|
IN THIS ISSUE:
- Letter from Kim → On showing up in the right rooms, surrounding yourself with people who challenge you, and building community that pushes you to grow
- Mapphouse Consulting → Working with my first client, discovering my ideal client profile, and launching a weekly newsletter focused on pedagogy, strategy, and leadership
- Design Studio → Wrapping up a website for our local Soil and Water Conservation District and booking for Q2
- Fine Art → Taking a small step back into creative work with an application submitted
- Letter from Jolene → Ball pit paradise, emergency room adventures, and life at full speed with a 23-month-old
- Field Notes → What I'm reading, cooking, and listening to this month
|
|
|
Hey Reader!
I drove two and half hours to Boise last month to sit in a room full of women I didn't know.
It was early, a 7:30 AM start time, which meant an overnight stay, which meant coordinating childcare, which meant saying yes to something that would have been very easy to say no to. But I went anyway.
It was my first business networking event for this iteration of my work. A gathering of women business owners across Idaho. Most of them playing at a level I'm not at yet. Bigger teams. Established systems. Revenue that makes my current goals look modest.
And that's exactly why I needed to be there.
One of my commitments this year has been building community for this business. Not just any community, the right community. People who challenge me, push me, see potential in me that I sometimes can't see in myself. People who've built what I'm trying to build and can show me what's actually possible.
Because here's the truth: entrepreneurship is lonely. Especially when you're doing something different than what everyone around you is doing. Especially when you're building something new while raising a toddler in rural Idaho while transitioning away from your previous work.
It's easy to stay small when you're the only one in the room doing what you're doing.
So I'm choosing different rooms.
I've already signed up for the next live event with this group. Not because it's convenient or comfortable, but because I have big dreams for this work. Dreams that require me to grow beyond what I currently know how to do. Dreams that need me to be uncomfortable, to be challenged, to be in spaces where I'm not the expert.
|
|
The work itself, I know how to do. I've been doing versions of it for nearly 20 years. But building a business around that work? Scaling it? Making it sustainable? That's different. That requires surrounding myself with people who've done it, who can see the path I can't see yet.
This year isn't just about showing up for my clients. It's about showing up for myself - in the right rooms, with the right people, even when it means driving two hours and setting an alarm for 5 AM daily for "deep work" time.
Growth doesn't happen in comfortable spaces. It happens when we put ourselves somewhere we don't quite belong yet and decide we're going to rise to meet it.
So here's my question for you: What room do you need to be in that you've been avoiding? What community could push you, challenge you, help you become who you're trying to become?
Cheers, Kim
|
|
|
|
Mapphouse Consulting helps entrepreneurs and organizations create online education grounded in how people learn with the systems to sustain them. Where teaching expertise meets business strategy.
I officially started working with my first client this month, and something clicked into focus almost immediately: the people I'm most excited to serve are certified and licensed professionals (physical therapists, occupational therapists, integrative medicine practitioners, therapists and counselors). Clinicians who've built deep expertise through years of 1:1 practice and are ready to scale their impact without sacrificing the quality of their work.
I've also launched a weekly newsletter specifically for the consulting side of my work, diving deeper into the three pillars I work through: pedagogy (how learning actually works), business strategy (sustainable systems), and leadership (showing up as an authentic educator). If any of those topics resonate with you, come on over.
→ Subscribe to the Weekly Lesson
→ Follow along on LinkedIn
→ Connect on Instagram
|
|
|
The Design Studio is where I support local (and beyond) businesses with Squarespace, Shopify and Kajabi sites, plus promotional materials that actually reflect their business goals.
This month I'm wrapping up a website for our local Soil and Water Conservation District, exactly the kind of community-centered work that reminds me why I do this. I'm currently booking website design and promotional work for Q2 if you or someone you know needs support.
→ Book a project for Q2
|
|
|
This is where many of you first found me...through ceramics, through making things with my hands, through the quiet focus of creative work.
I submitted an application for a local art opportunity this month! It's the first time in a long time I've put my name in for something creative outside of client work. I'll keep you posted on where it lands - but honestly, just filling out the application felt like progress!
→ Take a walk down memory lane on Instagram
|
|
|
Jolene is 23 months old. These letters are written in her voice. My attempt to see the world through her eyes and capture what matters most to her right now. |
|
|
Hi everyone! Jolene here, official ball pit expert and emergency room survivor.
So. MUCH. happened this month.
First, we went to visit Grandma and Grandpa in Boise, and they took me to this place that I can only describe as HEAVEN. It's called an indoor playground, but that doesn't really capture it. Everything was MY SIZE. There were slides (MULTIPLE slides) and they all went into this GIANT PIT FULL OF BALLS.
I need you to understand: balls are one of my favorite things. Slides are one of my favorite things. Someone put them TOGETHER and made it TODDLER-SIZED and I genuinely didn't know what to do with myself. I just kept going down the slide into the balls, climbing out, going again. Over and over. There was also a little trampoline and climbing things and I tried to do everything at once because what if we never come back?
Mom kept saying things like "one thing at a time" and "we have plenty of time," but she doesn't understand. When you're 23 months old and you find paradise, you commit FULLY.
We also had our first trip to the emergency room this month. Everyone's fine... I'm fine, obviously, I'm writing this letter... but apparently when you're a high-energy toddler who approaches life at full speed, sometimes things happen. Mom seemed more stressed about it than I was, honestly.
|
|
Oh! And I started swim lessons! More water, more activities, more things to master. I'm very busy these days.
Sometimes Mom talks about "slowing down" and "enjoying the moment," and I'm trying to explain to her that this IS me enjoying the moment. At full speed. With maximum enthusiasm. Why would I do it any other way?
Life is big and exciting and full of slides and balls and new things to try, and I plan to experience ALL of it as loudly and energetically as possible.
You're welcome for the excitement.
—Jolene
P.S. When can we go back to the ball pit? Asking for a friend. The friend is me.
|
|
|
|
What I'm Reading
Currently reading Thirteen Moons by Charles Frazier. Frazier writes landscape like few others can. Sweeping, immersive, grounded in the kind of historical detail that makes you feel like you're walking through the story rather than reading it. It's a slower read, the kind that asks you to settle in and let the prose wash over you.
What I'm Cooking
German pancakes have become our weekend staple. They're absurdly easy (blend everything, pour into a hot pan, bake), impressively puffy, and Jolene thinks they're magic. This recipe from Tastes Better From Scratch is my go-to - reliable, minimal effort, maximum payoff.
What I'm Listening To
I've been working my way through Embodied CEO with Emily Hirsh. Her approach to marketing and business building feels refreshingly grounded, strategic without being salesy, ambitious without being exhausting. As I'm figuring out how to actually build sustainable infrastructure for this business, her insights on systems and alignment are landing at exactly the right time.
|
|
|
Hey, thanks for reading Mapphouse Press, truly.
If something here sparked an idea, I’d love to hear from you or for you to share it with a friend who’s also building a business with heart.
Some links may be affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you decide to make a purchase — at no extra cost to you.
→ Disclaimer, you are on this list from my art business (kt mountain studio) feel free to Unsubscribe if you ever need to.
Kim Thompson is the founder of Mapphouse, based in the mountains of Idaho. A lifelong educator and learner, she helps entrepreneurs bring their knowledge online with clarity, purpose, and heart.
|
|
|
600 1st Ave, Ste 330 PMB 92768, Seattle, WA 98104-2246 |
|
|
|
