I checked my email and realized I “got fired” from a bunch of roles inside my own business—because the CEO of my brand (also me) finally admitted I’ve been overworked, overwhelmed, and bottlenecking Monica’s Collective. I’m talking: order fulfillment, warehouse/inventory, bookkeeping, email, graphic design, even candlemaking and content creation as a formal role. It’s a silly bit, but the truth is not silly at all: doing everything myself worked in the early stages, but it’s not what will get me to the next era of the brand. So I gave myself one day of “funemployment” to sit down, write real job descriptions, and decide what I actually need to be responsible for now. I accepted three new roles: CEO (big picture + vision), Creative Director (product/launch direction and decisions), and COO (operations, efficiency, and optimizing how the business runs). Then I show what this looks like in real life—delegating candlemaking to Caitlyn, leaning on team help for marketing and sewing, and using supportive tools so I can single-task on the needle-moving work like product sampling, creative mood boards, and planning launches. The takeaway: you can still love the craft, but you don’t have to be liable for every task to be a legit, sustainable small biz owner.