Retail business owner life is pulling 12-16 hour shifts for 6 to sometimes 7 days a week because you haven’t hit revenue targets high enough yet to justify the labor costs of replacing the 5 or 6 jobs you currently do at the same time. Finding others to share that burden without asking for significant financial returns has been unsuccessful.

If you wonder why I’m burnt out and guarded about my mental health and time. That’s a taste of what it takes to build a brand and grow it in my industry as a career change, not a side project. I don’t get to have fun yet. Not for years.