I have a degree in figuring shit out along the way

In 2012, I made a birthday card for a friend because there weren’t any options that perfectly encapsulated our friendship. Pretty soon, I started making and selling funny, foul-mouthed stationery as Craft Boner. At first, the business was a small side hustle, then it wasn’t so small anymore, and eventually, I quit my day job to focus on growing the business. Fast forward a little and Craft Boner had more success than I’d ever originally imagined—but behind the scenes, I was running on fumes and ready to burn it all to the ground.

I had to take off my meat suit

My business acumen looked like this: I’d look at how-to guides from successful entrepreneurs, I’d follow their advice down to the letter, and then I’d end up confused, frustrated, and seriously low on self-esteem when none of it worked for me. Then, after a few other people around me started to talk more about nuerodiversity, I got tested and diagnosed with ADHD. That’s when everything shifted. All of a sudden, the diagnosis felt like permission to embrace who I am. It was like I’d been running around in a too-tight meat suit and all the sudden I got to peel it all off and let my gut hang out.

ADHD and letting myself be myself

My ADHD diagnosis allowed me to see the flawed narratives I’d been telling myself. I wasn’t an idiot who was bad at numbers or a forgetful asshole, I just needed to account for the different ways my brain worked. I threw out the roadmap of how other people thought I *should* run my business and began tailoring processes to work for me. I also began asking myself what I truly wanted out of my business.

Your Gal Kiwi

This soul-searching led me to realize that I had outgrown Craft Boner. I’d built a whole business around myself, my ideas, my experiences, and yet, people still didn’t know my name. I was just “Ms Craft Boner.” It took some big noodling, but eventually, I decided to rebrand as Your Gal Kiwi. I no longer wanted to be an anonymous empire known for sex puns and fart jokes (although, I certainly still appreciate them). And now, I offer coaching to other business owners so they can find their way to their dream job—faster and with a lot less tears than it took me.

When change isn’t enough change

I thought that rebranding my stationery business would solve all of the discontentment I felt as a one-woman operation but it turned out that it only made me crave more change. I noodled on hiring staff. I noodled on burning everything to the ground. I noodled on selling my business. In early 2023 I reached out to another stationery business owner friend that I deeply admire and pitched the idea of my brand joining her line. To my astonishment, she was interested and now the incredible And Here We Are is the home of all Your Gal Kiwi products.

What’s next is unwritten

Much like that Natasha Bedingfield banger - I’m not entirely sure what the future holds. Certainly I hope that it means lots of helping other small business owners through coaching. Surely there will be lots of noodling. And I want to spend all of my time creating anything and everything I can get my hands on, including plenty more fun goodies you’ll always be able to find at And Here We Are in the future!