Just another day at the office
5:00 a.m.: Both alarm clocks go off at the same time. My husband and I sneak out of the dark room, so as not to wake the kids. The first person down on the first floor puts on the coffee and turns on the lights in our home office.
The room is about 10 square meters and we share a desk, surrounded by my husband's slightly too large book collection.
This room plus a roughly equal sized room in the basement makes up HEKNE's studio, warehouse and headquarters ☺️
The day starts with a cup of coffee and a couple of hours of concentrated work (in a bathrobe) before the kids wake up. We can get a lot done during that time. The house is quiet, it's still dark outside, and it's easy to focus.
7:00 a.m.: Time to wake the kids. Breakfast, preparing lunch boxes, everyone dressed for the weather, remember extra wool socks.
One of us drives them to school, while the other continues working. We continue until lunch, before wrapping new orders as neatly as we can.
2:00 PM: One of us delivers the packages to the post office and picks up the kids at the same time.
The other stays home and works until the front door is opened with a bang, by kids shouting for food.
Family time, leisure activities, chores and snuggles, cooking, bedtime.
And then the house is quiet again. We usually don't have enough energy for mentally demanding work in the evenings, but HEKNE is always there.
An idea or thought we share can become something the next day. Long conversations about what we can do even better keep us busy until we are too tired to say anything meaningful.
And that's how most days go. And I love it.
Some have told me that I am brave for running HEKNE with the framework we set for what we do; in the middle of toddlerhood, without investors or shortcuts.
For me, it's the only right way. I don't want to work in the clothing industry if I have to compromise my values or run after goals I don't believe in.
It has been our choice to do everything we can to achieve this. And even though we don't know how far we can go, there is a lot of value and freedom in being able to navigate our own path and values.
Your support gives us superpowers. It keeps us believing that we can do things differently than the norm, despite the fact that we are just a very small company that starts the day in the twilight, equipped with a bathrobe and coffee ☺️
Greetings Anja
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