It's My Birthday

Every birthday for the past few years has looked the same: pilates class, a massage, a few hours of work because I love what I do, the beach, a swim in the ocean no matter the temperature, some journaling, and a very chill dinner (takeout usually) with my fam. It’s perfect to me <3

Today I turned 27!! Maybe it’s a late twenties thing, but every year lately has felt like it holds an entire decade of growth crammed into twelve months. So before I let 26 fully go, I wanted to write it all down and highlight 26 lessons gleamed from the year.

A year ago I was living in my Santa Monica apartment with Landon. Anna and I had just opened Homebody’s second location in Montecito, so I was driving up there once or twice a week and spending the rest of my time working from home. We already had Culver City contracted to open at the start of the new year, which didn’t stop me from stubbornly hunting for a Newport studio in the meantime. I found nothing :) in hindsight, for very good reason.

1. There’s a solution to every problem. My mom has been saying this to me since I was two years old and it took me 24 years to actually believe her.

Fall was spent bouncing between Austin and Montecito while laying the groundwork for Culver City, and letting the Newport search rest. We started hosting more brand events and popups in LA than ever, and it’s wild to look back at all the brands I got to work alongside this year.

2. Building a brand and building a world are two different jobs: a brand is what people see, a world is what makes them stay, only one of those is worth chasing in my book!

Landon and I hit our one year mark in that apartment and started getting the itch to move, even though the timing made zero sense. Then I found our house on Zillow and just knew. No ifs, ands, or buts I could feel in my bones that we were supposed to live there, even though nothing about it was logical. So we made it happen, planning to put a Newport studio in the garage until we found it a real home.

3. Investing in your home and where you live will bring you more joy than almost anything else you spend on.

4. Having the confidence to trust yourself, even when it doesn’t make sense on paper, will take you further than waiting for the logic to catch up.

5. Live in a room before you decorate it. The best design choices come slow, not from one frantic Saturday at a store.

The start of the new year was a blur. We built out Culver City and I was in the studio, hands on, for six weeks straight. It’s hard, but it’s also my favorite kind of hard, watching a vision become an actual room you can stand in. Somewhere in the middle of that we also started our move down to Orange County. Chaos doesn’t begin to cover it, February 1st we moved to Newport, February 20th we opened Culver City, March 1st we opened Newport Beach. I’m still a little in awe we pulled it off.

6. Track your finances the way people track macros or step counts. Also, taxes are brutal when you’re an LLC, plan accordingly.

March and April were spent trying to catch our breath with two more studios running. Double the work at least! Anna and I were suddenly pulling ten hour days and still felt like we were behind, which was its own crash course on growth. We had growing pains, made hard calls on infrastructure and our team, and learned a lot about what it actually takes to run four studios with just the two of us on full time HQ.

7. Hire slow, fire fast.

8. It’s your choice to let other people’s energy roll off you instead of carrying it around all day. Three deep breaths before you react buys you the space to choose that.

9. Connection and joy are my actual motivations in this life. Everything else should be in service of those two things, not the other way around.

We also moved our Austin studio to a bigger and better space mid April, which was a dream to officiate our flagship in such a gorgeous space.

May brought the launch of our digital studio, alongside our retreat in Greece, which still doesn’t feel real, and a trip to London with my family. June was catch-up, and then July snuck up on me the way it always does.

10. Spend as much time as you can with your parents and your family. You will never once regret it.

This was also the year I poured more into the creative side of myself. I launched this Substack almost exactly a year ago, grew my social platforms, and got to actually build out what Homebody is, and maybe more importantly, get clear on what it isn’t.

11. I feel my best when I’m expressing myself creatively, in whatever form that takes. I think most of us do.

12. The second I think I've got this business thing figured out is usually the exact moment I get humbled, stay a student of your own business!

I also spent the entire year in therapy, every other week, working on my communication, my stress levels, and my relationship with food. I’m not going to pretend I have it all figured out, because I don’t. But I became a direct communicator this year, I left people pleasing at the door for good. I grew into my leadership more than I have in any year prior, and I feel more confident in myself than I ever have.

13. A good white t-shirt and vintage jeans will feel better than any wild outfit combination you talk yourself into at 8am.

14. Natural fibers stand the test of time. Polyester does not, and neither will your patience for it.

15. Vintage always comes with a story already built in. Buy the piece with history over the piece that’s brand new and forgettable.

16. Movement can be whatever your body is actually asking for that day. Tennis, surfing, gardening, a long walk with someone you love, or dancing around your kitchen. You won’t look any different for choosing the one that isn’t a heated pilates class.

17. Giggles with friends cure a shocking amount of what ails you.

18. The ocean resets me. No matter what kind of day, what kind of year, what kind of mood I walked in with.

19. I feel so much better without coffee, which I did not expect to be true and resent slightly.

20. Wellness doesn’t come from a gadget you found on Amazon.

21. Stay curious and keep learning, read more than you think you have time for.

22. Connect with people!! There’s something to learn from everyone you meet, if you’re actually listening.

23. Be honest and direct. It always pays off, even when it’s the harder thing to say in the moment.

24. Be vulnerable, it’s still the best way I know to actually connect with people.

Sitting here today on my 27th birthday, I’m operating four studios, working on moving Newport to somewhere bigger and better (eek), designing a pilates space inside a wonderful gym we’re partnering with (more here soon), having some exciting growth conversations, and still building out Homebody’s world.

I started opening studios when I was 23. Sitting here at 27, looking back at four years of building, failing, learning, and doing it again, I am so proud of what that girl built. I hope she’d be proud too.

And a few miscellaneous ones that didn’t fit anywhere else in the story but earned their spot anyway:

25. Discernment and refinement is what creates taste. Not more stuff, not more noise: knowing what to say no to.

26. If a compliment crosses your mind, say it out loud. Don’t sit on it.

Love you all, thank you for being here!!!!