5. Catapulting My Expansion

Highlights in this episode:

05:38--An insurance call prompted me to prioritize myself and my creative pursuits

07:32--Transitioning the business to primarily focus on art and being an author, while still collaborating with other sapphic creatives

10:07--Encouraging fellow sapphic creatives to find their own timing for their craft, because its not one-size-fits-all

Virginia James [00:00:02]:
Welcome to Sapphic Rising(TM), where we embody our creative muse, our wild authenticity, and share in a little bit of rebelliousness. Hey there, it's Virginia. And it's good to be back at the microphone. I hope you had a blessed Pride Month. If you had your pride time here, like here in the States, in a lot of places, or, you know, if you have something just privately for you, maybe your circle, maybe with people, you know, virtually. Either way, I hope you had a beautiful and blessed Pride Month. As much as we can with all these shenanigans happening in the world, so we have to honor the. Both the.

Virginia James [00:00:41]:
And right now. I've got an announcement today. I'm excited about the announcement, but let's do some storytelling first because we need some context of, let's just say LA. Monday. It was literally on Monday. Monday began the new chapter in my business. Or expanding in the business. That's maybe that's a better way of putting it.

Virginia James [00:01:10]:
So what happened, Virginia? Well, I actually, I, you know. Yes, I still fireworks. I don't know if you just heard that on the recording, but. Mm, it's the 4th of July here in the States. Awesome. Anyway, in real time, because we're all. We're all in this together. So, anyway, on Monday, I was on the phone with my business insurance provider and trying to hash out different policies for the thing I'm about to tell you.

Virginia James [00:01:40]:
All right. But you know what's really funny about it is that call really helped me sleep solidify this plan when I didn't really expect it, or I don't know if you can relate to this, friend, but you know, when you're thinking you're gonna go in a direction or you're expanding something in your life and. But yet you want to maybe overthink it a little bit more, or you want to kind of really weigh. Weigh the pros and the cons, maybe do some list building, I don't know, reflecting, journaling, praying, tarot, card pulling, Oracle card, poorly, you know, whatever. Hiking. Well, the funny thing is, I was. I was on that call and. And really it just helped me with the commitment because it was kind of one of those moments.

Virginia James [00:02:24]:
It was to be very transparent. It was literally the last day of June, and my policy, the. My normal monthly payment would have been due literally the next day. So I think that actually kind of helped push this along. Funny enough. But what. What I've been doing for a few years now, especially if you're new here. Hey, Virginia.

Virginia James [00:02:44]:
James. Nice to talk to you, but what I'VE been doing for a few years is, you know, I, I was in that, we'll say kind of that career quote coaching. I actually hate the term coaching but we're going to use it here just for ease. So career coaching and business coaching. Okay. I really started helping women find their purpose. And I also have a background in academia, social work and non profit. So it's kind of like a lot of those make your life better kind of vibes.

Virginia James [00:03:15]:
Right. That's what, that's what I've done over the years anyway. So that's kind of where the business was for a while. And that's. So that was my business insurance. I just handled it that way. Okay. And in the last about six months I was thinking I'm going to really start helping Sapphic creatives.

Virginia James [00:03:33]:
You know, I was kind of honing in on what Virginia wants to do and I said that another episode, you can go back to it about essentially, you know, who got elected in the US and it made me and many other business folk go, well, I guess it depends upon who you are. But for those of us who went, what I want to like, what can I do? How can I, how can I do better? Anyway, so that's where the whole shift towards really, you know, helping Sapphics and be, you know, in their creativity and making, frankly making beautiful things, rebellious things, getting it out there, being authentic in their expression as much as they're, you know, up for and comfortable with expanding. And yet, and yet here I was admittedly stifling my own creativity. Let's just be very honest about that for a second. And I did also do another episode or maybe a substack about that too is like, you know, I did a lot of art. Let me just do this in a 30 second summary. I did a lot of art. You can also listen to another episode about that, about the different mediums I've learned from in classes.

Virginia James [00:04:45]:
Actually I'm not self taught. I am class. I've, I've done classes in varying mediums over the years. High school, college and after college. Okay, so but I went into social work, I went into service and academia and the non profit world. Right. So like the whole point is I was serving others. I was really frankly putting everyone else in front of my own priority.

Virginia James [00:05:09]:
Yes, I kind of took care of myself, I took care of my dogs. But like really it's like I've always put people in front of me, they needed to be helped first. So I've been really unpacking that the last number of Months. And that helped me really hone in on. Sorry, there's a jet flyby or something, maybe for a local event. Who knows? I hope, I hope you can still hear me. Oh, and my Freya's going off. You know, it's just the day and the time.

Virginia James [00:05:38]:
Anyway, thanks Freya. So what a day. What a last 24 hours. Oy vey. So basically this business insurance call on Monday, quote, forced me to really make a call, make this decision. Am I committing to myself or I'm gonna stay on the fence a little bit longer and then do it. You know what I mean? And I've always been the one in life. Yeah, I, I might be kind of freaked out.

