In this episode of WyzeCast™, we delve into the world of purposeful business with Evelyn Carrington, a talented artist and entrepreneur. Evelyn is the founder of a unique and inspiring business that beautifully blends balance and intention. Join us as we explore how she creates custom, handwritten, and illustrated journals that serve as powerful tools for personal growth and healing.

Evelyn Carrington’s journey as an artisan and business owner is a testament to the idea that business can be a force for good. Her commitment to balance and intention shines through in every page she creates, and her story is sure to inspire both aspiring entrepreneurs and anyone seeking a deeper sense of purpose.

In this episode, we discuss:

1. Evelyn’s artistic journey: Discover how Evelyn’s love for art and passion for personal growth intersected, leading her to craft beautifully illustrated and deeply meaningful, one-of-a-kind journals.

2. The power of handwritten journals: Explore the benefits of putting pen to paper in an increasingly digital world and how the act of journaling can promote mindfulness and self-discovery.

3. The healing aspect: Dive into the therapeutic and healing qualities of journaling and how Evelyn’s journals offer a safe space for people to explore their emotions, set intentions, and navigate life’s challenges.

4. The art of customization: Learn how Evelyn collaborates with her clients to create custom journals that align with their unique goals, aspirations, and healing processes.

5. Finding balance in business: Evelyn shares her insights on maintaining a purposeful business while staying true to her artistic vision and personal values.

6. Entrepreneurial advice: For those looking to start their own purposeful business, Evelyn offers practical tips and guidance for embracing intention and balance in their ventures.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone seeking to learn how to infuse purpose and intention into their business while positively impacting others’ lives. Join us for an inspiring conversation with Evelyn Carrington as she takes us on a journey through the world of custom journals, personal growth, and healing.

Tune in and get ready to be inspired to craft your own path to a more purposeful business and a more meaningful life.

Watch on YouTube – Premieres October 28th, 7 AM ET

Listen on Spotify

Evelyn Carrington
Thank you. One of my mottos that I’ve come across since beginning my business is, being the change that you want to see in the world. So, if I want to see anything in the world, I must do that by setting an example.

Melanie McSally
Welcome to another episode of WyzeCast™, the show that elevates the voices, shines the light, showcases the gifts of our heart-centered guests, and amplifies the positive differences they are making in the world.

I am excited about today’s guest. She is a young, vibrant entrepreneur with a heart of gold. She designs custom journals for personal development and healing. She pours her love into the pages of these journals, handwriting and drawing all the beautiful spreads. Recently, she has expanded her business to include affirmation cards, self-love booklets, art prints, bookmarks, and more. She has started collaborating with other creatives to innovate digitizing her journals for faster turnaround without losing the personalization her clients have come to love. At a time when people are feeling more and more disconnected, our next guest is dedicated to creating unique pieces to help people align with their authentic selves, bringing them closer to their true identity and feeling complete with having the wisdom of knowing that in order to feel connected with others, we must first feel connected to ourselves. It might shock you to find out that our guest today is only 23 years old. I know. I wish I had that wisdom at 23 years old. My name is Melanie McSally, your host for today’s episode, and without further adieu, I would like to welcome the beautiful, the amazing, the compassionate Evelyn Carrington. Evelyn comes to us from my home state of Massachusetts. Welcome, Evelyn.

Evelyn Carrington
Hi Melanie, thank you so much for having me. I’m so excited to be on this podcast.

Melanie McSally
How did you decide to start your business?

