Rebooting the blog

You may (most definitely) have noticed that this blog and website have been a ghost town for quite some time. Any fancy-pants business expert will tell you to keep your business and personal life separate. However, trying to keep the two separate has gotten me stuck on how to pick things back up over here, so a little bit of an explanation seems to be in order.

You see, it is easy to keep your business and personal life separate if you are a part of a team of people, but Epiphanie Interiors is me, Karissa, and that’s pretty much it. Although I work with a wonderful cast of characters including contractors, vendors, craftsmen and artists on a daily basis, this business is pretty much me, myself and I most of the time. That means when big, life-altering things happen to me, they happen to my business too.

About a year and a half ago, my mom began having health issues, and a few months later, my family was delivered the devastating news - my mom, 53 years young, was diagnosed with stage IV cancer. Everything aside from my ongoing client projects temporarily went to the wayside to help take care of Mom. The next nine months were filled with surgeries, doctors’ appointments, and chemo treatments. They were also filled with pedicures, afternoon matinees and girls’ weekend road trips. I made precious memories with my mom last year, and was able to be there to support her just the same way I know she would’ve been there for me. I will be forever grateful that working for myself allowed me the opportunity to rearrange my schedule and to spend as much time with her as possible.

Mom and I celebrating the marriage of one of my best friends in September. 

Just before Christmas on a crisp, clear night, my mom passed away peacefully. It’s such a bittersweet and unexplainable feeling when someone with a terminal illness passes away. You feel so relieved for them because you know the excruciating pain is gone, but personally your heart aches for the years that weren’t lived and the memories that won’t be made.

As 2016 rolled in and I began to put my focus back on Epiphanie Interiors, this blog stumped me. How do I pick back up without explaining this huge gap of time where there was nothing but crickets? Do I just not address it at all? Delete the older posts and start over? I’ve dilly-dallied over this for six months now, and decided that it’s silly to waste so much time fretting. Ultimately, my business is me and I am my business, so it makes sense to share why things have been quiet around these parts for a while.

Last year may have been challenging, but it wasn’t without its high points too; I completed two kitchen remodels and a commercial project two years in the making in 2015. I also launched my second business baby – The Lavish Podcast – with my friend and mentor Kara White Monroe last fall. (You can always find the link to the podcast at the top of this website.) I’m excited to share more on all of those projects, as well as sneak peaks of current projects and whatever else happens to come up along the way. You’ll be seeing more of me on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram too if those are your jam. If you’ve missed me or Epiphanie Interiors, get ready for a whole lot more of both of us to be headed your way!

Girls night at the Little Big Town concert with Mom and my sister.

This Friday, we will celebrate Mom’s life with all of those who couldn’t make it to South Dakota in December. We will take her ashes to their final resting place, and afterward we are going to dance, sing and toast in her honor.

So yes, business and work are two separate things, but my passion for design and helping people doesn’t shut off at 5 p.m. and my “real” life doesn’t start then either. Thanks for waiting out the silence with me, it’s good to be back.