Curls, Character & Crew: Owning What Makes You You (and Who You Let Help)

It feels like it’s been a minute. Technically it’s been a month, but who’s counting?

Curated Connections has become one of my favorite reasons to sit down once a month, pop into your inbox, tell you what’s been on my mind, hopefully make you laugh once or twice, and remind you that we’re all figuring it out as we go. So, hi. I’m glad you’re here.

I’ve been busy doing what I do best: taking things off other people’s lists while somehow continuing to add things to my own. The irony is not lost on me. September has already been full in the best kinds of ways — work, people I love, a little travel to the beach, and plenty of those ordinary days that don’t necessarily make the camera roll but make up most of a life. And somewhere in all of that, I’ve missed this little community, so here are a few things I’ve been thinking about lately.

Curls

I have curly hair. Very curly hair.

And for most of my life, I wanted straight hair. I straightened it, fought the humidity, planned around the weather, and generally treated my natural hair like an inconvenience that needed to be managed. Meanwhile, women with straight hair were buying curling irons.

The irony is not lost on me.

We do that with more than hair. We look around and decide someone else’s version is the version we’re supposed to want. Their style. Their career. Their relationship. Their home. Their pace. Their perfectly organized pantry with matching containers and labels facing forward.

And listen, I love a good container. But maybe the goal isn’t for our lives to look like everyone else’s.

Character

There is something freeing about knowing what you like.

Not what you should like. Not what everyone else is buying, doing, wearing, watching, or swearing has changed their life. Just what you like.

Maybe you are a morning person. Maybe you should not be spoken to before 9:00 a.m. Maybe you love a perfectly organized closet. Maybe your system is simply knowing the clean clothes are on that chair. You can love the restaurant I would never choose. I can love the shoes you would never wear. We can define a good life differently.

That is character. It is knowing what feels like you and not needing a committee meeting to approve it. Thank goodness, because the world would be incredibly boring if we all had the same hair.

Crew

I’ve also been thinking a lot about the people we surround ourselves with. Because we all need a crew.

The friend who answers the phone. The neighbor who has the thing you forgot to buy. The family member who shows up. The person who tells you the truth even when you’d really prefer they just agree with you. And the people who make the ordinary parts of life a little easier simply because they’re in it.

I’m incredibly grateful for mine. And I’ve realized that “crew” doesn’t only have to mean the people closest to us. Sometimes your crew includes the people you’ve intentionally brought into your life because they can do something you don’t have the time, desire, or bandwidth to do yourself. That’s exactly what I want Curated Concierge to be.

Maybe the returns have officially taken up permanent residence in your trunk. Maybe there’s a pile destined for donation that’s been sitting by the door long enough to qualify as furniture. Maybe you need someone to reset the house, meet the contractor, restock the pantry, organize the thing you’ve been avoiding, prep for guests, or handle the errands that somehow keep getting moved to tomorrow’s list. Whether you need ongoing support or just help getting a few things off your plate, I’d love to see how Curated Concierge can make life a little lighter.

Wear your hair however you want, embrace the things that give you character, and appreciate the people who make up your crew. And maybe let “someone else can handle that” become part of the plan.