I loved seeing your name in my inbox today, Tenlie!!! I don't know if you feel this way, I know we shared a lot of founder and marketplace experiences and also had a bunch of obviously different experiences, but shopping felt so... off limits to me... when I was dealing with the financial scarcity and subsequent financial ruin of being a founder. At the same time, it felt like one of the very few if not only ways I could "treat" myself or feel like a human person or functional woman. I had a crazy impostor syndrome comparing myself to the polished founders with blowouts and designer clothes-- they'd raised venture capital and they looked so glossy and pretty and I was working in overalls and Vans. (Nevermind that even when I made a great salary, I was still working in overalls and Vans-- that's just who I am. I am wearing overalls and Vans as I type this.)
Ultimately, shopping during and even more so after my time as a founder was one way of restoring some agency to myself or feeling like I was worthy or deserving of things or love or value. In hindsight, I wasted so much fucking money on crap I have long since consigned or donated. It was more about the pursuit of a feeling than an actual need for goods. It probably still is. But it's impossible for me to separate that impulse from the era of extreme scarcity in my life, being a founder and then trying to heal my extreme founder debt. (I'm still not there yet.)
What do you think? I'm curious if you feel like that's part of it for you too, but I also know the jobs we took on immediately after selling our businesses were very different.
She’s soooo back
massive credit to you honestly
I loved seeing your name in my inbox today, Tenlie!!! I don't know if you feel this way, I know we shared a lot of founder and marketplace experiences and also had a bunch of obviously different experiences, but shopping felt so... off limits to me... when I was dealing with the financial scarcity and subsequent financial ruin of being a founder. At the same time, it felt like one of the very few if not only ways I could "treat" myself or feel like a human person or functional woman. I had a crazy impostor syndrome comparing myself to the polished founders with blowouts and designer clothes-- they'd raised venture capital and they looked so glossy and pretty and I was working in overalls and Vans. (Nevermind that even when I made a great salary, I was still working in overalls and Vans-- that's just who I am. I am wearing overalls and Vans as I type this.)
Ultimately, shopping during and even more so after my time as a founder was one way of restoring some agency to myself or feeling like I was worthy or deserving of things or love or value. In hindsight, I wasted so much fucking money on crap I have long since consigned or donated. It was more about the pursuit of a feeling than an actual need for goods. It probably still is. But it's impossible for me to separate that impulse from the era of extreme scarcity in my life, being a founder and then trying to heal my extreme founder debt. (I'm still not there yet.)
What do you think? I'm curious if you feel like that's part of it for you too, but I also know the jobs we took on immediately after selling our businesses were very different.