u/AyInTheMood

Last year, I quit my job while dealing with career burnout and a strong desire to build something of my own, and started my own brand.

Overall, the year has been fuller and more meaningful than any year I had in my previous career. Since my income was unstable in the beginning and I also wanted to meet more people and understand different businesses, I started offering brand services. I successfully helped a startup brand increase sales by 5x, and the project went from losing around 10k per month to becoming profitable.

At the same time, my own store slowly went from having no visitors at all, to getting occasional orders, to now having stable orders. Compared to January, my business has grown 5x so far this year, and it’s still growing. I also became involved in animal rescue work, helping take care of animals while also giving business-related suggestions to the organization.

Of course, not everything went smoothly. There were many moments when I felt exhausted and wanted to give up. But somehow, I kept going.

1)The first thing I had to learn was not how to face failure, but how to face silence.

When I first opened my store, I went through around two months of complete uncertainty. Everything was quiet. No orders, no messages, no signs telling me whether I was doing the right thing or if I should change direction.

This was completely different from working a normal job. Things no longer moved in a straight line. Progress became uneven and unpredictable. I had to learn how to become more patient.

2)There was a period last year that almost crushed me.

I was calculating my daily expenses while comparing them to my unstable income, and I started feeling hopeless whenever I compared it to the salary I had before quitting.

Later, I realized I was comparing two completely different systems and two completely different stages of life. I was using my old standards to pressure my current self, and that wasn’t fair or realistic.

I slowly learned to rethink goals and focus on the stage I’m currently in, comparing myself to last week, last month, or last quarter instead of comparing myself to my previous job.

3)In my previous career, I was used to answering questions and solving problems immediately.

Over the past year, I started intentionally slowing down my response time sometimes. I became quieter. I spent more time thinking before reacting.

This helped me focus better and saved a lot of mental energy. I no longer assume every question deserves my immediate attention. Compared to instinctively answering “questions,” I think it’s more important to respond to the real “purpose” behind them.

4)Over the past year, I handled every part of the business alone.

I’m just an ordinary person with limited energy and limited abilities. I can’t operate like a machine all day and night. Sometimes I procrastinate. Sometimes I avoid things and make excuses. Sometimes I can’t focus well at all.

Because of this, I realized what I needed wasn’t perfect time management, but better energy management, doing the right kind of work at the right time, and letting myself work more naturally instead of constantly forcing myself. (Like right now, choosing to stop working and write this post instead.)

What I need is not short bursts of exhausting effort, but the ability to keep moving steadily for a long time.

5)Lastly, something about mental health.

I’m a woman who struggles heavily with PMS. Over the past year, because of hormones combined with business pressure, there was almost a period every month when I felt extremely anxious and wanted to give up everything.

After experiencing this cycle many times, I slowly started understanding my own patterns.

My way of dealing with it became:

a) fully acknowledging and accepting those feelings (instead of blaming myself or assuming slow progress meant I lacked ability),

b) not making major decisions during those periods,

c) resting or switching to different kinds of work,

d) recording milestone moments and celebrating them.

In simple terms, it turns cyclical disruptions into something predictable, manageable, and operable as a structured module.

What‘s next?

Of course, I’ll continue the journey.

Even now, sometimes all of this still feels unreal. I often ask myself, “Is this actually happening?” Sometimes it feels like I’m inside a game, exploring and leveling up step by step.

I still feel afraid quite often. But compared to the fear I used to have before, the kind that only made me anxious, the fear I feel now brings me more clarity, excitement, and caution.

I hope to reach more customers from different countries, and I’m also excited to meet the next version of myself. Hopefully, one year from now, when I come back and read this again, I’ll have new feelings and new lessons to share.

This post is honestly very personal and probably sounds a little like talking to myself, so thank you very much if you read this far. I hope you continue moving forward in your own adventure too.