Welcome to Founder’s Field Notes. Think of this weekly email as a collection of insights, stories, and strategies straight from the field (according to me, Molly Knuth). Each week, I’ll provide real-world and real-life lessons on marketing, business, and the journey of being an ambitious woman finding her own path.
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Founder’s Field Notes: Issue 002
Date: Thursday, February 20, 2025
Location: the pub chair and table in the upstairs loft of our shop as I polish this email before my workout
Weather: sunny and freezing cold
Observations
Ever feel like no matter how many calendars you create or to-do lists you write, you just can’t seem to do enough and you feel stressed out all the time?
Or you’re someone who admittedly says “I’m not a crier”…but sometimes your arms get shakey with rage?
That, my friend, is stuck energy…and for ambitious women, it can be all-too-familiar.
For instance…
Last summer, while in a quarterly celebration day with my friends and clients at The Restoration Project, we got talking about crying.
The three women at the table with me had been almost moved to tears a couple of times in our two hours together, but me? I was stoic as they come. Block of ice. Unbreakable.
“I don’t cry,” I said to the group. And slowly they turned to looked at me, their faces in a state of shock as if I had sprouted wings.
“Then how do you move your energy?” one of the women asked me, truly curious, and more than a little bit concerned.
I considered her question for a moment, and then said, “I’m not sure.”
I think I did know at one point, but the years of late 2022 through mid-2024 at MKM were all about me digging deep, keeping my head down, and doing lots of hard things to correct things in my life and business.
It had been awhile since I thought about what I did other than just stuff my feelings down “to be dealt with later.”
But if I was being honest with myself: I was wound really, really tight. My shoulders were tense, I didn’t know what it meant to take a real deep breath, and I was constantly in “push” mode. My work didn’t feel as exciting, my creativity was blocked, and I wasn’t present, I was always thinking about the past or the future.
So after that meeting with my friends from The Restoration Project, I just got curious with myself.
How did I relax, unwind, and process my feelings in a healthy way?
I began exploring this idea. I went for walks. I got involved with our family’s show cattle. I got outside. I took breath work coaching (wow! everyone should do this). I let myself sit in our hot tub, alone, for clarity of thought. I scheduled an appointment with my therapist. I scheduled a massage. I read books for fun. I listened to podcasts while I mowed the lawn. I booked social time with friends. I created a silly scavenger hunt for just the fun of it. And I made really cheesy music playlists and sang my heart out along with them.
Some of it worked, some of it didn’t, in the goal of unblocking my energy.
The biggest thing I found that moved my energy, that I really hated to admit to myself….was when I ran on the treadmill.
Field Notes & Findings:
Incorporating movement into your routine isn’t just about physical health; it’s a catalyst for mental clarity and enhanced productivity. Here are some compelling statistics:
Enhanced Cognitive Function: Regular physical activity can improve thinking, learning, and problem-solving abilities.
Reduced Depression and Anxiety: Engaging in consistent exercise can decrease symptoms of depression and anxiety, enhancing overall emotional well-being.
Boosted Creativity and Job Performance: Individuals who engage in creative hobbies experience a 15-30% improvement in work performance.
By actively moving stagnant energy, you can unlock new levels of clarity, innovation, and progress.
Reflection:
Just this weekend, I noticed my energy feeling stuck again.
Armed with the tools I took note of last fall, I hopped on my Peloton Tread, picked my favorite instructor (Mariana…Selena and Matty are also up there!) and my favorite workout (a 45-minute walk + runs) and got moving.
I hid all the metrics, countdowns, and leaderboards, that lined the screen and just set an intention to run to move my energy.
It was a banger of a playlist and I found myself smiling, lip-syncing along, and even at one point during Celine Dion’s “I Drove All Night,” I spread out my arms wide as I could while I ran at 7.5 mph. My energy was singing.
Admittedly, I may have overdone it. I was gassed before the end. I knew I was only about 3ish minutes from the cooldown, and I wanted to walk SO bad.
I took a quick peek at the leaderboard, but instead of noticing where I stacked up compared to others, I saw that I was just a couple points away from my own personal best.
That was just enough motivation to kick it to the finish.
I felt SO good during and after that run due to a combination of movement, music, and healthy competition.
Guess what? At the end of the workout, I hit my PR and the 5k distance.
Oh year, and I cried. Like heaving sobs that echoed off the metal walls of our shop kind of cried.
It felt really good.
For me, the best bet for moving stuck energy looks like a run even especially when I don’t feel like it. This year it also looks like sitting quietly in the sauna and just listening to my own thoughts.
Tools and practices that support my best self as an ambitious woman is a constant exploration that I’ll probably never master. But by knowing what works best for me, I can pull these tools out of my toolbox in the moments I need them most.
For ambitious women like us, our energy is everything as we’re founding businesses and finding ourselves along the way.
Question for You to Consider:
What is something you do to move your energy?
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