Time

Time is everything to me. It’s become so obvious to me how much I value it and the freedom I possess when I truly own it. Freedom to further the cause, to invest in eternal work and to simply enjoy life and it’s many joys. Being in the shop takes away my time, so that’s why I’m moving on. Don’t get me wrong, having the shop at South Melbourne Market for the past 18 months has been the best thing I could have done for Theo and surprisingly, for myself personally.

Sure, I could hire staff and manage the shop behind the scenes. Then again, every small business owner will tell you it’s not that simple. When staff don’t turn up to work, when stock is low, when sales are slow, when people steal stuff, it all comes back to me. I also truly value the relationships I have built with returning customers at the shop, and you can’t delegate human connection. I try to remember names as best as possible and I’m getting emotional now as I type this, because I so greatly appreciate that people are willing to spend their precious time, money and energy on Theo. I’m not sure that an employee could relay that gratitude to the extent I want to express consistently.

I get a lot of people asking ‘is it, you know, going well?’ and sometimes I think ‘sure, go ahead and ask me personal questions about my finances even though we just met’. Other times I think ‘I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you have my best interests at heart and want to check that I’m actually doing ok, or that you’re at the beginning of your own business journey and are looking for others to help you on your way (just as I was four short years ago!). As an aside, whether or not we’ve actually met before is a big factor. Literally as I’ve been typing this blog post I’ve had two people come and ask me how the shop is going. The first who I had never even met, proceeded to ask if it’s been good for me and why I’m leaving. The other I’ve met twice before through sustainable fashion circles came in especially to chat with me because she’s thinking about doing a pop-up at the market. I was more than happy to share with her because a) I had an existing relationship with her, b) she’s lovely and c) she acknowledged that I was helping her out (asking about suppliers, tips on doing markets) and asked me to contact her if she could help me with anything in future. Networking (or relationships…) done right and very, very wrong, people!

In case you’re wondering, the shop is going well. I could easily have applied for a long term lease and spent the next three years continuing to grow Theo through a physical retail space. Because of the shop, I’ve been able to pay myself for the first time since starting the business, increased turnover and therefore prouction quantities, and even grown the online channel too. With loyal returning customers, a home base for first-time customers to meet and greet, and the increasing awareness of sustainable fashion in Melbourne especially, I can project growth and stability in the years to come (as much as you possibly can with the retail economy anyway). Brick and mortar is a long term game, and perhaps this is why my time is up.

I hope to inspire people to chase big dreams, and being in a retail shop, no matter how comfortable or stable the income, was just one phase of my big dream. There is more work to be done in the ethical fashion arena and thanks to my season in the shop, I am ready to move on to the next adventure! Theo the Label is unchanged, except that I’ll be using all my experiences from the shop to shape and mould us into the best, most authentic, impactful label we can possibly be, and it will predominantly be online. YOU, our loyal tribe, have provided a safe space to gather a whole range of feedback about our clothing and our ethos - thank you. For the record, the quality of Theo clothing is right up there - it washes well and maintains it’s shape, you constantly receive compliments when you wear Theo pieces, and more clothing labels should care about their garment workers the way we do - your words, not mine ;)

So what’s next? Let’s go back to my value of time. They say you only need to make enough money to meet a certain level of basic needs (estimated to be a $70,000 salary in Australia) in order to experience true happiness and get this, any more than that and your happiness decreases. I can’t cite that because I have no idea where I read it or if it’s even truth, but I choose to believe it. Time is worth more than money to me. As I so morbidly like to remind people, our days are numbered and we don’t know the number! I’m more aware of this than most people so I’m very conscious of how I spend my time. I want to spend time with Tim, family and friends. I want to create world-changing impact and share truth. I want to travel. I want to take care of my mental, physical and spiritual health so that I can do all these things with vigour and encourage others to pursue the same (except time with Tim, I would prefer not to share him around!). I have yet to hear a deathbed story where one confesses they should have spent more time at the office/hustling their small business/renovating their forever home. Just sayin'.

Tim and I want to work together and we’re launching a new project to share our version of sustainability in 2019. (Did someone say YouTube Channel? I guess you’ll just have to wait and see since this post is already far too long to explain more...) It will be honest, it will probably be really embarrassing but it will definitely be meaningful. Without the shop in 2019, we’ve already booked two trips overseas, one to celebrate Tim’s big 3 0 in his birth city, Seoul, and another to visit my grandma in my hometown, Sandakan. Bali will no doubt be in there too, hopefully with a handful of big interstate markets, and fingers and toes crossed for one more big trip for my own 30th birthday in August. Our winter collection is in the pipeline, followed closely by summer and before we know it, it’ll be 2020. I’m so excited for this year. Thank you so much for coming with me!