Meet Becca!

Hi there! I'm Becca and while many of you may already know me, I hope those of you that don't will pop over here to read a bit more about what I do at RRE.

If you've been reading this blog for the past several days since we launched this newest version of our website, you know that we're so excited about this blog, and about sharing more of ourselves, our work, and our insights from life behind-the-scenes. This week is just the beginning, and truly just the tip of the iceberg!

Yesterday, Betsy shared some of her professional goals for 2016 and I'm going to do the same thing very soon... but before I do so, I think a quick little recap of 2015 is in order.

2015 was a big year at RRE. It was a year of growth and change, and all the inevitable struggles that come with those two things. Looking back, I'm so tremendously proud of our team and what we've accomplished. At the start of the year, we officially launched our sister brand, Rebecca Rose Creative (RRC). We produced several destination weddings. I taught at The School of Styling in Los Angeles in June and then our RRC brand co-hosted a fine art photography workshop with Perry Vaile in October. We hired Nicole (you'll meet her tomorrow!) and our extended team of part-time staff and contractors did an absolutely incredible job at every single wedding and event. We ended the year with a big batch of newly-made friends and happy clients, and a lot of rewarding press features (more about those on Friday)! It was an incredible year. But we're just getting started.

As we sprung into 2016, I knew this year would be the most challenging one yet. Our annual winter brainstorming and team planning session was so fruitful this past December. We sat around the fireplace at my house, in our pajamas (no joke!), sipped hot cocoa, and dug deep into some big questions, challenges and goals to plan ahead for 2016. Lurking behind all those plans, dreams and goals is one very big game-changing factor that affects all of us in this small business: I'm about to have a baby!

This is the year that I get to become a mother. It still feels surreal to even type that on this page. I'll have so much more to share in the coming weeks and months about my daughter (due in less than 10 weeks!) but for now, let me just be just be raw and real with you. While this is the happiest, and most exciting time in my life thus far... it is also terrifying. Any new parent expects to be terrified about the enormity of the life-altering task of keeping a tiny human alive!!! (Will I break the baby? What if she really never sleeps? What if she gets sick and I don't know what to do?) Take those new parent fears and add this to the equation: How do I continue to run a successful small business with a new baby? Yikes.

I'm so privileged to have some of the most wonderful friends, including many other moms in the same boat, who navigate the waters of entrepreneurship and parenting on a daily basis. This I know: it won't be easy. Ever. But I also know that I can't - and won't have to - do it all alone. Thank goodness!!!

A couple people I'm grateful for: (besides my entire family who are the BEST!)

1.) Jarrod, my husband, who has truly been the most supportive partner imaginable throughout our entire marriage, and even more so once I shared the news with him last August that we were about to be a family of three. I haven't had an easy pregnancy...not by a long stretch...but I have never felt alone or like each complication wasn't something we could tackle together. I thank God for him every day and am so happy to see him already stepping into his fatherhood role with such ease.

2.) Betsy, my business partner and sidekick in this crazy venture. Honestly, I'm not sure how I would be stepping into this next season of life without her. For years I worried that when and if the day came that I got to have a baby, surely I would have to let go of a lot of business, or cut way back. I feared I would have to do it all without any maternity leave and somehow manage everything on my own. Now that this isn't a one-woman show around here (and thankfully, it hasn't been for several years now!) our company is structured in a way that things can continue on completely with or without me. I am so thankful for Betsy (and Nicole! and our extended team!) and how our team will work to continue serving our clients with love, all while loving me enough to allow me to have a much-needed maternity leave to figure out how to be a mother for a few months!

My goals for this year are simple and meant to apply to both my professional and personal life alike (which, if I'm honest - are practically one in the same):

1.) Be patient. Oh boy, this is a hard one. I have such high expectations of myself, and of others. Anybody who knows me, knows this is true. Patience is a virtue that I struggle with constantly. I'm working hard on this and I think motherhood is about to be the biggest, best lesson in patience I could ever ask to receive.

2.) Be dedicated. Since I was a little girl, I've never been lacking in work ethic. If I set my mind to doing something, you can rest assured I'm going to work very hard at doing it to the best of my abilities. Dedication is a strength of mine. So why is this a goal? Because I think that strength is about to be tested. I want to continue to be dedicated to the priorities and people that matter most. My family needs and deserves my dedication. Our business also needs my dedication because this isn't just a business...this is a passion and what we do here at RRE has real impact in people's lives. All in all, I want to strive to keep strong focus on being dedicated to the things that matter this year - and let the other things go.

3.) Give grace. I'll need it from myself, just as much as I need to give it to others. Amidst all the joys and celebration, I know that there are going to be so many moments when I feel like I'm letting people down. I've struggled with this my entire life, and I think it's about to kick into high gear with the arrival of our daughter. I have to work on being realistic with myself in the same way I have to be realistic with others. And I have to work on giving myself a break! We'll see how it goes!

Well friends, that's all that's fit to print for today. So much more to come though! I hope you'll keep following along and leave us comments from time to time. We're so grateful for each and every one of you.

XOXO,

Becca