Caitie Sherrick is the designer and owner of Leocadia K.
Name: Caitie Sherrick
Business Name/Occupation: Leocadia K. / artist & designer
When did you know starting a business was right for you? Tell us about your business: After 4 “creative” jobs within 3 years of our first duty station, and not ever feeling 100% happy, I vowed to never take just another job when we moved on. I decided to throw caution to the wind, trust myself, and start my own business so I could create the sustainable career I wanted to have while my husband is an active duty sailor.
My business is my very own creative piece of the online world. I design, make, and sell jewelry, art, graphics and printables. My work is a little modern, a little boho, and a little love. In visually stimulating the world with my design, I aim to inspire people to live their everyday lives a little more creatively.
What is the most amazing thing you have experienced in business?: My business is still very much new, but I’d have to say that the most amazing thing I have experienced thus far is winning the military scholarship for Marie Forleo’s B-School. :)
What is the most disheartening thing you have encountered in your career as a military spouse?: When I worked full-time, there was a huge lack of respect from co-workers on a creative level, a professional level, and even a personal level.
What career challenges have you faced because you are a military spouse?: It’s virtually impossible to have a happy, successful, fulfilling creative career working for someone else, while living in odd/remote/military dominant locations. At least it has been for me!
What advice would you give a military spouse, interested in staring their own business?: DO IT. Stop questioning yourself. You are a freakin’ military spouse and bonafide super-hero. Of course you can do it.
What is the most challenging thing about being a military spouse and business owner? What is the most rewarding thing?: The most challenging thing: It’s a lot. We all know that being a military spouse is a career by itself. Add in a job where you do everything every day for your business, where you have to stay motivated and make a lot of decisions on your own, and it can feel overwhelming at times.
The most rewarding thing: It’s a lot. My husband is currently deployed, and my small business has been my baby (we don’t have real babies yet) while he is gone. It fills my time, keeps me busy, and makes me want to get up every morning. It gives me purpose, warms my heart, and keeps me smiling. It’s reignited my passion for creativity.
How did it feel when you made your first sale?: YES. This is it. I am on the right path.
“Stop questioning yourself. You are a freakin’ military spouse and bonafide super-hero. Of course you can do it.”
What is one obstacle you have faced as a business owner, or on a personal level, as a military spouse, that you would have never expected?: When I was first working on my business, we had just moved and I wasn’t working elsewhere. I was a full-time entrepreneur and stay at home wife. I had to re-train my brain to not feel so guilty for not working in the traditional sense and financially contributing to our life. I had to continuously remind myself of the sacrifices we both make every day, that being an entrepreneur is a HUGE thing and a BRAVE thing, that as long as we were both happy and supportive of each other and I was working toward my creative-business-owner-dreams, then I was on the right track. I have since gotten over that guilt, and have never felt more right about my career and my creativity.
What is one business goal you hope to accomplish by the end of this year?: My number one goal is to earn 6 figures by the end of 2015.
As a military spouse, or business owner, I know one thing for certain. It is . . .: Worry is a prayer for chaos.
What strengths do you possess, that you did not know you had, until you became an entrepreneur?: If I want something, I find a way to make it happen.
My biggest fear is . . . : I sometimes fear that I am wasting so much time away from my family, that I am missing out on life with them. I have to remind myself of my belief that things happen for a reason, that we are guided to make certain decisions for a reason, and that it will all make sense in due time.
My greatest accomplishment is . . .: My relationship with my husband.
When I grow up I want to be . . . : That lady who owns 50 black designer handbags, wears white t-shirts and torn jeans, drinks chai tea religiously, says fuck with oomph, smiles at you when you scowl, and still does yoga every day.
In 2050 I hope military spouses are/can/have/achieve . . .: I hope they can have more opportunities to be the breadwinners in their families, so no one needs to rely on the military for their livelihood.
Why do military spouses make great entrepreneurs?: We are naturally independent, resilient and resourceful. We adapt to change pretty well, know how to make decisions on our own, and we know how to stay motivated even on our darkest of days.
What is your legacy?: The verdict is still out.
Instagram: @caitiesherrie
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Leocadia-K/549251468440640?ref=hl