This wasn’t a decision I made overnight.

It didn’t come from one bad day or one hard moment.
It came from a series of quiet realizations I kept trying to talk myself out of.

For a long time, The Design Collective made sense.
It was creative. It was generous. It was something I was genuinely proud of building.

And still, something started to feel off.

When something good no longer feels right

On paper, everything looked fine.

The community was there.
The work was good.
People were using what I created.

But behind the scenes, I felt disconnected from it in a way I couldn’t ignore anymore.

I noticed how heavy it felt to keep up with it.
How much energy it quietly demanded.
How often I avoided working on it, even though I cared about it deeply.

That was my first signal.

When something you once loved starts feeling like an obligation, it’s worth paying attention.

Outgrowing something doesn’t mean it failed

This was the hardest part to admit.

Closing The Design Collective didn’t mean it wasn’t successful.
It didn’t mean it wasn’t valuable.
And it definitely didn’t mean it was a mistake.

It simply meant I had outgrown the version of myself that built it.

My business has shifted.
My priorities have shifted.
The way I want to spend my time and energy has shifted.

Holding onto something just because it worked before wasn’t honoring where I am now.

Choosing alignment over attachment

There’s a lot of pressure to keep things going once you’ve built them.

To push through.
To stay consistent.
To make it work at all costs.

But I’ve learned that alignment matters more than attachment.

I don’t want to build a business that looks good but feels heavy.
I don’t want to keep something alive just because it once made sense.

I want my work to feel intentional. Grounded. Supportive.
Both for the people I serve and for myself.

Letting go as a form of clarity

Closing The Design Collective created space I didn’t realize I needed.

Space to focus on the work that feels most aligned right now.
Space to show up more fully in other areas of my business.
Space to build in a way that feels sustainable instead of stretched.

Letting go wasn’t easy.
But it was clear.

And clarity has a way of bringing relief with it.

Not everything we build is meant to last forever.
Some things are meant to serve us for a season.

The Design Collective was one of those seasons for me.

I’m deeply grateful for what it was, what it taught me, and the people who were part of it.

And I’m equally grateful for the courage to let it go.

Growth doesn’t always look like expansion.
Sometimes it looks like choosing what no longer fits, and trusting yourself enough to release it.

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A note to The Design Collective community

Before closing this chapter, I want to say thank you.

To every member who joined, supported, shared feedback, and showed up for The Design Collective, especially those who were there from the very beginning. You trusted an idea while it was still forming, and that meant more to me than you probably realize.

This community was built with care, creativity, and so much intention. And it wouldn’t have been what it was without the people who believed in it, used it, and grew alongside it.

Closing The Design Collective doesn’t take away from what it was or what it gave. That season mattered. You mattered.

And while this is a goodbye to this version of The Design Collective, it doesn’t have to be goodbye forever.

Maybe it’s just a pause.
A see you later.
A trust that if and when the time feels right, we’ll find our way back here again.

I hope when that time comes, you’ll still be there. And if not, I’m still grateful we shared this season together.

Thank you for being part of it.

xoxo,

Kath❤️