bend. flex. STRETCH.

A PERSONAL NOTE ON BENDING, FLEXING, AND STRETCHING

Last week I reached a major milestone on this Betterish journey. I exceeded the 12K goal on my crowdfunding campaign…! There are truly not enough gratitude infused emoji’s nor thank you’s I can insert here to express my gratefulness for the support, trust, and generosity so many of you have shared with me.

Fully committing myself to building crowdfunding campaign was not an easy one. I went back & forth on whether or not I was going to build it all winter long. It was a big decision and I was intimidated by the process. But something in my gut told me that the communities that raised me, taught me, learned with me, and have co-created with me would be willing to help grow this with me. How fortunate am I to have so many of you proving this true? My heart continues to swell with gratitude.

ON BENDING

I challenged myself to go this crowdfunding campaign because at the root of it it’s about the crowd: the community, the networks, the people. Everything I’ve ever done in my career has been in community, for community. Quite honestly: building community in is one of my most favorite things to do.

Pitching people on my creative business idea?

Asking people for money?

Those skills are not as innate. But I bent a little here, pushed myself a little there, and shifted my fears into faith. Believing in myself and this work has gotten me so much further than where I was just a few months ago. Here’s to celebrating the zig-zags we carve when we deviate from the straight & narrow path.

ON FLEXING

Throughout the campaign, I figured out ways to tighten things up. Maya Angelou once said, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”

From slightly shifting the language I was using to share information, to honoring my personal pace, to remembering special people to share it with, every week I learned how to run the campaign betterish than the last.

ON STRETCHING

And now I stretch. Today, with the momentum fueled by the first 30 days, a little bravery and a lot of elasticity, I’m excited to announce I’m going for my stretch goal of 15k.

WHY? Simply put: with an additional 3k, I can make more. I can do more. I can impact more. More materials, more supplies, more money to properly pay other people …and because I have more REWARDS.

NEW! NEW! NEW! More Betterish Rewards with More Benefits.

With this stretch comes a set of brand new set of rewards that offer more room for personalization…

$35: A Betterish Brainstorm // Need help getting those creative juices flowing on a project, event, party, program, space, business idea or ______ (enter your own something you need help with here)? Snag this reward and get 30 minutes with me to come up with ideas, flush out a dream and/or scheme how to make some next steps happen on something awesome.

$65: Recipe Zine // Send me five or six of your favorite recipes and I’ll compile them into a pocket-sized zine, a.k.a a mini cookbook-of-sorts. They can be your signature recipes, your grandma’s recipes, or just random recipes you found on the internet that have become your go-to’s. You send me the recipes, I’ll format them in a fun & compact way. (This could make a great gift or a helpful resource to tack onto your refrigerator door)

Additionally: remember when I said for every 5k I make on the campaign, I’ll be donating a creative workshop to a low-income school? Thanks to the generosity of those who have funded the campaign so far, I have two secured for this fall. It would mean so much to be able to do a third.

SUPPORT & STRETCH WITH ME HERE.

Here’s to keeping going.

Here’s to summer stretching.

Hugs, high-fives & huge appreciations,

Emily

emily hope dobkinJuly 24, 2019