Evelyn Carrington
Oh, in 2021, I dropped out of college after one year at UMass Dartmouth. It didn’t feel like it was for me; I was lost, unsure of what to do, what to study, what I wanted to pursue. So I dropped out. And then, I started working at McDonald’s for a few years, which was kind of along the same lines of knowing that this wasn’t really for me, but it was something to do in the meantime. So, after I quit working at Dunkin Donuts, I started to feel like there was nothing I was working towards or doing; I didn’t feel any purpose. I started to journal again because I’ve been into journaling my whole life. I wanted to journal again and see where my head was, where I was going, what I wanted, and what was coming up. So after I started to journal again, I rediscovered parts of myself that I had lost along the way, things that were hidden or that were changed, or just parts of me that I wasn’t seeing anymore show up in my everyday life. So, after I started journaling and got back in touch with myself, I started to see what I like to do; I really love journaling. Once I started to work on myself, it was easier to see what was mine and everyone around me. I have a big family, so for the main part, after journaling and starting to get my self-love, self-care, and sense of identity, I wanted to help those around me. I love my family and want to help as many people as possible. So I started to make journals for them for gifts for Christmas, birthdays, and holidays, and I started to see a shift in the people around me, which helped me to make the decision to start my business to customize journals for those on their own separate journey, whatever it be, whether it be self-growth, personal development, healing shadow work, whatever it was, I wanted to help in any way I could by showing people that it was possible to go from being depressed or lost or unmotivated to the exact opposite – motivated and inspired, excited and powerful, and doing something that was meaningful to them by just starting with self, their own identity, and learning about themselves, getting to know themselves. So that way, they could take that into whatever they wanted to create for the world.

Melanie McSally
I love this. And I love a good journal. I love journals with quotes, inspirational messages, writing prompts, etc. I know you’ve created over 100 journals; what a blessing to your friends, family, and clients to have these very custom, personalized journals. Not only are they beautiful, but they’re also tools to help people on their personal journeys.

Evelyn Carrington
Thank you. Through journaling for myself and starting my business, I can help those around me as well as the collective in general to help the universe and to just help uplift the world’s frequency as a whole, to help heal, to help others to love harder and more deeply and more openly and vulnerably. I feel like my purpose, which I’m getting a better understanding of now, is based in pure love, acceptance, and support to create a safe environment for all humans that allows them to really unfold, connect, and express whatever they want to express.

Melanie McSally
Love and acceptance are exactly what the world needs right now. I have an idea of how you achieve this. But why don’t you tell our listeners? How does your business relate to your purpose?

Evelyn Carrington
I create journals for people on whatever journey they’re on, giving them a safe place to rediscover themselves under all the layers of conditioning and brainwashing from societal norms and expectations any preconceived ideas that have been placed upon them. To help heal the world, we have to be able to feel things fully in a safe way where we can have a better understanding of it and better awareness instead of feeling like it’s only adding pressure to the weight already on our shoulders, if that makes sense. I feel called to give people a way to fully feel things and work through them in a healthy way instead of pushing them away or numbing or avoiding them out of fear.

Melanie McSally
Yes, that totally makes sense. And having a safe space to express and process is something everyone needs. There are so many cultures that are taught not to share their struggles. They’re taught to put on a brave smile and bottle up the troubles inside. But we’ve been learning over the last centuries that that is unhealthy. So I am delighted that you’ve found this as your purpose.

Evelyn Carrington
The idea is that you can’t save others unless you save yourself, like on a plane, they tell you to put your own oxygen mask on before putting on others; the same thing with my business and journaling and self-care and just personal development – I can’t save anyone else unless I save myself; I can’t help anyone unless I help myself and ensure I’m always putting myself first.

Melanie McSally
Exactly. So then, Evelyn, that poses the question, when you’re running a business that is so focused on helping and healing others, how do you find balance?

Evelyn Carrington
At times, it can be very difficult and very frustrating. And it’s definitely a learning curve. It’s an experience; it takes trial and error. And you’ll definitely get there on your own. But for me, what has been helping is aligning myself with the moon phases. So from the New Moon to the full moon, which is when the moon is getting larger, I will focus on my work stuff, my business stuff, and anything that’s outside of me externally that I want to work on. And then, from the full moon to the new moon, the second half of the lunar cycle, I will focus on more personal things for myself, like my own journal, my own goals, my own little projects that I’m working on that are outside of my business; I focus on pouring back into myself and making sure that I’m recharged so that when the time comes again, where the new moon is out, I can work on orders and not feel like I’m burnt out or that I have only been spending time doing my business stuff. To ensure my identity is not getting lost, I take time to focus on myself and ensure I’m doing things that make me happy and that I am still working on my own personal growth instead of mixing my needs with those of my business. I am working to take plenty of breaks and move my body because a typical journal order could take 30 hours for me to work on, depending on how much of it is personalized. So I definitely want to make sure that I’m taking care of my physical vessel because that is like my car, and if without fuel or the right proper care, then I won’t be able to keep working and keep moving and keep doing the things that I want to do.

Melanie McSally
I love how you put a structure to it, specifically a structure that happens automatically every month. There are certain things that we do, as a society, automatically based on the calendar; we celebrate holidays at the end of the year, and maybe we reflect on that previous year. We celebrate the entrance of a new year, and maybe we look out into the future and set our goals and vision for that year. Some cultures even do things around the solstice, but you are setting your balance based on something that happens automatically every 15 days. I love that. If you ever get off track, you could just be like, oh, where are we in the month and use that to know what you need to be doing right now to take care of yourself and your clients. So I love it; I actually set my intentions based on the lunar cycle, both personally and professionally. I plant seeds for what I want to accomplish over the next 30 days in the new moon, sow them in the quarter moon, harvest whatever is ready at the full moon, and then release what’s no longer serving me and reflect on them at the three-quarter moon; every week, basically, I’m doing something. But I also love this idea of breaking that cycle into halves and saying I’m going to focus personally here; I’m going to focus on my business there. So often, we work for our businesses instead of on our business. I believe part of taking time for yourself is also taking time for your business. For example, how can I work on my business; how can I work on myself? How can I make sure my cup is full and show up for people at 100%? Because, you know, showing up for people half-empty or half-full is not giving your absolute best, right? So, thank you for that strategy. And thank you for that gift. I’ve learned so many things already today. What insights have you gained on your entrepreneurial journey so far?

Evelyn Carrington
Before I had my website, I would take orders through social media. And then, after I was done with their journal, I would get payment through Cash App, or Venmo, or whatever. Since starting my website, I have learned a lot and made a lot of mistakes. But all mistakes are lessons and stepping stones. So, I learned that I should make sure to take payment first because on two general orders that I had done before starting my website, I’d completed them. Before I’d completed them, my clients were very excited, communicating back and forth with me about their journals; they were excited and thankful, but after I was done, however long later, because my first projects took me a few months to work on them. And then, as I did it more and more, it would take less. But a few months later, when I said I had finished it, they never answered me. So that was 30-plus hours for every journal that I did that I didn’t receive payment for. So, I learned to be flexible, put myself first, set boundaries, and make sure I’m pricing things the way I deserve; I tend to undervalue myself and my work because part of me wants my journals to be affordable for everyone. So I’ve been learning to really be more compassionate and understanding with myself and allowing things to flow and align in the way they’re supposed to instead of feeling like I need to force anything. I didn’t reach back out to those two clients because it was my first year, and I just realized it was more for me to learn and take the lesson from instead of making it into a thing. So, I learned to take my difficult moments and turn them into something positive to use for my understanding and business growth.

I learned to be more respectful to myself as a new and young business owner and valuing myself, my gifts, time, energy, and all my work. I started my business, wanting to have affordable journals for everyone so that everyone can journal and work on themselves, and it’s not going to be a crazy amount of money. Then, as I went along, I started to realize that there wouldn’t be a one-size-fits-all journal that would be available and affordable to everyone. So I learned very quickly to allow things to just be as they are and to just have different things price different ways and just allow the journey to unfold as it does and to use whatever comes up to create something new in a way instead of having the set idea before I started and then not going that way having to feel like I’m not getting there instead of just changing as I go and being with flow, being flexible, allowing everything to just be as it meant to me is making sure I only work on journal orders or orders in general when I feel good and that my best because you know, energy is everything. And so whenever I work on something, the energy, the dots that I have at the time, is going to be translated to whatever I’m working on. And I want to make sure that I have the most intentional, positive, loving items, journals, and products for my customers. So that’s one thing that I prioritize is making sure I’m in good energy first to make sure that whatever they are getting has the same energy that I want to bring and have in my business.

