Back when I started this whole online business journey, I was convinced that I could get a website up and running and in a matter of months quit my day job. Boy was I wrong. Not only did it take YEARS, but it took so much more time, commitment and patience than I ever thought before.

Often times people think branding is a color palette and logo– and it is, but it’s also so much more.

Branding is the heart, soul, and spirit of a business in visual form. It invites viewers into a story and allows them to feel something they can connect with. While branding can be complicated, I would love to break down the basics so you can get started with a brand for your business, because it’s just that important!

Confidence plays a major role in how you do business. Confident people can easily talk about the benefits of their service, the investment to working with them and can help clients through their process with ease and certainty.

Just 10 days ago Fawad and I were enjoying London in all it's beauty. It was a perfectly sunny day and the city was excited (the Royal wedding was taking place the next day) and we were enjoying the aromatic flavors and tastes of Dishoom restaurant. It was the culmination of our 26 day European adventure and we would be departing the next day on a 5:50 AM flight.

This month marks 2 years since I started R Artspace. It’s a little crazy to think about. It started as a side-hustle and that’s what it is today but I’m not as worried about it as I was back then. Ok, it comes and goes… but at this moment as I’m typing this, I feel great about it.

As a side-hustler myself it’s easy to feel “behind." Or maybe, more like you’re not making traction fast enough. For instance, if you scroll around on Instagram or in Facebook groups you’ll see posts like “I've just had my business for 2 months and I'm already going full-time!" or celebratory posts such as those, which is all well and good but from my perspective can make me feel a little discouraged, if I'm being honest.

There's a lot of pros and cons to being a side-hustler. Some days I'm super thankful I have my day job and other days I'm like "WHY?!" It's an emotional roller-coaster to say the least. But have you ever thought about the great advantages there are to being a side-hustler? Let me break down a few things I'm grateful for in reference to taking on projects with my side-hustle.

As a side-hustler, I feel like I look over the fence to my friends who work for themselves full-time and I sigh and say, ahh that would be nice. You get to work from home, work in your pjs, get to spend all day working on projects you love… the list of wonderful-ness goes on and on.

For those of you who don't know, a side hustle is referred to when talking about a business you nurture "on the side" to your full-time day job. At least, that's what it is for me. I feel like in today's day and age, a lot of millennials think that it's sexy to have a side hustle or to be an entrepreneur, and don't get me wrong, it's fun, but it's also, maybe not as glamorous as one might think. But we'll get into that.

From someone who currently has a 9-5 and a side hustle, it’s easy to see other people who work for themselves, sigh and say, “that would be so awesome.” And in my mind, that is “making it.”