Virginia James [00:06:05]:
I, if, if I have the resources, I take the risk, right? If I have the support, I take the risk. There's been some times in my life I'm like, I don't really know what I'm doing, but I'm going to take the risk anyway. So I'm game for that. I, I believe in growth. Maybe that's my Sagittarius rising. I believe in growth and authentic living and. Or learning how to get there. Okay, so all that being said.

Virginia James [00:06:31]:
Ta da. This is a big announcement. I will be making a chunk of my business, my creativity and my, my work, really my sacred work. A chunk of that, A big chunk of that is going to be art now. It's going to be like painting and illustration and mixed media. Okay. I'm going to be filling my own bucket that way. And also through that product line, the really, the goal is to continue to liberate ourselves through art, to continue to transform ourselves through art and this ancient beauty that I deeply believe in.

Virginia James [00:07:10]:
Right. In these mediums that we use and that we've learned, we've learned how to use them and work with them for millennia. Millennia. A lot of this is an ancient art, right? Those recycling plastics and making something beautiful. That's also cool. It doesn't have to be ancient. Maybe I should, you know, admit that or do a little P.S. there we go.

Virginia James [00:07:32]:
Now big chunk is going to be my own art, my own creativity. And so that will be in the develop, development. Wow, I can't word today. It's Friday. That'll be in development. That's going to be moving from the back end to the front end. My whole office is a mess right now because I've been trying to rearrange things for my art table again for the supplies, for the vibe and all of that. So I'm really excited for that.

Virginia James [00:07:59]:
But I Still will be collaborating with, supporting, and being in community with Sapphic creatives. Those are my people. Those are my people. And so I'm going to. And I'm going to continue to write my books. There you go. Finish book three. That is the goal.

Virginia James [00:08:17]:
We'll see when that timeline looks like. I'm still working through book three. It's a little. Oh, wow. I don't want to give anything away. I'm just gonna shut up about that. Okay, I'll be working on book three. There you go.

Virginia James [00:08:31]:
And so it's really about art and authoring for me at this point, at this stage, and seeing what comes from that. Giving it room to breathe, giving it room to become empowered, giving it fire. Right. And bringing it from the depths of myself again. So that is going to be a huge chunk of the product line. Again, to be determined. But if you're also a Sapphic creator and you're like, oh, shoot, Virginia, you know, are you going to be helping us out? You know, I will, as a colleague. I will as a colleague.

Virginia James [00:09:06]:
And that's the other thing. Is that business insurance, it kind of made me. It's going, we're, blah, blah, blah. We're going to be changing some marketing language around, and that's okay. That's what this is all about. Like, you know, I don't believe in going into something headfirst and saying, I'm never gonna change it because we change. Right. You could literally listen to the first episode of this rebranded podcast, and I'm still obviously the same Virginia, But I have grown a lot, even in the months since.

Virginia James [00:09:38]:
And that's okay. That's a good thing. That's a very good thing. So that's the announcement. If you're scared of your own growth or you're worried about, I don't know, disappointing people in your authenticity. It's easy for me to say, be yourself anyway, obviously. But that's why it's so important to have people like us who want to show up as our true selves. And yes, I gotta say this as a PS Before I end this episode, resources do matter.

Virginia James [00:10:07]:
Okay? I'm not one of those types that there's. There's a lot of conversation in the business world. Like, even if you have $5 to your name, go start that business and screw your job and quit in two days. No, no, no, no, no. We're all different. You need to do what's best for you and also challenge yourself to continue to move beyond your comfort zone and see what you can do. If you can't be a full time artist right now, or actually, I don't really like full time because art is art. You're an artist Whether five minutes or whether you do it for 50 hours, a week, or, you know, something even longer.

Virginia James [00:10:46]:
Right. I believe in you and your craft. So I just want to say that, I guess as a final tip, you know when it's best to start these things for yourself and how if not, you're going to figure that out. And that's beautiful. All right. There's my pep talk. There's my announcement. I hope that you have a beautiful day ahead as much as you can.

Virginia James [00:11:08]:
I know again, there's a lot happening in the world pretty much every day. So we. I'm gonna say it again. Like I've said before, we are in this together. We have each other. We are in community. Even if you feel alone, deeply alone in this, you're hearing my voice right now, or you're, you know, reading the transcription, or you are consuming this conversation in the way that you do, and I am here for you. We have each other.

Virginia James [00:11:37]:
We're going to continue our craft, whatever that looks like in making this world more sacred. So let's keep it up. Okay? I'm gonna keep cleaning my office because it's driving me a little bananas. I like some organization and shits everywhere, so let me go do that. You have a beautiful evening or day or weekend, whenever you're hearing this, and I will talk to you soon. Bye.