If you've been here from the beginning, you know how this series started.

First it was "What the heck am I doing?", because honestly, that's exactly how it felt. An idea, a garage, and a whole lot of figuring it out as I went.

Then it was "Am I still really doing this?" , because there were moments where I genuinely wasn't sure. Where I seriously  doubted myself  and the progress felt slow and I had to keep choosing this thing over and over again.

And now here we are. Third installment.

I'm doing it!

Not perfectly. Not without fear. Not without the kind of tired that lives in your bones. But I'm doing it and I have a lot to catch you up on!

Since we last talked

The last time I shared a real update, I was prepping for the holiday season with Urban Outfitters and doing my first long-run market. Four days a week. Three weeks straight. At one point, seven days in a row. That stretch gave me a real taste of what it would feel like to have a brick and mortar and I filed that away.

Here's what's happened since.

The holiday market exceeded everything I expected.

It was my first real, official holiday market I'd only done one or two the year before and I honestly didn't know what to expect. I love that. I love going into something without the weight of expectations. I made what I made, and I was proud of it.

And then Urban Outfitters.

I was given sales projections based on my category and similar items. I exceeded those projections by over 140%. In six months.

I want to sit in that for a second because I don't think I've said it out loud enough: I exceeded my projections by over 140%. No PR team. No big budget. Just me, my products, my branding, and the work I put in quietly for years before anyone was watching.

I am unbelievably proud of myself.

And what made it even more meaningful was that I managed all of it at the same time! The Urban Outfitters holiday rush, a pop-up market, and my own direct-to-consumer orders...seamlessly. That background I have? The operational experience, the organizational skills, everything I picked up from years of work I thought didn't count? It counted.

What's been happening behind the scenes

I moved part of my production to a warehouse.

This is huge for me. I've been running everything out of my home and I'm honestly outgrowing it which is a good problem to have and also a frustrating one when you're literally sharing your living space with your business. The warehouse is a step toward what I actually want: a formal e-commerce and order processing hub. I'm working toward it.

I launched a brand ambassador program.

I'm currently working with two Austin-based creatives, a writer and an artist, and I cannot wait to highlight them and what they've been creating. The exchange is simple: product for content. And it's been one of the best decisions I've made because creating content consistently is genuinely the hardest part of this.

I've been repositioning — from vendor to brand.

This has been intentional and ongoing. I'm partnering with local communities, doing in-kind sponsorships, showing up in spaces where my brand can do more than just sell something. I've been seeing real results from it and I've been able to help other people who are trying to build community and a name for themselves at the same time. When you're starting out and resources are thin, we are the resource to each other. That matters to me.

I've been doing this full-time.

I was laid off in July. And instead of that being the thing that broke me, it became the thing that pushed me all the way in. Acquired Taste has been my full-time focus since then and while I won't pretend that's not scary — it is — it's also allowed me to do more than I ever could while splitting my attention. I'm getting my books in order. I'm learning bookkeeping. I'm building processes and documentation. I'm tightening up the ship so that one day soon I can actually pay myself.

The stuff I don't talk about enough

I did an interview recently with Sarita of Built from Scratch and it was one of the most honest conversations I've had about this business. If you missed that email, you can catch the full interview here and read my deeper reflection on it in this blog post.

But something came up in that process, and in the speaking engagements I've been doing, including a career day at a second chance high school, that I've been sitting with.

Visibility is hard for me!

Like, genuinely hard. I have spent a lot of my life making myself smaller. Shrinking. And as Acquired Taste grows, visibility is the job. Talking about myself, being seen, showing up, it's part of it. And every time my reach increases I feel it. That fear. That old instinct to pull back.

But I'm not pulling back. I'm staying. I'm letting myself take up space. And that has been one of the most healing parts of this entire journey, more than I expected, honestly.

Acquired Taste started because I wanted to see something through. But it's become something so much bigger than incense. It's been a self-discovery journey. A self-love journey. A reconditioning of everything I thought I was and wasn't capable of.

I always knew this brand was going to open doors to more than just incense. I know I'm more than that. And I can't wait to show you over time.

What's coming

• Scaling production so I can build an even stronger presence on Urban Outfitters
• Increasing direct-to-consumer online sales
• Pulling back from vendor markets to focus on intentional, retail-specific events
• A Mother's Day giveaway on Instagram you do not want to miss — a full self-care set with incense, a holder, and K-beauty skincare — so make sure you're following @acquiredtaste.me
• Grants. Funding. Courses. All of it.

I'm doing my best out here. Learning as I go. It's been quite a ride.

Thank you for being here. Genuinely.

— Hannah

Shop the collection at acquiredtaste.me | Follow along on Instagram