BTS BUILDING 2ND HOUSE
Life Updates & How Divorce Led Me To My New Business Model
I wrote this stack yesterday overlooking a very moody Brooklyn and listening to the pitter patter of the rain on my two kitchen skylights. I still oscillate daily between “I can’t believe I live here” and “of course I live here.”
This year has been the year of holding two contradicting truths at once. To love, but to leave. To trust, but to also be terrified. To be in bliss, but also grief. For most of my life, I thought growth meant fixing and contorting these contradictions into one. Picking a side. But lately, I’ve been (re)learning that it’s how to hold these complexities at once without rushing to solve them.
We celebrated the summer solstice this past weekend and I’m not sure if it’s because I had a big weekend out—highly rec Le Dive for people watching in the west village and Faena for a Miami-inspired espresso martini—but this summer solstice felt softer, more playful. Around this time, I typically look at what’s being illuminated in my life so I can optimize. But this year felt different. Instead of asking where I needed to push harder, I found myself slowly surrendering more deeply into myself, my home and this season of life. That’s either trust or the tequila talking from the night before. Likely a bit of both.
I recently hired a personal organizer to help me settle in. An investment I never knew I needed and now will likely never live without. We met for a “purge” on the first day and I got rid of nearly 70% of my clothes. Things I’d been carrying for probably a decade but felt the need to hold onto. At the end of the day, I got a knock on my door. A TV show was filming on the roof and residents were getting an inconvenience fee… for the exact cost of my organizer. My jaw literally dropped in front of them. That’s exactly how energy works though, but it never ceases to amaze me! Here’s to continuing to let go of what no longer aligns to create the space to receive what is.
Which is exactly what I’ve been doing with 2ND HOUSE.
I’ve been wanting to write this stack for weeks (months?), but I’ve been allowing the business to “breathe” while I reground personally. After moving through a very challenging season marked by uncertainty, emotional extremes, and the constant pressure to prove myself, I’ve been reclaiming something far more valuable: self-trust.
This process has been a reason of why I’ve been so elusive about 2ND HOUSE in the first place. The evolution of my business isn’t separate from my divorce. If anything, the two are deeply intertwined.
There’s nothing quite like building a startup to reveal who can remain steady under pressure. The journey has a way of revealing truths. Weathering those storms early turned out to be one of the greatest gifts.
