Recently my dear friend at Mind Body Dharma celebrated her 4th year in business. Another sweet friend at The Playful Space celebrated her 1st biz birthday in January.

I absolutely love it when I see someone celebrating their business birthday!! (I mean, extra reason to eat cake—yes please!) 🙋‍♀️🙋‍♀️🎉

All this cake talk has me thinking though…just when is The Sparkling Hippies birthday? 🤔

Let’s take a walk down memory lane…

👉🏻The name “The Sparkling Hippie” first came to me as the perfect name for a future art studio in 2012.

I thought the name perfectly described my art style, and so I remember putting this as the “banner” on my Samsung flip phone at the time. At this time I had dropped out of college to pursue my purées, though I had no idea what exactly that purpose looked like. I guess you could say I wanted to attend a few semesters at the college of hard-knocks. (Later of course, I would go back to university, finish my last semester and proudly graduate with a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Relations.)

You didn’t think my story was a straight shot did you??

At this time I’d already been blogging and mentoring young women for several years. I could feel in my bones that this was my life’s path, but they didn’t seem to offer a major in “Following Your Purpose.” I wrote myself silly, and slowly, somehow, I began painting again — not as I had been professionally trained in art classes at college, but as an inner expression of my own heartbeat.

👉🏻In 2014, I officially changed my blog of 4 years from “American Honey” to “The Sparkling Hippie.” I also designed the first TSH logo and had my first photoshoot that year! 📸 S/O @neitherherenorthere

I remember being sooo nervous. I told her, the photographer, that I wanted to look like the person I painted about and wrote about, not the person I was. This free-spirited, hippie chick somehow called to me under my shiny PR exterior. The pictures turned out GORGEOUS and totally set the scene for the next decade of The Sparkling Hippie.

You wouldn’t know it now, but back then that was a HUGE step for me. I remember thinking these pictures looked so out of sync with my real life. Freedom was the theme I wanted to portray. This theme was saturated in my writing and paintings during that time period. It was what I most craved within myself. I had to take my own journey toward my authenticity as a woman.

At that time, these pictures were depicting a fantasy I wanted to live. I thank God that fantasy has become my reality and then some..

👉🏻2016, The Sparkling Hippie goes on the road with me to Australia and becomes a decently popular travel blog.

…and I was FULLY convinced that I would somehow, by happen-stance, stumble head-on into becoming a full-time, paid and fabulous blogger and digital nomad. If you believe that is what actually happened, please take a reality check through my blog posts from that time period. 😂

Oz was a wonderful adventure. I blogged every day and wrote a personal column for the local newspaper back home. I found myself. I painted daily. I met wonderful nomads like myself from China, Germany, New Zealand, Brussels, and dozens of other lovely countries. I backpacked.

👉🏻August 2018 is the month I consider truly opening my business doors full and wide. That fall I received my first Life Coaching certification and booked my first paying clients soon after. 🎉🎉

In between Australia and this time, I finally came face to face with the fact that I wasn’t going to magically become an overnight internet sensation with gobs of money and free time to spend following my purpose.

My first coach came into my life just as I needed her. She kicked my butt. She taught me deep depths of money mindset and how to actually see myself as business owner. She even gave me a road to 7-figures that made a whole lot more sense than my “try-it-and-see” approach.

My image had to uplevel with my inner-self, so I booked another photoshoot. These photos happened over multiple shoots with one of my favorite photographers, Pablo of Altus, Oklahoma. We had so much fun bringing my modern brand to life and playing with the natural elements of Southwest Oklahoma.

👉🏻2019-2020 my boyfriend and I quit our jobs to live out of a van and travel New Zealand! More on that here.

During this time I had already launched my business, it was more about growing it into a stable income. When Covid took the world by storm in March of 2020, I was lucky enough to share a house with a dozen strangers from countries scattered all around the globe. One of those amazing individuals was Maria, who happened to be a passionate photographer who wanted to keep her skills sharp. During our 8 weeks of massive lockdown, she and I held several photoshoots around the gorgeous, Hanmer Springs area.

My time in New Zealand was highly spiritual and had themes for a lot of healing, forgiveness and letting go of my old life. I wanted our photos to represent those themes — and I believe Maria quite phenomenally captured just that.

👉🏻2021 we move from a van in New Zealand to a gorgeous home in rural Northern California.

My business has finally taken off. I’m making enough money to pay the bills and most importantly, I’m transforming lives.

This is the year I step more fully into my POWER as a business owner. I work with my first stylist and we pinpoint The Sparkling Hippie brand style, as well as The Sparkling Hippie Publishing Company, which was recently blossoming into a force to be reckoned with.

Sonora-based photographer, Jennifer Raspoza helped me book my first paid-location for the shoot. We focused on themes of professionalism and power while playfully including my free-spirited heart.

So in essence, TSH is 10 years old as an entity, essence and brand. But as an official business, it is around 4 years old.

This may sound peculiar, but I believe there is a VERY big difference in writing, painting and helping people for a hobby, versus going all-in toward making it a fulfilling life-long CAREER.

What caused the shift?

HEAVILY investing in my personal and professional development as a coach, as an author, as a painter.

I hired my first coach.

I became twice certified as a life coach.

I got rid of all my excuses.

I found my authenticity.

Which allowed me to step more fully into my confidence.

I trained.

I showed up. Day in and day out.

I CHOSE to step out of the minor leagues and become a true professional.

What about you? Are you truly pursuing your life’s purpose or are you still stumbling through the minor leagues? What excuses do you need to drop ASAP? Where do you need to step up and invest in yourself more seriously?

Cheers to The Sparkling Hippie being a decade in the making! ✨ Are you a business owner? If so, do you celebrate your biz birthday? What’s your favorite way to celebrate? ❤️🎂 Let’s chat in the comments.

How old is “The Sparkling Hippie”?