
One thing that seems to be repeated by content creators I follow is that successful brands create the thing they want in the world. I want to be authentic and I love to be around others who desire authentic self expression. I find that focusing on nature, children, dogs, and other humans who may be considered ‘vulnerable’, is often where the authenticity is. It’s a difficult thing to admit to, but even after stumbling through this world of content creation for over a decade, I continue to be unsure as to who my target audience is. The concept behind the blogs and the books was to inspire adults to use the skills, tools, and strategies created for children to self-regulate in a school setting, as personal self-care habits to be practiced in ‘Quiet Time’. It seems if adults can self-regulate, we will stop reacting to young people/life, and instead be curious about what is happening. If adults practiced the skills, tools, and strategies, they can model them as life circumstances, situations, and events unfold. The checkIN was created as I was facilitating mindfulness to high school students. The checkIN includes 8 steps/32 skills for more inspiration, creativity, and possibility. The checkIN is relevant to a general audience. At this time, the checkIN is not published in a form to be monetized. The checkIN is being implemented, as is storyitell (part three), to high school students, as a way to understand how they engage and respond to the content. storyitell (pt 3) and checkIN are both in draft form and can be downloaded as pdf’s.
And now a tasty, July excerpt taken from Something More. Connecting to the pulse of a Shared Humanity..
sally's blog. 
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