Diet

Over the last month, it looks like I've lost 7-10 pounds, though I'm not really sure. The only time I stand on a scale is when I go to the doctor and they weigh me—we don't own one.

One of our last customers of the night this past Friday just happened to be a new friend that I made last year while speaking at the Women. Work. Wealth panel that she, on behalf of her company, hosted with Julia Pimsleur, author of Million Dollar Women. She and her friend grabbed pints of our very limited edition flavor — Guava Tres Leches Ice Cream made in collaboration with Sweets and Things, an amazing tres leches bakery in Brooklyn.

I was getting ready for bed a week or two ago when Nick sheepishly said, "Have you lost weight?" I had noticed that my jeans no longer hugged my hips, and when I bent over, my pants slid down with me. I tried to make sense of why my clothes, which have fit me for the last few years, were all of a sudden too big.

Between all my marathon qualification running, working at the stores, and inadvertent intermittent fasting I've been doing, my weight loss has been somewhat inevitable. I retorted, "Of course I have. I've been running and not eating as much because I've been so busy."

And, here we are last year! On Thursday, Ann Shoket, CEO of The Li.st, founder of 10 Minutes to Togetherness, and former editor-in-chief of Seventeen magazine, and I will be in conversation for a fireside chat about all things female entrepreneurship at this year’s Women. Work. Wealth. Benefit. Grab a ticket here.

An illustration of my bare pantry and fridge aka Saturday’s dinner

I haven't done a comprehensive grocery shop in a month. I've been working weekends at the store. And now that I have an office (read: cl-office…closet office) in our production space, I haven't been able to eat breakfast as regularly because I refuse to pay $10 for a breakfast that I could make more healthfully and tastily at home. Let's try not to make sense of this logic, though. My meal alternatives have been mushroom coffee with milk or, better yet, an affogato from the store.

One of the reasons I started working for myself is to have more command of my day. Prior to ice cream life, I was working to advance the missions of other very worthwhile causes—connecting neighbors to each other through the work of their artistic neighbors (the Laundromat Project), creating experiences that ignite curiosity, celebrate identity, and cultivate learning among children (Brooklyn Children's Museum), encouraging artists to think outside the box to remake art history and cultivate creative change (The Kitchen), and so on. These are all worthwhile missions that resonate with me, but hustling to bring them to fruition on the dregs of a salary started to wear me down.

Today, an outsider may say I'm still hustling…but it's different. It's not quite a hustle. I'm molding something instead of chasing it. Our mission is to turn strangers into neighbors while serving delicious, memorable ice cream that represents our cultures and Harlem. The act of doing this is like proverbial gardening for me. It's connected to my home and directly impacts my quality of life from both spiritual and monetary perspectives.

And yet, something has to give.

On Saturday, a customer recognized me while I was checking her out at the Broadway store, and shared how impressed she was that I managed our social media account. I told her that now that I know how to use TikTok, I can’t be stopped! Here’s a video of our collab flavor with Sweets and Things. It has been quite fascinating to see how TikTok has driven traffic to our business since I started getting serious about it.

I am our children's primary caretaker, but since taking on Nick's responsibilities of managing our front-of-house team, I haven't been able to pick them up from school, and I've seen little of them on the weekends. I'm reaching my ceiling of doing it all, and I guess it's showing.

My mother sent me a stern email about how I'm getting older and can't afford to be living on the ropes. She said, "Perpetual motion is eventually going to come at a great cost." And don't I know it. This pace is not exactly what I had in mind when we started this ice cream journey, but it is required at this moment while I rebuild how we hire, onboard, train, manage, and promote our team. I told her that this is just a season. It reminds me of our winter seasons—they're great for rest but terrible for cash flow. This busy season is great for being able to build better relationships with our front-of-house team as I work alongside them and field their questions and concerns, but it's terrible for my goals of striking a balance between work and life.

Hustle culture isn't for me, even though from the outside looking in, it may look like I'm an old pro at it. At the end of the day, I'm just trying to build a life I love. The path I took to get this far is throwing me some curveballs, but success is never easy and often not straightforward. For now, I'm rolling with the punches and am committed to finding a way to tap out before I get knocked out.

A daily diet should consist of three square meals, an opportunity for rest, and many opportunities to express gratitude for all that has been bestowed upon you. I have mastered the latter and am trying to return to the two former.

Keep me in your thoughts.

Petrushka

Your Local Ice Cream Lady & Life/Business Coach