Build Ecosystems, Not Empires

If you're new here, BENE is a monthly(ish) letter for founders scaling profitable, impactful businesses that stay true to your values. I share reflections about entrepreneurship, conscious leadership, authentic marketing, and how business & social justice fit together. You can unsubscribe any time at the bottom of this email.

Written by Gelaine Santiago

Reader, a quick note before we get into today’s newsletter:

Our virtual coworking session tomorrow is cancelled. Instead, you’re invited to the first Build Ecosystems Not Empires (BENE) Community Gathering on Thurs July 10th!

Regular coworking resumes July 17th from 1-3PM (ET) and every other Thursday from there. Hope to catch you at the next one!

What if we built our businesses around our lives, instead of the other way around?

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Hey Reader 👋🏽

It’s been a while since my last newsletter. In all honesty, I don’t have a reason for being MIA other than - I’ve been tired lol.

Most days, my energy's consumed by trying to keep my businesses afloat amidst US tariffs, labour strikes, and civil unrest. While also trying my hardest to hold onto sanity and hope, while billionaires and politicians seem to be trying their hardest to make the rest of us miserable.

Also: picnics. I’ve been having lots of picnics 🧺

If the choice is between staying home to write an email, and gallivanting in a sunny patch of grass, it's reeeeally hard to choose the former.

A new way to think about work and rest.

A few summers ago, my partner and I were out hiking in rural Ontario and wanted to stop for lunch. According to Google, the nearest open food spot was a poutine stand with rave reviews. So we made the 20 minute drive out on country roads, salivating at the thought of crispy fries and hot gravy. The moment we pulled into the lot, our faces immediately fell.

“Gone fishing,” the cardboard sign on the window read, the words scribbled in black marker and hung askew.

“Gone fishing???” I remember saying. “Who does that??”

My first reaction was annoyance. How hard would it have been to update Google Maps?? It felt inconsiderate.

Then I felt angry: How could they just up and leave during peak lunch hours? Don’t they care about their customers at all?

Once we finally had lunch elsewhere and I was no longer hangry, my frustration gave way to curiosity:

What if we could all just “go fishing” whenever we wanted?

It seems impossible, but this is actually what business looked like before it became Business with a capital B.

Before globalization, businesses were small and local, existing to serve the immediate community’s needs. Many business owners were also farmers and fishers, so when you got wind that the fish were biting that day, you’d close up and catch food for your families.

This isn’t just about taking rest – this is operating business on a whole other paradigm. To earn enough to feed your families and make a comfortable living, where life isn’t dictated by your work.

It’s about building your business around your life. Not the opposite.

A paradigm shift.

We’ve normalized the idea that our work is who we are. We start conversations with strangers by asking what they do for a living. We prioritize business meetings over catch ups with friends. We hustle long hours and cram our social lives into 2.5 days a week.

I think back on my initial reaction to seeing that sign. And I think many of us feel similarly at the thought of slowing down or stepping away from our business, even momentarily:

• What if I lose sales?
• What if we let people down?
• Can I really just take time off cause I feel like it? Who does that??

But the truth is that work will always be there when we get back.

Things that won’t always be there:

• Picnic weather
• That dinner invitation you’re really excited about
• My cat
• My health
• My thirties

So what if we can shift our perspective even a little bit? What would it look like for you, Reader, if you truly built your business around your life, instead of the other way around?

Like truly truly?

Not everyone can just up and go fishing whenever we want.

But there are many ways we can still practice this.

It might look like:

• Delaying a deadline because you took the afternoon off instead
• Saying no to that meeting because you’d rather catch a show with a friend
• Putting a project you're excited about on hold, because your energy levels just aren’t aligned right now
• Sending your monthly(ish) newsletter two months late (oops)

So as we enter midsummer, it’s a good time to ask:

What would our businesses look like if we just decided to “go fishing” once in a while?

What’s one small, tangible way that you can practice it this week?

What do you need to give yourself permission to do, Reader?

Wishing you many picnics and good weather 🩷

Gelaine

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