The Jump Blog Tour is hosted by Stephanie Hall and Ashley Wilhite, the co-creators of Jump: Into your business, your life, your dream, a must-have digital guide for new coaches & creatives. They believe in the transformational power of taking the jump and creating a business you love. Their eBook will teach you how to start a business, find your niche, brand like a pro, and make the jump with confidence. Find out more here.

When I first started my design business, I was still working part-time as an English teacher with no real intentions to up and quit my job. Though teaching had long lost its luster to me, I was a drone for the paycheck and couldn’t quite bring myself to quit. I saw a few other bloggers offer their design services to the online community and figured I’d give it a go, never once assuming I’d make a living from graphic design any time soon (read: ever). I even remember one dinner with my then-boyfriend, Keiji, where I excitedly told him that I had made one-hundred dollars from designing! I was like a little kid on Christmas. “They like me! They really like me!”

That moment defined how I continue to run my business.

Because as an entrepreneur, all of a sudden you’ll have emails coming out of your ears.

And days when your New Client Well has run Sahara Desert Dry and you’re left to wonder if you’ll ever get another customer.

And even though most of your customers are the kind of people you’d want to invite to Christmas Dinner, there will always be a couple Scrooges that make you re-think if you’re really cut out for the business world (or any world).

You may find yourself alone much of the time, always huddled under a desk lamp and a computer — or wherever else you like to come alive.

But if you run your business with gratitude, everything else will start to fade.

Because sure, there are icky parts to this gig that sometimes last longer than you wish they would — like your drunk uncle singing Celine Dion on Thanksgiving (shudder), but if you take a moment to breathe it all in, you might find a wonderful amount of beauty in business. Your long, tired nights will be met with a morning of the happiest client emails you’ve ever read. Your Jacquelyn-of-All-Trades job title might mean that your business cards are a hot mess, but that you have all the skills you need to run a successful company. You may not always have clients begging you to work for them, but just as soon as you’re ready to throw in the towel, your inbox will fill with hoards of new requests (happens every time).

Bottom line, running a business won’t always be a pretty job, but if you’re grateful for the small successes, it sure will be a beautiful one. And hey, you might even make a hundred dollars. 🙂

How do YOU stay positive about work?