"March Madness"

Starting back in the late spring of 2014, I began to work on a hobby that quickly turned into a passion, which continued to grow into a side hustle. And up until now, Andrew Lee Design has been a growing business operating during ‘hobby hours’.

For the past 5 years, Andrew Lee Design has been a wake-up-early, stay-up-late, spend-my-free-time-working kind of endeavor. For half a decade, we’ve had the blessing of working on a dream (with all its ups and downs). It’s taken us to incredible events and destinations, allowed us to collaborate with other artisans, provided opportunities to connect and form relationships—all while I’ve worked for Auburn University full-time. But that’s about to change...

Recently, I’ve recently described life as though it feels like I’m doing my best to ride two horses—at the same time. Most days it's a circus.
There are plenty of folks we meet who are surprised to hear when I tell them I've worked for Auburn the entire time while developing Andrew Lee Design. They wonder how I’m able to balance both efforts. The answer? I’ve used vacation days to present at events, I’ve poured most of all the profits back into the business, and we’ve had to grow very slowly. We haven’t been able to say ‘yes’ to as much as we’d like. We haven’t yet lived up to our own high expectations. To be honest, it’s been strenuous and yet I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. I’ve loved it.

So, when we got back from painting live and in-person with Gray’s Sporting Journal at SEWE in Charleston last month, I talked again with my wife and said, ‘if not now, when? What are we waiting for? How much longer are we going to put it off?’ We’ve sought insight and wisdom, we’ve prayed for years and asked God to make our paths clear and to open doors and reveal His will for our family and my life’s calling. Through this process, that’s happened—we’ve seen His constant faithfulness and provision. We’ve gone around and around about when, if ever, is the right time to step out in faith with Andrew Lee Design and give it a shot.

We can’t describe how thankful we are to announce that time is now! (Well, a week from today!) 

My last day as Creative Lead for Auburn Online is March 29th, and starting April 1, 2019, I’ll be able to say I’m 100% Andrew Lee Design! And no, it’s not lost on us that we’re doing this on April Fool’s Day. There will be a lot more to announce, and we’ll need your support like never before. We hope you’ll continue to build a relationship with our brand, and that you’ll spread the word and let others know who we are and what we have to offer.

I look forward to what the future holds because I know who holds my future. I wake up with an energy and a desire to create because I am confident in the talents and purpose that God has given me to contribute to this life.  

I don’t think I could express it any better than this sentiment from Paula Scher at the end of her episode of Abstract: The Art of Design on Netflix. It concludes as you hear her say these words:

Lord willin’, I’m just getting warmed up. 

Talk to y'all soon,

Andrew

Art Note: The painting featured in this post is by Frederick Arthur Bridgman (1847 - 1928) and the name of the painting is UN CIRQUE EN PROVINCE (THE AMERICAN CIRCUS IN FRANCE). Interestingly enough, Bridgman was originally from nearby Tuskegee, Alabama, just miles from our family hunting land. 

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