milkslinger

Two years ago I started a YouTube Channel. Last month, I registered to be an LLC (official business name: JJ Murch LLC). I opened a business bank account, got a debit card, and attended a local business class. And I finally, finally, FINALLY settled on a brand name. 

a surprise gift from my older daughter

My daughter-in-law helped me set up a spreadsheet for tracking business expenses. My brother is helping me set up a website. I’ve hired someone to turn my videos into written recipes which I plan to sell as PDFs . . . once I get my online store up and running, pant-pant. I got a subscription to Brevo, am learning all about email marketing, and launched Splashed!, a weekly newsletter. Tomorrow I’m setting up a PO box so I can receive correspondence from viewers and readers.

And I’m working on developing a logo.

I was the guinea pig for a graphic design college class (the students were fantastic and the process helped me clarify what I want), have done lots of doodling (a family gathering is a perfect time to bring out the paper and pencils, especially when there’s an artist in the mix), and am now consulting one-on-one with a graphic designer, a gift from my son and daughter-in-law. 

It’s kinda wild, this whole “starting a business” deal. Three years ago I was just beginning to make cheese in earnest and now here I am making mountains of cheese each week, dreaming of a cheese cave, and chatting with cheesemakers, both amateurs and professionals, all over the world (Spain! Mexico! South Africa!). For the longest time, I didn’t talk about my goals for this project, this business, but I’m feeling much more settled now. I know what I’m doing. The expected and hoped-for growth is happening. I can see where I’m headed. 

So what do I do?

Well, yesterday I got up at 4:30 (because I couldn’t sleep, not because I’m noble) and edited videos. I made and filmed a new cheese. I opened, tasted, and filmed a Manchego. I went to kickboxing and showered. I ordered some cheesemaking supplies and scheduled a couple meetings. I played Ultimate and showered (again), ate supper on the rug in front of the fire with my husband, played our NY Times games, and watched some Netflix.

Today, I’ve responded to emails, edited videos, (mostly) finalized the next newsletter, filmed some cheese maintenance, scheduled a community post, made a coffee cake, attempted to nap, munched twizzlers, photographed a random snow squall, mixed up a batch of focaccia, made some business calls, and worked on this post. 

Tomorrow I’m making (and probably filming) another cheese, as well as editing video. (The video editing is endless.) I’ll make sourdough. I’ll go for a run in the morning if it’s not raining (just this afternoon it rained, hailed, snowed, blew, and shone; welcome to Virginia!), and maybe I’ll walk with a girlfriend in the afternoon. 

So! To sum up: there’s a lot of list making and crossings-off, thinking and thumb twiddling, plus there’s goodly amount of plain old Sitting My Butt Down, followed by endless squirming, with a few bursts of productivity sprinkled throughout.

It’s all very mundane and non-glamorous, but also equal parts hectic and blissful. 

This same time, years previous: the quotidian (4.3.23), the quotidian (4.4.22), ground beef chili with chocolate and peanut butter, instead of a walk, kickboxing, caribbean milk cake, a trick for cooking pasta, the quotidian (4.4.16), red raspberry pie.