I Have a Confession... I've Been Building Something

If you’ve been wondering where I’ve been lately, or why my Tuesday bag reviews have been far more than a little less...Tuesday, I owe you an explanation.

The short version? I’ve been building something.

The longer version is that I’ve spent most of the past year plus doing something I honestly never imagined I would do: starting a brand of my own.

Even typing that sentence still feels a little strange. Because if you’ve talked to me in person, I’ve told you, “I don’t want to start a handbag brand”. And I meant it.

For more than twenty years, I’ve somehow gotten to call handbags my career. Doesn’t sound like something that would create not just one job, but multiple full-time jobs, but it does! I’ve spent two decades writing about the designers, the craftsmanship, the trends, the history, and the brands that have shaped this industry.

I have become very comfortable telling everyone else’s story. I can easily judge a bag from a major fashion house. I can go into specifics about every single detail. I can say what works and what doesn’t.

But the idea of turning that same lens on myself, well, it’s totally different.

The funny thing is that M + V didn’t begin because I thought the world needed another luxury leather accessory. It started because of a habit I didn’t even realize I had. Every bag I own has a pouch inside it. Every single one. And if it doesn’t, it is probably because I am carrying the pouch as a standalone item.

When I change bags, the pouch is the first thing that moves over. The handbag changes depending on the day, but the pouch never does.

It holds the things I can’t afford to forget, as well as the things that make me feel safe. I’ve shared that I live with anxiety (at times, debilitating), so many of the items in my pouch are my safe items.

Over the years, what’s inside has changed. Lip balm has always been there (obviously). These days, there are chargers, medication, and, because life looks a little different when you’re a parent, the emergency allergy medications that go everywhere with Millie.

Somewhere along the way, without really realizing it, that pouch became my safe place inside my bag.

That probably sounds dramatic if you’re not someone who switches handbags as often as I do, but it’s true.

The bag changes. The pouch doesn’t.

I started wondering why something I used every single day always felt like an afterthought. I wanted one that felt as special as the handbag carrying it. One made with beautiful leather, extreme attention to detail, and the kind of craftsmanship I spend my career admiring.

That tiny idea eventually became M + V Accessories.

And then came the part I didn’t expect to be so difficult. Launching it. I don’t even know how many launch dates I came up with. I have diagnosed myself with ADHD during this process, which only allowed me to further push things off, with this new self-diagnosis.

“Next Monday.”

“Once we finish the website.”

“After we take a few more photos.”

“When the Instagram feed looks better.”

There was always one more thing. At least, that’s what I kept telling myself. Looking back, none of those things was actually the reason. I was scared.

I think part of it was that I’ve spent twenty years looking at products through a very critical lens. It’s literally my job. I notice stitching, leather, hardware, proportions, functionality, all the little details most people probably never think about.

So, of course, I assumed everyone else would look at mine the same way. Suddenly, I wasn’t the one evaluating someone else’s work. I was putting my own out into the world. And that is a very vulnerable place to be.

I’ve spent more than two decades building PurseBlog, writing about handbags, and sharing my thoughts on products from brands all over the world. But creating something with my own name attached to it is a completely different feeling. How will this be accepted? What will the reception be like? Will people think I’m just another influencer trying to sling product?

Watching someone else launch something and actually living through a launch are two very different things.

Last week, I finally realized there wasn’t going to be a magical moment where I suddenly felt ready. There wasn’t going to be one more photo, one more edit, or one more tweak that made the fear disappear.

So I did something very unlike me. I stopped waiting. I grabbed one of the photos we had taken, wrote the post, looked at it for probably longer than I should have, and finally thought, “It’s time.”

Then I hit publish before I could change my mind. No major fanfare. No big buildup. No perfectly orchestrated rollout. No messaging endless influencers to gift and hopefully promote. Just me finally deciding that it was time to let M + V exist outside of my head.

The response over the last week has been incredibly meaningful. Every order. Every message. Every person who has taken a moment to tell me they believe in what I’m building. It has honestly meant more than I expected.

One thing I’ve had to remind myself over the last week is that social media has completely changed the way we think about launching a business. Every story seems to be about selling out in minutes. A website crashing. Thousands of people waiting for the next drop. Hundreds of thousands of dollars made in the first minutes.

That hasn’t been my story. And I’m okay with that.

The first day was wonderful. Orders came in strong. Then more came in. They’ve continued coming in every day since.

No website crashes. No overnight sellout. Just real people finding something I poured my heart into. And I’ve had to remind myself that this is success too.

I know M + V won’t be for everyone, and that’s okay. I didn’t create it because I thought the world needed another pouch. I created it because I needed this pouch, and I believe I have the knowledge and creativity to carve out a space for myself and my ideas in the world of accessories. I wanted something that felt beautiful enough to carry every day while quietly protecting the things I care about most.

It feels fitting that my first product isn’t a handbag. It’s what goes inside the handbag.

Thank you for giving me a little grace while I disappeared into leather swatches, zipper samples, production calls, packaging decisions, and all of the little details that somehow take ten times longer than you think they will.

The good news is that M + V Accessories is finally out in the world.

The other good news is that I’m finding my rhythm again, which means the bag reviews you’ve been patiently waiting for are coming back. I’ve been whatever the opposite of the most consistent Substack writer, especially for my paid subs, and I truly apologize. I will come back with a lot for you.

If you’d like to follow along as M + V grows, I’d love to have you over on Instagram. I’ll be sharing more behind-the-scenes, the design process, what I’m working on next, and, of course, plenty of beautiful leather.

And if you’ve already ordered one, I would genuinely love to know what ends up inside your pouch.

Because after spending more than twenty years talking about handbags, I think I’ve realized the most interesting part was never really the bag.

It’s the life happening around it. And this little pouch has become part of mine.

Thank you for being here… for the bag reviews, for the conversations, and now, for this new chapter too.

It means more than you know!!

Discover M + V accessories here.