What happens if you stop following the rules?
As founders, Lisa and I quickly realized the established rules didn’t fit us. Should we just give up? Aim lower? Or create our own rules?
Family always comes first - Karina Hvidsten with her daughter.
We decided to try something new:
✨ Core work hours from 9-2. Because we’re projectors – and energy efficiency is the name of the game.
✨ Family and health always comes first.
✨ Building a culture where everyone can speak up about their own limitations (and we know that takes time - most of us aren’t even aware of them yet).
✨ Space for meditation, ice baths & exercise during work.
✨ Keep space in our calendars for the unexpected.
✨ Tailor tasks to individual capacity and align them with big-picture goals.
✨ Weekly evaluations of workflow and mental health.
The result?
We work smarter. We feel stronger. We have more energy. Life feels lighter. We trust each other. We stop blaming others when we don’t feel good enough - instead, we find ways to empower ourselves. We let go of guilt. We discover parts of ourselves we’ve never allowed to breathe before.
I’m sure we’ll tweak things as we go. But for now, we’re breaking every rule we’ve been told to follow as a startup.
Can we keep it up? Time will tell. Hopefully, along the way, we’ll inspire someone else to trust themselves instead of squeezing into rules that don’t fit.
Karina Hvidsten | Founder @Gemz
