Hi! and happy Sunday.
I have some exciting new developments that I’m going to start diving into in the coming weeks - some growth in the business over the last couple of months that I want to unpack properly in a Founder Files piece, not casually here. So stay tuned. There’s a whole conversation coming about what actually got me to this next level and what I’m seeing on the other side of it. But it lives on its own. Today I want to talk about something else it brought up in me.
The word no has been so on top of mind lately. And I want to try to write through why, because I think it might be useful for you too.
You’ve heard me say this before but I’ll say it again - running and owning a business is a spiritual experience. Anyone who’s actually done it will tell you the same thing. It asks so much of you. It requires you to grow, to expand your capacity, to face things you’ve been avoiding, to become a bigger and more grounded version of yourself just to hold what you’re building. And this past week the lesson coming in for me has been so strong. As the business demands more of me, as the capacity required of me keeps expanding, the thing I’m being asked to strengthen is not my yes. It’s my no.
I am a made up of a ton of Aries and there’s a lot of Capricorn in my chart too. I am, by nature, a fighter. A firecracker. A blunt person. Behind closed doors, the people close to me know that side well. I’m a yeller, I’m cutthroat, I don’t get walked on in my personal life. That side of me has always been there.
But there’s this other side that started when I moved to LA at eighteen. Maybe even sooner. But this is where I can pin point where it first began. I didn’t know anyone. I didn’t know anything. I wanted to be picked. I wanted to make it. And every time I rented an apartment, it was me. Every time I bought a car, it was me. Every time I had to get a job, it was me. And there was this little outcast girl from Wisconsin underneath everything, and she started to oversell herself, and she started to be overagreeable in situations where she shouldn’t have been. Just to be liked. Just to be included. Just to not get left behind.
That version of me got me through a lot. I don’t hate her. But she doesn’t belong at the level I’m at now.
Something I have learned: the more your business grows, the more money you make, the higher up in the world you get, the more power you have. That’s just how it works. And if you approach that power still carrying the overagreeable little girl who wanted to be picked, you will get taken advantage of. Not maybe. Definitely. I’ve been taken advantage of many times in business, in relationships, in friendships - and every single time it happened, it happened because I softened myself into a yes when my whole body was saying no.
And it goes against every crevice, every bone of me. Because she’s still there. The fighter. The cutthroat one. And when I abandon her, when I get too agreeable, when I explain a no instead of just standing in it, when I contort myself to make someone else comfortable, I feel these internal waves of anger. Like I’m betraying myself for the millionth time. And I just can’t do it anymore.
I had a situation this past week that turned into the whole lesson. I got an email. It was a request. I said a light no, and then I made the classic mistake - I explained why. I gave my reasoning. I softened it. I gave the other person room to argue. And of course they did. The response essentially said “we’re going to do this anyway, so you need to just say yes.” And it kept me up at night. I wasn’t mad at them - but I was mad at myself. I should have never explained. I should have just said, nope, that doesn’t work for me, here’s what does, and left it there. The explanation was the mistake. The explanation is what invited the pushback.
And I turned it into the most beautiful lesson because it named something I’ve been feeling in every corner of my life. I’m getting to a level within the business and within myself where I don’t have time. I don’t have capacity. Where I am right now is demanding a new version of me. A version that doesn’t explain. A version that doesn’t sell. A version that just says no when it’s a no and moves on.
And this isn’t just business. This shows up everywhere. When you find the partner and you’re happy. When you reach a peak of success. When your energy goes higher. When your money comes in. That’s when people love to come out of the woodwork. That’s when the requests start showing up. And you have to be so careful. Because the version of you who needed to be liked will absolutely open the door to people who don’t belong in your life.
My favorite book as a child was The Little Red Hen. If you don’t know it - the Little Red Hen wants to bake a cake. She wants to grow the wheat, mow the flour, do the whole thing. So she goes around the farm and asks the pig, the cow, the duck, the horse - does anyone want to help? Everyone says no. So she makes the cake alone. And the second the smell of the cake starts drifting across the farm, every single animal shows up at her cottage wanting a piece.
I have been The Little Red Hen so many times in my life it’s almost funny.
And what I know now - what this next level is really requiring of me - is that the Little Red Hen syndrome cannot even happen anymore. The whole story is a lesson about who was in the kitchen when the work was actually happening. And if you weren’t in the kitchen, you don’t get the cake. That’s not cruelty. That’s just accurate.
And that starts with me. It starts with what I say yes and no to from the beginning. It starts with the boundary being set on day one, not on day five hundred when someone’s already knee-deep in my business trying to take a piece of the cake they didn’t help bake.
I think a lot of people see me and think I’m this cute little petite girl whose feelings don’t really matter, or whose no can be negotiated with, or who can be pushed a little. And the truth is - no. Not anymore. I’m a boss. I make good money. I run a successful business. I have maybe four hours a week to myself if I’m lucky. And I am simply not available for anything that feels like a no in my body.
Instead of going on the merry-go-round of trying to make other people feel comfortable, trying to prove myself, trying to justify why I’m saying no - I’ve stopped doing all of it. I don’t need to prove anything anymore. A no is a no. Full stop. No paragraph attached.
And I hope by sharing this it helps you look at the places in your life that are a no for you. The email you keep re-reading trying to figure out how to soften. The friend you keep making room for who doesn’t make room for you. The opportunity that looks shiny on paper and feels wrong in your body. The person who’s asking for a piece of your cake who was nowhere to be found when you were baking it. Look at those places. Say the no. Don’t explain it. And notice what happens when you stop translating your own boundaries into something more palatable. That’s what’s on my mind this week.
Linen. It’s all linen, baby.
