I'm New Here Too!

I’ve been a little quiet lately.

Not because there hasn’t been anything happening with Daymaker. Ironically, I think it’s because there has been too much happening everywhere else.

Jared has been away for work, and what was supposed to be a certain amount of time away has now been extended longer than we originally expected. Which means, for the most part, it’s just me and our toddler holding down the fort at home.

And I have to say - the transition from baby to toddler has humbled me.

I don’t know why I thought the baby stage was going to be the hard part. Suddenly I have this tiny person with places to be, things to climb, cupboards to empty and very strong opinions about things I didn’t even know it was possible to have an opinion about.

She’s hilarious. She’s my favourite little person in the world. But she is exhausting. I'm exhausted!

The funny part is that when Jared does come home, technically that should be my best opportunity to get things done. He can occupy her. I can film. I can sit at my computer uninterrupted. I can batch content and finally get ahead. Except I don’t really want to. When we have such limited time together as a family, I don’t want to spend it in another room talking to my phone. I want us to do something together. I want to be present for the small amount of time that all three of us are actually under the same roof.

And I think I’ve been feeling guilty about that.There’s always this little voice reminding me that I should be making content. But I’m trying to get better at accepting that sometimes being present is more important than being productive.

Then there are the cows.

For anyone new here, Jared and I breed bucking cattle for professional bull riding. It’s a part of our life I probably don’t explain very often because, it's not very "haircare" related.

South East Queensland has been incredibly dry lately, which means I’ve been spending a lot of time feeding cattle. We’re also getting ready to artificially inseminate our cows, so keeping them at the right weight and in good condition is particularly important at the moment. When there isn’t enough rain and feed in the paddocks, that responsibility doesn’t disappear. It just becomes another job that needs doing.

So between feeding cattle, keeping a toddler alive and attempting to keep a household functioning, there’s also this small matter of trying to launch a haircare brand.

Which brings me to Daymaker.

I think I massively underestimated how long it takes to “build a business.” Or maybe more specifically, how long it takes to build a business before there is actually a business to show people.

The pre-launch stage is strange. You can spend an entire day working and somehow have nothing tangible to show for it at the end. Everything seems to depend on something else being finished first.

Formulation affects packaging. Packaging affects photography. Photography affects marketing. Marketing affects launch. And when one thing gets delayed, everything sitting behind it moves too. It’s like this painfully slow line of dominoes, except instead of watching them fall, I’m standing there waiting for someone to deliver the next domino. There seems to be a delay in almost every project I start.

And I know that’s normal.

Manufacturing takes time. Formulation takes time. Sampling takes time. Making changes and sampling again takes even more time. I knew all of this when I started. I just don’t think I understood what it would feel like.

Because from my side, I feel like I’m constantly working on Daymaker. But from the outside, I can imagine it sometimes looks like nothing is happening. That has probably contributed to me disappearing from social media a little too.

I had an early December launch in my head for my first product. For months, December has felt like the finish line I’ve been running toward. But right now It feels very far away.

I’m still pushing for it. I haven’t officially given up on December, and there is definitely a stubborn part of me that wants to put my head down and somehow make it happen. But I’m also starting to ask myself a question I probably need to ask:

Am I pushing for December because it’s genuinely the right time to launch Daymaker, or because I told myself I would?

Would another couple of months actually be such a terrible thing? Would it give me time to get the product exactly where I want it? Build more content? Refine the launch strategy? Stop making decisions because I’m racing an imaginary clock?

Logically, I know the answer. Emotionally, I’m finding it a little harder. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t feeling disheartened by it.

I think when you set a goal privately, it can somehow become a promise. Even when nobody else is holding you to it. December was my expectation. So moving that expectation feels a little bit like failing to meet it. And I know that's not necessarily rational.

Nothing has gone terribly wrong. Daymaker isn't failing. My first product is still coming. It’s just taking longer.

Maybe that’s one of the things I want these posts to be a place for. Social media is very good at showing the milestones.

Formula approved.

Packaging arrived.

Something exciting is coming.

It’s not quite as good at showing the months in between, when you're feeding cows in the morning, wiping yoghurt off a toddler in the afternoon, answering packaging emails during nap time and wondering at 9pm whether you should be filming a TikTok or catching up on much needed sleep.

There’s a lot of life happening between the milestones. And right now, mine feels particularly full.

I don’t know yet whether Daymaker will launch in December. I really hope it does!

But I’m also trying to remind myself that the goal was never just to launch something by December. The goal was to build a brand and a product line to make great hair easier! And maybe I need to give myself a little more time to do that properly?

Anyway, that’s life lately!

See you next month,

Abbey x