If you’ve followed us from the beginning, you may remember Michael and I would show our faces on IG a whole lot more than we currently have been. And if you’re new here, you may have noticed that our IG feels very…. Uniform. And there has been a whole lot going on so, it’s time to fill you all in.

We opened up our physical shop in the middle of the pandemic, in a province that we didn’t call home (another blog to come about all that). We were far away from our families, friends, and everything we knew. We kept our physical store open for about 10 months, and kept up with social media constantly. But the truth is, the homesickness and the burnout were getting real. Opening up our first ever business, in the middle of a pandemic, in a foreign province, was a lot to take on all at once. And to be honest, the anxiety was getting to be too much to bear. We were exhausted and miserable, and just wanted to go home. The more you’ll get to know Michael and I, the more you’ll find out that we don’t sit in situations that don’t serve us; if we don’t like something we change it, and we change it immediately. In August 2021 we decided to shut down our physical location, and figure out how to move back home. In October we did just that, we packed up a U-Haul with all of our belongings, all of our store stuff and made the 20-hour drive back home.

Making all of these major life decisions was something that took a lot of courage, but we knew if we wanted to succeed it was something we would have to do. Decisions and moves like this are something that no one would take lightly, and with this we took on a whole lot of stress.

We made this move just a week after Canadian Thanksgiving, and if you’re a shopper or you ever worked in retail you know that this is just the beginning of the craziness that is holiday season. We unpacked an entire house, and our business within 2 days. And just like that, business ran as usual. Since we opened the shop, we took no breaks. Especially after this move, we had no choice but to push through the exhaustion and overwhelming stress as we were at the beginning of Holiday season. Fast forward to January- the burn out was getting worse. The anxiety and stress had taken over our lives, and fear was taking over every single decision we ever made. Michael and I were in a full-blown identity crisis. As new business owners, we felt like there were areas of the business we could improve on- social media being one of them. Coupling this anxiety, burn out, and feeling of confusion… we decided to hire a media company. We figured this would help us grow bigger and better as a brand, and just maybe help us feel less burnt-out. This media company took over everything on social media, so Michael and I stepped back from this platform. We stopped posting our talking videos, our captions-everything (except for DM’s, that’s always been me lol)!! We had hired them from January until June and this is why you have seen so little of us!

Since January Michael and I have continued to make major life changing decisions, including yet another move four hours away from where we call home. This move specifically has been the hardest on us, and has resulted in us taking a hard long look at our lives and our business. We’ve noticed how burnt-out and anxious we are, and how these two things have made us make not the best decisions. We’ve stepped back and realized that we’re all (including the brand) having an identity crisis, and we need to get back to the things that feel authentic to us. Ivory Sheep is meant to feel like home for the misfits, and as of right now… Ivory Sheep doesn’t feel like that, and it’s time we get back to our roots.

We are so sorry if we have let any of you down in the last 6 months. I pride myself on being the most transparent person around, and it was time I was honest with all of you as to how we were struggling mentally.

Anxiety and burn out is no joke. It will affect every second of your life, and will take complete control over everything… and the worst part is, you don’t even realize it! I’m writing this post today to tell all of you that Michael and I are officially back… the IG feed is about to change, and ESPECIALLY the website. We have let you all down in showing real diversity, and it’s time we return to our goal of making this a place for every one!!!

Please bear with us as we make the transition back into who we are meant to be. And if you’re interested, I’ll likely be taking you all along the ride on IG and showing you all what makes me feel like myself. We are moving (yet again) in September, and this time we’re moving back to the area we call home.

Michael and I cannot thank you all enough for being apart of our journey. When we say we adore you, we truly mean it. Ivory Sheep means the world to us, and to be apart of each of your lives is the biggest blessing. We remember each of your names, we remember each of our interactions with you, and we truly just want to bring some joy into everyone’s lives. Thank you again for everything, without you none of this would be possible.

If you ever have any questions, or just want to talk… literally about ANYTHING feel free to reach out, you’ll always hear back from me. Sending you all so much love, and now let’s get back to being the misfits we are!