The 4 Brutal Business Realities No One Talks About (Until You Lose Everything).
Year one: January 4th, 2020. I stood at the altar, a newlywed, bathed in the unreal glow of pure, unadulterated joy. It was the most amazing moment, a dream made real.
Then, April 1st, 2020. The dream shattered. One week after a surgery that nearly claimed my life, the aftermath of an ectopic pregnancy. A rupture, internal bleeding, a desperate, bumpy ambulance ride, all against the backdrop of a world shrouded in COVID’s fear. April and May vanished, swallowed whole by the trauma.
June 1st. My husband, bless his patient soul, was tired of watching me languish. Recovery was slow, work was impossible, the lifting required of my job a distant, painful memory. “Start your own makeup line,” he said, resurrecting a two-year-old whisper: Lemonade Stand Cosmetics.
So, I made a list. We bought supplies, enough for a small batch of lip balms. I crafted the look, the feel, the very essence of my vision. A mini photoshoot captured the magic.
June 14th, 2020. The first lip balms, two scents, launched. Our first year in business had begun. June, July, August, September—a blur of learning social media, navigating self-employment, and simply surviving, all while caring for my two-year-old.
October 3rd, 2020. Akasha Yoga Studio, a pop-up hosted by Sol Boutique. Three hours, five to eight PM. My first pop-up. My first $300 in a single day. "We can do this," we declared. Markets followed, word spread, and by November, we were hitting four grand a month. A sum that would have taken two and a half months at my old job. "We've got something here," I thought.
We were thrust into the spotlight, the holiday rush, a feature in a local magazine, our first news coverage (virtual, of course, thanks to COVID). Products flew off the shelves, ideas bloomed, a frantic dance to keep up with the demand. Year one ended.
The lesson? Don’t tailor your brand to the crowd. Research. Plan. Focus on your core products, their benefits, how they help.
Year 2
If you thought 2020 was wild it gets crazier. January was a breath, a pause, and by March, more magazine features, more news. Then, the whisper of a brick-and-mortar. May 2021, an opportunity too good to pass up: a great price, a great location, an up-and-coming area. We jumped.
A brick-and-mortar, less than a year in business. We announced it, and the response was overwhelming. Months of hard work, revamping, and setting the grand opening: July 17th, 2021. Mid-summer, perfect for a Lemonade Stand.
Fear gnawed at me. Grand opening day arrived, and a line snaked out the door. Strangers, excited, waiting. It was unreal, for me, my business, my family. It meant the world.
Fall and winter of 2021, the Roller Babe collection, a flurry of new products, trying to satisfy every whim, every want, rather than focusing on the needs. Year two ended.
The lesson? We were thrown to the wolves. We should have paused, assessed, grounded ourselves. But we didn’t.
Fun fact: one month after signing the lease for our brick-and-mortar, H-E-B, Texas’s number one grocery store, offered to carry our products. We took both opportunities, a decision that stretched us to our limits.
Year two was a hell of a year. I learned that people, companies, will leech, use your spotlight, then leave you behind. What would I have done differently? Honestly, anyone in our position as new business owners would have done the same. But if only H-E-B had called a month earlier, before the lease. We wouldn’t have done both. But it was too late. We were committed. So, we dove in, store and H-E-B both.
December 18th, 2021. A whirlwind. Fifteen products, variations, launched into H-E-B Plus Saratoga in Corpus Christi. A grand finale to a chaotic year, a secret kept until the last moment, whispered only to closest kin. Then, year three.
A disaster, plain and simple. Three more H-E-B locations, launched during spring break, four stores in total across the Coastal Bend. All the while, my marriage crumbled. I'd gained sixty pounds, a heavy burden on an already heavy frame. Recovery from surgery was a nightmare. Depression clung to me, a suffocating shroud. I poured everything into the business, neglecting the marriage, which, to put it bluntly, was a train wreck.
Spring 2022. A crossroads. Keep the store, or let it go? H-E-B sales had decimated our store traffic, making it an unsustainable expense. We ended the lease. Lost our car. Our marriage was on its deathbed. A grand closing party, May 28th, 2022. Relief, or so I thought. I didn’t know the REAL storm that was coming.
My husband and I, adrift, waiting for the inevitable. I pushed him away, didn’t care about anything. Our business, our family, both in decline. We scraped by, barely calling ourselves self-employed. Fall 2022, the busy season, a brief respite, a chance to claw our way back.
Year three, January 4th, 2023. Our third anniversary, a cold, awkward walk in the park. “Are you okay?” I asked. “You seem… distant.” He assured me everything was fine.
January 8th, 2023. A normal day. Then, the couch, the words: “She’s pregnant.” A woman I’d known, a woman involved with my husband during our rough patch. I froze. Life, at that moment, was a bitter pill.
A few spring pop-ups, then a ten-month hiatus. Business flatlined, a few wholesale orders the only lifeline. September 2023, pop-ups again, a revival, a desperate attempt to breathe life back into the brand. We’d pulled out of H-E-B in August. Awkward questions, “Aren’t you the H-E-B people?” “Oh, too bad,” and then, silence, no purchases.
December 28th, 2023. A rebrand. A new logo, a new name: Lemon Box Beauty. Shorter, cuter, more intentional. My husband was hesitant, but I knew it was right. Two weeks of relentless work, a rebranding launch planned for February.
February 10th, 2024. Lemon Box Beauty was born.
The lesson of 2023? Shit happens. Shit sucks. And you just keep going.
Year four, 2024. A year of rebuilding, not just the brand, but myself, my heart, my life. A year to say, “Fuck everybody else,” and follow God’s direction. I focused, rebuilt, found new customers, new worth. The most important year of my life.
Finally, good things. The storm had passed, for now. My first anime convention, a fusion of my art and my passion. Photo shoots with local influencers, new product launches, pop-ups and markets all year long. My husband and I, working together, creating beautiful things. I worked harder than ever before.
2025 began with focus, continued growth for Lemon Box Beauty and myself. An amazing year planned.
The lesson of 2024? With God, you will prevail.
