Ask Me Anything + a Pep Talk
Two of my favorite things - in one spot!
Dear Kula Diaries,
I hope that all of you are having a beautiful day today! Last week, I had such a great time writing my Wednesday Pep Talk … and, to be honest, I really needed it. And, guess what? It worked! I felt great after I sat down and intentionally talked myself into a good-feeling lather… and I loved reading your kind words and your own little pep talks. When something feels good to me… I like to keep heading in that direction, and so today I decided to combine two things that I enjoy: a pep talk + an AMA question!
So, we’re going to start by feeling really great… and then we’ll end with a question about toilet paper that will (hopefully) have you laughing.
Ok, here goes…
The Wednesday Pep Talk
This past week presented me with an uncanny ability to tap into the infinite creativity that exists in the cosmos. What started with some initial frustration, ended up morphing into a gleeful feeling of complete ridiculousness — and a reminder of WHY I started my business in the first place.
Many years ago, I hated going to work. I felt unmotivated and uninspired. I’d have tiny little ‘bursts’ of glory, but then my energy would fizzle, and I’d end up feeling bored and uninterested in what I was doing. Then, when I couldn’t find that ‘spark’ again — I’d quit, and convince myself that what I was doing had probably been a dumb idea anyway. This cycle happened over and over again, and it never seemed to end.
I used to think that other things were always my problem — my relationship, my job, the weather, etc… it was always something outside of me that was causing my problems. And so, I played whack-a-mole and started to change things. While the changes would often provide temporary relief, I’d eventually find myself back where I started — in a place of feeling dissatisfied and looking for the elusive something else … yet again. When I started Kula Cloth, I (hilariously) thought that owning my own business would magically ‘solve’ all of my problems — that somehow, my entire life would simply come into perfect alignment instantly and I’d live on a glitter strewn cloud of bliss, abundance and infinite peacefulness. I’m sorry to have to share with you the shocking news that this is not my current reality:
I want to be clear: this is not a complaint at all. I’m not bemoaning the life of an outdoor gear company founder, because I genuinely love what I do more than I could possibly express. But… did it solve my ‘problems’? No. Instead, it made things different. There are times when the overwhelming exhaustion of running a company does squelch my creativity — in exactly the same way that my previous job did when I got bored. The only difference now, is that I got a paycheck at my last job, even when I was bored. At Kula, if my creativity takes a nose-dive, the effects make a pretty dramatic difference in not only my own livelihood, but the livelihood of others. While I no longer feel bored (ever)… starting a business made things more complicated, in many ways. It also enhanced and amplified some of my most deeply-seated fears — and also forced me to face them and learn to love the parts of me that had often been hidden. The entire experience has been humbling, challenging, beautiful, frustrating, and completely awe-inspiring. While I have not loved all parts of it — I have absolutely loved the full spectrum of the experience that it has provided, and I am eternally grateful for being given this unique and precious gift.
Why am I sharing this? Well, I’m sharing this because I want you all to know that sometimes, I struggle with finding my creative spark… and sometimes I need a pep talk to tap back into my joy. Owning your own company doesn’t make you happy — but you can create happiness from within yourself, and then the things that you do during the day will be happy things. I often tell folks that my real job is simply maintaining a state of high energy — this means that the most important thing that I do every single day is not answer e-mails… or perform specific tasks… but rather, my job is to get in touch with that creative spark within my heart and then use that inspiration to guide the love and kindness that I bring to the world through the actions that I take.
So today’s pep talk is about tapping into that creativity — about reconnecting with that innocent, loving and wise soul that lives within each of us — the part of us that is an eternal wellspring of infinite ideas.
Here we go… (and you can use this for yourself it feels right to you — but feel free to change any of the words to make it your own!).
I am an infinite source of creativity, and there is no end to the ideas and inspiration that flow to me. When I am connected to nature… when I am connected to myself… when I am grounded in the present moment, I am open to all things. I love when ideas come out of ‘nowhere’ — and I love the feeling of following an idea or an impulse and watching it come to life. I love knowing that I don’t have to do things a certain way in order to be successful — I can follow my own heart and my intuition and do things that feel good to me, and I know that when I am connected to my heart, I will be aligned with doing something special.
