Looking back, Looking forward

One of my favorite things to do in January is to look back at the year just ended and give thanks to all the good things that happened. Running a business can feel like a never-ending roller coaster, so I need these periods of reflection to appreciate how far we’ve come!

We moved into our first studio/warehouse space a year ago, which resides in the basement of an old building. The lights didn’t work well and it was really cluttered. I was there by myself most days, with Robin coming in a few hours a week to help out. Now we’ve got it cutely decorated  and I have awesome staff working every day. Major improvement.

As the business grows, I’m always trying to remember why I started Po Campo to make sure I’m making the right decisions for moving forward. I spoke about some of this soul-searching during my presentation at the Women’s Bike Summit in Long Beach in September. Forcing myself to articulate why I enjoy biking, and how it differs from the way the bike industry speaks about biking, helped me realize why Po Campo is so special and how to continue on that path. Being swarmed by enthusiastic women afterwards confirmed that I’m not the only one who feels about biking that way!

Lastly, I’ve been loving our active community on Facebook. We grew from 1,000 fans to 4,700+ in one year! We love the comments, interactions and photos of our bags in action. Nothing beats that.

We have a lot of new bags coming in 2013 – maybe I overdid it! Designing and producing bags is so fun. As I said in my “Why I Bike” presentation, I love to bike because it give me that free and unfettered feeling. Traveling also gives me that feeling, so expanding the line to travel bags made sense. I also want to take a big foreign trip adventure this year! I’m thinking Thailand, or back to Mexico.

My New Year’s resolution is to meditate for 20 minutes a day. I can get real agitated and anxious with owning a business and I think this will help me stay cool and mindful. I’ve only missed one day so far, so I’m off to a good start.

I also plan to do more volunteering this year – hopefully in Po Campo’s name. I grew up doing a lot of volunteering but the last few years I’ve felt that I’ve been too busy. But, I recognize life is too short to not do the things you need to do to stay fulfilled, so I am making this a priority.

What are your resolutions or goals for this year?