It’s roughly 14 days until my Swedish ‘semester’. For the first time in four years I feel like I really do ‘need a holiday’. Bumping into friends in town or heading into meetings with collaborators whom ask ‘how are you?’. All I can do is blankly stare back at them and gasp, ‘I need a holiday’. I feel emotionally and physically drained. I’m running on fumes but the only thing that is getting me to the finishing line is that work life, i.e. Littlebearabroad, is about to get very interesting.
After four pretty arduous years (most of which was spent fire fighting, failing, fucking up, learning and pivoting), I’m finally going to be working with a team – the Littlebearabroad team. Three ambitious and driven people will be taking the helm of Littlebearabroad with me and pushing it into the next phase of life. But, we’re taking it slowly, we’re reworking old branding, disposing of the stuff that doesn’t work and making other stuff work better. We’re not reinventing the wheel, there will be no elaborate new website or app or business model, just more hands on deck.
The relief to know that there will be three other people overseeing LBA is exquisite. There’s a flashing warning sign on my laptop’s home screen that reminds me I haven’t backed it up for 25 days… I know how it feels. And, the anticipation of having that back up now is making my brain and my body power down. The energy is seeping out of my fingertips as I type this. The adrenalin rush is gone.
The last three/four months have not been a walk in a peony filled garden. Bringing new people into your business is fucking hard. It’s mind-numbingly boring but at the same time totally exhilarating, it’s agonising as well as frustrating. But, it’s worth it when you know you’ve got the right people standing beside you. I know these people are true believers as well as having the right experience the business needs. ¨
You’ll be finding out more about the three newbies who are stepping into the LBA spotlight this coming week. Suffice to say they are what I’ve been looking for. Waiting for them to sign on has been a nail biting experience. We’re almost there and it’s going to be so much fun working with them.
Of course, you know the downside of me having more time is me producing more of these self-indulgent and regurgitative blog posts. Well, at least they’ll be proof-read, now.