by The Happy WAHM
May I present to you… the official Happy WAHM logo!
After years of building my brand, I finally had the guts (and the budget) to have my logo professionally designed by no less than the Master Jedi of Graphics, Patricia Alix-Villa of Fancy Girl Design Studio. It took me years to muster the courage of going through the process of visualizing who I am, of graphically presenting what I do. Words are easy. I write the same way I talk. But coming up with a logo that speaks of my passion, my purpose… it’s a different story.
Typography
Not something I’m fond of. You know sanserif and serif? Well, I can go as far as knowing that Times New Roman is serif, and Arial is sanserif. And that’s it.
Wait.. I know that Brush Script is a cursive thing. Beyond that, I’m clueless.
I can go and view fonts all day long, and I’d just love everything.
Yes. Even Comic Sans. Although I still have no clue what’s wrong with it. I just see a lot of people not liking it much. And graphic artists cringe when they see it.
To me, it’s a font. Plain and simple.
Color Palette
ROYGBIV. Primary, secondary, intermediate. Those are the colors I know.
My daughters know more than what I taught them from the color wheel now. So I’ve got this one covered, courtesy of my favorite firstborn and favorite middlechild.
Mood Board
You are not going to believe how much time I spent looking up how shabby chic should look like. I just liked the sound of it, you know. Made me feel like I’m up to something impressive. But when asked to get peg images, I froze.
Pat suggested that I create a board in Pinterest. And I did. And I managed to pin a lot of crochet ideas and patterns.
Okay. So with much effort, I managed to focus on the task at hand, which was to come up with a visual representation of how I want my logo to look like. I started with my birthstone, ruby. And my personal style, which is long skirts and boots, or jeans, boots and shirts. Errrrrr… I was just being shabby, but not chic.
So I turned to what I’m more comfortable with. Words.
Feminine but strong. Professional but compassionate.
That’s how my visual brand identity should tell my audience.
Personal. Passionate. Authentic.
The Happy WAHM is a person. She is the person behind a service-based business (margeaberasturi.com and vasupportpro.com) and a craft business (craftedcrafts.com). Her blog is geared towards encouraging women to go for what makes them happy. The blog is about happy living in general. Health, education, livelihood and parenting in particular. It’s HELP for WAHMs. Education also encompasses entrepreneurship, as I also write about turning passion to profit, hobbies to business.
The logo shall encompass my brand as a work-at-home mom who happily embraces whatever life deals her with. Creating opportunities amidst challenges. Living her purpose. The Happy WAHM is a mother, a wife, an entrepreneur, a teacher, an advocate. The Happy WAHM is going beyond Marge Aberásturi, the Virtual Assistant, and Marge Aberásturi, the crafter. The Happy WAHM – the person – is anchored on her love for her husband and children, and on her desire to inspire people through The Happy WAHM – the blog.
The symbol
Pat gave me another task. What icon best describes you?
No idea.
So I put out the question to the family. What do you think should be the symbol of The Happy WAHM, and why?
First daughter answered: A book. Because you share a lot of information. You want to share your knowledge to anyone who cares to follow you.
Husband answered: A lightbulb. You are always coming up with ideas and you follow through. But maybe more of a tree. Because you are rooted to the ground, and you are always working for advancement and growth. You are also strong and very nurturing. You branch out, do a lot of things, but manage to get everything connected with what makes you happy.
And so I went with a tree.
Pat was like… “Oh, no! The tree has been used in a lot of logos already.” And it was a challenge to come up with something that’s completely me and not someone else.
So I said, “No rush. Take your time. Patience is a virtue. And I’m virtual.”
Toinks!
What she came up with is pure love. Pat, you are a genius!
Thank you, Isabel!
I just want to acknowledge the help our eldest child gave me while going through the design process. She became my go-to person during those times that I was doubting my choices. I would have given up if not for her inputs. Thank you, babe! You are a rockstar! (Just like Mommy, eh?)
And it’s a wrap!
P.S.
I hope you like the new look of the site. It’s my own handiwork. 🙂
Do you have questions, comments or feedback about this post?
Please leave me a message, or post them, at my Facebook Page.
by The Happy WAHM
It’s that time of year again. The month when the Philippine Homeschool Conference happens. And this year’s theme is From Roots to Wings.
It’s been eight years. Eight years since we first embraced homeschooling. But I still can’t say that I know what I’m doing. We’re taking this journey one lesson at a time, one year at a time.
Early this year, I shared my fears about our homeschooling. We are no longer enrolled with a homeschool provider, so we are in this journey on our own.