Honestly, we cannot believe over here at BRÛLÉ how many linen shorts we’re moving. So let’s talk about the Rhodes short, because it’s having its moment.
It all started when I made the Margot short for spring. Margot Robbie came out to the airport in an outfit that went viral, and I already had the Hunter long sleeve in white that looked exactly like the one she was wearing. So I quickly made the shorts to match, and those sold so well. And then while I was wearing them, I kept thinking of ways to make them better. I always want better. That’s just how I’m wired. I thought - you know what would really elevate these? A long drawstring, so you can adjust the waist, and you’re not confined by elastic hugging the body. Even though the elastic version was fine. I just wanted refined. Something that says a lot but feels like a little. So I added a drawstring, I recently added pockets, and I’ve launched them now in three different colors.
And when I tell you these babies fly. I don’t even know how people keep finding them. They’re selling like crazy.
If you want to join the party, the Rhodes short is where it’s at. Organic cotton-linen blend, fifty-fifty, woven together. It’s a really beautiful linen because it feels like quality - sturdy and thick - but the cotton keeps it light and gives it enough give that it doesn’t wrinkle the way pure linen does. It’s just a beautiful fabric. And it’s organic. Also - just so you know - you are dripping in wealth when you wear our linen right now, because good linen is so expensive. I don’t know if it’s the economy or what, but Francisco and I are just looking at each other like, of course. Of course the piece that continues to go viral is the most expensive fabric to source and make.
I also launched the Paloma pant and the Gia button-down in the same fabric family. There’s nothing better than a good linen set. A linen pant is one of those pieces you keep for years. Fold it over with a flip flop, or wear it with heels out at night. It’s the perfect shape. And the button-down is oversized on purpose - it can be a jacket, a cover-up, a dress buttoned up with cowboy boots, worn over a tank top and jean shorts. There’s nothing better than a really good button-down. And this one is just right.
That’s the forecast. Linen everything. Wear it into summer.
What I want is everything on BRÛLÉ right now - and a new BRÛLÉ experience. Because I recently started a pretty expensive website redesign, and I want it live.
The idea is that the essentials - the pieces that always sell, the ones we continue to stock beyond reserve-only drops - get their own dedicated home on the site. Their own real estate. So I reshot all of those pieces recently and I want them up.
The full redesign is going to take a while - these things always do - and I’m not willing to sit on the new photos in the meantime. So I’m putting them up on the current site this week and letting the redesign catch up when it’s ready. Something about me: I don’t like old. The current site photos that aren’t from the summer collection make my skin crawl a little now that I have the new ones. They’re just not as clean. They’re not as right. And I’m not going to wait months for the redesign to finish just to feel like the site is finally reflecting where the brand actually is. That’s not how I operate. Get the assets up. Let the design follow. Move.
That’s what I want this week. It’s not material. It’s internal. But it’s driving everything I do.
The honest answer to what I want is still: everything on BRÛLÉ. And I have it. Which is amazing.
That said - I’ve updated the ShopMy board with everything I’ve picked up to wear with my BRÛLÉ this summer. You’ll see it in the new site photos once they’re loaded - the Jacquemus sneakers I’m wearing, the Row flip flop I splurged on for the shoot, some new sunglasses, some new bags (two of them I got from the Real Real they are one off’s but you can see what I got and maybe source something similar!) I only really buy accessories because BRÛLÉ is all I wear, but I want to show you what I’m styling it with. My approach is basically: I take a season, buy the flip flop, buy the kitten heel, buy the bag, buy the sunnies and then that’s it. That’s the accessory rotation. Everything mixes and matches with BRÛLÉ and I’m good for the season.
Yes, it’s a business write-off. But I also genuinely love sharing the small good things I find. And the pricier pieces - like the Row flip flops - I wear for years. That’s just IT baby. Buy less. Buy right. Wear it forever.
Here’s what’s on the board right now. SHOPMY BOARD
Shipping, shipping, always shipping. The behind-the-scenes reality of running a fully solo brand at this volume. It never stops and I’ve stopped pretending it does. This week I’m getting current on everything that shipped from the last drop while simultaneously moving pieces through production.
The linen reserve window closes this week, which means I’m officially moving everything into production. If you haven’t reserved yet - this is your last window to reserve your exact size and color. Once they’re in production they’re spoken for. That’s how the reserve model works.
I’m also prepping the pointelle launch, which I’m really excited about. More on that when it’s closer.
And this week I’m going to Joshua Tree to shoot a new tank top (in a pool lol) for BRÛLÉ that I’m launching very soon - and this piece is personal. It’s inspired by the quote carousels I do on Instagram. I’ve been making those carousels for three years now. They are how I express myself, they are my best-performing content across every platform I’m on, and they are honestly the closest thing I have to a signature. And it felt like it was time for them to become a physical piece. So - a tank top. Wearable. Real. The quotes I’ve been sharing for years, translated into something you can put on your body.
I’ll show you more soon.
If I leave you with anything this week, it’s the no.
I know it sounds small. It’s not. Every time I’ve said yes when my body said no, I’ve paid for it later - in energy, in resentment, in situations I had to unwind that never should have been mine to hold in the first place. And every time I’ve said no cleanly, without the paragraph, without the softening, without the explanation - something in me has gotten sharper. Clearer. More itself.
That’s the work right now. The saying no. The trusting my body. The refusing to talk myself out of what I already know.
I’m going into this week with the linen going into production, the Joshua Tree shoot on the calendar, the website getting new photos, and about a thousand small things I need to do between now and Friday.
Thank you for being here. For the DMs, the shares, the comments, the fact that you keep showing up. It means everything.
X,
KB
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