I’ve talked a lot about lessons in waiting, patience, holding tight to your dreams and accepting the unknown over the past year.

Some of this has surrounded my journey with fertility over the past two years, and some of it has had to do with a subject I haven’t talked about.

Selling my physical therapy clinics and Pilates studios in Hawaii.

This deserves a little back story.

My husband and I moved from Denver to Kailua in 2006.

Neither of us had ever studied abroad, and we were both itching for a little “adventure”. We were also both beach babies at heart, and yearned to be close to the water and warm weather.

We thought we might split time between Hawaii and Denver, as we still had some business on the mainland.

We thought we might come have our experience and leave.

We were wrong.

We fell head over heels in love with Hawaii. The ocean, the mountains, the air, the people, the energy.

The mana is real and it took us over.

I had been practicing physical therapy and Pilates on the mainland since 2000 and knew I wanted to continue doing that in Hawaii. To stay and make a living, I found a few jobs and drove all over the island seeing clients.

The problem is, nothing really lived up to my expectations of what a true Pilates studio and physical therapy clinic should give.

Because I couldn’t find it, I created it.

Harmony Pilates and Physical Therapy was born in 2007 in a little space on Ho’olai next to Blockbuster. We had five reformers, one chair and me. My husband, Brian, helped put all of the equipment together when we first got it and quickly became my “IT/handyman/all extra things” person.

I scheduled my first class and felt a rush like never before when our first three clients showed up (I still remember exactly who was there that first day! If you are reading, I thank you :).

Eight and a half years later and we now have two locations and a staff of 19. We have had thousands of clients walk through our doors and I have made lifelong friends.

I’ve been stretched and grown in ways I could never have imagined. I’ve stayed up all night researching how to start an LLC in Hawaii and how to give out 1099’s. I’ve shared the news of first my engagement, then my pregnancy and finally the birth of my daughter with everyone at Harmony.

Harmony has been as much a part of me as my own breath for 8 1/2 years. Brian and I have painted, put up barre’s, hung pictures, put together equipment, fixed broken fixtures, moved furniture. We have stayed up half the night steam cleaning the carpet so it would be dry for clients the next day. My first Mother’s Day was spent in the Aina Haina studio with my husband and one month old daughter replacing retail items and doing inventory.

I grew up in those studios. A big part of who I am is in those studios, and in the people I’ve met and the things I’ve learned.

I said I would never own a business. I said I would never hire staff or have employees. I said I would never move. I said I would never, never, ever let go of Harmony.

Sometimes the Universe has plans for us that we don’t know or can’t see.

We moved to the mainland two years ago when our daughter was almost one year old. We realized after having her that the importance of her growing up close to family was more important than our deep love of Hawaii. We knew we could always come back and that we needed to make that hard and important decision at the time.

We are very blessed to live in a place we adore in Southern California. I am thankful every day to have two places in this world I love so much and get to call “home”.

In some ways, managing a business from far away is easy. With email, phone calls and computer systems, you can do a lot without actually being there. I had an amazing manager and great staff to take care of our clients at Harmony.

But I missed my clients and one on one interaction with people.

I started to forge my own path with Happy Hour Mama when I realized I needed an outlet for sharing workouts and health information from far away. It was the perfect way for me to stay connected with clients and help people, which is my passion, while also stay home with our young daughter.

About a year ago I realized I couldn’t do both.

Harmony needed someone to be there in person to give hugs, bring coffee to staff and be a part of the amazing Hawaii community.

My husband and I made the difficult, emotional and exciting decision to sell Harmony.

The Universe sent us the perfect person three months ago and we have been working like crazy to make the transition happen as seamlessly as possible.

Which is what brings us to Hawaii today.

Five days ago, we officially sold Harmony Pilates and Physical Therapy. It was two years to the day after we moved to California.

The Universe knows what it’s doing, as I’m reminded over and over again.

This has been a very long, exhausting, emotional process for us. I’ve doubted myself over and over again, wondering if I was a good boss, a good manager, a good owner, a good steward.

I wanted to do right by Harmony and all of our wonderful clients.

I can say without a doubt that I did.

I wasn’t the best at waiting through this process, as you know. I can look back and see clearly some of the tears and frustration as I was waiting for an answer from the Universe.

I may have yelled at the sky a few times.

Now I’m here on the other side. It feels really good. Not because the answers are all clear to me now, because they aren’t. It feels very strange not to be the “owner” of Harmony and I know it will take some getting used to.

It feels good because I know in my gut it was the right thing. For Harmony, for me, for my family.

I’m excited for what the future holds for Happy Hour Mama, as well! This opens up some time in my schedule :), so you can expect to see a little more of me now, along with some exciting new programs!

If you are in a season of waiting, I am giving you a virtual hug right now. I continue to wait for other things in my life, and I know how frustrating and difficult it can be.

Keep the faith, keep believing for your dreams. It’s ok to get sad or frustrated in the process. Just don’t lose hope. I don’t know when or how they will happen, but your belief in the future is what keeps them alive.

I’m sending you love and lots of positive energy from Hawaii today.

All my love,

Jessica