Well, not really.
We get our support from fellow homeschooling families who selflessly share tips and encouragement in online fora. And conferences, such as this one.
I’ve been to two homeschool conferences, and this year is going to be my third. Some would say, if you’ve been to one, you’ve been to all. Some would ask, “What do you need a conference for? You’ve been doing it for eight years!”
Well, apart from the fact that it’s fun to connect with people who are in the same journey as us, it’s also important to be updated on how the homeschooling environment has been evolving through the years. I’d say that this year’s breakout sessions are even more exciting than last year’s.
Topics are spot on, and speaker line up is quite impressive.
- The Ins and Outs of Homeschooling in the Philippines, with Edric Mendoza
- Transitioning from Brick and Mortar to Homeschooling, with Jenn Punzalan
- Homeschooling the High School Years, with Racquel Guevara
- Laying the Foundation in Preschool, with Milona Barraca
- Paper and Pen: How “Low Tech” Reading and Writing Benefit Students, with Andrew Pudewa
- Transitioning to College, with Ivy and Bernard Marquez
- Starting Your Homeschool Journey, with Donna Simpao
- The Hows of Interest-led Homeschooling, with Alex Hao
- Homeschooling the Special Needs Child, with Jen Bellosillo
Plus, there are exciting activities for the kids, as well.
Write Pretty by Meg and Maddie (8:30am-10am)
Children ages 7 and up will enjoy learning a new skill with fellow homeschooled children Meg and Maddie Barraca.
Handlettering by Maddie (10:30am-12noon)
Join in the hand lettering trend by learning how to write calligraphy. To be conducted by Meg and Maddie Barraca. For children ages 7 and up.
Just Add Water – A Brush Calligraphy class by Marj Liwag (12:30pm-2pm, 4:30-6pm)
Little Miss Printer herself will teach this class for children ages 7 and up.
Inks and Lines – A Tangling class by Marj Liwag (2:30pm-4pm)
Learn about this relaxing art that creates beautiful images from simple patterns.
Challenge Island (8am-10am, 10:30am-12pm, 2:30pm-4:30pm)
Loosely based on the popular show, Survivor, children ages 5 and up will learn collaboration and cooperation the various Challenge Island tasks that they will be given to their tribe. Are they up to the challenge?
Crochet Along with Crafted Crafts by Marge Aberásturi (7am-6pm)
Marge Aberásturi of Crafted Crafts will welcome children ages 6 and up in her booth for beginning crochet lessons. Additional P250 fee for yarn and hook. Hey, this is me!
MEET THE ART MASTERS by Likhang Bata Creativity Center (7am-6pm)
Likhang Bata Creativity Art Center’s classes are a fun way to introduce the art masters to the children. The classes will be held in Likhang Bata’s booth the whole day.
SAFSOF SPORTS PLAY AREA BY TOPMnl (7am-6pm)
Let your kids move and play in our indoor sports play area! Crawl under arch gates. Swing your club in mini golf. Topple the cans with the soft catapult. Play bowling. Practice targeting skills with the Multi Ring Toss. All using SAFSOF safe rubber foam sports toys. For kids ages 3 years to 12 years.
SMILE TODDLER PLAY AREA (7am-6pm)
Children ages 1-3 will enjoy the various activities prepared by SMILE Group in the Toddler play area.
Looks like fun, right?
I assure you, it is! Especially if you drop by my booth!
Here’s how you can ensure that your registration runs smoothly…
See you at the conference!
by The Happy WAHM
Hobbies to business, is it even possible?
The answer is a resounding YES!
I know, because I’ve done it, and you can do it, too!
Just as I’ve been able to create a career from our humble home, I have yet again succeeded in creating an income stream from a hobby that I only started to de-stress – crocheting.
Gosh, I didn’t even know I had in it me. Like I never crocheted in my life! And then one day, I found myself trying to learn it, and once I learned the basics, I was hooked! Pun intended.
And I’m the last person on earth who would call me creative. When I was still trying to figure out how we would survive with just my husband’s income, with a pile of debt and three very young kids, I considered doing desktop publishing. This was at the time that I was already doing transcription, but of course what I was earning from transcription was just enough to cover utilities expense. And because I have a supportive family, and a circle of very supportive friends, I did receive a number of orders for business cards, invitations and letterheads.
But alas! It was not something that I could really do long term. I would spend hours designing (if you could even call it that) and spend more hours revising, editing, and most of the time, completely changing my work. I went through a lot of unproductive hours before I admitted to myself, and to the world, that no, I can’t make a living out of desktop publishing or anything that has to do with graphics or design.
