Today marks 4 years & 4 months sober for me! For those of you who are new to this page, the day I decided to start this business is the last day I ever took a drink! I had struggled with alcoholism for about 10 years & had hit my rock bottom. Over the last 4 years I’ve watched my life turn into something more beautiful than I could have ever imagined, because I chose to fight my demons & deal with some heavy emotional stuff from my past. Yesterday my husband & I returned from a trip to Jamaica! My cousin got married there on Friday! Traveling to new places is one of the things I am blessed with now because of the changes I made in my life! I did so many fun things over the last week... kayaking in the ocean, sailing in the ocean, & you guys.... I climbed up a waterfall & jumped off, it was so exhilarating! I hope you enjoy these pictures from our trip! As always, thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support on my journey! Not only do all of you support my business but you also support my sobriety & encourage me to keep going, that means the world to me!!!! ❤️ Love, Erica
Trust Your Gut
Do The Damn Thing!
February 22, 2021
Just Do The Damn Thing!
I can’t believe it’s been almost a year since Covid hit us. I remember where I was standing & what I was doing the moment I realized how bad things were going to get. It was Saturday, March 14, and we were having our Grand Opening Celebration. I had just purchased a building, the old Country Cottage, at the end of February. I was so excited to be in my new “home”! Our Grand Opening was going to bring in a lot of people to paint with us! We had food catered, giveaways ready, & boards prepped. Saturday morning came and we expected a line at the door when we opened, that was normal at our events. Nobody was there. An hour passed & still no customers. I was so scared. Buying that building was a big accomplishment for me & I had come up with a business plan with projected numbers for the next year. To hit those numbers, I needed customers coming through the door. I knew that customers were about to become too afraid to walk through my doors.
I froze for about an hour. I started to get tears in my eyes & I got very quiet (a sure sign you know something is wrong with me is when I get quiet, I love to talk). But that was all I gave myself was an hour. Then I took action! I had my staff members who were there helping me that day help me put some To Go Kits together. We took pictures of the stencils & boards we had in stock & posted them to social media right then & there! I had always said I wanted to do To Go Kits, I just never took the time to figure out the details & execute the idea. We went to Walmart & cleared out their little bottles of chalk paint to give to people with the kits. We hadn’t realized that little cups with lids to pour paint into was a much better idea lol. And silly us thought 30 little bottles of paint would be enough! What we didn’t know was that over the next couple weeks we would need several thousand paint cups. I didn’t have it all figured out by any means. I’m sure an online system to order would have been more efficient than having customers comment on a Facebook post. But had I waited to get that set up, I would have missed out on SO MANY orders that week!
I had to make modifications to our system of putting out To Go Kits over the next month, but that’s ok! I’ve always thought that people spend way too much time working on a “perfect” plan instead of taking action. They make lists, they think through every scenario that could go wrong, they think & talk about their plan instead of just DOING the damn thing & learning as they go! I’ve made countless mistakes in my business but I’ve learned from all of them. One of the moments I’m most proud of over the last year is that moment on March 14th when I decided to just do the damn thing & not think about it. It saved my business! It made my business better! Instead of feeling sorry for myself that things were about to change in my business & instead of letting fear paralyze me, I took action. One of my favorite words is the word “execute”. An idea is just an idea until you execute it! What things have you been considering doing? Do you have goals you have been perfectly planning out? Don’t let the planning go on for too long… just do the damn thing!
Unstick Yourself
Unstick Yourself
Do you ever want something so much in life but you resist the activity that you need to do to get you there? I have been like that lately. I like to do the things in my life I’m “good” at, but I’ll make excuses when it comes to doing the things I don’t “enjoy”. I’ll say I’m too busy, too tired, basically I just put it off.
Over a year ago we launched our website! I was so excited & part of the website was a blog that I was going to write every week! I love to share my life with my customers! The last four years have been an incredible journey for me both personally & in my business. I love to share my struggles as well as my success with everyone. But there is this thing that gets in the way…. I hate writing! There, I said it. I wish I could just talk to everyone, maybe make a video of what has been going on in my life! But typing it out, that requires focus & that definitely is a work in progress for me! I have an extremely busy mind & it is hard to quiet it enough to write. I have some big goals in life over the next few years & some of those goals involve sharing my journey on a regular basis with everyone, so here I am getting over my hump. I’m going to start writing again & do it every week!
It has been almost a year now since Covid hit & changed the way we all do things. I always think now that I’m glad I didn’t really comprehend what was coming the day we learned we had to close our doors for 2 weeks for a quarantine. I really thought it was just for 2 weeks! Instead, it’s been almost a year & things still aren’t back to “normal”. When you own a small business that is based on people coming together to socialize & paint boards together, then all of a sudden people can’t socialize & come together, you have to think outside of the box pretty fast! It has been a year of fear, growth, bravery, change, & new beginnings for me! I’m glad I didn’t let the voice of fear paralyze me when Covid hit. That voice was definitely present over the past year, but I made a choice not to listen to it! I’m excited to share my journey from the last year with you over the next few weeks!
Erica
The day I decided to change!
Happy Thanksgiving!
I have so much to be thankful for today... today marks 3 years of sobriety for me!
This week brought back a lot of memories, especially of the thoughts that were consuming me before I decided to embrace change.
