Founder Friday | Homemade Candles, Herbal Tea, and Speaking | Maggie Germano

Happy Friday! Here’s what I was up to this week.

How I Earned Money This Week

We had two different Airbnb guests stay with us this week.
One of my new clients paid for her first month of coaching.

How I Spent Money This Week

I haven’t talked about home improvement spending in a while, but Dan and I are in the process are making a pretty big purchase. We’re getting a new privacy fence! We want to get a dog in the new year, and the current fence in our backyard does not provide a safe, enclosed environment. Half of the current fence is falling down, creating gaps where a dog could get out. We’re excited to get a new, good-looking fence installed, even though the expense is very big. Luckily we received a couple very generous wedding gifts, which we will be using to pay for most of the fence. The rest of the money will come from our Airbnb income over the course of the year.
We bought a few last-minute holiday gifts this week, just in time for heading up to Syracuse tomorrow!
Ever since Trader Joe’s discontinued my favorite herbal tea (RIP TJ’s ginger peach white tea), I have been searching for a new favorite tea to drink in the evenings. I found a ginger peach white tea from The Republic of Tea, so I bought some to try it out. Hopefully it’s just as good! If you have a favorite (non-chamomile) evening tea, please share!
We’re deep in thank-you letter writing mode now that the wedding is over. I got sick of handwriting our return address, so I ordered personalized return labels this week.
Dan and I have decided to try our hand at making candles. We have so much beautiful pottery that Dan has made, and we want to turn some of it into candles. We ordered a starter kit this week and are going to give it a shot today!

What I’m Writing

This week, I wrote about how to talk to loved ones if you no longer want to receive gifts at the holidays. It’s not necessarily an easy conversation, but one that is important to have if you want to set that boundary.

What I’m Up To

I’ve written before that I want to do more speaking engagements as part of my business. It’s a great way to reach more people at a more accessible price point. This past Tuesday, I went to an Innovation Women event to learn more about getting speaking gigs, and also to have a video taken of me describing the work that I do.
I’m in NerdWallet talking about one of my favorite things: high-yield savings accounts!
We’re heading up to Syracuse tomorrow afternoon for the holidays! We saw my family about a month ago for the wedding, but it was such a whirlwind that it didn’t feel like we had enough quality time together. I’m looking forward to relaxing for a few days and hanging out with my niece and nephew (and also meeting the newborns of two of my best friends!).

(Rachel Wynn of Feminist Founder and me at Innovation Women!)