The Hardest Part of Growing a Business: Outgrowing the Team That Built It

No one talks about this part.

The part where the dream is working, the business is growing, the numbers are up—but something feels… stuck.

When I started Pure Placid, I was surrounded by a small group of people who felt like family. We built everything together from the ground up. We packed boxes, cleaned floors, made candles, and stayed up late dreaming about what this could become.

They were loyal. Dedicated. All in.
And I loved them for it.

That early startup energy—messy, passionate, scrappy—is magical. It’s part of what makes entrepreneurship so addictive in the beginning. And for a while, it worked. In fact, it helped us grow to $1 million.

But here’s the truth I never saw coming:
The people who help you build the dream in the beginning are not always the ones who can help you scale it.

This is the part that’s hard to say out loud.
Because we want to believe the people we start with will be the people we finish with.
We want loyalty to be enough.

But business growth demands something more: evolution.

I held on too long. I let old dynamics, comfort zones, and emotional attachments influence my decisions. I tried to grow without changing the structure, the team, the energy.

And slowly, I felt myself losing clarity.
Not just in the business, but in myself.
My vision got quieter. My leadership dimmed. I was growing—but in the wrong direction.

It wasn’t until I stepped back and asked, “What do I really want to build? And who do I need around me to get there?” that things started to shift.

Letting go of that original team was painful. But the moment I created space, everything changed.
I hired differently. I led differently.
And the business grew—not just in size, but in alignment.

Here’s what I’ve learned about leveling up:

1. Outgrowing people doesn’t mean you don’t care.
   It means you're honoring your mission—and theirs—by letting both evolve.

2. You can’t build the next version of your business with the energy of the last one.
   What got you here isn’t always what will get you there.

3. Growth is often a subtraction before it’s an addition.
   The space you clear makes room for what's next.

4. Your job is not to stay loyal to the past.
   It’s to stay loyal to the future you set out to create.

5. You’re allowed to change.
   That’s not betrayal—it’s leadership.

If you’re feeling this tug in your own business—like something’s not quite clicking—it might not be about working harder.
It might be time to realign, reimagine, and reevaluate who’s walking with you.

Because scaling a business isn’t just about adding more.
Sometimes, it starts with letting go.