2020 certainly hasn't been an easy year to be a human. I've seen the wear and tear on my entire team and myself, in different ways. I mean running a business (especially as a non-trained business person) is always difficult - learning how to lead and guide when you don't have the answers is really hard! Throw in everything changing this year. How do you find the time and space to be inspired when we're all completely overwhelmed and, frankly, scared?
I've decided to give the team a paid week off at the start of January. As someone who notoriously doesn't know how to stop working, if I begin to prioritize rest and self-care as a leader, my team will too. And, it's a small way of showing my gratitude for all they overcame this year and their continuing dedication. While perhaps this isn't the smartest business decision from a financial perspective, it seems like the only decision from a human perspective. A collective break means we can all actually take a break because we have to. Being a small business means every member of our team is essential to our day-to-day function. If we all take a break together, we are agreeing to all not work and hold each other accountable to that promise of self-care and rest.
We will close our storefront, office, and warehouse from January 4th through January 10th. We will not be shipping orders and we will not be answering emails. Perhaps this is pretty radical for a retail and customer-based business, where we are expected to be on 24/7, but I don't believe it should be radical to prioritize rest and self-care. If we take the time to care for ourselves we'll be better able to care for each other and our communities. And ultimately, we'll be a better team for it.
I think we've sorted out most of the logistics to figure this out: extended return policies, super informative auto-replies from Autumn and Cate, shipping deadlines, and automated stories and posts. I'm sure we've forgotten something. Anyways, we'll be better prepared to handle whatever we've forgotten and a new year of growth in 2021, after we rest.
xo
Sara
p.s. Yes, this paid week off is in addition to our PTO policy. And, yes, hourly employees are getting their weekly pay, as well.
A few notes on our time away:
- We have extended our return policy for all December orders to January 15th.
- All orders placed after December 29th will be shipped starting January 11th when we have returned from our break.
- All orders placed during our week away will receive a free 100% cotton mask.
