Today, I spent most of my time going back and forth between Abacus and Claude, building a blog post and two emails for a client. After going back and forth tweaking and fixing code, I started to feel overwhelmed with frustration. Frustrated that the process seemed to not be getting any faster, despite working with AI like this for several months. Frustrated that maybe I was being too critical, too picky, expecting too much from ever-progressing tools. Frustrated that the only way I was really getting out my frustration was going back and forth with a bot and not a human, feeling like maybe some level of understanding would’ve been solved quicker if a second “me” were across the screen.

I pretty much work alone. Not entirely by choice but by circumstance, and I’m just now learning how to embrace it. My coffee shop community and a few Slack networks have become my pseudo-coworkers, but for the better part of my working hours, my primary collaborator is AI. I’ve had to figure out, over time, where I trust it and where I don’t.

I refuse to use AI for photography or image generation. I won’t lie, I’ve tried it, but each time the image feels so bizarre I can’t put it out with much confidence. I find that I appreciate those images when they are truly fantastical and whimsical and not meant to be a recreation of the human eye, but when the obvious point is that only AI could come up with this.

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Within 20 minutes of walking down the gravel path and into the pavilion, I was immediately struck by a piece by Jann Cheifitz of Lucky Fish. Two words, stacked vertically, mirror-imaged: Enough is Enough. You know that feeling when you see a piece of art and feel it deep in your bones that it needs to come home with you, that it’s speaking directly to you? That’s what happened, instantly.

While Jann was ringing me up, we exchanged excited words about the piece and I mused about where exactly to put it. Living room, son’s room, office. I told her I’d just launched my business a few weeks ago and she didn’t hesitate,“Oh, your office! It absolutely has to go in your office.” And there it landed. Reminding me every day.

I’ve been going to Field + Supply since 2021. As a buyer, as a seller, and as a shopper. Every time I go, I reconnect with a community of familiar faces and genuine relationships. My little network grows each year. Favorite products I have to stock up on. New makers to discover. And this year, more than any other, I left feeling like the market itself was saying something. We’re all out here. Still building. Still showing up.

I left with pockets full of business cards. A ceramic fish pendant necklace. Two oil sticks that combine into the most heavenly all-natural scent I’ve smelled in years. A ceramic bowl that will hold collected seashells. My tried and true soaps. A new face oil. Artwork for my son’s room and a sweet travel play mat of the Hudson River. I could have left with so much more. (I’m still dreaming about two different sets of espresso cups (here and here) that would have been perfect together for my someday dream studio, a quilt, pretty tops and dresses…) Slowly but surely, my little collection of treasures will grow. Both the objects and more importantly, the people.

As I browsed the booths and chatted with founders, we kept echoing the same thing back to each other. Sometimes it just takes one. One purchase. One conversation. One introduction that unlocks the next thing. It’s not a formula. It’s not a funnel. It’s just showing up, being present, and letting the right people find you.

With all of the tools and platforms and optimizations available to a small business right now, it can feel like nothing is ever enough. There’s always a new update, a new version, something else to improve. That frenzy is loud. And it will drown you if you let it. Especially right now, when it feels like every week brings a new AI tool that promises to change everything. There’s a version of all of this that genuinely helps. There’s also a version that pulls you further from the thing that makes your business worth finding in the first place. (More on that next week.)

What I keep coming back to is this. What you have is enough. What you’re building is enough. You are enough. The market is hard right now, yes. But the answer isn’t to become something you’re not. It’s to get smarter about where and how you show up, and to trust that your right customer is out there looking for exactly what you make.

Sometimes it just takes one.

QUICK HITS

Five things I read, heard, or noticed this week. All worth the two minutes.

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Welcome to the inaugural edition. This one is free, open to anyone, and a little bit of everything that's been living in my head this week. If it resonates, pull up a chair every Wednesday. That's where I'll be.

THE MAIN STORY

It’s been a heavy few months. Years, maybe. Favorite stores closing. Brands sold for parts. Opening Instagram started to feel like a manic fever dream oscillating between tearful closures and probiotic protein soda influencer ads. And then one day I opened the app and saw Diet Prada’s announcement that Everlane had been acquired by SHEIN.

Everlane was a brand built entirely on radical transparency. Published factory names. Itemized cost breakdowns. Supply chains you could actually trace. Then in 2020, they raised an $85 million Series F led by L Catterton, the consumer- focused private equity firm backed by LVMH. By 2021, Michael Preysman was eased out as CEO, moved to executive chair, and watched from the outside as the brand he built got sold to the precise antithesis of everything he stood for. He found out twenty minutes before the rest of us did.

Within days, Preysman launched stillradical.com. No product. Just a note and an email signup form. “I started Everlane in 2011. Last week, the current management team sold it to Shein. So we’re starting over. Same principles, but a new take. And this time: no venture capital, no private equity.”

There are 89,647 signups as of today. That’s 89,647 engaged, intentional, potential customers. A list we would all love. More than that, it’s a signal about where the consumer’s head is right now. People are tired of watching things they love get hollowed out. They’re voting with their attention, their wallets, and their signup forms. So this is a quiet note to the small brands. To the ones who haven’t taken funding, or who have chosen carefully, or who are simply building something real at a pace that feels manageable and true.

I saw proof of this in person last weekend. More on that next week.

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QUICK HITS

Five things I read, heard, or noticed this week. Unrelated to each other. All worth the two minutes.

01 — Trend spotting

Cerulean blue’s all grown up. Cobalt, the bolder, brighter, more daring hue, is what's next. It's already showing up in packaging, storefronts, food and beverage, fashion, and all over TikTok and Instagram. See if you can work it into your current line or something adjacent. Read more on Vogue.

02 — Worth noticing

Screen fatigue is real and your customers are feeling it. Hatch alarm clocks, refurbished iPod shuffles, dumb phones. They want to be in person, in a room, touching things. That's your opening. How do you get them there? Dallas Express on the analog comeback.

03 — Worth doing this week

If your email open rates feel flat, Beehiiv put out a useful breakdown of what drives 55% open rates. Consistency, niche relevance, short subject lines, content people can use immediately. Nothing revolutionary, but a good gut check on where your list might be leaking. Beehiiv on open rates.

04 — Practical tool

Klaviyo quietly launched an AI feature that reviews your emails before you send — deliverability, subject line, content cohesion, the whole thing. I ran a test this week and found it genuinely teachable. Not all AI is noise. This one is worth your time.

05 — Worth listening to

The Business of Home Podcast episode with David Littman of Hudson Valley Lighting Group — who recently acquired Schoolhouse — is a good one for anyone building something for the long haul. Four decades in lighting, a clear-eyed take on dupes, product newness, and what it actually takes to survive. An hour well spent. Listen here.

TO CLOSE

I'll end every issue with something worth sitting with. This week, via Katie Elliott's Design School, I came across Wendell Castle's ten rules of thumb, I hope it brings you as much joy and inspiration as it did me:

1. If you are in love with an idea, you are no judge of its beauty or value.

2. It is difficult to see the whole picture when you are inside the frame.

3. After learning the tricks of the trade, don't think you know the trade.

4. We hear and apprehend what we already know.

5. The dog that stays on the porch will find no bones.

6. Never state a problem to yourself in the same terms it was brought to you.

7. If it's offbeat or surprising, it's probably useful.

8. If you do not expect the unexpected, you will not find it.

9. Don't get too serious.

10. If you hit the bullseye every time, the target is too near.