Meet Nicole Albani

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nicole Albani a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Nicole, first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.

I’m not sure if anyone fully overcomes imposter syndrome 100% of the time, but what has helped keep mine manageable is turning my gaze inward instead of outward. It is so easy, especially in these times of social media, to compare yourself to others. To see other stories and think, or assume things were so easy for that person based on the picture that is painted online. By shifting my focus onto my own journey it helps keep me grounded and focus. Comparing myself to me, and only me, and taking stock of all of my achievements (no matter how small) keeps my journey in perspective and lets me reflect on how far I have truly come.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I began my business journey during maternity leave in 2021. I wanted to have something outside of motherhood while I was home raising my daughter. I had been making my own greeting cards for as long as I can remember so I decided to turn that into an Etsy shop and see where it took me. I never imagined how my journey would have unfolded. In just 3 short years I have sold to all 50 states with over 3,000 sales. Hand in hand with my career as a teacher, I wanted to incorporate teaching into my craft so I designed card making kits so people could create their own gorgeous greeting cards at home. Spreading creativity through my card kits brings me such joy.

In the new year, I am planning on adding templates to my website so crafters can purchase instructions for making specific layouts and designs for their own greeting cards.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Determination
It is so easy to give up; it’s much harder to keep going even when everything is against you. I began my business journey with ZERO experience. I just started, and I learned as I went from there. I failed, pivoted, and failed again while taking what I learned and implementing it it into my journey. My determination to succeed- no matter the odds, and no matter how small the success- has kept me going and has allowed me to flourish.

Passion
I am the type of person that gives everything I have to what I am passionate about. What started as just something fun to fulfill me outside of motherhood very quickly turned into a passion. There are days when I don’t like what I’m doing, or I feel burnt out, or uncreative, or unmotivated. But my underlying passion for creating and sharing that creativity with others keeps me going

Curiosity
Curiosity without comparison is a hard thing. I look at my direct competition, and other businesswomen not in my niche and it is so easy to compare myself to them. To be jealous or want what they have. But stepping out of that and approaching with curiosity is a game-changer. I have met so many inspiring women with small business of their own and learning from them, hearing their stories and struggles, and approaching things with an open mind and heart is not only inspiring and invigorating but actually helps you achieve goals so much faster.

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?

My experience as a musician and orchestra teacher has definitely laid the foundation for developing skills to run a business. While I knew nothing about business when I started, music has taught me that perfecting skills takes time. In this day and age of instant gratification and easy answers, struggling feels even harder. But struggling is a necessary life skill. Music taught me that things take time, energy, patience, understanding, and lots of practice. Taking that understanding into learning something so new was monumental in my success.

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