It All Began in Paris...

Looking around our office, it’s clear we are in a major state of upheaval as we dismantle furniture and pack up memorable bits and pieces in prep for our office makeover. Ironically, it occurs to me that the same thing is happening in our professional lives.

In addition to the complete makeover of our office, the other big change underway is that I’m transitioning from my full-time day job, into a part-time role, in order to focus more time on Red & Rugged.  This was a year in the making and it’s halfway to our ultimate goal.

We’ve both been thinking a lot about where we are in our careers and the next season of lives, especially since our kids are grown and gone, and we are both (thankfully) healthy. As I share in the About Us page, the call of the entrepreneur has been a steady beat in the background of my noisy life and my husband has been a craftsman since the day I met him. Even so, this change hasn’t happened without thought and careful planning.

The tipping point came last spring, on our first vacation abroad together – ever! We stayed 10 glorious days Paris last May and it was a magical, life-changing event. Time had suddenly become more valuable, as had flexibility and the freedom to do something different. We were both missing the creative element in our lives. We began talking about what we loved to do, where we enjoyed spending time, this business, our future, and what we wanted the next years to look like. Did we want to clock in and out for the next ten years? No can do. Immediately, I started talking about next steps and asking about options at work. (We were already in the midst of change at work, and thankfully leadership supports entrepreneurs in their midst.)

Someone asked me the other week if this was scary? Um, yes! Not gonna lie. However, to quote other successful entrepreneurs, “What got you here, won’t get you there.” A steady diet of the same thing isn’t going to elevate our business, accelerate growth, or spark the energy and creativity we need. And the “same old” isn’t going to attract the life we envisioned while day dreaming in Luxembourg Gardens. That comes from within and requires courage. So here we are.

In another week, when we open the new world headquarters of Red & Rugged (okay, our office), it’s all because my “rugged” half and I embraced the calling we felt on the streets of Paris and took the bold steps to move forward. We encourage you to do the same in your world. Open some new doors, close a few old ones, let’s see where we go!