“Why can’t I change? What is wrong with me? I’m so weak. Next week I’ll stop drinking. Maybe January 1st I’ll stop drinking & change my life.”
These were the common thoughts I had over & over that consumed me before I decided to change.
I once read a quote that said, “Don’t live the same year 75 times & call it a life”. That’s what I was doing, I wasn’t changing my habits or behaviors, so every year was repeating itself. I could picture my life the way I wanted it to be, but it seemed like there was this mountain standing in between where I was & the life I wanted.
The life I wanted didn’t just include a better financial situation. The life I wanted including feelings of self-respect, more meaningful relationships with my friends & family, and a feeling of purpose. But changing habits is just so damn hard!! I had trauma from my past that I was burying and using alcohol helped me numb those memories. I needed to dig them up and work through my emotions, but oh my goodness that sounded painful. So instead I stayed stuck every year.
What do you do when you finally decide enough is enough? Where do you start when it seems so very overwhelming? You take it one day at a time, sometimes one hour at a time. Identify the key habits & behaviors that are keeping you from the life you want. For me, I needed to give up alcohol. I needed to put in the hard work of healing, and change my mindset. I read a lot, especially personal development. When your thoughts aren’t positive & happy, you need to use someone else’s thoughts, so listen to podcasts and start to retrain your mind. Make small changes, you can’t change a ton of things overnight & expect to stick with it, take baby steps and celebrate each small step no matter how insignificant it seems. Small changes over time add up to big results. Be consistent. I needed someone to hold me accountable for these changes, someone I could call when I wanted to give in and drink, for me that was my friend Diane. Find your person and make sure they are living a life you want to have. You can’t hang out with negative people and expect your life to get better.
A quote that helps me is “Whatever you are not changing, you are choosing”. Read that again!!
I hope this helps you if you are struggling with feeling stuck. My life is proof that change is powerful! I am staring at a completely different life than I was on November 28, 2016... the day I decided to CHANGE! ❤️
Today's the BIG DAY!
Hi! I'm Erica Charron, owner of Erica's Board Creations in Rockton, IL. Today is a BIG day for us... our website just launched! I've decided to have a blog section on the website, to share a little bit of my journey & my life with all of you!
To help you understand how special each milestone I reach in my business is, I think you need to hear my story. My story is filled with heartache, self-destruction, loss, & failure. But you see, these are the things that shaped me & led me to the life I have now... which is filled with love, self-respect, success, & so much happiness!
I grew up in Rockton, IL with my Mom & my brother. When I was 18, I got married & had my two beautiful children, Morgan & Dylan. After 13 years of marriage, we ended in divorce. I had gone through a lot in my life, including losing my brother Josh to suicide when he was 18 & I was 21. I struggled with anxiety & depression my whole life, but especially after losing my brother & going through a divorce. Somewhere in there, I found alcohol. Alcohol at first just helped me relax, but then it became more. It was something I depended on to take me out of my current reality. It helped me bury the trauma I had been through & helped me to not deal with my feelings. Only I was digging a much bigger hole for myself than I realized.
In the fall of 2016, I hit my lowest point & checked myself into the hospital for depression. When I got out I made some changes in my life, but I still wasn't ready to quit drinking. I wanted so desperately to be able to "control" my drinking & drink like "normal" people. But I just couldn't.
During those months I attended two board making classes & loved everything about it. I was working for a Financial Advisor at the time as his Sales Assistant, but I had a dream of being my own boss.
On November 28, 2016, I attended a board class for the third time. I had a little too much wine that night & made a crazy decision... I decided to quit my job & start a business doing board parties in women's garages & basements. It was definitely a decision that was made under the influence of alcohol, but when I woke up the next morning I knew this was it! I knew I was capable of so much more than I was accomplishing in life. So I decided to go ahead with my plan, scared, terrified, & completely lacking self-confidence. I knew one thing for sure... alcohol could not have a place in my life anymore if I was going to be successful! I admitted to myself that I was an alcoholic & I got help.
My boyfriend (now husband) bought me a Silhouette Cameo for an early Christmas present (I was totally broke at the time). I started learning how to cut the stencils & even took a few Christmas orders! Painting boards was so therapeutic for me as I was battling my alcohol addiction, it relaxed me. In January of 2017, I did my first class in a friend's basement for about 18 women. Of course, I made some mistakes, but all of their boards turned out & it gave me a little self-confidence! After doing parties in garages & basements for about 8 months, I got into DC Estate Winery to do events there! My business kept growing & in November 2017 I decided it was time to open up my own little shop in Rockton! I've done things a little bit at a time. I waited several months to get a sign outside, we started with folding banquet tables, nothing was "perfect" when I took the next step. And each step I've taken has included self-doubt & fear. But at some point during this journey, I started realizing that my confidence was growing & so was my faith. I was beginning to have so much success in my business & was filled with so much gratitude!
Fast forward 3 years from that day... November 28, 2016, when I made that "crazy" decision to go after a dream & decided to battle my demons. I now own a business that is thriving, most of our classes sell out, we have over 6500 followers on my "little" Facebook page, I employ around 10 people, we work with very "high-end" venues to host our events at, & the people I have met through this business have made my life so much happier! I can't wait to see what is to come for Erica's Board Creations! I hope this shows you the beauty that can come from fighting an addiction & going after your dreams! Don't keep living the same year over & over & call it a life! Make the changes!