Not Your Average Business Birthday Reflection Post
NATTY WRITES IS TWO! 🎉🎈🎂🎁
After having my baby in April of this year (2024), time has become my ultimate Roman Empire.
I am constantly thinking about how time goes so fast yet so slowwwww at the same time.
It really does feel like just yesterday I was making the HUGE decision to leave my full time job with absolutely no back up plan.
Natty Writes wasn’t even a thought yet. All I knew is that I wanted something that would allow me to have ultimate flexibility when I eventually had kids.
I honestly didn’t know that that something would be a full on BUSINESS that’s thriving and growing and allowing me to do the thing that I love so much: write.
While also allowing me to do the other thing that I love so much: be a mom and spend sooooo much time with my precious baby boy while he’s so young.
Because again, time goes so fast yet so slow simultaneously.
Right now it often feels like the days drag on and there’s no light at the end of the tunnel. But the next thing I know, I’ll be sending him off to Kindergarten and crying in the drop off line.
This concept of time is the very reason that in my second year of business (or really since April), I’ve made the conscious decision to STOP a lot of things.
And that might sound weird because typically in the first 5 or so years of a business’s life, that’s when you typically work the hardest.
You do the hard work up front so you can scale back and slow down later.
And while sure that might be the standard in business, I’ve decided that it’s time to truly design my business in a way that works for ME right NOW.
Mainly because I don’t want to look back on this season of life and wish that I would’ve done things differently.
I’m really proud of the business I’ve created and the community I’ve grown in such a short time frame and I don’t want to lose that – and I don’t plan to.
But I had to come to terms with the fact that IF I want to do both – stay home with my baby for his first year of life AND continue to maintain and grow my business – it HAD to look different than what it used to.
I’m no longer waking up at 5am (unless its to feed my baby 🥲) having a predictable morning routine, jumping straight into my work day, and marking a tonnnnnn of things off my to-do list every single day of the week.
My days used to look like this… and then this during pregnancy…
But now?? Every single day is SO different and a task that once took me 20 minutes could now take a full 2 business days if I’m being honest.
And that was really hard for me to accept at first.
I WANTED a predictable routine and schedule.
I WANTED my days to look like they used to.
I WANTED to work at the capacity that I did pre-baby.
Until one day as I was laying on the couch contact napping with my son that I literally looked up and realized… things will never be like they used to.
In my life or in my business. And that’s a GOOD thing.
It just took me a few months to fully realize that and accept it and be okay with it.
As I’m writing this two-year business birthday reflection, I’m 5 months postpartum and for the first time I am truly okay with – better yet I’m HAPPY with – my decision to scale back and slow down.
So what exactly does that look like?
Less done-for-you clients (for now).
More emphasis on The Writer’s Room.
Less obsessing over a weekly routine or schedule.
More making the most of the work time I DO have each week.
Less busy work that doesn’t move the needle.
More prioritizing the work that truly needs my attention most.
Less trying to do it all (at the same time).
More putting my focus on the things that actually matter – both in life and in business.
The reason I’m okay with all of this is because I know that it’s just a season. Just because I’m making the decision to scale back and slow down NOW doesn’t mean that it has to be this way forever.
My current reality is not my forever reality and recognizing that has been huge for me.
So, here’s to Natty Writes turning two – I’m not going anywhere! In fact, I’m really just getting started. It just looks a little different than how I originally imagined.
Whether you’re new to my world or have been around since the beginning or somewhere in between, THANK YOU for following along.
Here’s how you can continue to stay connected:
💌 Get a Note From Natty straight to your inbox every Friday morning featuring a weekly digest full of stories, biz and blog writing tips, and a round up of the latest at Natty Writes!
🗞️ Binge the blog for a mix of blog and email writing tips, how-to’s for blogging in your business, tangible resources, and of course a little bit of BTS of a blog writer’s life along the way.
💻 Browse the tools, recs, and resources that I personally (and professionally) couldn’t live without.
✍🏼 Join the Writer’s Room Waitlist to be the next to know when the BEST (yes, I’m biased) done-with-you writing membership is back open for enrollment.