Monday, August 25, 2014

Career, Family, and Life Lessons: What I Learned From Closing My Business After 15 Years


When You Love What You Have, You Have Everything You Need

Last week, I posted about my decision to close my eco-clothing business, Mountains of the Moon, after 15 years.  (You can read the full story here.)  For a final farewell sale, my employee Kari and I decided to offer 75% off for two days.  Sales had been so poor over there that even with the huge discount, we expected to get a dozen orders, or maybe two dozen at most.  And because of that, we were completely unprepared logistically for the days that followed.  I was also unprepared for how those days would affect me emotionally.  Awfully dramatic sounding, isn't it? With all of the horrible, truly terrifying things going on in our world right now, this is, of course, absolutely nothing.  But to me - on a personal level - it resulted in a big ol' life lesson.  It may sound like little more than an especially crazy week at work, but the experience ended up being pretty profound.

Orders poured in within a few minutes of when the newsletter announcing our closing sale was sent.  This alone would have been overwhelming for the two of us (in an awesome way, of course), but that was just the beginning.  Our inventory system crashed because of the massive influx of orders, and we quickly realized that our website was still making sold out items available for purchase.  Now we had to manually go in after every order and update inventory, email customers to let them know which items they ordered were unavailable, and manually issue refunds through our credit card processor and PayPal.  And that is a very oversimplified explanation of what actually happened.  We became increasingly more confused and overwhelmed with time, so I stopped and spent several hours typing up spreadsheets to get everything organized.  This helped tremendously, but there was still no end in sight.  I worked close to 20 hours the first day with zero breaks except to nurse Essley, and Kari worked nearly as long.

The second day of the sale, my internet went out for half of the day.  Perfect timing, right?  As Kari pulled and packed order after order, I had to use the tiny keypad on my cell phone to email customers, update the website and spreadsheet, etc.  The scene was comical, really.  I also watched days worth of Bubby and Bean work pile up and fall to the wayside as I focused everything on Mountains of the Moon.  If Robbie hadn't been home to take care of Essley, I'm pretty sure I would have been in the midst of a full-on nervous breakdown by that point. I questioned my choice to offer such a huge discount, knowing that in the end, we'd be working this hard just to take a loss.  By night, Kari and I had both reached a point where we were so fried we became useless, and had to stop.  The days that followed the sale were long, and were spent tying up loose ends, packing, and shipping orders well into the night, until eventually, we caught up.

Last week was my busiest and most stressful work week of the year.  Times ten.  And in the middle of it all, I realized some pretty important stuff - stuff that I already knew because it's obvious, really, but that I'm not sure I fully believed until now. I do want to say that I was (am!) incredibly grateful for the outpouring of love that my clothing business received last week, from long-time customers and friends who had been with us since the beginning, and new customers as well. And I was, am, and will continue to be grateful for everything I experienced over the years because of that little company that I started right out of college. But here's the thing. I remember when Mountains of the Moon was that busy all the time - without a 75% off sale.  And I can't believe I ever allowed myself to work 80 hour weeks like that.  I worked my life away for many years you guys, and I didn't even realize how unhealthy it was.  My income was better, yes.  And maybe I could buy nicer things, or travel more, or whatever.  But I don't know how I functioned.  Last week really reminded me how grateful I am to have started the Bubby & Bean blog and art shop - and how much happier I am at a job that is still full time but doesn't consume me.  Actually, grateful doesn't begin to describe it.

Career is important to me, and always has been.  But my family and the ability to enjoy life have become infinitely more important. I was a complete stress case last week, to the point of tears on a couple of occasions.  But this is a good thing.  Because now I'm 100% sure that I made the right choice to move on. A tough economy and slowly decreasing consumer interest in eco-friendly goods are not positive things, no matter how you look at them.  However - the way that they affected my business (and subsequently forced me to make the decision to close it after so long) is something that I now know ultimately led to my quality of life increasing tenfold. So yeah. Maybe everything does happen for a reason and all that stuff.  All I know is that I've never appreciated where I am quite so much as the present.  I love what I have... So I have everything I need.

Before I go, I'm going to make sure you know how grateful I am for you, as well.  Because without you, there would be no Bubby & Bean, and maybe I'd still be caught up in those 80 hour weeks at my other company.  So thank you.  Thank you for buying art prints and holiday cards from my art shop, and for supporting the boutiques who carry my art and cards, and for reading this blog, and for allowing me to partner with brands on sponsored posts and offer sidebar ads so the blog can help support my family.  Part of the reason I'm able to work without giving up my entire life these days is because of this, and therefore, because of you too.

And that concludes my deep, dramatic thoughts for today.  If you got this far, you're a champ. We'll be back to the fun stuff tomorrow. Promise.
Top image art prints available here.

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25 comments:

  1. A similar scenario (including my computer breaking down) happened to me last year. I remember working well into the night. I hear you on creating a healthy work/life balance :) Over here in Germany the tendency is actually toward eco-friendly products...

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    1. I think people in the US do still want eco-friendly products, but there was a period when it was (sadly) a 'trend,' and those days have passed. It actually hurt our business a little when the green trend got so big because suddenly out of nowhere, huge companies and brands were mass producing green products for much less than we were able to manufacture locally. I'd rather have that scenario than people choosing not to buy eco-friendly though! Sorry to hear you dealt with similar computer issues during a huge sale. It was a nightmare for us.

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  2. Beautifully said! Although I will miss MotM and will fondly wear my Arya Skirts and Morgan Pants for years to come I give you props for putting your family first and focusing on your other businesses. This is a good reminder for me too.

