November Edit

What if you had the guts to buck the prevailing, defining pillar of your industry—to call in question an assumption held so tightly it hardly registers as one?

I deliberately draw this example from outside of health and wellbeing. Sometimes it’s easier to see from afar. 

As you read below about Elizabeth Suzann, ask: what should no longer be a sacrosanct belief in your line of work? And how might that belief be undone from within. This isn’t about zigging when others zag, for the sake of standing out—though that will result. It’s about departing from cherished, unquestioned norms because it’s worth doing. And finding the exquisite gesture to give that form.

Who: Liz Pape, designer and founder of Elizabeth Suzann, independent clothing label
Where: Nashville, now
What: that feeling in the pit of her stomach that producing a new collection every season (the big unstated assumption of the fashion industry) went against her core value of considered consumption, and quality over quantity. 

The result: Ditching a fall/winter 2016 collection, and reorganizing her business around two timeless collections: her Signature collection (an edited, capsule collection of her best work, mostly in linen) and the debut of her Cold Weather Collection. This is a move that had real financial implications for her business model in an industry that fetishizes the new.

Beautifully conceived and positioned, from top to bottom-line. Gorgeous storytelling. Follow her words on Instagram. And she is only in her mid-20s. 

Your turn.
What would a Suzann move look like for you? in your own field or business?
What wisp of an idea (or uneasy feeling) merits your attention? 

Is it about how you are producing your work? about how you price your work? about the kinds of ideas or gestures unthinkingly-celebrated.

What’s part of that inheritance is no longer sacred? Get quiet for a minute. You likely already know.