I wrote a middle-grade fantasy novel and I'm turning it into a mini-magazine delivered once a week, one chapter at a time.

Why?

Because we've made almost everything in childhood instant, and I think some stories are better when you have to wait for the next chapter.

If you have an 8-12 year old reader and this sounds interesting, I'd love for you to join the waitlist:

👉 www.bureauofcuriousthings.com

Now back to our regularly scheduled existential programming.

We tell our kids they can be anything.

An astronaut. A veterinarian.

A marine biologist. A World Cup soccer player.

But I’d push anybody reading this to answer truthfully:

Do you still believe that for yourself?

Because somewhere along the way, many of us start acting like our lives are already decided. I certainly did.

I spent years in corporate. Good jobs. Cool titles. Not really what I dreamed of as a kid but also not anything I am ashamed of.

Then, six years ago, I left corporate to start a business called Tiny Earth Toys, a toy rental company. And I was obsessed. It felt like I was finally living my dream life.

And it worked. I raised $4.3 million from investors to scale it, hired 20 people, served 10,000 families. And I still had to close it. I tried everything to keep it alive before I finally had to let it go.

I went back to corporate. Which is fine. Except it doesn't fit anymore.

Not because there's anything wrong with the work. It's because working on Tiny Earth taught me something I didn't know about myself.

The part I loved most wasn't the fundraising or the growth or even building a company. Although that was all really fun.

It was creating something meaningful to me. Feeling like I was doing something that really mattered.

It’s something I can’t unknow.

Maybe the failure was also a gift.

Because it made me realize something:

I spend a lot of time telling my daughters their lives are full of possibility.

I spend almost no time believing that about my own.

Somewhere along the way, many of us start acting like we've already become the person we're going to be.

But what if we haven't?

I don't think the answer is quitting your job, moving across the country, or blowing up your life.

I think it's much smaller than that.

Pay attention to the things that keep pulling at you. The thing you can't quite explain but can't seem to let go of either. For me, it’s this novel.

Maybe it's there for a reason.

Maybe our kids need to see us try new things, get excited about something, and become beginners again.

Maybe they need to know that growing up doesn't mean we're done growing.

So that's my experiment.

A fantasy novel. Published as a mini-magazine chapter-by-chapter.

If this sounds like something your family might enjoy, join the waitlist. I don’t have a timeline on when it will be ready, but when it is, you will know first.

👉 www.bureauofcuriousthings.com

With you,

Rachael

P.S. I'll be sharing what I'm learning about starting something in my 5-9 on my socials if you'd like to follow along here!