Lessons From My Second Drop
I wrote a blog post after my first drop for LEI Vintage about everything I learned from that experience. At the time, I thought it captured most of the lessons I could take away. I was wrong. Even after taking my own advice and making sure I did not make the same mistakes I did the first time, new insights emerged. This second drop taught me just as much, if not more.
The biggest lesson was understanding that nothing happens overnight. While things are going well and people are genuinely interested in what I’m sourcing, growth takes time. Drops don’t immediately sell out, and followers don’t appear all at once. What does matter is continuing to show up and work just as hard, without fixating on the parts of the process I can’t control. Staying focused on brand image and clearly understanding who I’m creating for is far more important. If those things are strong, the rest will follow.
Another lesson (one that connects to my last essay) is timing. This time, it was about giving myself too much time. I was so worried about feeling stressed by an approaching deadline that I gave myself over two weeks to launch The Midnight Edit. In reality, I only needed about seven days after the photoshoot. Everything, from social media planning to inventory arrivals, was organized early, leaving me with over a week of extra time before the drop. While that sounds nice, I realized how important strict timelines actually are. They push me to work more efficiently and allow me to get into a consistent rhythm, ideally releasing a new drop every two weeks.
The final lesson has been about aesthetics and fully understanding what LEI is becoming. I’m still learning what I want to source and who I’m sourcing for, and I know that will continue to evolve. I often go back and forth between posting the same type of content consistently or switching things up to keep it fun. Researching other brands can be helpful, but it can also be discouraging. It’s easy to compare myself to accounts with tens of thousands of followers and question my own ideas. But follower count doesn’t determine quality. Just because my account doesn’t have 12,000 followers doesn’t mean the content isn’t strong. Holding onto my ideas and resisting the urge to overthink them is challenging, but it’s also what makes LEI feel distinct.
I will continue writing these lessons as I want to encourage others and communicate that it is not as scary as it seems. As long as you know you can do it and are passionate enough, anything is possible. I am so proud of myself for getting this far and can’t wait to see where LEI is next year.