In my heart, I know that I am magical. I have always had magical ideas, and things are always working out for me. I know that a new idea or opportunity can pop up in every single moment of every single day — and I love the feeling of waiting on the edge of my seat to see what happens next. When I look back at my journey, I can see how little ideas led to moments of inspiration where I took action and then *poof* … something unexpected and miraculous happened. I love knowing that the more I connect with myself in the present moment, the more I will encounter these beautiful moments of serendipity and goodness… and the more that I will have the opportunity to bring my creativity and specialness into the world.
I know that I am one of a kind. I am connected to all things, but I am the only one who sees the world through my lens. There is enough on this planet for all of us. Other people who are living their dreams do not mean that I can not live mine — in fact, they are living and breathing proof that I can do the things that I want to do in this life and that all of my dreams are possible. As I look around me, I know that there are many people in this world, but I know that I am not duplicatable, and that not one other person on this planet can bring exactly what I bring into each moment. I am capable, worthy and deserving not because of what I have done, but simply because I am. I have something important and beautiful to bring into this world and as I learn to gently side-step the untrue beliefs that I have carried around for far too long, I will walk into a world that I can make better through my ideas and intentional actions.
Above all things, I am enough — exactly as I am right now. I can let myself breathe. I can let myself relax and take a break. I can let myself trust that things are happening exactly as they are supposed to happen and that I am where I need to be at this moment in time in order for things to align perfectly for me. Everything is working out for me — even when it doesn’t seem to make sense.
Friends — I meant everything that I wrote in that mini pep talk, but I want you to know that you ARE indeed loved and worthy and capable of everything you can dream. Not too long ago, I did not believe those things about myself — and do you know what? It didn’t help me. It didn’t help me to get closer to what I wanted to create by telling myself that I couldn’t do it. It was only when I started writing a different story — when I started intentionally connecting to the present moment — that I began to touch a place that was void of untrue thoughts.
As I’ve grown with Kula over the past 6 years, I’ve learned something important: Kula didn’t save me from anything at all. In fact, my old, familiar problems stuck around… only this time, they wore a slightly different mask. But, instead of running from them — I’ve had to look them in the eye, and realize that they aren’t the monsters that I thought they were — and that peace and happiness are not something that come from a thing, but rather, from inside of myself.
On my walk the other day, I filmed another morning ledge talk for all of you, and I’ll share that here as well. Keep taking little steps friends, you’re doing great! And feel free to write another little pep talk in the comments below if it helps you. There is power in writing something out and allowing yourself the space to feel the goodness of who you really are.
At the beginning of this segment, I mentioned that I had explored ridiculous creativity over the past few weeks, so I’ll end by sharing a (recent) story about the power of following your own creativity and impulses:
This past ‘BFCM’ Season (Black Friday/Cyber Monday), I felt very disheartened by the wild and seemingly aggressive onslaught of e-mail marketing that was sent out (myself included lol!). One company actually sent me six e-mails… yes SIX e-mails… in the same day… all saying the exact same thing about buying their product. It was wild, and it felt completely against everything that I believe in and value as both a consumer and a business owner. I had planned out a relatively ‘traditional’ holiday sale methodology, but in the midst of feeling disheartened, I went up to my ledge and did a meditation (that may or may not have involved crying). I completely surrendered myself to the universe and asked a simple question, “What should I do?”. Well, to my surprise, I had some pretty silly ideas to write very non-traditional messaging that included tiny video clips and stories. If you missed the e-mails, you can see them here, here and here.
Now, normally I’m not much of a numbers person… but I was really curious to see the difference between the open rate of my ‘traditional’ e-mails versus my ‘ridiculous’ e-mails. For reference, a ‘good’ open rate of marketing e-mails is usually around 25-40%, but Kula Cloth pretty consistently has a 50-60% open rate on e-mails (which is literally remarkable). During the sale, my open rate was just below 50% — which, by most people’s standards, would be unbelievably good … but… here’s where things get interesting: the e-mail that included the magic show had an open rate of over 81%! I did send that e-mail to a slightly smaller and more engaged group, which does account for the higher open rate — BUT, 81% is remarkable. And it was so exciting for me to see tangible proof of what happens when you toss out the rules and trust your gut.
