Work Hard. Rest Harder

I woke up Friday morning, exhausted. I’d been sleeping poorly all week. Every night, despite feeling sluggish all day, the moment my head hit the pillow, I was wired — my to-do list racing through my head and the stressors of all the “what-ifs” tugging at my mind.

The past two weeks had been a whirlwind of emails, meetings, calls, spreadsheets. Early mornings to align with our Portugal partners before their end of business, and extra late nights to tie up loose ends. All in service of getting to this huge milestone: placing our purchase order for the Petal + Ash launch collection garments!

I cannot overstate how big this moment truly is. This is years in the making. A master’s degree. Research, iteration, sourcing, testing, more iteration. All leading to this very moment. The unlock that officially moves my brand towards launch.

That morning I woke up anxious. One way or another, I needed to place the PO (purchase order) that day. Ideally before the end of business in Europe (which put me, in NYC, at a five hour lagging disadvantage). We had already missed my original deadline of the Friday prior due to some open questions that still needed answers, and if there was any hope of getting in the queue with our manufacturer by August, in order to make a late fall launch, this PO needed to get in today.

The last email I needed, an explanation behind the price increase from our original estimates and the actual production cost, had come in. And with that, I double checked the PO I’d put together, paid 50% of the manufacturer’s invoice, and emailed all documents to our production partners. I should have been ecstatic, and I was, but mainly I was just exhausted.

I placed the PO Friday morning, spent the afternoon with my amazing assistant working through some content, and then I took myself to the spa Friday evening.

Me, at my solo Friday night spa date

The push to get to this point was real, and it was tough. Building something you’re passionate about doesn’t make it any less hard. You care more; you feel the weight of it more. The wins feel incredible and the losses feel personal. (Working on the separation of church and state on this one — very much a work in progress).

With the garment PO finally in, my to-do list grows longer with the pending deadlines of ordering our trims, sourcing hang tags, upcoming fittings, website prep, content creation, and on and on.

So I took a full day and a half to step away. Friday night I took myself to a local spa for a facial and some time in the hot and cold plunge pools, and Saturday was lunch and a museum with a good friend, followed by walking NYC (one of my favorite activities), a chill dinner with a friend, and an early evening complete with kitty-cat snuggles.

Placing the purchase order means it’s all forward motion from here. And to stay on top of my game, I also need time to reset. I juggle a lot: a day job I’m passionate about, building my brand (which I’m even more passionate about), a relationship with my partner whom I love, and the frenetic pace of what life in 2026 has come to be. It’s a lot, even on the most fulfilling days.

Ballet culture imparted so many beautiful traits on me, including work ethic. But the other side of that coin is struggling to step away. It was ingrained in me, from a young age, that in order to succeed you must work harder than everyone else. Even in the post girl-boss era, this mentality is still rewarded in female founder culture. And yes, you do need to work hard. But when you don’t take the breaks, you burn out.

Maybe it’s a spa day, maybe it’s an afternoon in the park with a good book, or dinner with close friends (laughter truly is great medicine). Whatever it is, take the break. I say this as a proud work-a-haulic.

The hot plunge at Great Jones Spa in NYC

I’ve heard stories of female founders that have had to step away from the business they built, due to burnout. The churn is hard, and it’s unrelenting. And when you burn out, your dream burns with you. I am too grounded in how important what I’m building is to burn out. That is truly non-negotiable. This isn’t just lingerie I’m bringing to market…they’re years of research, an embodied approach to empower other women, a rebellion against synthetic fibers that harm our bodies and the planet.

Taking a beat is important. In fact, it’s vital. Somewhere along the lines, we were made to believe that self care is selfish. But actually, it’s a non-negotiable, not a reward (though it can be that too). The time to restore, to reground is necessary. It’s the yin to our yang — so we can show up in the way the world needs us, and continue to be the incredible women we are.

So this weekend, I rested. And today, this essay poured out of me.