I’m
a Fraud
but the dogs don’t care
As some of you
know, I am an instructor for Craftsy, an online learning community. This past
weekend they had their first ever instructor summit, and fortunately for me it
was here in Denver and Bob (my handsome marketing guy) and I were able to attend. They put us up at a wonderful
hotel ( the now-Super Bowl bound Broncos were sequestered there with us- I did
see a few of them but did not get a chance to chat with any- damn those
security guards) and fed us all weekend, plus they had several presentations on
how to better market our businesses.
Craftsy is a really great company- due to the storm back east several
instructors – approximately a dozen or so-had to delay their flights home until
Monday, and on Saturday night Craftsy announced they would pay for the
instructor’s extra night to stay at the same hotel. I thought that was
fantastic.
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| The Hotel |
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| Denver Broncos Wing |
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| The Gazebo where I rendezvoused with Peyton! |
Due to the fact that
quilting is one of their bigger class categories, quite a few of their sponsors
were fabric companies and had booths set up. Whoo hoo! I had great eye candy all weekend, and left
very inspired.
At one point during
one presentation, one of the presenters asked for a show of hands of how many
of us worked at a job other than our craft. 2 of us raised our hands- out of
190 people. 2. How can these people afford to work from home and sell their
craft and their teaching skills? Surely they all didn’t win the Powerball. It didn’t hit me then, but after I got home
Sunday night and was snuggling with my pups it started to sink in. All weekend,
everyone I chatted with had multiple books and/or patterns published, taught
nationally, taught on cruises (my dream job, BTW), etc. What in the Hell was I
doing at that instructor summit? I was in awe of all of them, and they could not have been
sweeter, more kind, or willing to share their knowledge.
The realization set
in that I was never going to be more than what I am at this moment- just a
lover of quilting. I can sure follow someone else’s pattern, but make up my
own? Heck no! It will never happen. I will never be a Sue Nickels, Alex
Anderson, or Eleanor Burns. I should have known this before now, but for some
reason I did not. Oh well- I don’t think I could train Chip and Dale to pick up
my fabric remnants off of the floor anyway.
I fell into getting
to teach my Craftsy class. Someone had backed out of filming and someone I knew
contacted me to see if I could do it. I did not have to submit a presentation,
rely on my online presence, and be a “certified” quilter. Now, I am certifiable
according to some people but that is another blog story. HAHA. I did not have
to come up with a new pattern or technique, I just had to teach a quilt pattern
that has been around since forever. I do feel like I taped a good class, and it
has been successful according to Craftsy standards. Thank goodness. But I will
never get to teach another Craftsy class. I have no merits to speak of, and the
first one was just a fluke. I was just in the right place at the right time.
And I need to be ok with it.
We learned a lot
this past weekend, and one of the exercises was telling your story. Well there
you have it. My name is Courtenay, and I
am a fraud. And I still love Red Velvet Cake. I do so appreciate all of you for
reading this. I am hoping to get more blogs out on a more timely basis- but
this damn 70+ hour work week really cuts into my blog story time! But I will try
to get better. The only reason I am getting this blog post done is our network
went down at work and I can’t do any real work- I will fit it in where I can!
Have a great day
everyone!
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| Chip with his hot compress |
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| Dale |
