‘It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing. It doesn’t interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive’. —Oriah Mountain Dreamer 

Your commitment will be put to the test time and time again along the way. Especially during bad times, when you are stuck or have undergone setbacks or failures, it’s what you’ll need the most. But also when your private life changes completely and you have to deal with new circumstances, such as becoming a parent. Overwhelmingly beautiful though parenthood may be, it is also a challenge to reconcile with running your own (small) business. Not to mention all the hormones. ?

We’ve had several black moments: one day before the launch of our first travel guide Tanja’s father committed suicide. It was a crazy time—devastating, exasperating, indescribably sad and bitter. Most of all it was changing (read an article she wrote about it here). It took time to get back on track of course, but our huge vision for Nectar & Pulse was like a light at the end of a dark, dark tunnel. A mission it was worth persevering for. Now more than ever, to celebrate and spread the lust for life. We also experienced some financial low points. Situations where we had to ask ourselves if we could and wanted to continue with our business. We always did, even if it was very exhausting at time. And it ALWAYS paid off. Once more, patience and commitment were key.

We also had some serious conflicts with each other to master. What we learned in all these years was to always tell the truth, to always speak what was on our minds. What we like and especially don’t like about certain situations or one another. And to never forget about the big picture. Life has its ups and downs and so does every business. The journey of raising this business from the ground up together has made us grow so much—we’ve certainly become a little wiser.

And we are thankful every day that we can work doing what we love most.

P.S.: In times of doubt our wrists remind us to persevere. ?

Tanja getting Nectar & Pulse inked on her wrist.

First sales tour

Love is in the details—working on our printed guides.

Always happy to read about our company in newspapers and magazines.

Going that extra mile.

The entire company, packed into a van.

Assembling our first travel guides.

Working in different places every day…

… and taking some risks.

Welcoming Chris and Tanja’s first baby: Jonathan.

What a journey!

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