(Shared to the Experiment list on July 5)
It’s been a minute since I wrote one of these. Looks like I’m really leaning into this whole slowing down thing ;)
I’m actually writing these lines from Penticton, BC. We moved out of our house last week and are currently in a strange one-week limbo before moving into our new one. It’s a funny feeling not really having a place to call home for a few days.
Anyhow… I digress.
This feels like a big update because I’m officially halfway through this experiment!!
Six months in. Six months to go.
And for the first time I feel like I can actually see what’s happening. I’m not all the way there yet, but I think i’ve figured out about half the battle.
We’re here in the Okanagan with friends. It’s become our yearly Canada Day week tradition. The first year we came, my daughter was only three months old and now she’s five.
There’s something about seeing the same people once a year that becomes a timestamp. Every summer they unknowingly witness a different chapter of your life.
On our first evening here I was catching my friend Lindsay up on everything that’s happened these past few months. When I finished she looked at me and said:
"Wow... when have you ever felt this supported?"
The answer came immediately.
Never.
And I hadn't even realized it until she asked.
When I started this experiment, I thought the goal was simply to slow the business down. The pace had become exhausting. I wanted off the hamster wheel. So naturally, I thought slowing down was the answer.
But over the last six months I've realized I could slow the pace without changing what was actually making me tired. Because you can move slowly through something that's still far too complicated.
So I learned, slowing down was only one piece of it.
The business had also become unnecessarily complicated.
More staff.
More skus.
A storefront.
More launches.
More marketing to support all those launches.
None of those things happened overnight. They were all good decisions at the time. But somewhere along the way, I stopped questioning whether they still made sense.
So this year I've been simplifying. Every decision I make now goes through that filter.
Could this be simpler?
harly jae is now a team of three, including me.
And honestly, I don't think we've ever worked better.
Christi & Kate both have their pulse on every part of the business. There aren't departments. There isn't a game of telephone. We're just three people who know the business inside and out.
It's a well-oiled machine.
And that's when I realized slowing things down and simplifying things still wasn't the whole picture.
I also had to stop trying to carry everything myself. (Woah re-reading this line feels so big because letting go of this tendency has been years in the making)
I redefined both of their roles, gave raises that reflected those new responsibilities, and they stepped into those new roles in a way that’s blown me away!
At home, we made a similar decision.
Instead of sending my daughter to daycare this summer, we redirected that money toward an extra day a week with our nanny who until then took care of my son only.
So now, instead of spending our mornings rushing out the door and our afternoons driving back for pick-up, we get support that fit around our family rather than our family fitting around it.
Our nanny doesn't just care for the kids. she helps hold our home together too. Dinner gets prepped, a load of laundry gets folded, someone is there when life inevitably gets “messy". I hadn't realized how much those little things were taking from me until they weren't.
Because we don't have family nearby to lean on day to day, this has probably been one of the most supportive decisions we've made as a family. It's brought a feeling of "ok, this is manageable" to our home that I wasn't expecting.
And that's why Lindsay's question made so much sense.
I'm not just slower.
I'm simpler.
And for the first time in my adult life… I don't feel like every answer has to come from me anymore. That's what being supported actually feels like.
The three S's.
Slow. Simple. Supported.
and I honestly think that's why things finally feel different.
Now...
The second half of this experiment begins.
Because while I feel like I've figured out how I want to work...
I haven't yet figured out how to bring back the momentum I used to love in the business without going back to the way I used to operate.
I have a feeling that's what the next six months are going to teach me.
I'll let you know what I find ;)
With love & gratitude to have you on this journey with me,
Laïla
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