Things to Consider

I am completely convinced that on a fairly regular cycle, the universe serves up a day to make me question all of my life choices as an entrepreneur. And I guess I was due, because today SLAYED ME. And all the dumb nuances of what made me consider opening our back door and throwing my PJP keys out into the alleyway aren’t even important, but I’m not afraid to admit here that I one hundred percent considered it. I’m sorry to report that I dealt with all my emotions by crying a little bit and eating 2/3 of a box of Girl Scout cookies…you know, like a legit professional does. (Peanut Butter Patties, if you need to set the scene. I would be completely curious what sort of cookies you ate if you were having a mild breakdown, so I feel it is important to include all the details here.) I’ll just pause here while you think all that through.

92% of my problem today was that I continually underestimate demand on Tuesdays. And you can ask anyone on Team PJP, but the truth is we all pick Tuesday as our least favorite day of the week. We start with nothing in the store and a baking list a mile long. And as we’ve grown, I still see us as a “oh, one nine inch coconut and three babies should be good for coconut for the day” but the reality is that we are living more in the world of “three nine inch coconut and six babies is good for the day”. It reminds me of when my 80 pound dog likes to sit in my lap like when he was a puppy and we both enjoy it until my legs fall asleep and he can’t get comfortable, simply because we realize he doesn’t fit anymore. It is hard sometimes when you are so close to something to see the growth and a new set of needs objectively…especially when you love the thing (PJP) or the dog (Sparky) so much.

So noonish found us out of a lot of pie and a dwindling supply on the cooling racks because customers were buying them quickly. And that is a good problem to have, but empty shelves make me SUPER stabby and then I feel out of control, which is my kryptonite. It has gone on for so long now that I can’t even apologize for it, so I won’t offer one here…(primarily because I feel like setting a particular standard and then expecting it to actually happen would be called “leadership” if I were a man, but since I’m a woman, it is more likened to being “controlling”). The bottom line is that I like full shelves of pie and customers who find what they were hoping to purchase. That is hardly a surprise. Figuring out how to get us there in a smart, consistent, and manageable way is a learning curve. And while PJP drove me to eat a disgusting amount of cookies in a moment of despair, I do appreciate that she pushes me to think and adapt and readjust constantly. I just couldn’t think of that positivity in the moment when I wanted to toss the keys into our overfilled dumpster. Good thing the alleyway was full of illegally parked cars, because I couldn’t even get to the dumpster if I had tried.

It took me a bit of time once I got home to get myself calmed down on all levels. And then I took a look at all the emails that I hadn’t had time for during the day and I noticed that the first draft lease from The Kroenke Group for the potential new space had landed in my inbox, so I closed my laptop and drank a big glass of wine.

Though I do wonder how far the back door of potential new space is from the potential larger dumpster. Things to consider.