Fashion Business Owner Musings: Only You Can Choose the Scope of Your Goals

I’m going to start this post off with this: Don’t let others make your goals feel small.

We hear a lot about how people are building big things. They’re disrupting industries, they’re going to be the next Ralph Lauren, they’re changing the way people shop, they’re going to have a global headquarters, 150 employees, and raise a Series A of 2 million.

That’s great for them. And those goals are admirable, impressive, and incredibly exciting. But if all of that sounds like nothing near what you want in life (which is how it sounds for me), don’t let that make you feel like your goals aren’t important.

You’ve heard me many times for quite a few years now talk about defining your own path. This has been the message that the StartUp FASHION brand has communicated for a long time. To toot our our own horn a bit, we were really the first fashion business resource to confidently communicate this message — you don’t have to do things the traditional way and you can absolutely build a business that complements your lifestyle.

And I find myself  this week wanting to reiterate that message.

Here’s the thing. The reason that this message has been such a cornerstone of the StartUp FASHION brand and beliefs is because it is a cornerstone of me and my beliefs.

When I say that you can and should build a business that complements your lifestyle, I mean that you get to look at what it is you want in life and then build a business around it, rather than thinking you have to create a “legitimate” fashion business, doing all the things that people in this industry tell you you’re “supposed” to do, and then try to find happiness in that.

The issue that tends to arise when you start to talk about your lifestyle business is that you can sometimes feel like your goals aren’t big enough, important enough, or exciting enough. But that’s not true.

I was in a meeting this morning with an incredible group of women, all speaking about things like “pursuing their seed round”, hiring their 25th employee, or opening their European offices. It was inspiring to see such impressive accomplishments, goals, and aspirations among the group. But I have to be honest, I was glad I wasn’t one of them.

I have a very clear idea of what I want Startup FASHION to be. The goals around this business are all tied into how I want to live my life and sometimes that can seem to others as “small potatoes”. Maybe for them, it is. But for me it’s not. I love my life and I want to continue to run and grow a business that allows me to keep on living it exactly as I please.

And the same applies to you. Fashion is a crazy, crazy industry, designers. There are so many different directions you can take and so many different kinds of businesses you can build. And if you reflect on your options and ultimately decide that the business you want to build doesn’t require seed rounds and $100,000 runway productions, and $5,000 a month publicist invoices, and getting in Barneys, that doesn’t mean that you goals are any less admirable, impressive, or exciting than those who are pursuing that.

You still get to talk about your business with excitement AND, you still get to share what you’re doing with confidence and pride. Decide want you want and own that decision because it’s yours and yours only to make.

Lots of love and encouragement,