Well. Here I am. All the questions of “what if” have finally amounted to a new dream and transformed into a goal. Step one. A blog. A place for me to put out into the world my thoughts and opinions of the books I have read. A place to hopefully inspire other people to venture outside of their norm and try a book they might not have picked up on their own.

I’m not a professional writer. I am just a woman who LOVES to read. I love books. I love escaping into a world other than my own. I love learning about different types of people. I love that even a fiction novel can teach you so much about ways the world works and think about things in ways you never considered before. Books make you dream. They take you to a vast ranch in Montana when you’re in the heart of a big city, or to a world of make believe with dragons and wizards and giants. They teach you to see through another’s eyes. They do the impossible.

I wanted to start this blog by telling you about myself, and how I have gotten to this point in my journey.

My name is Cait. I am a 32 year old wife and mother, and as my title would imply, I am also a hairstylist. Over the course of the last year, I have been on a journey of getting to know myself, and growing and learning. There’s a lot more there I could tell you but the jist is this. I wasn’t happy. I thought I was, but looking back, I was not happy. I was stuck. I had reached a point in my career where I felt like I wasn’t growing. I felt like I needed a change but had absolutely no idea what that change was going to look like. But I knew in my soul something was coming. I had been feeling like God was preparing me for something. And as a dear friend advised me, I was in a period of waiting and trusting. Trusting that God would show me where I needed to go when I needed to go, and waiting until He did.

In October of 2019, I attended a conference for work. It was supposed to be a business building seminar. It was entitled “Make Money, Not Excuses” with Daniel Mason Jones. Ironically, what impacted me most had absolutely nothing to do with business. You see, at one point in the conference, Mr. Jones was saying something (and I honestly can’t tell you what he was saying at that moment.) and he put up a slide that said “WTF?” We all laughed assuming it meant What The F***? as it generally does. And then he said “So, Why The Fear?” Um. What now? He proceeded to talk to us about the different types of fear (Fear of rejection, fear of failure, etc), and asked us to name our fears. He asked us what would happen if we decided to step beyond that fear. By the end of this segment, I was in tears. I realized what a HUGE role I had allowed fear to play in my life. I had made SO many decisions based on nothing more than being afraid. I had held myself back from SO much. And for what? I knew that day that I needed to make changes. It was time to stop saying, “No”, and start saying, “Yes”.

I’ll fast forward somewhat from here and give you the cliff notes version. After that conference, I left the salon I was working at after almost 11 years. One of the hardest choices I have ever made, and yet, beyond a shadow of a doubt absolutely the right one for me. I organized (with the help of some beautiful people who are far wiser than I am!) and put on a Christmas breakfast for 100 some people at my church. I applied to be an educator for Matrix (a brand of professional color and products), and later was granted that position, and am currently training for that. I started saying “yes” to things that scared me, where I would have said “No” before. Now, here we are. I’m starting a blog.

A little over a year ago, I started a small “book club” on Facebook. Just a place for other people who loved to read to talk books. And I started posting reviews there whenever I finished a book. I fell in love with it. I started getting this thought, “Wow, wouldn’t it be amazing if I found a way to make a second career out of this?” Doing hair is hard on a body, and someday I won’t be able to do it anymore. Wouldn’t it be fantastic if I could retire (Someday. Not now. I love doing hair. Just in case any clients are reading this…) and generate income by reading books and telling the world about them? It was there, This idea, this thought, this “someday”. But I never really gave it any weight. Until, I started reading “Girl, Stop Apologizing”, by Rachel Hollis.

(Full review to be posted soon!) I picked this book up expecting it to be a good read with some good advice, maybe on how I could continue growing my salon business. But about 3/4 of the way through, it dawned on me. I can do this. This idea that has been bouncing around my head. I can do it. It doesn’t have to be a Someday dream. It can be now! (And hello, we’re in lock down in Michigan. Has there EVER been a better time to start a blog?! No, there hasn’t.) I enlisted the help of my amazing, and (thank God) tech savvy husband, and 2 days later, I’m up and running!

So, here I am. Slightly terrified and crazy excited to start this journey. Thank you for checking out this blog. I hope you find these reviews helpful! God bless!