I’m turning 55 on August 29, 2025. I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting lately, as I do with any approaching milestone. And my reflections brought me back to my 50th birthday. It was a day I had long imagined celebrating somewhere glamorous, like on a boat in the Aegean Sea sporting an elegant, flowing outfit. But since it fell during the summer of 2020, I found myself sitting on my front lawn over breakfast tacos with a few friends spaced six feet apart rather than sailing under a bright blue sky off the coast of Greece. (Thanks, COVID.) At the time, I thought I’d make it up to myself on my next “big birthday.” 

 

But five years later, I might be even less prepared for the Aegean vacation than I was then. As of late, my days have been full. My calendar is busting at the seams between sending my kids off to college, managing projects, and leading my growing design team. To my surprise, I’m not sad about it. Quite the opposite. While I would love to do Greece eventually, it is highly rewarding to be spending my 55th at my interior design firm right here in Austin, leading a firm I’ve built myself, making money that supports my family, and watching my team grow into a well-oiled machine of excellence.

 

It’s a far cry from the version of me who once scoffed at the very idea of being “all business.” I wonder what that college poetry major would think about the woman who’s been running a creative business for the last 20 years. 

 

From The 20-Year-Old Who Knew Everything…

When I was in college, I was known for making fun of business majors. I’d toss off lines like, “Get a real major,” or accuse them of being shallow or boring. Boy, I wish I had the audacity at 55 that I had at 20. Back then, I really thought I knew everything.

 

I was a poetry major. Somehow, in my twenty-year-old mind, that made me more interesting than the kids studying supply chains and balance sheets. “At least I’ll be the interesting one at cocktail parties,” I joked.

 

Well… the joke’s on me.

 

Because look who’s reading business books for fun while the poetry collections collect dust. 

 

To the Businesswoman Still Asking Questions

After many years of working for others, I broke out on my own in 2006. I did it partly out of necessity and partly because I wanted to control my own time. That part still makes me laugh at my naivety. Lesson learned: if you plan to be successful, owning a business doesn’t give you more free time. It gives you more responsibility.

 

What I didn’t expect was how much I’d love running a business. I love building a team. I love marketing. I love creating systems, solving problems, and mentoring. I find all of it incredibly creative and challenging, sometimes even more so than the design work itself.

 

I imagine my younger, poet self watching all this unfold. She’s sitting under a tree with a book in her hand, probably questioning my morals for “selling out.”

The Business of Business (and Why It’s Not Just About Profit)

There’s a famous quote from economist Milton Friedman that goes, “The business of business is business.” He wrote about this in a 1970 essay, concluding that the responsibility of business is to increase its profits, and nothing more. 

 

In some ways, I agree with Friedman. I’ve said before that I think I’d be happy running any form of business because what truly interests me are the business operations themselves. I’d be just as happy running my own snowcone stand or portapotty rental. Business is business! I’m fortunate enough, though, to operate a business that reflects both my talents for design and operations. 

 

The morality of business, as I see it, though, is tied to the people it supports. For me, profitability is a way to meet my obligations to the people who make this business possible — my team, our vendors, and the little community of craftspeople and tradespeople we work with here at our Austin interior design firm. 

 

I’m creating something that sustains my family, my team members’ families, and countless others in our orbit. It’s not just profit for profit’s sake. That responsibility is one of the most meaningful parts of my work.

 

The Real Rewards of Business Growth

As the business has grown, I spend less of my time designing and more of it leading. And I’m ok with that. I love mentoring my team, growing relationships with clients, generating leads, marketing, and writing to share my story.

 

Writing, in fact, has become my constant companion. I write blogs, work through problems on paper, and use words to process feelings. It’s therapy, expression, and strategy all rolled into one. In that way, the poet in me never left. She just learned how to draft an SOP, too.

 

While I didn’t celebrate my 50th on the Aegean (and I won’t make it there for the 55th either), I’ve celebrated something even better: the collective success of my team. We’ve traveled to Spain, Mexico City, Paris, and so many other destinations. These trips weren’t just vacations. They were a chance to honor everything we’ve built together.

Eating My Words (Happily)

I used to think business was boring, transactional, and maybe even a little soulless. Now I know better. Business is not “just business.” It’s creative, communal, and deeply human.

 

It turns out I’m all business, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. 

 

So yes, I’ll happily eat my words. Props to all the business majors out there!