I built a business that supported my mental health challenges

I earned $1,200 the first month. $4,000 the second month. And things quickly began scaling from there... $6,000/month... $10,000/month... and on and on.

People always say that there’s never going to be a “perfect” time to jump into entrepreneurship, and as someone who opened her first Etsy shop with a newborn in tow, knee-deep in postpartum depression, I tend to agree. 

In fact, I think it’s fair to say that I opened my Etsy shop at the WORST possible time in my life. 

But in a twist of irony, it was opening my Etsy shop that saved me and taught me how to manage my mental health struggles in a positive, productive way. 

Prior to having my first child back in 2013, I had always been the Type-A, corporate-climbing ambitious planner. I was recently married, had landed my dream events management job for a book publishing company in downtown Salt Lake City, and spent my days planning parties and evenings schmoozing with New York Times best-selling authors. 

I was living my best life. 

And so when I found out I was (unexpectedly) pregnant about a year into my marriage? It came as a complete shock and also forced us to make some big financial decisions for the future. 

With a full-time grad student husband, one of those decisions was that I would return to work and continue to provide for our family once our daughter was born. 

We had never considered what would happen if I couldn’t go back to my corporate job. 

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