I Want Better.

Hey love! Happy to have you here and wanted to start with saying thanks for stopping by!  Whatever drew you to this post, I hope it either inspires you, teaches you something, shares another perspective, (or all three!) and that you get out of it whatever it is you were looking for when you clicked through.  

So in my last post I talked briefly about what I do.  I shared that I empower women to create work-life alignment through entrepreneurship and gave a glimpse into my beliefs that led me to starting The Guide Next Door.  Today I want to share the why behind it- because I’d argue it’s even more important than the what.

Surface level, there are a lot of reasons why I wanted to start my own business.  Most of which come down to wanting to do business differently.  My 17 year career in the fashion industry has taught me a lot; specifically how not to do business.  Having worked for 6+ different companies throughout my time as a Product Developer, with brands ranging in size, revenue, market, etc., all had one common thread - the normalization of burnout and toxic environments.  We’ll dive deeper into this in a separate post, as I believe it is incredibly important to address, and has been a key motivator for me.  

Ask me today if the benefits I gained outweigh the trauma I experienced, and to be honest, I’m not sure.  I’m still so close to it and am still navigating my journey out, so right now I’d lean towards no, but that doesn’t mean I regret the last two decades of my career.  It just means that I wish I had realized how unhealthy it was and had gotten out sooner.  Ultimately, I’m grateful for my career because it led me here, building a business and a life that I have never felt more happy, more myself in and more sure of.

So back to my why.  Why am I building a business that empowers women to create work-life alignment through entrepreneurship to achieve time, location and financial freedom?

Because I want better.  I want better than heartless, profit-over-people leaders, micromanagers and toxic work environments.  I want better than a work culture where 60%+ of professionals experience burnout.  I want better than working 5 days a week to enjoy 2, working 9 hours a day to enjoy 3-4*.  

I want better than putting work ahead of, well, everything; our lives, our health, our happiness.  I want better because we deserve better. And I believe that we (society) can do better.

Do you agree? OK, great, I’ll keep going…

As I think of the reasons why I want better, why this is so important to me, it goes even deeper than just wanting to improve our work culture.  And while that alone is enough, considering 71% of Americans work full time, it got me thinking - why do we work in the first place?  Why do we do anything at all? 

To which my (condensed) response would be -

To build and maintain a lifestyle that brings us joy, fulfillment, excitement and whatever else we desire out of this one** life we have.

So with that lens, I look back at the past 17 years of my life.  I recall the excitement of my first Fashion Week, working backstage dressing models and attending after parties at Soho House.  I smile ear-to-ear at memories of traveling the world, experiencing places I never would have dreamt of visiting, meeting people that I now call friends.  I feel a deep sense of pride in the work ethic I developed, the growth I achieved and the person I’ve become through lessons I’ve learned.  I am grateful for the opportunities that have come my way and led me to where I am right now.

I also remember the fear I felt whenever I thought of taking a sick day, or having to own up to a mistake I made, unsure of how my manager would react.  I remember being verbally abused and having my job threatened when my boss found out I was engaged.  I remember missed family celebrations and canceled vacations due to the unshakeable belief that work had to always come first.  I remember months on end of burnout, non-stop work, and experiencing severe panic attacks, to which my manager’s response was “everyone is feeling that way.”  I realize, as I plan to go on my first Maternity Leave for 12 weeks, that I haven’t taken more than 2 consecutive weeks off of work since I was 16.  I realize how genuinely exhausted I am.

I look back and I see that two things can be true at the same time.  You can have amazing, once in a lifetime experiences, feel pride and gratitude towards something you’ve put your heart and soul into and simultaneously experience toxic, unhealthy environments, survive abuse, and sacrifice things you never should’ve been expected to.

I look back and see that the wonderful moments don’t excuse the traumatic events.  That words like toxic, abuse and trauma should never coexist with work.  That things should’ve been better.  And through my experience, through what I’ve learned, I now know that they can be better. 

I also know that I don’t have to continue down the same path I set out for myself when I was a teenager.  I can make a change.  I have the power to create better.  

I have the power to build a lifestyle that brings me joy, fulfillment, excitement and whatever else I desire in my life.  I’ve got this one** life, and fuck if I’m not going to work every day on making it the best possible life I can imagine.

So I ask you this, if the point of this life is to build a lifestyle that brings you joy, fulfillment, excitement, and whatever else you desire and can dream of, have you done that?  No judgment here - just honest reflection.  Is present-moment you, deep-down-in-your-gut you, totally happy with the life you’ve built thus far?  Or is there room to grow?  Room for better?

If you’ve made it to Cloud 9, I’m so happy for you, you deserve it, enjoy it!  But, if you’re like me, and excited to create better, to truly build a life that is meaningful, blissful, rewarding, and everything you could imagine, let’s do it!  Let’s not let another second go by leading a life we know deep down isn’t what we want anymore.  Let’s build the reality we dream of.  The reality we can see so clearly in our minds.  The reality that’s only a few action steps away.

It all starts with why.

xxChelsea

*I’m being generous here - if you’re like me, 1 of your weekend days goes to errands, so really you get to enjoy 1.  And after commuting 2-3 hours a day, cooking, cleaning, etc. I’m usually too exhausted to enjoy any more than an hour or so during a weekday.

**that we can be sure of

Interested in listening to the audio version of this message? Check it out on The Guide Next Door Podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts!