I started creating digital products while I was teaching 3rd grade. I remember showing up to my teacher meetings with notebooks, data binders, my planner, different pens, highlighters (you get the point). As soon as I purchased my first iPad after getting a summer bonus, I knew there must be a way to simplify things on there. I had accumulated experience in my years of teaching on how to design digital products. Digital planning was not a term yet and I created my first digital planner back in 2018. I remember I spent my whole summer creating a planner from scratch. That planner saved my teacher life. I was able to show up to meetings with just my iPad. I felt like I had the most organized school year that 2018.

I messaged a bunch of “influencers” on the internet begging them to try out my planner for free in exchange for exposure. They all denied. I should have given up right there because it was kind of humiliating (my instagram and my 50 fake bots) but I pushed through. I believed in what I was doing. I decided to change my strategy. I didn’t need a huge following. I didn’t need perfect pictures. I just needed to believe and love what I was doing because my digital planner had actually solved an organization and productivity problem in my life.

We decided to trademark that brand name for our planners. Why Create Heart Work? I truly believe that when you work on things that light your heart on fire, you can’t fail. I stopped trying “hard” and instead put my heart into what I was doing. I truly loved every single moment creating, crafting, and designing. Even if nobody agreed, I knew I had something up my sleeve. I pray this story inspires you to go after the things God has placed in your heart. One step at a time, little by little, do the thing that lights your heart on fire. Remember it’s heart work not hard work.