Hi ,

Can we just have a do-over of this week please? What a wild ride it has been!

I'll spare you all the details but they involve family flu bug, a car that won't start, lots of snow, and dog trouble.

Typically, my family can handle whatever comes at us. My work is reasonably flexible, and my partner is in school, so between the two of us someone can handle the curveballs. But right now my partner is doing an internship, which involves full work days and a commute to the city, completely throwing off our come-what-may dynamic. We're up at the crack of dawn, planning meals like it's our job, and we haven't vacuumed in weeks (partly because we had to get a new vacuum). And then there's Christmas...I'm glad it's only for 4 months!

But I know all too well that for many people, this is their constant reality. Or much more challenging with two parents working outside of the home. Or even harder, a single parent working out of the home. I genuinely don't know how people do it. 

Currently, managing time feels a lot like budgeting. If you can't afford what you want, you either make more or spend less. When we translate that to time, you can't make more, so you have to do less. That can be in the form of hiring someone to help, or it can be cutting back on all the stuff you do in a day.

Easier said than done, right?

I'm not the best example of this. I would love to be making more money, and I'm sure I would if I spent more time on marketing. But it's likely that all of us are doing a bunch of things that aren't making a heck of a lot of difference. I've seen people fiddle with their LinkedIn profiles for weeks, or spend hours writing articles (including me), or join communities or courses that they don't benefit from. But if it isn't getting you clients, it's time to be honest about what purpose it's serving.

One goal I had for 2025 was to stop working Mondays. I thought I would do it by the end of the year, but actually I stopped in the first half of the year because I was so excited about it. I did that by doing a thought experiment. I imagined that I do nothing in my business. What would I add in to support it? I decided the two things I would continue to do were to keep my email list (though maybe not email weekly), and to continue having lots of calls with colleagues and new connections. None of the other things ever brought me any clients, so they weren't even noticeable when I stopped doing them. And now I have Mondays (and Fridays) off to meal prep, read my stack of non-fiction books, exercise, and absorb whatever chaos life throws my way.

Here's where the hypocrite part comes in...I actually decided to create a whole new business instead of cutting back more. Since the end of August I have come up with a concept, made a website, built out a community, had a brand designed, made videos, run a beta group, and had a heck of a lot of fun. I'm incredibly proud of what I was able to build in 3 days a week while still running my coaching business. I started with just the essentials, then built from there. And now, less than 4 months later, it's fully ready to launch to the public!

I won't promote it here on the regular, but I will share lessons I'm learning along the way. However, if you're interested, here's what you need to know.

It's called Valkinna. We are a group of warrior women, getting stronger through fitness, community, ritual, and sisterhood. It's a little magical, a lot badass, and truly joyful. You are officially the first ones hearing about it outside of my close friends and colleagues, and it will likely build slowly as I figure out how to market a completely different kind of business, but I couldn't be more excited (and nervous!). Here's the website if you want to read all about it, and there's a link at the bottom to sign up to a separate email list for Valkinna specifically. It's a mashup of my values and everything I care about. Deep community, taking care of our bodies, having fun, and feeling part of something bigger. And also, from the business side of things, taking risks and experimenting! It's the first time I feel like I've truly been able to infuse a business with the creativity I'm capable of. I hope you'll check it out and let me know what you think! And of course, you're welcome to join if it feels good to you (pricing increases as more people join, so it's pretty darn low right now!).