I want to write the honest version of this, not the polished one. Because the polished one isn't particularly useful to anyone.
It is genuinely hard
There is no time in a day with three children that is naturally "business hours." Most of Cubs Closet has been built between 9pm and midnight, during nap times that are never long enough, and in stolen twenty-minute windows while something is in the oven and the boys are zonked out in front of the TV. It's not romantic. It's also not impossible.
The things nobody tells you
Email takes longer than you think. Shipping logistics are their own universe. F***ing content! Please don't get me started on Meta Ads. Photographing products when you have three children who want to be in every photo or don't want a bar of it is like negotiating with a terrorist. The gap between having a good idea and executing it well is always larger than it looks from the idea side.
The things that have surprised me in the best way
The community. I did not expect the volume of messages from parents who feel genuinely seen by what we're doing. People who've been looking for exactly this. People who send photos of their kids in Cubs Closet pieces and write paragraphs about how much they love them. That is, without question, the best part of the job.
What keeps me going on the hard days
Honestly? The product itself. I genuinely love what we make. I believe in it. On the days when everything is hard and nothing is working, I still feel good about the thing we've built. That matters more than I expected it to.
Thank you for being part of this. Every order, every message, every share — it all adds up to something. — Nic x