We’re celebrating our first year of being an official Outdoor Adventure Clothing business and running NO&YO. One year – WOW – we’ve made it this far! It seems like such a long time ago when we decided to put all our eggs in one basket and just go for it. And the past 12 months taught us so many lessons. 10 of the best we’re sharing here with you. 1. Have a story. Everyone has a story, even you, you just need to realize it. Your story is what makes you special, unique and memorable, so reflect on your past and tell your story to the world. Be yourself, be genuine and unapologetically embrace your ideas, concepts and character. As Oscar Wild already figured out: “Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken”. 2. Live your story. Be courageous in the conquest of your life – take it by its horns and inspire others to live their life to the fullest by living your life and your story. Your life is your story, so make it interesting. Just stay true to who you are, take chances and believe in yourself. 3. Help others. There are many different businesses you will come in contact with at different shows and venues. Be kind to them, encourage them, land a helping hand and provide and share knowledge of your experience, how ever short or long your journey has been. Kindness always pays off. 4. Don’t compete with others. Don’t compete with your competition, instead, create your own unique ideas and ways of running your business. Unique ways of presenting your product, talking to your customers, telling your story and selling your product. You’re not competing when you’re different. Compete only with yourself to become the best version of who you can become. 5. Think ahead. Be honest with yourself, as a business person and as a human, and decide what do you want for your business to become. What is the great vision? Your vision of the big picture will dictate the changes that are necessary. Take the first steps with the smaller pieces that are easy to implement and the rest will fall into the big picture. 6. Take breaks. Every once in a while remember why you started this business. One of the reasons was probably the freedom to take a day off when you need to and not necessarily on the weekend. So get out, get moving, un-plug – it’s good for the business and you too. 7. Make fun of yourself. Take your business seriously but not yourself. 8. Look for positives. Take charge of your life and don’t allow others or negative situations dictate your outlook on life or on your business. You have a choice with respect to how you’ll react to things that you don’t have control over. And there is always a positive way at looking at things. 9. Live in the moment. Understanding how to live in the moment is one of the bonuses of being your own boss but you have to make sure that you actually stop for that moment and smell the roses, as they say. Stop thinking about what will happen tomorrow or next week or about whatever happened yesterday or the week before that. Don’t dwell on the past but learn for the future. However, enjoy the beauty of the present and live the life in the present. 10. Talk directly to your customers. They will tell you what they need and want. They will be the ones to encourage you, validate your decision to go into this business and lift you up when you need it. Customers are why you’re in business and they count. Don’t ever under estimate them, appreciate them and they will give you back what you need. Here you have it – our 10 lessons we learnt from the first year of running an Outdoor Adventure Clothing brand. We wonder what other lessons the next year will add or for that matter every day as we grow the brand. Either way, we will embrace the learning and the positive changes the upcoming years will bring. We hope that by sharing our story you find motivation to follow your dreams, as they say – you only have one life. Tell us about your dreams? Continue to help us grow the brand and spread the word around because the growth is possible truly because of you – our friend, our fan - and we thank you.