I can’t believe I bought a business

If you told January Bailey that she’d own a baby boutique in Prince George and had largely given up on cloth diaper content creation and social media management – she’d laugh. 

I had been living that dead end street of being overworked and undervalued within the cloth diaper industry for years – I didn’t really know how to take it to the next level in a way that felt true to myself and the industry. 

I do feel like I let down the Cloth Diaper Industry. I abandoned ship on a lot of really great projects the industry needed – which is largely the biggest struggle with the cloth diaper industry: the burn out of good people because the industry is dominated by a direct from factory model that puts education and advocacy on the shoulders of unpaid women. It’s a community that scoffs at the idea that money can be made, and that money should be made, and that people deserve liveable wages instead of diaper trades. It’s an industry of micro sized businesses trying to survive and show value in a product people are scared to buy, scared to invest in – and when they do often refuse to invest in. 

We’ve had a few cries this month on whether I made a mistake, and how I’ll endure the next 6 weeks… but it’s okay, it’ll come together on the other side.

I keep hoping I’ll find the time to do the other things I enjoyed doing – especially learning the stories of brands and people. But, it’s just not coming together like I want.

I am on the prowl for a learning conference in 2023 – something to help me with my gaps like forecasting and preordering stock levels, diversity and inclusion, nurturing and coaching employees, and a few up to date tricks in social media management and SEO – because I wear all the hats. 

But I’m not sure something like that exists in the Small Business Retailer Owner world. I am up for friends though, all the friends because the world of retail is not me competing with you – but me finding a way that we can compliment each other. I can’t possible serve every customer, and thrive best when I know and have the answer on where someone can go instead of me.