I love making things. I love building a website and making it look pretty. I can play around in Canva for hours. Before that, I used to try and make things in Microsoft Publisher actually look good and I can still get lost in Photoshop's eyes. But back in 2014, I was at a crossroads and thought I had to choose one business path only and so my ill-conceived life coaching business was born while I put my design business dreams aside. I say ill-conceived because I was absolutely not meant to be a life coach. All I wanted to do was help people cross things off their bucket lists but all the business coaches and mentors I spoke to about it kept saying 'yep, that's a life coach!'. I spent the better part of a decade being a square peg in a round hole.

I put a lot of effort into learning how to be a life coach even though it really didn't feel right and I struggled trying to build the business, even following my own 'life coachy' advice. Until one day, I decided enough is enough. I wasn't helping anyone cross anything off their bucket lists and I knew life coaching just wasn't for me. Many hours of google searching later, I realised what I actually wanted to be was a travel coach, which was the perfect way to help people cross things off their bucket list. I couldn't leave my Life Coach title behind fast enough and so Bucket List Travel Coaching was born. I did all the graphic design for it myself, from the logos to my website to my social media posts and loved every second of it.

While Bucket List Travel Coaching was bubbling away, I decided to introduce courses as part of my Bucket List to Booked programs and I got absolutely hooked on creating them. Mini courses, masterclasses, full length courses, you name it, I loved it. And then I thought, hey, why do I have to restrict myself? Why can't I have two businesses I love? I'm a qualified graphic designer and I spent many years as a trainer back when I lived in the corporate world so why not combine that expertise with these two things I love and Maree May Design Co was reborn. So now I rescue frazzled new business owners from their graphic design and course creation nightmares. And since I'm a serial entrepreneur as well as an excellent enabler, I decided to sprinkle a little small business support and cheerleading into the mix.

But Corinne, I hear you say, why is this business called Maree May Design Co when that's clearly not your name? That's an excellent question and I'd love to tell you. There's quite a large variation of 'Corinne' design businesses out there already and I wanted something a little bit more unique. Then one day, it popped into my head almost fully formed: 'Maree May Design', which is a combination of what my middle name is and what my middle name was supposed to be. It's somewhat legend in my family now that when I was born, my Mum wanted to carry on the tradition of 'May' middle names on her side of the family and have it be Maree May, but my Dad did not and he eventually won out. My Mum in all her wonderful stubborness has never let him forget that and it's been a running joke in my family ever since, so when 'Maree May Design' popped into my head, I knew it was meant to be. It's the perfect ode to my parents and their ability to never give up and also never forget lol (and don't worry, they've been married for 50 years at the time of my writing this in 2024, so they're all good!).

When I relaunched this business, I tweaked the name just slightly to Maree May Design Co as that's what lights a little spark in my soul every time I say it. And that is what I really love doing. Helping people find the things that light up a little spark in their soul, whether that's crossing things off their bucket list or making their website and social media suit their particular brand of chaos or creating a course to share the thing that they love with the world. And if they can build a business they love at the same time, then why not?