The Somewhere Co.

The Somewhere Co. turns 4 years old today! 🌈 While that’s a celebration in itself, I’d say the bigger milestone is that I’ve been in business for 10 years this year. Reflecting on my journey, 24 year old Ellen [at her very first market stall] *really* had no idea what she was in for. 😅 Here’s some of the things that nobody prepares you for in business: ✨ The immense personal growth you’ll undergo ✨ The highs are really *highs*, but the lows, you’ll be pulling yourself off the ground ✨ Endless optimism and risk-taking are crucial; there’s no room for self-doubt in business growth ✨ Your top 5 really matter [shout outs to mine who have been my cheerleaders the whole way] ✨ You quickly learn, you’ll need to make decisions for the business, not always for you and your personal belief system ✨ You develop the skill of not being hung up on a particular outcome ✨ At times, you’ll feel like you have nothing but so much at the same time ✨ You really will be faking most things until you make it [🎩👒🧢] ✨ You have to grow some serious balls at different scales of business ✨ You can’t teach what you don’t know. You’ll be learning skills you never thought you needed ✨ What you started the business for, wouldn’t be what you end up doing ✨ Your energy is everything. You’ll learn to protect it at all costs [still learning this!] ✨ Being underestimated is your greatest superpower  ✨ Mastering the balance between external advice and your gut instinct [which is almost always right] takes practice ✨ Building a team can be both rewarding and extremely challenging [understanding other humans becomes a skill you have to learn] ✨ Protecting the vision will become your mantra ✨ You’ll develop a grit you never knew you had I started this from the ground up; from hand folding cards, tiny tradeshow booths that progressively got bigger [and international], unpacking containers, packing orders, moving from my tiny townhouse to a storage shed to now a huge warehouse and HQ, evolved product ranges, built a beautiful team around me, moved annual revenue targets from 6 to 8 figures, opened stores and so much more [for another day]. We now successfully operate online, wholesale and brick and mortar channels which is no easy feat I'll tell you! Thankful to have been doing it for 10 years! It’s crazy to think I’m just actually getting started. 💥 There's no big celebrations today [that starts tomorrow 😉]... for now taking a moment to appreciate creating something I would never have imagined. #business #businessgrowth #entrepreneur #flashback