Melanie McSally
Oh my god, once again, so much wisdom at such a young age. I love that you think about the energy you’re transmuting or transferring into the products you create for your clients. Listeners, I hope you can hear Evelyn’s love and care in each of her creations. It’s a common problem among new entrepreneurs, especially female ones, to undervalue our gifts, products, or services. So, I love that you touched upon that here. It’s definitely a struggle to find that balance between being able to offer your gifts to all the various economic levels, but to do so in a way that doesn’t undervalue yourself. So, I’m happy that you touched upon that and did so, so vulnerably. Speaking of gifts, I know that you have something special you’ve been working on and want to share with our listeners; can you tell us about it?

Evelyn Carrington
So one of the things that I have worked on creating since I started my own business is this growing business catalog for any business owner or anyone looking to shop small-owned businesses; they can go on; it’s a Google Doc, so you can go on the actual Google Doc. How it works is it’s just a place for all like-minded business individuals to come, network, and grow together, heal together, collab together. There is so much good stuff in there – websites, keywords, and links that you can click on right there, so you don’t have to leave the page to go check something out. There are comment sections. So, if anyone’s bought from there, you can check the reviews on the dock instead of leaving and going to their website and then check their reviews for it. It is the perfect place for people to share and is a perfect place to shop. So, if anyone’s looking for, let’s say, custom journals, they can go to the top and click Ctrl F to find and type in journals. Then, whatever businesses have the keyword, journals will pop up; that way, people can shop efficiently and quickly for whatever they’re looking for. So, if you guys are interested in checking it out, or if you have your own business and want to add to it, you can click here, and you can just add your product/service there, your own pictures, your own links, anything you want to use. For anyone who’s looking for the products that you have or the services that you have, just make sure you put keywords that will go with what you have to offer people so when they search, you pop up for them.

Melanie McSally
Listeners, you heard it here: a space to grow, to heal, and to collaborate with each other. Click here to check out Evelyn’s Gift to our WyzeCast™ guests. There’s a lot of great stuff in there, and, of course, Evelyn’s amazing creations, custom journals, bookmarks, and all the beautiful things that she creates and pours her love, compassion, and energy into, is in there as well. So please do go check that out. And, of course, you can add your own products and services there if it’s in alignment with you and Evelyn. Thank you, Evelyn. It has been such a delight having you and your adorable self. It’s been my honor to listen to your vast wisdom at such a young age and experience your passion to raise the vibration of the universe through love.

Evelyn Carrington
You guys thank you so much for having me. I had a blast, and I really appreciate you having me on your podcast. I love you, Melanie, and thank you everyone for watching. I love you.

Melanie McSally

I want to thank our listeners for tuning in. If you like what you’ve heard here today, please do like, share, and comment. We are trying to get WyzeTribe™ to be a hot new release. So if you feel inspired, if you feel moved, if you feel called, if we earned it, please do like, share, and comment. It is free for you to do so and really helps the podcast grow. And we really do love your engagement.

This was another episode of WyzeCast™, the show that elevates the voices, shines the light, showcases the gifts of our heart-centered guests, and amplifies the positive difference they’re making in the world.

If you want to learn more about WyzeCast™, you can visit our wyzecast.com. We dropped ten episodes every month on the 21st, so you can binge-watch or spread them out over the month. Whatever suits your mood and lifestyle.

Once again, my name is Melanie. It has been my pleasure being your host today. Thank you for listening. Thank you for watching, thank you for your engagement, and I invite you to come back and join me once again for our next episode of WyzeCast™.