Navigating Business with ADHD
It's time for another interest shift
Happy Friday!
Something that I have been processing this week is the fact that my interests, my hobbies, my activities are seasonal and cyclical. While this is not inherently bad, if you’re looking to be niched down as everyone claims you need to be, it does feel like a hurdle.
My brain, again, feels like a hurdle.
I think this is where building community, rapport, and longevity is important. If you have been around since 2017 when I became active on IG, you know that I went from just posting crystals in nature and nature photos, to tarot, to oracle portals, to journaling, and most recently cross stitching.
I understand that from a marketing perspective, this is a disaster. From a human perspective? I don’t know. It’s hard to fault anyone for being multi-faceted and passionate about exploring.
Journaling
If you remember or were here last year, you’ll remember that I spent April deep within my journals, creating journal packs, and what not. This April? It’s not too different. I am once again deep within my journals. The main difference is that instead of curating journal packs on my own, I get to share with you a collab with
!Above is a photo of one of the (many to come) junk journaling kits she and I have curated spurred by our mutual love of journaling and inspiration from each other. They’re available over on her website. Purchases for these junk journal packs will be through her, and any purchases made on her website go to supporting her and her baby!
I try to do my bare bones journaling each day, my new moon journaling and reflections monthly, and I have been very consistent with my Creativity Journal by
. What is being reincorporated this spring is the daily thoughts, activities, anxieties with a flare of washi and stickers.I realized recently while flipping through an old journal that I need to get back to tracking my daily life because it leads to being able to see patterns especially in my health. I’m not great at tracking migraines, etc., BUT I will bitch about it in a journal, and THAT is important.
Cross Stitch
I was a cross stitching machine this fall and winter. I busted out those 6 goddesses in November and another 126 minis between January and March. Now though? I’m less interested. That doesn’t mean I am quitting, but instead I am on a break. I hadn’t cross stitched in almost a decade before this. I don’t think I will let it go that far again, but I think that cross stitch will be a more seasonal thing for me. We will see if I pick it up again this spring.
I do have some astrology minis that I need to list, but otherwise, this might be a seasonal offering for me. What does that mean for business? Well, I think it means you have to know me. I think it means that part of my brand is actually about community and not just consumption. I know that’s hard. I know it’s a long game, but I care about people, relationships, and intentionality not just money. Will these breaks and seasonal interest changes hurt my chances at being remembered? Probably. Again, it’s NOT a good marketing scheme, but I am a PERSON not a business. I am a PERSON with ADHD, not a robot who can just produce, produce, produce.
Breaks may hurt my business, but they will help keep me sane.
Collage
My original bread and butter was supposed to be Oracle Portals. My amazing friends and community really supported me when I posted them in 2021, and it makes me so so happy that my artwork is in people’s videos, on their altars, and in their lives. What an honor.
What I have learned as I have burnt out over and over is that collage, the way I do it, is exhausting, and it’s not just the artistic process. It’s the clean-up. As I explore more with junk journaling and smaller collage, I am hoping to stumble across a more streamlined process that isn’t 6-8 hours long PLUS the 1-2 hours of clean up.
Digital collages on Canva allowed me to produce more rapidly for online content in order to stay consistent on IG, but now that only ~80 people see my IG posts (down from hundreds and thousands), I don’t really feel like sharing there.
I want to get back to my roots of collage. Collage for me is the art form that I have always felt most connected to. I love composition, but I can’t really create with a pen, pencil, or paints. Instead, I can curate, manipulate, and create something new from something old, and I love it.
This year, I am really focusing on that 8 of Pentacles energy. I am going to keep my head down, keep practicing, keep improving. I am going to try and stick to the already very mixed niche I have and improve there. My evergreen interests have been tarot and spirituality even as my unwaivering love of hiking has begun to waiver. Everything else I do is connected to tarot and spirituality in some way. I want to continue improving my collage skills, creating interesting cross stitch pieces, and involving myself in journaling whether through curation or creation.
I also am really excited to band together with
for her Bali trip and be a collaborator on that: to travel, to teach, to guide, yes, but also to LEARN, to LISTEN, to CONNECT.So, yes, The Oracle Portal is a business, but it is just me behind that name, and I am a person. I am not a robot, not AI. I am a person with executive dysfunction, low dopamine, and a revolving door of interests. I can’t do all of those interests at once. It turns out they’re seasonal. Right now, I’m in my journaling season. I can’t wait to see you in the next season as well!
What season are you in?
Wishing you well this week! May your life offer what you need in this moment.
With love,
Aventurine ✨
If you’re looking to support me and my work, I have a few options.
Paid Substack Subscription ($5/mo)
Tarot Readings (new moon, full moon, year ahead, manifestation)
Thinking about this as I work through my many interests. I think you are right in that people have to know you - which is what I feel is ultimately the way to brand for people with shifting interests. It’s reliable to so many.
It’s funny b/c I think so much of business moves like ADHD. They niche down for sure to find their success but they also use a multitude of modalities to grow. Nike sells sneakers but engages fashion & art (film, music, graphics, etc) and then turns around and maybe engages in some form of politics, community, etc (whether ethical or not is a different discussion). I think we can use our shifting interests to just keep expanding our niche. Now I say all this but will I do it this way? That’s anyone’s guess!
There has to be a support group for people with adhd in business lol. I resonate with so much of this and yes I’m still coming to terms with my interests AND my business being seasonal and cyclical.