Topic: E Commerce

Emma Hine describes the evolution of her greeting card and gift e-commerce business into what she calls a "monster." Driven by a subconscious need to prove a former teacher wrong, she focused solely on continuous revenue growth and maintained excessive control over operations. This approach led to her working nearly every day of the year and missing significant milestones in her children's lives.

The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic caused an unexpected and sustained sales spike for Hine's e-commerce business, mimicking a year-long Christmas rush. By the end of 2020, the exhaustion from this surge forced a realization that the current business model was unsustainable. Hine and her husband decided to temporarily shut down operations to develop a new plan for working differently.