What I Learnt From Taking A Sabbatical

After 30 years crafting a career, 20 of them running her own fashion business, Ginger & Smart, Alexandra Smart decided it was time for a reset. 

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Over the course of the last 20 years, founding, building and leading Ginger & Smart, I have never really taken a break. I’ve had three beautiful children but didn’t feel I had the luxury of taking a maternity break for any of them. Even on the odd holiday, I was still on emails and calls, and consumed by how the business was performing.

The reality of founding a business is it’s 24/7, with ample ups and downs. The highs and lows of running a creative enterprise means that it can be very hard to put yourself first. With a young family, the best position you can hope for is somewhere below fourth.  

During the last two decades, I also lost my mother, my marriage and a good deal of my mental health. Now, when I reflect on this last sentence, I want to give myself an uppercut as I’ve discovered I had more control over some of these factors than I realised at the time. Isn’t hindsight and head space a fabulous thing?

Still, when I started planning my sabbatical, part of me was quietly panicking. What does a day not-working even look like? 

COVID meant I couldn’t jump on a plane to Paris or Marrakech as I had always dreamt of doing (travel is my thang). So what would I do with all those long and winding days? How would I function if I wasn’t crazy busy and pulled in 55 different directions? 

The preparation for six months of leave was intense. I had to clear my office so a lovely person could come in and look after my role. I had to write a handover document for a role – entrepreneur, founder, managing director – that is essentially being across most things all at once. I had to prepare the team to not see or hear from me for a very long time.

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““It isn’t easy to wind down. It’s taken me some time to stop making lists and planning the future and saying yes to everything.””

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That process turned out be surprisingly valuable. The handover meant I had to consider my day, how much time I gave to certain departments, people and tasks: future planning, strategy, management and leadership reporting. I had to examine how I was spending my time, planning my week and giving my team what that they needed and, ultimately, to contemplate how I could add more value.

Now, I’m three months into my leave and the time is flying by. Finally, I’m taking a deep breath. What a gift, a moment, a chance this is to decompress. It’s a revelation to discover how full life is when you’re not working, or allowing work-related stress to consume every inch of your energetic being. 

But it isn’t easy to wind down. It's taken me some time to stop making lists and planning the future, and filling the day, and saying yes to everything, and checking emails and (too regularly) most other forms of digital distraction.

I’m determined to spend every moment wisely. It’s a little cliched to admit, but there’s lots of diving in the ocean, hiking, meditation, reading a chunk of books, getting fit and healthy and strong. I’m being a full-time mum. And loving it. One of the best outcomes of this time off has been overseeing my brood through home schooling, which has been a wonderful way to connect with my kids. (I won’t lie, also longwinded and stressy at times).

I’m also spending time exploring creative pursuits that I have never had time for, like guitar and singing, dance classes, cooking meals that I can plan and look forward to; drawing, painting and writing. (It’s amazing what you can do online and still be grateful for). Ironically, I’ve never been busier.

Turns out, this time away from the business is giving me a moment to reconnect with myself, my children, my friends and family, and to ponder and focus on the things I want to achieve in my life from here on in. In all departments. Now I have a chance to gain perspective and shift energy to move into the future.

Best of all, I’m learning that when you widen the lens on life, other things come into focus.

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Words_ Alexandra Smart
Photo_ Sourced