Stress Less, Bake More

I still can’t believe we actually baked muffins last week. Having 140 bags of muffins at my house right now is surreal. The branding, the bags, and all the muffins in my kitchen. 

 

I questioned it at first, but the trial production run needed to happen. There are a few changes that have to go into effect before the full production run. Unfortunately, we had some consistency issues with the muffins we made and sent to the lab. I can’t say I’m surprised after all the adjustments we had to make to the bake time last week. So, we’re making another smaller batch to improve the consistency across muffins. As soon as we get those results, we should be able to start shelf life testing and confirm the date of production. I can’t wait to get past this stage and finally share when we’re going to have some muffins available!

 

This past weekend I was talking to a friend about work. She’s dealing with stress and a toxic environment at her current job. With that combo, she thinks it might be time to look for her next career move. It made me think about my own work stress. Of course I’m concerned about when we'll launch and I'm worried about whether or not people will like the muffins. Yet, I’m somehow less stressed than I was at my last job.

 

I should be more stressed than ever! I pivoted my career and have my own reputation on the line. I’ve told my friends and family what I’m doing. I’m sharing ALL the details about how it’s going weekly. And I’m investing a not-so-insignificant sum of money into this new venture. 

 

It’s a lot of pressure to make sure this thing works out. Even with all that, I’m less stressed than I was at my previous job. Which makes me realize how badly I needed this change in my life. I didn’t know how much it was affecting me until I left. It took weeks for me to understand how it was negatively impacting other areas of my life as well.

That stress was also from the frustration that I wasn't pursuing my #1 career goal - starting a business. Now that I’ve committed all my effort towards starting my business, a huge burden has been lifted. And I don’t feel guilty about working on my business while trying to balance a completely separate day job. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still plenty of stress to be had. This is a food business, as you already know, so much can go wrong at any time. But now, it’s a different type of stress. I’m sure it’ll go in waves of feeling unbearable and manageable alongside the ups and downs of running a business. 

 

Oddly enough, this feels like a stress that I’ve been preparing for over the last 10 years. I've read books on entrepreneurs, listened to podcasts about startups, followed founders on social media, and worked closely with the owners of multiple companies. Even with the fate of the business being 100% on me, I can honestly say that I’m enjoying this experience, as much of a grind as it may be. It’s the coolest thing I’ve ever done and I’m excited to keep going, despite whatever challenges come my way.