Bonjour mes amies! I thought starting Cappuccinos and Consignment eliminated my sense of perfectionism. After all, I started this blog avec un grainy photo, random thoughts, and the hopes that no one but ma mère and my second cousin would read it.

I was convinced that, that space of debilitating perfectionism was a thing of the past.

It wasn’t until I wanted to create an e-Course for content creators that those perfectionist fears came tumbling (back) in. I began to obsess about the beginning, middle and end and ultimately, I scraped the course. I became consumed with all the things that someone could find wrong with the course that I had poured so much into.

Once I shut down all of the projected external noise, I took a moment to dig deep and figure out what was truly plaguing me.

Money.

The thought of charging terrified me.

If you’ve ever been in a space to put a dollar amount on your craft, you’ll know where I’m coming from.

How people handle you when you are giving things freely as they desire is totally different from when you place a dollar amount on your “worth.”

I have received God-awful messages from trolls, but one of my most hurtful messages (the Pollyanna in moi believes this) wasn’t intended to be hurtful.

“I just paid all this money for an influencer class, and it was absolute trash. I know you could whip up a free course and would give the girls everything we need and more.”

Take a moment to reread the previous sentence.

That person paid-for a course; that was horrible. They acknowledged that what I have to offer would supersede what was taught via a paid session; however, they suggested I give away my insight and experience for free.

The power of words is just that, powerful.

That message stuck avec moi (clearly until today) because it made me question why I was not worthy of being paid.

This isn’t the first time I’ve been in this space.

I am not exaggerating when I say I receive about 10,000 messages inquiring about where I thrift. When I reply “Goodwill,” I receive this follow-up message “exactly which Goodwill, what’s the address?”

It was at that moment that I realized people trusted the time and energy that I took sorting out boutiques, consignment shops, and thrift stores, so they came to me when they could simply Google it (if interested, shopping guides can be purchased here.)

Depending on what city you live in (or visit), there could be upwards of vingt-cinq thrift stores. Quickly calculate the time and gas it would take for you to go to each of those stores. Maintenant, let’s just say hypothetically that only trios out of vingt-cinq reaped hidden gems. You’ve just wasted your most valuable asset, time.

We live in a world where everything is a Google search away, but there’s a reason why you’re being contacted for specific things.

You’ve more than likely invested money during that time taken to perfect said craft. Whether that be for supplies, training courses, or schooling, you’ve paid to invest in yourself.

So why are we made to feel that we should provide all of what we’ve sacrificed for free?

I could write about this forever because I have one million examples and if you haven’t noticed opinions about this subject.

I will conclude by saying that you are worth it. You deserve to be compensated for your time and expertise.

Not everyone will agree, but those who do, will happily support you.

Ciao for now 💋