We were lucky to catch up with Dominique Benedict recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Dominique, thank you for joining us today and sharing your experiences and acquired wisdom with us. Burnout is a huge topic these days and so we’d love to kick things off by discussing your thoughts on overcoming or avoiding burnout
Burnout is inevitable as a creative and especially as a self-employed one. I find myself working seven days a week to some extent. I can do that pretty consistently as long as it isn’t the exact same thing every day. There has to be some variation to keep my mind interested. When burnout does hit, usually every other month or so, I welcome it as an excuse to take a break. My absolute favorite way to do that is to turn my phone off, put on a movie that I’ve seen hundreds of times, and lay in bed with my sweet cat, Ally. Usually, our movie of choice is the Richard Linklater classic, Dazed and Confused. To me, it’s the perfect film. Your brain isn’t asking a million questions the whole way through. It’s truly meant to be casual and relaxing. That typically does the trick for me – a couple hours of turning my brain and devices off.
A great way to shake up the routine and avoid burnout is travel! Get in your car and pick a place to go. A change of pace and scenery does wonders for reigniting that creative flame!
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I have created a company that honors the legacies of legends from our past through high quality coffee. Our goal is to tell the stories of our past in a chic new way for audiences who may not have previously been familiar with the names and faces gracing our packaging to learn something new over a yummy cup of coffee. We work directly with the families, estates, and icons to bring authenticity to every single bag.
The majority of our releases support causes that the legend gracing the bag either supported themselves, created, or is something the family sees as a perfect representation of them. We support great organizations such as Hounds in Pounds, Healthy Humor, The Bette Davis Foundation, The Ella Fitzgerald Foundation, and the National Film Preservation Foundation.
I began crafting this idea of a legacy preservation project during COVID while home for an extended period of time and we now have a great carefully selected array of Icons who bring so much inspiration and creation to people worldwide.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
When launching a business on your own completely from scratch, creativity is the best friend you will ever have. I had no help from banks, lenders, investors, or anyone. I ran numbers over and over trying to make an attainable plan and launched this company through the shear creative planning and my ability to teach myself new skills to keep everything in house from bag designs, business pitches, figuring out a CODB, and just being an overall Jill-of-all-trades.
It’s cliché, but you have to want it. You have to be motivated and you absolutely have to create a business that you will love and be interested in for years to come. You will miss parties, birthdays, special moments, and everything in-between working on your creation. It has to be worth it for you!
How would you spend the next decade if you somehow knew that it was your last?
In this particular economic climate, a small businesses biggest challenge is getting in front of eyes that have enough interest in your product to spend their hard earned cash. It’s so tough. Social media ads rarely ever see success unless your budget is large and traveling the country to different events requires a heap of planning and strategy. This is not a new problem, and certainly not one I alone struggle with. 2024 is the toughest time for a small business to survive and thrive. We work countless hours with a goal to reach just one new person who may share a love for the product we create. It’s tough and I am constantly trying new things to combat the cycle of only sharing work with the customers I already know and love.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.hollywoodblends.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/breakfastatdominiques/profilecard/?igsh=bzNxdGkzNzR5bzNu
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