Take a Walk on the Wild Side!

Have you ever done something that no one was expecting? Or, didn’t think you could do? Yeah, me too! In my experience, the times I took a risk had the biggest payoffs and became the momentous steps in my life journey!

Walk on Your Wild Side Day encourages us to take a chance. It’s a call to the inner strength within you, to do something out of your comfort zone. Do something wild and crazy, and perhaps a little daring. While that usually evokes images of jumping off a cliff, it doesn’t really have to be that way. We take a walk on the wild side more than we think!

I’ve taken some pretty big risks in my life.

From the outside looking in, I seem like I always make safe decisions. I am a true suburbanite wife – a house with a 2-car garage, a husband, 3 successful grown children and a daughter-in-law, 2 gorgeous grandchildren and a dog everyone wants to snuggle.

I grew up in a small town outside of Kansas City (the Missouri one). So, the above scenario is exactly what was expected of me. I absolutely love it and wouldn’t change a thing. But, what you don’t know, I had to take some risks to get to the life I now have and to being MadameStitch.

One of the biggest risks I ever took was moving to Houston on the day of my wedding. I had never lived anywhere but my small hometown. I hadn’t finished college yet and I was only 21 years old. Five hours after the ceremony we were headed out with a U-Haul attached to the back of our lime green Chevy Nova.

I gotta tell ya, I was equally excited for the new adventure away from my parents and scared to death. However, after I got over the shock of living in the big city, I came to realize it was truly one of the best moves I ever made because I became an independent thinker, more confident in myself, making decisions without a safety net. I think this one HUGE move set me up for all the big risks that came after.

When my husband got a job on the East Coast and we moved while I was pregnant with our second son, this Midwestern girl felt like she was moving to a foreign country. During the time we made this move, I was building a career as a professional classical singer. Talk about a walk on the wild side! Every time I walked out on stage to sing solo with an orchestra I was putting myself in the spotlight for all to see. Yet, this move set me up with opportunities to create a successful career.

Fast forward to 2020.

I had already retired from professional singing and my voice studio was going strong. Then, the pandemic hit and everything shut down. My voice teaching went virtual. Honestly, it was one of the best half semesters I’ve ever had with my students. We were united in making the most of a horrible situation.

In spite of internet connections that cut out, Zoom calls with less than ideal sound and the hours of sitting in front of a computer to teach, my voice students and I had a truly memorable and rewarding semester. Which made the next big risk I took exceptionally difficult.

I had been struggling with the timing of my retirement from teaching. Should I continue my studio for as long as I could? Or, should I pull the plug and put all of my hooks in the MadameStitch project bag?

The pandemic made it clear the time was right and the struggle should be over. MadameStitch still wasn’t really a business yet so I was taking a giant leap, giving up guaranteed income and a lifetime career I loved.

My only regret now is that I miss the amazing human beings I left behind. In the time since I retired last June, MadameStitch has grown by leaps and bounds. I absolutely love what I do…every day…and can’t believe I get to crochet for a living! I learn something new almost every day and get to teach others how to love crochet as much as I do. So, as a life-long learner and educator, I’m living my dream!

Check out my designs in my Ravelry, Etsy and LoveCrafts shops!

How have YOU walked on the wild side?

Look who else is walking on the wild side!

These amazing crochet designers are sharing their stories as well. Click on the links below to see what they’re saying!

• Christine of Sweet Potato 3 talks about how taking a chance in her crochet designs paid off.
• Christina of Creative Snugglies Design shares the adventure of her crochet business.
• Lurdys of Crochet & Twists talks about how walking on the wild side can change your life.
• Zenzali of MillennialMaker quit her day job!
  
• Melanie of TimmelCrochet shows you a cool head warmer for her chihuahua.
• Erin of Juniper & Oakes talks about how she reached her crochet goals.