Say hello to Mary McWilliams, a Squarespace web designer who has found success by specializing in creating beautiful website designs for health and wellness professionals! Keep reading to hear about how she stays motivated and embraces the hustle that comes with owning a business.

Name: Mary McWilliams

Company Name: Wellness Site Shop

Industry: Website design for health and wellness brands and entrepreneurs

Years in Industry: 2

Location: Arlington, TX

Website: wellnesssiteshop.com

Instagram: @wellnesssiteshop

How long have you been in the industry/practicing your craft?

I’ve been designing websites for over 2 years now but I launched Wellness Site Shop back in June of 2019. It’s definitely been the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but also the most rewarding! 

How did you get started in the industry?

So after college graduation, I was working in higher education administration but it didn’t take me long to realize I wanted more. I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit from my mom’s side of the family, so when my husband received a very unexpected job offer from his company to move across the country, we decided I would not pursue looking for a full-time job and would instead focus my energy on trying to build an online business. 

I spent the first half of 2018 taking online courses, learning new skills, and just figuring out what I was good at, and after a few failed attempts at trying some new things, I landed my dream gig as a VA for a successful Squarespace designer and educator. Working for her was really the catalyst that got me started because I was able to see how she was running her business and I learned so much!

As I continued my VA work I really honed my Squarespace skills, and at the end of 2018, I knew I eventually wanted to go out on my own and build something for myself. I had the idea for Squarespace templates and I knew immediately I wanted to specialize in the health and wellness industry since that was a personal passion of mine. So in January 2019, I officially started planning for what would become Wellness Site Shop, and I launched in June of that year!

What industry changes have you seen since you began? How have you adjusted to those changes along the way?

I think the biggest change I’ve seen is people realizing how important it is for their business to have a solid online presence. With the power and flexibility of the internet, basically, any type of business can make money online. But there’s also not a lot of education for entrepreneurs on how to do that easily and successfully which is where I step in to show them that one of the first steps is to set up the digital home of your business, aka your website.

And especially nowadays, it’s so important that the solutions we provide are quick, easy, and don’t break the bank which is what I keep in mind when I’m creating new content, designing new products, or making plans for the future. 

Are there any mistakes you made early on in your business that you learned from/ what taught you the biggest lesson when you began your business?

I think the biggest mistake I made was having unrealistic expectations of how quickly I would grow. I knew I had a good idea that was needed, and I knew content marketing takes a while to take off, but I would still get down when things weren’t moving as fast as I would like. 

I also wish I would have focused those first few months on creating content to build my audience rather than focusing on the template launch because I really didn’t have people to launch them to. So if you’re not already creating content, whether it’s on Instagram, your blog, YouTube, or a podcast, that’s what I would focus on first!

What advice would you give to another entrepreneur in the creative industry?

If you want to be successful in whatever industry you’re in, you HAVE to get a hold of your mindset. In my opinion, entrepreneurship is a mental game. It doesn’t matter if you have the best website in the world, or know all the things about marketing funnels, or have the best Instagram strategy, if you don’t teach yourself how to ride the entrepreneurial roller coaster, you’ll lose the game every time. 

You have to know how to not quit every time something doesn’t go your way or you get discouraged. You have to know how to pivot when your audience isn’t jiving with your offer instead of getting offended. You have to trust that there will be hard days and that’s okay; you just try again tomorrow. You have to learn how to really celebrate the small victories because those are what carry you through the dry spells. You have to learn how to embrace failure as a tool to make you better instead of wallowing in self-pity. You have to know when you’re approaching burnout and then take a rest without feeling guilty about it. You have to learn patience and trust the process. 

You can learn all the things about websites, funnels, and social media strategy. That’s not the hard part. The hard part is waking up every day with the commitment to keep going. So if you haven’t taken some time to read some personal and business development books, listen to podcasts, or watch YouTube videos to learn how to establish your resiliency and mental toughness, there will eventually come a day when you’ll break. And we don’t want that! So take some time to cultivate a healthy and strong mindset and you’ll be way ahead of the game.

What was the biggest quantum leap you made in your business? 

Starting my YouTube channel! I realized none of my direct competitors were on YouTube and since I’m really comfortable on video, I figured it was a great place to focus my marketing strategy for 2020. It’s hard work but I’m already starting to see the pay-off. 

Another big thing was redesigning my products from top to bottom. I listened to my customers and even though they were happy with my templates, they still wished they were even easier to use. So I spent an entire two months revamping the entire process so they could get the website up and running faster and I’ve heard nothing but great feedback since they relaunched on April 1.

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