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Catherine is a CPA-turned-creative entrepreneur. She is the founder of Beginning in the Middle. an interior designer, photographer, writer, and business schemer.  She loves being cozy at home, miniature everything, and has a not-so-secret dream of living on an island one day.
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3 Things We’re Focusing on in 2018

Life

Happy New Year!

We had our first real snowfall in Columbus last week right before NYE, and it made me feel like a kid again.  6 inches, guys!  For many of you that’s teeny tiny, but it’s kind of a big deal for Cbus — normally we don’t get more than an inch or two at a time and it’s no fun.  I woke up early, grabbed my camera, and took a stroll around the neighborhood.  No dirt, no salt, no tire marks, just snow, and it was magical!  I couldn’t help but reflect on 2017 and dream about what’s coming in 2018.

On Instagram the other day, we shared our highlights of 2017.  It was a big (and busy) year for us.

It’s snowing in Columbus, which is making it the perfect weekend to stay inside, take it easy and reflect on 2017. This year was filled with lots of firsts, experimentation, learning, and growth. We designed + renovated kitchens, bathrooms and living spaces for our residential clients, and finished our first 3 commercial projects. We flipped a house. We made major progress on #theblondevic restoration. We branded both of our businesses, @thevillagehost and @mixdesigncollective with the help of @thewonderjam. We hired our first intern. And best of all, I quit my corporate finance job, something that Bryan & I have been working at for over 2 years, to join the biz full time. It was a super busy year filled w/amazing opportunities and wonderful people, and if it’s any indication of what 2018 will be like, we can’t wait to get started! #dreambig #entrepreneur

A post shared by Bryan & Catherine Williamson (@beginninginthemiddle) on

If we could sum up 2017 with one word, it would be growth.  But not the our-businesses-took-off-and-we-suddenly-became-rich kind of growth.  More experiential growth.  We learned so much about what it takes to be an entrepreneur, especially post-cushy-corporate-job-quitting status.  How to structure our schedule, the importance of branding and finding our ideal client, what types of projects to take on, and how to make it all work for us so that we can achieve our goals & help others achieve theirs.  We started 2018 with clarity about what we want to focus on.  Here are our main 3:

One of the main reasons Bryan and I both decided to become entrepreneurs is because we love it.  We love being creative and seeing our designs come to life and helping others bring beauty into their homes and workplaces.  Working on an exciting project has the power to pull us out of bed in the morning with a smile on our face and bring joy and energy into our lives.  On the flip side, working on a project that’s not the right fit can create stress and anxiety and tension.  In 2018, we want to focus on taking projects that allow us to do our best work.  We’re learning to say no to the ones that aren’t right for us, and yes to the ones that’ll help us grow and create and thrive.  Finding joy in the work we do and getting to see our clients excited and guests happy is why we love owning our own business.  It’s what makes all of the hard work worth it.


Self-care is one of those things that I used to view as a bonus “if I had the time”, and I couldn’t be more wrong about it.  In 2017, as we started to become busier with building Mix Design Collective and The Village Host, time for non-work activities started to decrease.  Our schedules filled up with work 6-7 days a week and we kept it going through December.  We both love working so that part came easy, but self-care was wasn’t really on our radar and I started becoming a version of myself that I didn’t love.  Whenever I start feeling like less than my best self, taking time to recharge is usually the missing factor.  This year, I’m going to try to listen to my internal compass more often, because it usually knows what’s up.  Whether it’s skipping a job that seems like it doesn’t feel right, or doing the dishes before bed b/c I know it’ll make me feel great the next morning, or taking a day off to do nothing when I need it, I’m excited to focus on being kinder to myself in 2018 and hopefully becoming a better spouse, friend, sibling, designer, blogger, and business owner along the way.

This year, we want to focus on growing our team so we can take on more work, which is SUPER EXCITING. AND SCARY.  We’re still figuring out the deets on who we need to hire and when, but we want to be intentional about it.  We’re going to spend some time taking a really good look at each of our businesses, thinking about where we want to go, and what kind of help we need to get there.  If anyone has books or podcasts they suggest, or tips or stories on hiring, send ’em our way.  We need all the help we can get!

Do you have any resolutions or commitments or focuses in 2018?  Do share!

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  1. Babs says:

    Hi! Saw your front door makeover on Hometalk and your comment about not knowing why there are two doors. If the second one leads to the kitchen, it was for the ice man to use for deliveries since no one wanted to clean up a drippy mess throughout the house!

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About BEGINNING IN THE MIDDLE

Catherine & Bryan Williamson moved from NYC to Columbus, OH in 2013.  Beginning in the Middle is a journal of the couple's design and renovation projects, real estate investment and Airbnb hosting journey, travel, and other life happenings.

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I grew up in New Jersey and always had a dream of living in New York.  There was something about the energy of the city that drew me inOur journey started unexpectedly in 2012, when we decided to make a big move from New York to Columbus. The glamour of climbing the corporate ladder was wearing off, and we knew that renting an expensive small apartment and dealing with crowded subways everyday was not going to work forever. We wanted to start creating something for ourselves, and although we didn’t know exactly what that something was, we knew NYC wasn’t the place for it.

We decided on Columbus because Bryan grew up here, and we were intrigued by all of the development going on in the downtown area at the time. We drove through many of the neighborhoods and admired the boarded up old houses, most of which were built in the early 1900s, and started dreaming about the things we could do here.

I'm Catherine, and I'm the founder of Beginning in the Middle.

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