YGTL Was Accidentally Born in 2016 - Here's the Story

Now that you’re following along the YGTL journey, I thought I’d share a bit about where the original dream started.

Back in 2015, I had an incredible opportunity to spend 2 months in Uganda. We spent long days in some of the poorest neighborhoods in the world and despite the heartbreaking quality of living, I met some amazing people who had dreams just like me.

This led me to leading a fundraiser back home to raise money for two girls to go to college. This was when “You’ve Got The Love” was accidentally born. The overwhelming support from the community inspired me to find a unique and meaningful way to share my gratitude and to encourage others to carry this spirit of kindness and giving into their everyday lives.

This lead to the first YGTL product: The Button!  This simple yet powerful little token became our way of sharing love with the community. Whether it’s stuck on a bag, pinned to a shirt, or passed along to someone in need of a little encouragement, The Button serves as a reminder that we all have the ability to spread more of the good stuff in life.

With the success of The Button, I scrambled to find a new product to add to my business and ended up teaching myself to hand stamped brass bracelets. The idea came to me mid-run (that’s when I hear God’s voice best) and was focused around the idea that the words engraved on your bracelet can help inspire you on the day to day. I found that I personally needed reminders in the busyness of life to come back to whatever I am trying to focus on in a current season (ex. strength, patience, gratitude).

After months of learning the street skills of business and a unexpected amount of success with the buttons and bracelets, I began to drown in the overwhelming weight of trying to keep up. My lack of business experience and ADHD mind was catching up with me so after months of the internal war of my mind, I decided to pause YGTL and go learn as much as I could about business.

From here, I obsessively worked towards applying for my MBA at the University of Victoria. I thought I found the perfect program that focused on social impact but after 3 GMAT tests, an in-person visit, a website for my application and 5 recommendation letters, I did not get accepted. Big blow to my ego - we all know that failure and rejection never feels good. This was a very lost and dark season of really not knowing what was next.

With the MBA out the window, the next logical option was to find a company/leader that I could learn from (it took my a while to realize this). The goal was to move to a new city (check the LA story here), I ended up booking a one way ticket to Los Angeles with the hope of finding a creative company (and a working visa) who valued what I valued, allowed me the opportunity to wear many hats, and was successfully scaling. I hit a home run (thank you Jesus) and was offered a job and visa at an architectural studio called Laney LA.

At Laney LA, I had the opportunity to grow and be challenged more than I thought possible. With some of the greatest leadership I’ve ever experienced, I learned how to manage the business side of a incredibly successful company and team. I got to wear multiple hats, have multiple positions, have teammates turn into family, and get obsessively good at ping pong - my time at Laney was the dream, full of long days, very hard work and endless memories.

Choosing to leave my comfortable, reliable salary job was not an easy decision to say the least. Honestly, it was months of debating, countless conversations with friends and family, and a lot of prayers. I knew that I needed structure and accountability in my life and was terrified that I'd end up watching Parks & Rec in bed all day instead of building my business. But despite the fear, I knew in my gut it was time for the next big risk and to move closer to where God wanted me to go.

This pretty much catches you up to speed on the current season of my life and YGTL. I'll share more about the day to day and the vision for this new and exciting season soon.

Thanks for listening to my second post!!!

Madison