What Grew While I was Offline

Since January, I’ve been off social media, and it has been such an eye-opening experiment. I thought I would really miss it as an ever-curious entrepreneur who has relied heavily on social media to connect, market, and inspire. But the moment I deleted the apps off my phone, I didn’t miss them at all.

My days have been full, but in a digitally quieter and more grounded way. I’ve been spending long hours outside with the girls, letting them wander and play while I stay close by, phone-free. I’ve been journaling more in the mornings instead of scrolling. I’ve been listening to podcasts while cooking, showering, or walking, taking in other people’s stories. I’ve also been recording episodes for my own podcast this year, though I took a break for the month of April.

Somewhere in all of this, I could feel creativity slowly returning.

One afternoon, while holding Ellie as she slept, I was listening to a podcast where someone was sharing different stories of how people started their businesses. One of them stayed with me. A man had built a simple wedding arch for a few hundred dollars and began renting it out for weddings every weekend. It became something steady for him, and his business grew from there.

It sparked something in me.

After becoming a mom, I felt like remote, digital work was the best path. It gave me flexibility and freedom, and website design became the answer I had been searching for for years. It served me so well. But after having Ellie, I stepped back from it in a big way. That work had been such a large part of my life, but this season has been asking something different of me. I wanted to be even more present with my girls, and I found myself tied to my computer more than I wanted to be.

Stepping back from this stretched us financially even more than we expected. Over the past few months, I’ve been thinking about how I could begin contributing again, while also noticing this quiet pull away from digital work that I couldn’t quite explain.

At the same time, Ryan and I have been thinking a lot about how we want to spend our time as a family. He has Fridays and weekends off, and over the years we’ve kept coming back to the idea of building something together. Something that brings us into the community. Something our girls can be part of and witness as they grow up. Something that creates meaningful experiences for other families too.

That’s where the idea for our new company was born.

We ordered the equipment and set it up in our own yard first, just to see what it felt like. The girls were immediately drawn to it, getting cozy on blankets as the sun went down. It felt like we were inside a childhood memory as it was being created.

We shared the business idea in local Facebook groups at a discounted rate, just to test it out. Many expressed interest. A few groups booked, and we learned a lot from those first setups. We made adjustments, refined the experience, built the website, and put the backend systems in place. And now it feels ready.

On this beautiful Full Flower Moon, we’re officially launching Charleston Backyard Cinema.

It’s an outdoor movie experience that we bring directly to your home or neighborhood space here in the Charleston area. It’s meant to be simple, cozy, and something you remember long after the night is over. We handle the setup so you and your group can sit back, relax under a starry sky and enjoy a movie together.

If this kind of evening speaks to you, whether it’s for your kids, a birthday, a gathering with friends, or just a reason to slow down and be together, we would truly love to create it for you!

You can explore everything and reserve your own movie night on our website or connect with us on Instagram.

On my podcast, Built From Love, I often talk about building a life and a business from a place of love. This new venture with Ryan feels like a true reflection of that. It’s something we’re creating together, something our girls get to witness and be part of, and something that brings us out into the community in a real and meaningful way.

We’re building this with intention—with the hope of creating simple, memorable evenings for families, just like the ones we’ve already started experiencing in our own backyard.

We can’t wait to share this with you, and to create something special for your family too.