Hello to all,

I hope you have all had a great start to May. The last week has felt particularly cold here in Melbourne. Winter is well and truly on its way.

For me, the last month has been one of reflection and importance. I’ve had some moments of clarity around how I have been operating, and what I need to focus on as I move into the next stage of the business. The launch phase and excitement has settled now. I’ve learnt a lot over the last six months, and it’s time to refine my systems, structure, and ways of operating, both within business and personally.

A major area of focus recently has been working on my Xero setup, inventory management, P&L data, and making sure the numbers are accurate and allocated correctly so I can begin making data driven decisions based on clean information, rather than emotions or assumptions.

This has been a gradual work in progress ever since building Kacie Jae’s prior to launch, where I spent a lot of time focused on costing and margins. Relaunching the business has meant looking at the numbers with far more detail this time around, while also seeking professional guidance in the areas that matter most. Currently, that looks like business mentorship, accountant and bookkeeping support, and financial advisory as I work toward my own manufacturing space.

Over the last couple of weeks, narrowing in on bookkeeping, inventory, and financial workflows has felt like a natural progression from everything learnt so far. It can feel uncomfortable not knowing all the answers, but that is also where some of the most valuable learning happens. Real life problem solving and skills that will stay with me for life.

In other areas of Kacie Jae’s, I have a couple of exciting things coming up over the next few weeks. One of them is a collaboration with an incredible Melbourne café, where we will be featured as a menu item for an initial two week period, with the potential to extend to four weeks if it goes well. Alongside this, I’ll also be doing a pop up stand, tastings, and shared online content as we promote the offering together.

I’ve really been looking forward to this collaboration, as Raymond, the café owner, is someone who genuinely inspires me with the way he approaches his work. I’ll share more on this next month once everything is underway. It is due to kick off in early June.

I’m also currently planning a new content shoot for early June. Looking back on the last round of content, I learnt a lot about what worked, what didn’t, and how I want to move forward creatively. I’m currently looking at venue spaces to hire and hoping to lock everything in within the next week.

This next round of content will be heavily focused on the food itself, presented in beautiful ways, with an emphasis on different ways the granola can be served and experienced. I’m hoping to collaborate with another incredibly talented culinary creative here in Melbourne who can contribute to both the content and the creative direction.

While having a face and human presence in content is important, I’ve also realised how much I want to integrate more food videography and product focused storytelling moving forward. It’s interesting already looking back at the earlier content compared to the more recent work, and I feel this next round will again be another level up creatively.

Business has a funny way of exposing our flaws, weaknesses, and blind spots. Something I heard years ago that has always stayed with me is that our minds can become the biggest bottleneck in our business, and the more time passes, the more I understand how true that really is.

Without standards and systems in our personal lives that support our mental, physical, financial, and relationship health, it eventually flows into the way we operate in business too. How we do one thing really is how we do everything.

Because of that, the way I operate personally has become another area of focus lately. Keeping myself accountable, putting systems in place, and continuing to build a strong foundation that supports positive forward movement. Life is always fluctuating and changing, but consistently striving to support ourselves and operate at our best goes hand in hand with building anything meaningful.

Anybody who has achieved genuine success and personal fulfilment would likely understand this journey well.

This feels like quite the philosophical chat this month, lol. I suppose that’s just where I’m at currently. Reflection and forward projection.

Thank you all for continuing to follow along and support Kacie Jae’s. I appreciate it more than you probably realise.

Until next month,

Kacie Jae ♡