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    1. Thank you Kate. And than you so much for your support of Mountains of the Moon. I'll always be grateful for our customers over there. You guys are a special bunch.

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  3. Oh, this hit me hard. I saw your notice about the sale. I had to close a store a little over a year ago, it was nowhere near as long-lived as yours, but it was equally all consuming. It was devastating to have it close and to have so few people understand the effort and heartache. Overcoming bitterness about the lip service people pay (for appearance sake) to the environment and buying local was hard. You are so lucky to understand how much better life will be for you.

    It has taken me a long time, but that chapter of my life is not at all stained with regret. They were happy years and I wouldn't trade the memories.

    I wish you so much luck as you relearn what your wings can do and where they can take you.

    Happiness upon you.

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    1. I'm so sorry that you had a similar experience Amanda. I agree that it's difficult for people to understand the effort and heartache. My blog and clothing business catered to very different genres, and most of my readers haven't been customers (and vice versa), so I wasn't sure how well it would even go over to talk about it here. But it's a huge part of my life and I'm glad I did. I'm also glad that you don't have regrets for your experience as a shop over, despite the closing. I have no regrets either. :) xoxo

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  4. I missed your blog post about the big announcement, but I saw the sale on twitter (and retweeted). I had wanted to come by the blog and see if you had mentioned something about it, but I hadn't had the time.

    Today's post really resonates, because we all have to end chapters of our lives at some point. When we do, it's usually a bittersweet moment for us. Saying goodbye to MotM must be so difficult for you, but know that you inspired many. Even though I was never able to be a MotM customer, your beautiful designs were/are awesome.

    HUGE shoutout to both you and your assistant Kari, because working that hard for the purpose of closing up shop, taking a loss, and saying farewell says so much about the two of you. The next chapter is going to be just that much better!

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    1. Thank you so much for the kind words Kim! You are always so supportive, and I appreciate it very much.

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  5. Yikes, I'm so sorry to hear about all the computer troubles during the sale! But that's great news about all the orders :)
    And I'm so happy for you that you have a more balanced life these days. With the holiday rush just around the corner, I struggle to find that balance!

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    1. It is very hard around the holidays! This year, I will actually be out of the country for a week starting on Cyber Monday, which is the week when Im busiest with holiday card sales at my other company. I keep getting stressed about it, but I think what happened last week will be a good reminder for me for this circumstance as well. It's always important to make time for life, even during the busiest times for our businesses. (Money/income, of course, is a whole different topic ;) It's important too!)

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  6. This is so inspiring and I'm bookmarking it because I also tend to get very stressed out with work. I don't own my own business but at the end of the day I have a hard time letting work go and I go into work sometimes on weekends. I think a lot of it is american culture and the pressure to do more more more. It's messed up. We only get one life. Thank you for this post.

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  7. I forgot to say, your clothing designs are so beautiful and so different from other earth friendly clothes I've seen. I hope someday you'll be able to design again although I am glad you chose to focus on the blog and your card shop because I love them!

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  8. I left a comment on your other post too, I am a long time customer of mountains of the moon and was so sad to see that you were closing. Reading this makes me feel so happy for you though. I will always treasure the dress I bought at the first Bonnaroo and the pants, skirts, and dresses I picked up at festivals in the years that followed. I wish you and your family and bubby & bean all the best. Heather Jenkins

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    1. Awww, Heather, thank you. It means a lot to me that you treasure your clothing from us. Please stay in touch!

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  9. So happy you survived the stressful sale week! And grateful that you are embracing the balance as you begin this new chapter of your life journey.

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  10. I saw your post on Facebook the other day, but I'm glad you decided to mention this here, too. I knew you described yourself as a workaholic when MOTM was in its heyday, but I didn't realize you were an 80 hours a week kind of workaholic! Now that you have Essley it's just not possible, even if you wanted it to be. Again, I'm so glad to hear that everything is turning out for the best. :-)

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    1. Yeah, it was bad. Maybe I'll talk about it in a future post once I'm more removed. I used to carry around my work with me to social outings too (family dinners, nights with friends) and I always worked on vacation. It was more stressed when I WASN'T working, and it took a long time after I stopped working so much to realize how unhealthy it was. I'm grateful to know the difference now. :)

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  11. Blessed to have been a part of MotM, I'll never forget it!! Bubby and bean is gonna continue to kill it too. Proud of you.

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  12. Girl, I feel you!!! And actually had the exact same experience when I closed my eco-friendly baby store. I mean exactly the same. I launched a big sale, got hit with an amazing amount of orders, my inventory wasn't updating... and so yup, I had to refund & email everyone back. Thank god, my mom came to stay with us for a few days and helped me through it all. Crazy!! And amen, for finding life/work balance now. I love what I do, but I've learned to scale back for sure. Happiest week to you, lovey!! xoxo

    PS Yes, slowly but surely, starting to feel so much better. As always, thank you for your well wishes!!

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    1. That's so crazy that you had such a similar experience! Three cheers for scaling back. :)

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  13. Love you, love MOTM, love Bubby & Bean! MOTM was your labor of love for so long, I can only imagine how hard it was to let that go - and on the other hand, your success with Bubby & Bean and raising your family have made that separation that much easier! So happy for your release from 80 hour work weeks - not at all healthy! You are on such a positive road right now! I'm thrilled for you, Robbie & Essley!!!

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    1. Love you too MK! Grateful that you were a part of some of MotM's most fun of times. xo

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