I once heard an interview with the brilliant architect Maya Lin and she said that when she visits a site, she immediately gets a vision of what her design will be. Occasionally, she’ll add embellishments or make adjustments to that first inspiration during the design process, but she said she almost always removes them and returns to that initial vision.

I’m so incredibly envious. To be able to conjure up a complete vision like that is so extraordinary. And it’s just something I cannot do.

I suck at visualization. This is ridiculous for a designer to say, but it’s the truth. When it comes to creating new bags for my Rebagz handbag line, I sketch like crazy, but I really can’t get to work until I actually have a sample in my hands. Only when I have the 3-D reality to examine can I figure out what it really needs to be.

The same can be said for my whole handbag business. When I began it 2 ½ years ago, I just knew I wanted to make handbags. Did I know anything about the process? I knew what I’d learned from a few other people but I didn’t know what the reality was until I was actually knee-deep into it.

And that means creating and growing my company became a lot like the sample-making process – I had to make a lot of revisions and I made TONS of mistakes. It was tempting to give up, but I’m as tenacious as a terrier, so I kept making myself learn. I had to study how to manufacture and market, and break it all down into a series of steps that I could follow. I’m a great list-maker and love to be able to check things off. (If you’re curious about the system I’ve created, just visit my Manufacturing the Right Way website.)

“Fall down seven times, get up eight times” – this is one of my favorite sayings, and that’s the attitude I’ve used to grow my business. Frankly, it’s also part of my life’s philosophy. Another great saying is, “You learn more from the failures than the successes.” It’s very true, painful as that can be. Like any act of creation, it’s a journey of discovery and, in some cases, a journey to undiscovered lands, depending on where you choose to have your creation made.

XOXO Marty