by Natalie Susi
Hello lovers of all things romantic! Welcome to my section of the Finding-Cupid Blog, “The Business & Love.”
I’m honored to be featured here, and I hope I can entertain, engage, and even enlighten you a bit, so you keep coming back to read and connect with me!
At the core, we’re all believers in the possibility of true love, and this website is here to explore that notion and make it a place for people to visit and be inspired by the life changing possibilities that only love and commitment can create.
“The Business & Love” explores what life is like for a 30 year old, single entrepreneur who is simultaneously building a brand, writing a book, and still trying to make quality time to date quality men. As Founder of Bare Organic Mixers, my writing will follow my dating adventures one cocktail at a time as I begin to put love first and business second.
In light of the recent success of my business in the last few months, I've started to recognize that I want more for my life. I don’t want to just focus on my business. I want to focus on me. And, at this point, I’m open to falling in love again.
I want to believe in unconditional love. I want to openly and willingly put my heart on the line even thought it’s been hurt before. I want to feel giddy and have butterflies. I want to lay in bed all day with someone and not check my phone. I want to put someone else’s needs before my own and be happy about it. I want to hold hands. I want to say, “I love you.” I want to find a partner, not for business, but for life. I want to move towards some of my personal life goals like having kids and getting married. I want to stop worrying that I’ve missed my chance at motherhood because I’ve chosen my career over a relationship.
I want to be able to do both. I want to have it all.
So, I hope you join me on this journey towards finding genuine love. It's likely to be a quirky, sometimes dysfunctional, but always entertaining ride, so I’m sure, if nothing else, you will experience a few laughs. That’s all I can hope for.
I’ll tell you my story, and then you tell me yours.
My Not So Secret Addiction
I am a lot of things. I am motivated, ambitious, and quirky.
I am a teacher and a writer by trade, and an entrepreneur by circumstance.
I am happy and satisfied in any one of these three roles.
I am also hard working.
No, let me rephrase that. I’m a workaholic.
I don’t abuse drugs or alcohol or painkillers. My “drug” of choice is work.
That’s right, I’ve saved up all of my addictive, overindulgent behaviors for my business.
My work makes me feel high. When I try to break myself away from it for a while, my body starts to experience weird ticks, and I began to frantically search for my phone and find reasons to text or e-mail. I get nervous and antsy when I don’t get my daily dose, and it’s impossible for me to sit still when I know work is readily available just around the corner.
Okay, that metaphor is a little dramatic…
But, my point is no matter which hat I’m wearing—teacher, writer, or entrepreneur, I always abide by the same relentless process. I dedicate myself to a project. I get clear on the overall goal, and I don’t stop hustling until there’s traction.
As you can imagine, this can be quite problematic for my romantic relationships. It certainly hinders my ability to find a mate, or even just a date for that matter.
This addiction all started in high school.
During my senior year, I ran for Class President and Vice President of the school. After a lot of work and preparation, I won the majority vote for both positions. Four years later, I fulfilled another one of my goals to work at my alma-mater, and just 5 days after graduating college, I was recruited for a job. A few years later, it happened again when I was asked to join the faculty as an English professor just a few days after I collected my diploma.
At a young age, these experiences taught me that when I set a goal, and I work hard, my intentions tend to come to fruition. In my young and naïve state at this time, I actually believed that most anything I did would be a success. So, with no plan at all, I started a company. I saw a need on the West Coast for Italian Ice, a product that tends to be very popular during the hot summer months on the East Coast. I got a loan from the bank, and I bought the equipment I needed, so I could make the best all-natural Italian Ice on the market. I assumed that just like everything else, this too would be successful. Turns out a teacher-turned-entrepreneur with no business experience and non-existent cash flow doesn’t often find success with these types of endeavors as quickly as one would hope. It’s 7 years later, and the original product, Claudio’s Italian Ice, has since turned into Bare Organic Mixers, and I’m just now starting to see some traction. It was a long road…
I still count my senior year in high school as one of the most productive years of my life. At the time, my boyfriend, an oddly enlightened boy for his age, would gently scold me for always working and never playing. He would say, “Natalie, there is always going to be something that you have to do. It never ends. Sometimes you just have to make time for the things that count.”
Oddly, 13 years later on a recent date, a guy who barely knows me, made a joke in a similar vane and gave me a hard time taking close to 4 weeks to set up a second date because of my “crazy busy schedule.”
When he mentioned it, I gave a half smile, and silently reflected on how this conversation was all too familiar. I’ve had this discussion with literally every boyfriend, my parents, and most of my friends at least once all throughout my adult life.
This is my addiction. Work is my crutch. I get it now.
So, I work on it. There’s that word again… Damn it.
I’m enlightened enough to know when something is out of balance in my life, and I’m committed to working on it every day to become a better version of myself. So, now I’ve decided not to just commit myself to my work, but to consider all of the other goals in my life that have nothing at all to do with P & Ls and marketing plans.
I’m going to make my personal life a priority. I’m going to invest in my future in a whole different way than I have in the past.
I hereby dedicate my time, energy, and emotional reserves to the purpose of this website which is to find and celebrate love.
Please join me for the ride!
-Natalie
Natalie Susi
Founder of Bare Organic Mixers, Natalie is a 30 year old, single entrepreneur who is simultaneously building a brand, writing a book, and still trying to make quality time to date quality men. Her blog titled, “The Business of Love” will follow her dating adventures one cocktail at a time as she begins to put love first and business second.