Guest written by our friend Katie Callahan

Starting my own business was tough but I’ve never looked back. I have a really hard time being organized but that was a skill I had to learn, and fast. It’s not something you can do without when you’re running your very own store! But anyway, I spend a great deal of time with a small business counselor going over things like bank card processing and taxes and HR rules and regulations and at the end of the day I sort of feel like I got a college education in about 3 weeks. I’m really excited to call myself a small business owner and I’m proud, too, but it’s a lot more work than you would think and it’s been a tough road – the financial instability of doing something for yourself is harder than you would think it’d be and for me it’s a long way from here to distance my personal life from work. I have a really hard time separating myself but you know, I think that’s part of why I’m so effective.