let's talk about potential

let's talk about potential: not every food business has dreams to open a storefront or to expand to co-packer style manufacturing or being in every location imaginable

I have heard for YEARS that Happy Belly is not living up to alllllll of our potential

While I'm flattered they have seen so much in what we've created, this is not the direction I want to go

We've looked at + planned for a number of storefront spaces over the years-- the spot where Filli's is in Valatie, a spot on Warren with @tincanjuicery, the entire Catskill National Bank and Trust for a combination performance/co-working/bar/bakery spot (this one I wanted the most)

All the dreams are there

All the pathways are open

It just matters which direction I turn my attention toward

I can't help but think that "potential" is just someone else's projection of a hypothetical future

One that they will undoubtedly be absent

Not there for the waking up at 4am to slice breads and cut bars, the 14 hour baking shifts, the making hard decisions about bottom lines, the not being able to balance and shift when you need to balance and shift ALL THE TIME

I used to feel a lot of pressure thinking about all my squandered potential

All until I started listening to what my heart was telling me:

Small

Sustainable

Connection

Freedom

Those are the concept ingredients that created the Happy Belly recipe

The minute I stopped listening to the projections was the minute I settled into pride for what I created and nurtured over this decade

Conscious awareness, all the way

I am still that 14 year old girl who's most loved job was the farmers market

Waking up at 4am to load the box truck with fruit for markets in NYC with @locustgrovefrui

I worked 4 per week over the summers until I was 18-- 175th St, Union Square,Thompkins Square Park, and Borough Hall in Bklyn

The conversations + connections, the energy + vibe, the immediacy of the interactions 🔥 our regulars, the product, the sales pitch, counting the money, working back to back 14 hour days (all that teen energy😆), but mostly the freedom of being outside while conducting business

Honest work

But please, tell me how to run the show

I'll wait ✋😝