March 2023 Update

It's my first blog post! Hooray!

March 2023 has been a busy month for everything except soap business. With the Christmas season behind, January and February were about restocking soaps for the upcoming market season and finding more work-life balance again.

For most of 2022, I felt like a marathon runner in a sprinting race. Findlay Creek Soap Company was new and there was much for which I wasn't prepared. It wasn't a bad thing, neither was it unexpected. Every new experience comes with unknown challenges to overcome and problems to solve. I am grateful for the slow season that followed however.

March 2023 has been about reconnecting with my family. Because we are homeschooling our three kids, it is easy to assume that connection is something that is very easy - with everybody working and studying at home, each and every day, we do see a lot of each other. I knew that starting a new business would require a lot of time - far more than I had been investing in my old job - but I did not fully appreciate where that time would come from in our day-to-day lives. Homeschool, which had been filled with joy, had become a burden - another thing to check off the never ending to-do list. I know going into 2023 that something would need to change.

In March and April, we are taking a long vacation to enjoy some sunshine and warmth in Florida. It has been a fantastic way to both connect as a family and slow down before a busy market season. It can be frustrating seeing events that other vendors are doing and to think about the sales and growth missed. But I remind myself to have confidence that benefits of the break will outweigh any losses and in the larger picture, it will be worth it.

Going forward, I am really excited about the upcoming year at the Metcalfe Farmers Market and going back to the Osgoode Township Museum for their summer pop-up markets. These two communities were a highlight from last year! I am also looking forward to sharing new products and designs for Mother's Day and other in-person events still in the works. It will be a very busy summer ahead!