The name & the feeling: Why Michigan Girl

(Plus a coffee mug we all need)

First. I bought this great mug for myself last week. (It’s explicit, you’ve been warned, and the photo is below.)

Second. I have been thinking a lot lately about what is "next" for my business, Michigan Girl. It's time for something more, to give it more love - and maybe mud, too.

It was with a ROAR that I awoke on a clear, beautiful February morning two years ago. I was going to do it. Start another business, with 100% ownership, all mine. I was going to stand up and get back in the (bike) saddle, as they say.

I had 4 names for my business in mind, and, I have to tell you, I drove out to file DBAs for all of them on a wild, speeding drive to the Benzie County clerk, before I could chicken out.

It only cost me $10 a name, so I did them all. I was embarrassed, as she did the paperwork for me, 4 total. But I refrained from explaining myself. In that moment, I knew I needed to plant a seed, take a step forward, DO something. I'd figure out the rest later.

I blasted music ALL the way there and ALL the way back. I sang every damn word of any damn song that came on the radio. I rolled down the windows in the freezing cold air and drove too fast. And that day - just! - as I crested the hill by the old VFW hall, I was in awe of the panorama of Michigan below me.

In that moment, I was above it all. The chaos, the betrayal, the upset. I was - whether I was ready or not - embarking on my next chapter. And with Michigan’s sky and forest all around me - I knew I’d wasted $30, because I finally knew the name.

Michigan Girl.

The positive connotations of “girl” felt perfect. The beginnings, the fresh starts, the unmarred quality of a clean slate. I knew that it represented all of us - young or old - when we feel hopeful, alive, moving forward again. Those things were coming back to me. The possibilities, the ability to choose, to steer my own life, to start anew.

Plus - every “Michigan Girl" I knew was built out of grit and gumption and - best of all - dirt roads, green forests and fresh water.

The name was perfect.

A few weeks later, I awoke with another ROAR. I would start the bike group I had talked about for years. In a few minutes, I had created a Facebook page for Michigan Girl Bike (and Hike!) Club. I started with 12 members. (Now two years later, we are at 1.8k members, which I continue to find unbelievable!)

I was prepared to do that first ride pretty much alone. I didn’t personally invite anyone. These were women I knew but still, I resisted asking if they would come. I wanted the group to be pure. I didn’t want anyone to show up from pressure.

I was cleaning house.

I had just left a system cloaked in obligation and triangulation. This time, everything and everyone had to come with joy and without duress (and, with mud, as needed).

Eight women showed up. I was awkward and shy and still absolutely reeling from what I had endured - but something very simple happened on that ride with 8 women.

I was "me" again.

It was easy and straightforward and quiet and also laughing and falling and wiping out. We did 10 miles. With sweat and joy and zero hidden agendas.

Afterward, I took the dirt road home - I wanted to let the ride settle into my bones. I had done it! a bike group! in the woods! with new friends! a woman fell and didn’t die! we laughed!

I was singing along to the radio again. Pay attention to when you’re singing along to the radio.

It was a start, a return to “me” - the truest, easiest form of me. The things I wanted to do and see and build, all meant paying attention to that energy, that truest, simplest vein of energy.

I started creating other things - women’s trips and hikes and snowshoes and retreats and Mom Walks. And I paid close attention to my energy each time. Did this feel good to build? Yes and only yes is what I followed.

Meanwhile, I was freelancing for several pubs in the region, plus visitors bureaus and chambers. I was doing so much writing, yet my personal writing - without my magazine anymore to write for - didn’t have a home.

I went to the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop last year and met several writers who were using Substack and loved it.

I went home with the goal of writing a Substack post once a week. It was terrifying, but I decided it was like the bike group: If people wanted to read it, they would. I had to trust that the right people would find it and that I would write where my heart took me. I closed my eyes and posted my first piece.

And just like that, I had a place for my personal writing again. The ideas roared back with each post. The energy was there. And each time I published, it reminded me that writing was my TRUE calling.... I was finding my way back there again, too.

So, as I reflect on the last two years, and how it's been a foundation for what is next, I just have to say THANK YOU. So many of you have supported me and commented and read and showed up at events to play!

AND... I hope you’ll follow along as I announce new things for Michigan Girl! Things with that play-in-the-dirt feeling! With outdoorsy vibes! From the heart of a Michigan Girl!

P.S. And I bought this mug to remind myself I CAN DO IT!!!!!!!!! I AM LAUGHING!

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P.S. Your support means so much - every time I get a subscriber it’s like a good song coming on the radio. I still don’t know exactly what is “next,” but I do know that when I’m writing, it’s like singing in the car.