So I went on to assess my skills, my God-given talent, my passion.
And discovered I have a knack for organization, process flow, building up on ideas, creating opportunities, and meddling coaching. 🙂
Yup! I meddle a lot. Poking my nose on other people’s business. Trying to be helpful. Although my clients see that as a welcome initiative. 🙂
That’s how I built my career as a virtual professional. By finding my core and working on my purpose.
I’m very comfortable where I am now as a virtual assistant. You wouldn’t believe the nights I spent worrying about losing a client because a lot of people have joined the bandwagon. It seemed like everybody wanted to leave corporate to escape the daily horrors of traffic, be able to be hands-on moms, keep flexible hours, and do what they want with their time. And because a lot of them don’t have experience, they were charging in disrespectful rates.
But guess what? A lot of them left the race just as quickly as they came.
Reasons?
- They are not earning enough to make a difference.
- Time management is a challenge.
- They lack most of the skills their clients need.
- The hours are not what they thought would be flexible.
- No job security.
- No benefits.
And I have to agree with all those.
Virtual assistance is stressful.
It’s worse than being in corporate, actually. When you are left to operate on your own, how much you earn is based solely on how hard and and how smart you work. No assurance of a salary bi-monthly. Heck, there’s not even an assurance that you’d still have a client next month.
That’s why I had to take on a hobby. I.HAD.TO. To keep my sanity in check.
But even in choosing a hobby, I had to be practical. I didn’t want something that I would have to spend on. So I decided to try to learn crochet, because we already have an impressive inventory of yarns.
After I posted a photo of my first completed project on Facebook, inquiries came in. Inquiries turned to orders, and the rest is history.
I have since created a website, a Facebook page, and ta-da! I have gone ahead and registered the business!
Hobbies to business? Yes, it is possible!
But… but… but… HOW?
Well, it did not happen overnight. I did not merely wish for it to happen. I went through a process.
And you know what’s the hardest part?
To get started. That’s what.
And this is where I want to meddle again. To help you answer these questions:
- Where do you want to go with your hobby?
- Would you still enjoy your hobby once you have turned it to a business?
- What are the different ways you can turn your hobby into a business?
- Everybody says you need to make a plan. What are the steps in making one?
- Can you sell what you can create?
- You don’t have a target market, how do you create one?
And it will not stop there.
Relationships matter.
My vision is to be able to create a support community for like-minded souls who are ready to act on their dreams of turning their hobbies to business.
I want to connect people so we can build a support network along the way. Collaboration instead of competition. Suppliers, merchants, affiliates… the whole nine yards. Maybe even partnerships.
And this will begin on August 27, at The Parenting Emporium in New Manila.
Check out the page now and register early. This one is going to be awesome!
[photo credit: pixabay]
Do you have questions, comments or feedback about this post?
Please leave me a message, or post them, at my Facebook Page.
by The Happy WAHM
When God closes a door, He opens a window.
I was once again reminded of this just today. On a day that’s really bleak, and sad, and full of uncertainty.
I’ve been putting in sporadic hours at work for the past days. Have been out of groove since the daily migraine attacks. But I still try to show up at work, even just to accomplish the inbox items that need the quickest turnaround.
This morning, I was abruptly fully awake when I realized that I still have not booked my client’s lodging for his trip to Tahoe in late September. I submitted a short list of choices for him last week, and three days ago, he told me to make another attempt to connect with his AirBnB host for the last three consecutive years. The place was just across the venue for the Spartan World Championships, so understandably, he wants to stay there again this year.
And because it’s just across the venue for the Spartan World Championships, again, understandably, the place was no longer available when I inquired two weeks ago.
But client still wants me to try to connect, and so I did.
Persistence. Sometimes it pays.
This time, it did not.
So I had this shortlist, and three days ago, we were down to three. And he gave me his first choice if ever I don’t hear back from the previous host.
But since I have been sporadically working, I forgot about it.
And remembered it this morning just between that zone of foggy sleep and complete wakefulness. So I promptly logged in at 6:00 am.
Yep. From the bed to the workstation. This is how we roll. WAHMing rocks!
Problem was, that first choice he had three days ago was no longer available this morning.
There was my door.
I was palpitating in an instant. Because the next best place is $75 more expensive, per day, and I’ll be booking for five days, so I’m practically making a bad deal for my client.
Did I mention that the next place is also about 4 blocks farther from the venue than the one that has been taken?
