Last month, I posted a blog about Health Awareness Days and promised I'd continue the theme of sharing these each month, as a friendly little reminder to my followers. As a reminder, Awareness Holidays are similar to social media holidays but focused on bringing attention to a particular illness or affliction. Without further ado, here are the November Awareness Holidays courtesy of Healthline's article: Health Awareness Days in 2021 (healthline.com)

As a little girl, I was passionate about two things: The Wizard of Oz and a future career as a teacher. If you’ve poked around my website or social media, you’ll know that I use The Wizard of Oz analogy a lot, so clearly, my love for the brown-haired girl in the ruby slippers with the little dog has not changed. On the other hand, my career ambitions have changed quite a bit over the years. In fact, I’d say it’s been anything but a straight road (a yellow brick one?).

Some of you might have noticed the soft launch of my new logo. So, to those who noticed, thank you! And to those who commented, extra thank you! The new logo is part of a larger initiative to level up—a goal I had from the start of the year. In fact, I wrote it on my whiteboard in early January and haven’t erased it since.

Leveling up can mean so many different things. For me, it meant increasing my revenue and my reach—a solid year two goal. To do this, I also needed to level up the story I was telling and how I was telling it. I needed the branding to better align with the brand.

On Friday, I celebrate a big occasion---one year that I have been *officially* in business as Lauren Perna Communications. Technically, I didn’t launch to the public until a few months later but June 25th, 2020, is the day that I signed the LLC paperwork. The day that I finalized my move from freelancer, on-and-off jobseeker to entrepreneur and business owner.

The truth is entrepreneurship wasn’t in my plans for 2020. I always knew I wanted to work for myself, but my vision was a few years down the road. I had this belief that before I could do that, I needed to get a few more years in the corporate world. I felt like I needed more “concrete” experience…whatever that means. I thought I would miss working with co-workers or getting out of my house. I let myself believe all these things, enduring the seesaw of emotions that came with leaving my long-time job, freelancing, job-hunting, interviewing, coffee meetings, networking events, and everything in between.

When I introduce myself, and people say, “What’s your company name?” I tell them and then always add, “I know super unoriginal, but I promise I’m actually very creative.