Since the madness of packing up to move interstate before Xmas, the exhaustion that comes with unpacking, sorting, and organising our life here as a family back in South Australia and the quiet calmness that descends when I nest, I have finally found the time to be a bit reflective.
It was time to make the move, time to establish my life again in State number three, and time to come home. I moved to Perth to start a life with my now husband and his children. As they have reached adulthood and began spreading their wings, it’s time to give our two the space to grow and live a young life I was lucky enough to; immersed in space and lots of family. WA is stunningly beautiful. I will miss the outdoor lifestyle and sense of adventure it has given us all.
The frontier spirit is absolutely alive there; I have adored the clients whom have allowed Milk & Honey to bubble along while also raising my now toddlers.
I shared the following on Instagram in the week we left Perth:
A few nights ago we marked leaving Perth with a serene photoshoot with the supremely talented @gracevivienphoto . The sky shone with Perth’s inimitable pinks and oranges, the city twinkled in the distance and as if on cue Grace’s playlist played our wedding song. There with Rob, Ruby and our kids wading in the river shallows my heart burst with gratitude. Thank you Perth for all you have given us. I am so excited about our next chapter but I will miss you.”
And now I find myself negotiating the vineyard paths of the Barossa Valley, imbibing of all the good things this region does so well and finding my feet in a place that feels so familiar for all it offers, despite it being a place I have visited a lot, have generated beautiful memories in, but never lived in.
Do I feel nervous about starting again – no. I began Milk & Honey while living in Victoria, consulted in SA, and then picked it up and moved it to WA. My sense of adventure has always served me well and my joy in learning new things means I look forward to what the next 6 to 12 months will bring. Of course, our little ones are my focus, but I have been fortunate when they were babies to craft a work-life balance and boundary setting foundation that ensures as they grow, I too get to be challenged in my working life. Starting again, however, does require a review of my business strategy. A chance to think about where I would like Milk & Honey to go in the next 3 years, what are the ideal clients I would like to work with, and where I need to focus my time to achieve the vision I set myself.
I sat in my office this afternoon, post a Zoom session, the familiar distant boom of the vineyard air gun interrupting my thoughts, and mapped out again my core competencies in preparation for my own strategic review. What do I love about what I do? What makes me good at it? What is unique to me and why do my clients like working with me? Knowing your core competencies is essential for laying the foundations of a solid strategy. I love knowing what makes people tick so it’s no surprise it’s one of my favorite things to do when working with a business. What are your core competencies? Can you map them to your competitive advantage? The call for goal setting often dominates the start of the year. New adventures, new circumstances, new offerings, new clients often mean time could perhaps be better spent reviewing the strategic direction of your business. Let me know how you go.