new year same me

Hello,

It’s been a while, I know. Time doesn’t slow down, even when we want it to.

Over the last six months, I’ve found myself really content with the rhythm of my life. I’ve spent most of the fall and winter in Buffalo, growing Veii in this market and leaning fully into all the Bills fans and Bills Mafia craziness. Honestly, it’s been going really, really well.

One of the best parts has been living with my best friend Ty this season while he’s playing for the Bills. This is probably one of the last times in our lives we’ll get to be roommates before family, kids, and all the adult stuff starts creeping in. We lived together in college too, so in a way this feels like a rerun episode, just with more facial hair 😎

Since being up here, we’ve brought a different energy to the Bills Mafia through the content, events, designs, and really just by me being myself. To a lot of people here, the players are like gods and folks be tweakingggg, but what’s been cool is meeting people who genuinely rock with me and the brand without even knowing I have any connection to a player or the team. That’s been really affirming.

Mentally, I’m in a solid place. A year ago, I was deep in the process of raising money to hit my Kickstarter goal to keep Veii alive, which was a rollercoaster in every sense. But it gave me the confirmation I needed to keep going. Things haven’t gotten easier running the business; if anything they’ve become more challenging, but I’m comfortable here now. I’m learning to trust the process, not get too high or too low, and stay even-keeled through the journey.

I also ran another marathon in October. It kicked my ass, but I improved from the year before, which honestly is all that really matters to me these days.

Lately, I’ve been seriously considering closing the studio and moving out of Maryland altogether once this season in Buffalo wraps up. Maryland has kind of been a crutch for me, always having that studio to fall back on(and live in). But the truth is, I thrive when I’m not there, when I’m in new places and new spaces, just being myself. So I’m leaning into that discomfort and seeing where it takes me.

February 1st will mark seven years of running Veii, which is wild to even say out loud. I started this business at 21, and now I’m about to be 28. It’s a reminder that building something meaningful takes a long time. A lot longer than people realize. A lot longer than I realized.

I wouldn’t change a thing though.