So I was getting ready to be on the receiving end of an irate email, when it occurred to me that maybe I was not thorough enough in my search for places in the last week.
Yes. Because of the migraine.
So search again, I did. And found another place that’s actually $81 more than the last one that has been taken, or make it $6 more than the one I was going getting ready to book for my client, but…
It’s a big BUT…
It’s closer to the venue, and it’s a short walk to the ski lift. And it has two bedrooms. One has a king size bed. The other has a queen, and a bunk bed.
Perfect!
And the pictures were great. And the reviews were all awesome. And it was an instant booking, so I don’t have to wait for the host to respond before booking.
I sent the link to client, and his reply went like, “Whoa! This is GREAT! Snatch it!”
And so, I did.
And that was my window.
And it calmed the storm raging inside me. The message was clear. There will always be other opportunities for me out there.
Or I can just create another one, like I always do.
See, I’ve been stressing about something in the past two days. Something I started out of love seems to be falling apart. Like watching a door slowly close on me, and everything I desire are inside that door.
It’s bad. Even the husband feels so bad. Because supportive husband that he is, he also invested a lot of time and effort and emotion on this.
But sometimes, we must learn how to let go. And use whatever God-given wisdom we have to know when to walk away.
It pains me to have come this far, only to be stopped mid-stride. But I’m hopeful that this is happening to make way for something better.
And when I say better, it is subjective.
So watch out for some changes.
Do you have questions, comments or feedback about this post?
Please leave me a message, or post them, at my Facebook Page.
by The Happy WAHM
For the past weeks, I’ve been talking about how we manage our money and how we save for our future. Now, let’s talk about how we spend. Wisely. With ShopBack.
I’ve been doing a lot of online shopping for clients, mostly at Amazon. In fact, I’m now offering it as a specialized service, meaning, I get hired to shop. Clients just send me what they need, and I take care of looking for the best offer on that product.
I also do a lot of online booking for hotels, flights and even car rentals. At first, I was really apprehensive about shopping online. Like I was afraid the orders would not go through yet the card would be charged. Or that the products I ordered would not get shipped. But as I do it more and more, I gained confidence about online shopping.
So confident that I now shop for myself, too. I buy my hooks and yarns online, art materials for the kids, and lots of digital/downloadable books and patterns. I was even telling my husband the other day, since our internet security will be expiring in a month, that we’d be better off buying them online. Easier to renew, and he doesn’t have to remember where he put the CD. 🙂
And then…
I stumbled on ShopBack.
This was back in September. I was at BPI’s website, and I inadvertently clicked on one of the links there, and was brought to a page where they’re offering a sign up bonus for BPI cardholders. My interest was piqued, of course. But I did not sign up just yet. I had to do my due diligence on the legitimacy of the offer, and wanted to make it worth my time signing up. I mean, if I sign up and I find that I can only shop with one merchant, it may not be worth the trouble of remembering yet another username and password. Plus, I have to know that what the merchants offer are actually products that I would buy. I’m all about maximizing opportunities, as a takeaway from my college education in maximizing profits and minimizing costs. I have to maximize my opportunities, with just the minimum of fuss.
So I found that Lazada, Zalora and Ensogo are merchants. Looking good. I have an Ensogo account, and I’ve been hearing good things about Lazada, so I was getting warmer.
My fellow hookers… wait… that did not sound right.
My fellow crocheters buy their sewing machines from Lazada. And a former officemate messaged me asking about how to set up a Paypal account coz he was going to shop online and he needs a Paypal account.
So people are really into online shopping now.
Oh wait, I do set up online carts for a living, so people better be into online shopping!
But back to ShopBack…
Wouldn’t it be great to be given some cash back when we shop? That’s how ShopBack works. You shop with your favorite online merchant using the link from ShopBack, and your purchase will be tracked back to your account, and when the purchase is made, you are eligible for a cash back. So for example, if you buy something from Lazada through Shopback, you can get up to 4% cashback!
But wait, there’s more! 🙂
Refer a friend and you’ll get a PHP100 bonus when your friend signs up.
I’ll give you a hint.
Sign up through my link and you’ll be helping me give my son guitar lessons!
Deal?
But maybe I’m explaining the mechanics poorly.
So please go ahead and check out how it really works.
And if you’re game, sign up using my link.
I’m not kidding. You’ll be helping me give my son some serious guitar lessons if you do. 🙂
Then afterwards, it will be your turn to invite your friends with YOUR link.
Do you have questions, comments or feedback about this post?
Please leave me a message, or post them, at my Facebook Page.
