written November 16, 2011

Our launch date is set:  Thursday, January 5, 2012
Our original target launch date was set for the fall, and everything was going perfectly to plan…or so I  thought.. and then I  realized ..you can only control so much… actually, you control so very little..  In September it became clear we would need more production time for the Goddess Collection, a few more weeks. That’s ok… no biggie really.. it will give us more time to fine tune the website, and our new date easily moved out. It’s a little later than the original plan, but still before the holiday season gets into full swing. I decide to embrace the changes, and go with the flow..after all, I can’t control everything.. 

Then two things happened, I had a long conversation with my Dad, and there was a little production glitch.

A conversation with Dad
Starting a new venture while holding down a full time “day job” is an extraordinary undertaking. Especially when the day job moves well into the evenings, weekends, and requires oodles of travel. One thing keeping me going on all fronts is the undying passion I have to create and launch this concept…. the second is the amazing group of people working on KiraGrace. They are all so positive and full of energy and enthusiasm for what we are creating. I have found so much support within the community and friends and family.. and it is this energy that has kept me going.. and yet, even with all this energy,  I know that I am close to being tapped out. There needs to be more balance in my life right now.  And so one thing has to change.. I need the gift of time.. and it’s funny.. I just recently realized that this idea of the KiraGrace timeline, the launch date, was entirely self-imposed, and it was too constricting… and really artificial. I needed to re-evaluate all workloads, business and personal and family commitments, and decide how to best allocate my focus in the next 60 days. After much discussion and counsel, I decided it would be in everyone’s interest to launch KiraGrace  in January - after the storm of the holidays. It feels like the smart thing to do.. This will give us all the gift of time.. .time to better prepare, work on PR, gather wear-testing feedback… and, of course, enjoy the holidays.  Thanks Dad.

And then, on the same date of this decision, sixteen cartons of our pants arrive! I am so excited, tearing into the boxes to try them on and see how they look. I pull a size small from each of the four bottoms we have in the line and put “The Goddess Skinny” on. That’s funny,..the pants are a bit too long! Do I have them on correctly? I adjust the waist, hips and thighs, and yes..they are definitely dragging on the ground, and no adjustment is going to make up for the extra length here. …and, btw, I’m not petite – I’m nearly 5’8″. Hmmm… I try another and another and another..same thing in all styles and sizes. I know immediately what happened and it is an easy mistake, and completely my oversight.  Thank goodness we have great partners.. a quick email to Greg and Becky, and a few phone calls later, and I am re-packing 16 cartons of product and sending it all back to the maker to hem and adjust the length. Delay is 3 to 4 weeks. Not a bad turn around. It is clear that we would not have been able to hit our self-imposed launch date anyway!!  Feels like the world is telling me to hold off a bit.. It’s interesting how all things point to the same conclusion – KiraGrace will launch in January.

There were definitely some good lessons that came from this production issue: 
Put in place the necessary process checks!
Don’t scrimp on time just because you know what you’re doing and you’ve done this a million times before
Confidence breeds risk. 
Embrace change and Love the ongoing lessons!

Make the most out of everything: I kept a few of the too-long pants and will now be offering “Talls” to those fabulously lanky gals with a 34″ inseam!