‘Passion’ and ‘pace’ may start with the same letter but they certainly seem to be arch-enemies sometimes. What if diving head first into pursuing your passion, forcing to monetize creative innovation, wasn’t actually the best way to proceed? And what if that was actually… okay?

Today, we have Emily Cretella sharing with us her story about creating her passion project, the MotherHustle movement. I had the privilege to be the creative director and designer for the project, and fell in love with Emily’s heart and gained so much respect for her journey. I wanted her to personally tell her story on the Reverie blog. We launched the website for MotherHustle on Monday and the stories are nothing short of inspiration and the website itself is beautiful – if I do say so myself, ah! Here is Emily’s story:

“There’s a difference between feeling the drive to do something and feeling driven to do something.

When I started my copywriting and content marketing business back in 2013, I wanted it to be a success and I was ready to work for it. I had a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old, and let’s just say marketing agency life was not my definition of fulfillment. So I worked. Hard. And I created a business that I enjoy and that more than covers my previous 9-5 paycheck.

I felt the drive to succeed in business then, and I still do today. But through that time, there’s also been something I’ve felt driven to do — as if this thing wasn’t up to me. It was a need. A nagging sense of want and opportunity and connection.

About a year into owning my own business, I began daydreaming about creating a resource to help other creative mamas — moms like the ones I worked with in agency life — escape the daily hustle and create their own version of success.

I wrote this idea down for the first time in a flurry of late-night inspiration in July 2015 — but it wasn’t until February 2016 that I began sending out a weekly email called MotherHustle.

The newsletter was a way for me to share not only the strategies and resources that were making my business successful, but also the stories that felt excluded from my everyday work experience. I had more to share than copywriting and marketing tips and tactics. I had stories that needed to be told.

Almost immediately, I began to get responses.

Notes from other mamas thanking me for the letters. Telling me they were their bright sparks of the week; that they were the catalyst for helping them make the leap into entrepreneurship.

So, I began to slowly think bigger.

And now, about 16 months after my first MotherHustle email and nearly two years since that first inspiration burst, I’ve launched MotherHustle.com as an online publication and community for creative mompreneurs.

It was a long journey, but one I am completely comfortable and happy with. And there are a few reasons why — reasons I hope you consider if you’re feeling pressure to turn your passion into a paycheck:

• #1: Slow and steady is a great pace for testing your passion.

You know how you know you’re really passionate about something? You’re still jump-up-and-down excited about it two years after you come up with the idea.

As entrepreneurs and solopreneurs and infopreneurs and whatever type of online business owner you consider yourself, we’re used to seeing — and craving — fast success.

We’re used to being told the “right” way to grow, the “right” strategies to follow, the “right” platforms to master. We want to do it all now, yesterday.

But taking your time with an idea, letting it form and grow on its own terms, is a good way to make sure you’re not just chasing the next shiny object. Slow and steady also lets you test your idea with your audience over time. Which leads me to…

• #2: The value you bring is more important than the product you offer.

There’s something that’s always rung true for me, in my copywriting business and in MotherHustle. And it’s this quote from Content, Inc. by Joe Pulizzi:

“No product? That’s good! … When all your focus is on an audience you know deeply, instead of a product, good things usually happen. When we listen intently to our audience, we are automatically led to new product opportunities.”

When you take your time and get to know your audience — their wants, needs, challenges, struggles — then you can better help them. You can create the products and services that they actually need. But in order to do that, you have to first create content that connects with them.

That’s my goal with MotherHustle — creating strategies, stories and an overall feeling of sisterhood that brings us together so that I can better serve these mamas that I so want to help succeed.

• #3: Creative innovation is a worthy pursuit, in itself.

As creative people, business can often feel like a burden. Because we have certain capabilities, we feel like we need to use them to make money, and make money now.

But simply pursuing something because it fulfills us is ok. Being creative for the sake of being creative is important. Because if we’re always laser-focused on the end money goal, we could miss the innovations that come out of the creative process.

I am not saying money doesn’t matter. I am not saying work for free. But I am saying that if you feel driven to pursue a creative passion, you should do so without the guilt of money attached. Because when you are creatively fulfilled, you will be better able to turn that fulfillment into a source of income.

For me, I may be two years into MotherHustle.com — but I’m only just beginning. I can’t wait to see where this slow and steady passion pursuit takes me.”

ABOUT EMILY:
Emily Cretella is a content marketing strategist, copywriter and the creator of MotherHustle.com, a publication that empowers creative mompreneurs to create their own success and explore personal fulfillment in motherhood and business. She loves being mom to her two little ladies and drinking obscene amounts of coffee from mugs with pithy sayings. Read her business writing at cursivecontent.com.

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