I am officially closing Inspired Boutique’s doors and starting a new chapter! Writing this post feels like such a weight off my shoulders. That’s probably because in the last year, every time someone has asked me about work it has felt like a punch in the stomach. Internally, I had come to terms with my decision, but I couldn’t quite get myself to admit it out loud. I continually told people “It’s going great, I love it!” While the worries quickly crept in. “What will people think when I actually tell them I am closing?” “Will they think I failed?” “Will they think I am a quitter?” However, throughout the last few months as I began telling friends and family that I am closing, it finally started to feel like a relief. As if all the vexation and dread I had building up this last year to this moment was meaningless. To my surprise, I have been met with people congratulating me, sympathizing with changing life paths and goals, and I began to feel “normal” for my decision.
I am sure for a lot of you who follow along, you may have seen this (or something along the lines) coming. My passion for what I was doing was dwindling, in fact I let it run it’s course a bit too long.
Let’s rewind a bit though… “You’re closing?”
Yes! Inspired Boutique is officially closing their doors! It has been an amazing, rewarding, and unforgettable 3+ years of owning my own business. It’s hard to believe I was 20 years old when I first came up with the idea to open a boutique (and 21 when we opened). I wish I could go back and hug my 20 year old self and tell her she is going to be so proud of herself! However, I am even more proud of myself now that I get to explore those new dreams that have been brewing in my mind!
When did you decide?
The feelings of being on the wrong path crept in slowly, but I vividly remember breaking down on Black Friday 2020. I was at my office while my family made plans to go pick out their Christmas tree later that day. I felt physically sick to my stomach. I sat in my office alone, where I had spent many late nights, looking around at our growing inventory. We had done six figures in sales that year, not to mention during a pandemic, but I felt so uninspired – oh the irony. I didn’t have a problem working hard, but you get to a point where you have to wonder, “Is this dream worth this work? Is this what I want to do forever?”
So I tried to pivot, make new plans for the business, find new ways to get excited… yet that feeling didn’t leave me. It took me almost another six months of reflecting before I realized that emptiness was my heart telling me this was not my long term plan. I juggled my decisions, “Do I find someone else to manage Inspired?” “Do I turn this into something else?” “What do I tell my team?” But in April 2021 I decided it was time to move on, and I told my employees that we would be closing by the end of the year.
The feelings of relief I spoke about before did not come right away. I began putting in less and less time into IB. I didn’t bother to hire models for shoots and just used stock photos, I barely posted to Instagram, I spent time with friends, family, and barely had a “life schedule.” To say it was a crazy year would be an understatement. It would be easy to look back and regret the way I went about these last months, if it hadn’t been for the fact that I learned A LOT. About myself, priorities, business, mental health, perseverance, and most importantly – following my heart.
What now?
All the anxiety I had around closing such a big chapter has started to clear and turn into a shining horizon. I started school again this fall, and I have a new business in the works that I can’t wait to share! Plus, I have spent more time finding myself and prioritizing me. I can’t say I will never work in retail again, but I do not ever see myself going back to Inspired Boutique. It has been the most rewarding three years of my life for many reasons, but the most important thing I gained from it all was an amazing internet family who supported me through it all! I hope you will follow me on my next chapter. Life is about adventure – and we are only here for a short amount of time. You have to give yourself a chance to explore those dreams that keep you up at night!
To my amazing customers…
I want to take a second to thank you for. To say you changed my life is an understatement. I will forever be grateful for each and every one of you who supported me. Because of you I have accomplished so many goals and made so many new friends. I will always cherish you!
If there is one lesson I want you to learn from me, it’s to take the damn risk, but to never to settle for a life that doesn’t fulfill you. Sometimes things don’t always turn out the way our minds painted them to be. If that’s the case you have to close that door, take a step back, and find what is fuels you. Cheers to a new chapter!
xoxo,
Lauren Emily Lindmark