So, all of this is to say: TOSS OUT THE RULES AND TRUST YOUR GUT. You are amazing, and you’ve got this. You know what you need to do, and now all you have to do is do it. Listen to your impulses — trust your intuition. YOU are brilliant and incredible, and the goodness you bring into the world matters!
Dear AMA,
Am I the only one who uses a Kula Cloth at home? I mean, in my house? I have hung Kula cloths on my toilet paper holders ( next to the roll of paper) to reduce waste, save money, reduce fill in my septic tank, etc. I’m not crazy, right?
Dearest friend, you are definitely not crazy! There are a lot of folks who use Kula Cloth in their home, because it saves a tremendous amount of toilet paper. When I first created the product, I had a lot of tunnel vision about its use in a hiking or a backpacking application — it hadn’t even occurred to me that people might want to use it at home.
And then, COVID happened — and people raided grocery stores and Costco for toilet paper blocks… and everything changed. In the few weeks of the toilet paper shortage, our sales went through the roof… and we donated all of our ‘seconds’ Kulas and sample fabric to folks who weren’t able to purchase one. Suddenly, I realized that Kula Cloth might be something that people could use at home — and I couldn’t believe that the idea hadn’t ever occurred to me!
My husband and I had (ironically) purchased a large toilet paper block from Costco just prior to COVID. Once the toilet paper hoarding started, I stopped using toilet paper (for peeing), and I transitioned to using my Kula Cloth. I hung a Kula in the bathroom, used it for peeing all day long, and then just rinsed it out in the sink at the end of the night. To say that I was stunned at how much toilet paper we saved was an understatement. An entire block of Costco toilet paper (which is already a gargantuan amount of TP) lasted us for nearly SIX MONTHS! It was wild!
As information, toilet paper usage in the USA looks like this:
The average person uses about 50 to 100 rolls of toilet paper per year.
This translates to approximately 20,000 to 25,000 sheets annually.
If you want to read the (fascinating) history of Toilet Paper, you can find a great write up about its history right here:
Personally, I love using Kula Cloth at home because it does save money and it’s far more sustainable than using 25,000 sheets of toilet paper per year. However, I draw my personal line at using a Kula Cloth for pee. There are some folks who practice the ‘family cloth’ method of wiping — which involves using a reusable, fabric ‘toilet paper’ for both pee and poop. While I fully support every single’s person’s individual decisions to handle their own hygiene, using a family cloth is the ‘no-go'-zone for me. In many countries (and gaining popularity in the USA), having a bidet is the standard way to cleanse post-poop — and there are some easy to add-on bidets like the Tushy… or you could throw caution to the wind and purchase a $2,200 luxury toilet with a built in electric bidet:
I’ll end this little segment by telling one of my favorite stories:
When I was 21 years old, my entire family went to Italy with my Italian grandmother (she was Sicilian). It had been her dream to visit Italy with all of us, and since she was starting to show some signs of slowing down physically, we decided that we needed to make the trip happen. My grandmother was in her 70s, but she was pretty spry and was a good sport about the incredible amount of walking that we were doing everyday as we explored Rome, Florence and Venice. Eventually, her feet got the best of her, and she told us that she needed to take a break and rest for a little bit since she was feeling quite sore. Later that day, we returned to the hotel — and when we arrived we heard my grandmother call us into the bathroom. Hesitantly, we opened the door — only to discover our Italian grandmother soaking her blistered feet in the bidet.
Friends, thank you for being here this week…
I appreciate being able to share this little nook of the universe and I am so grateful to get to know so many of you! Please feel free to share anything you’d like in the comments, or don’t hesitate to message me anytime!
Finally — a quick reminder that our TRAIL REGISTER entries are due soon! If you’d like to get a REALLY COOL gift from me, you can click this link to learn more about how to submit a signature.
Wishing you all peace, ease and abundance wherever you are in your life right now.
I also carry a Kula on my bag for all of those time you pick the stall that is out if TP.
As always your words speak to the heart Anastasia ❤️ Thank you friend