What Intentional Living Looks Like on the Day to Day

Growing up, I used to chase dreams that weren’t my own. But it wasn’t until I hit my 30s that I started choosing the path that actually felt true to me, no matter how unpopular or looked down upon. It actually allowed me to take charge and truly know that I was building the life that I actually wanted.

Living an intentional life means aligning my daily choices with my true values.

During the pandemic, I hit a hard reset on my life and made a sudden decision to move out of state with my husband and my seven-month old daughter to a remote town in California near to my mom.

I kept feeling like there was so much noise and I couldn’t hear my gut. 

The move was me pulling the plug on a way of living that wasn’t sustainable. A life that had me chasing paychecks to fund a life that I didn’t even want but was told was the most desirable way to live.

I had to sit with myself away from the distractions, peel back all the layers of noise and inputs, to finally come to the revelation that so many of the beliefs I held weren’t even my own.

This discovery was both scary and cathartic. But the opportunity to dismantle all of these beliefs, bit by bit, and uncover what I really wanted was worth the challenge of learning to look inward first.

In this journey I found some nuggets of wisdom, buried deep down, past all these tiers of everything I was taught to value and care for, that illuminated the aspects of my life that actually  mattered to me. 

To this day, intentional living means building from that foundation a day at a time and moving in the direction that gets me closer to having the life I want. 

I realized I am done waiting, and I am ready to actively make the climb toward my dream life. I am done with the planning, the overthinking, and listing out all the concerns of what could go wrong once I make those first steps. I deserve for my tomorrow to start merging with that picture of what my life could be, little by little. And I am the only one who can start to make that happen. 

I have started to make the choices that are in true alignment with who I really am, even if they don’t make sense to anyone else. 

My husband and I have become each other’s biggest supporters in this mindset switch. Not only have we aligned with our future goals but also with each other. Now we both prioritize putting in the time to sit down and paint the picture of our aspirations together and that is why through this transition, I have found how integral he is to the puzzle that is my way of life.  

Habits & Life Changes Integral to my Mindset Shift

Moving to Gilroy, California, after quitting my “dream job” at Meta was the first of many big transitory steps.  I had finally realized how little this job everyone had told me to love did for my soul and happiness. 

After the move, I decided to opt for a lower-paying job because I realized it brought me closer to my life vision of enjoying what I do, learning everyday, getting to decide what to put my energy into, etc. This new outlook on the benefits of what a job can give you far beyond social credits or high wages helped broaden my mind and redefine the feeling of purpose. 

From this transition, I came to valuing flexibility and freedom, which later pushed us to sell our larger home to then opt to live between 2 small condos. As a family unit, we learned having a house wasn’t really an important goal at this phase when our main focus is just raising our daughter and spending quality time together as a family. Redefining home became integral and also helped us transition from valuing the material of it all to the actual experience of being with each other.

With moving to a smaller space came the wonders of the challenges and constraints of downsizing on a consistent basis. 

Our motto: 1 thing in, 2 things out.

It’s important for me to teach my daughter Andie how life doesn’t need to feel like your belongings own you. Like a hamster on this wheel of consumption; spinning from earning to buying, and back again. It subtracts every other slice of all the bounty life can actually offer in memory, sensory experience, and adventure. This revelation from my past is something I hope to pass down as I introduce my daughter to the world. 

She has also become an integral factor in how I dictate work and life balance. I have started reducing all meetings in the afternoon to prioritize picking her up from school and attending all of her events. I have made these time boundaries clear; I work to provide the most optimal life for my daughter and husband, and therefore should not then intercede into the valuable moments and chances for quality time with them. 

How my Personal Philosophies Influence how I Run my Brand

In my personal life, I’ve stripped back and removed what doesn’t serve me. And in how I run AALLYN, I aim to take the same approach. It's moved beyond just a clean and minimalist business model, but also dipped into my own personal ethics and beliefs on whether it is how I communicate with customers, and staff, to the mottos I like to implement in the way my team and I do things. I’ve moved away from the coldness of corporate, and want to create something that is personable, enjoyable, and humane. It's not just about selling products and meeting quotas, but it can be about building community through the influencers, freelancers and many people involved along the way. We are a small business through and through, and I hope to keep it that way. 

The bags themselves are without the fuss, and fit into real life. We don’t follow what’s popular (which is another alignment with my personal beliefs) and focus on what sustains, what’s easy, and what makes you feel good. I don’t even have time to really pay that close of attention to what’s happening outside of AALLYN, and it felt more sincere to stick with styles that feel right and natural to us. Trends seem to pass faster than the seasons these days, especially with the speed of short-form content, it's hard to keep up with every microtrend. The goal has always been to bridge the gap between what is usable or practical, and what adds to someone’s personal style and confidence. 

With both the bags and the AALLYN business model, I realized I’d rather follow the ‘fewer and better’ mindset. I want my bags to be those trustworthy staples anyone can reach for at any time for years. And I want my business to feel meaningful, not a chase for the next paycheck. This meant implementing small-batch production methods which although can sometimes slow down the whole process also meant getting to work with a small family-owned factory that I can trust. 

There is a balance to running a business. I have learned through trial and error how to juggle all the many meaningful pieces of my life. From building something I believe in, to being a mom, a wife, a daughter and friend. I do my best to keep myself zeroed in on the chase for purpose and alignment without getting sidetracked by the noise of social expectation for a glamorous life that is often assumed for entrepreneurs. Like all business owners I do want growth, but not at the cost of my well-being or integrity. The same goes for my co-workers, employees and freelancers. That is why we grow AALLYN steadily, with protecting quality and customer trust as the primary goal. 

When starting AALLYN I did 100% of the customer service up until about six months ago. For the first four years, every email, every DM, and comment response was covered by me. And in all honesty, it all matters, every last bit. 

But my customer-first policy truly started when I was selling on poshmark where the individual interactions could be very personal. It was a place where you were selling something in your hands to someone who trusted you to describe it and ultimately was after a good value. And it's my hope that the same spirit is translated over to what we do today. 

I want to give customers something that will delight them, so we aim to always give good value whether that’s through our product price, the amount of accessories that come with a purchase, or the speed and kindness with which we perform our customer service. Its long-term brand health and care for my customers that I am after.

What Both Physical and Material ‘Success’ Looks Like in My Current Stage of Life and How it Has Changed Over Time

Success used to mean chasing the external markers. 

The fancy salary, title, and big-city lifestyle that looked good from the outside. The designer pieces and shiny items. I had worked so hard for those things but had no idea why I wanted them. 

At this stage of my life, it’s time to redefine. Success feels more grounded, more personal. Constantly chasing the fishhook luring me into a constant habit of overconsumption, I want to focus on having a comfortable and cozy home that holds the purpose of being filled with love, laughter, and quality time with my daughter and husband. 

From a physical standpoint I want to invest in my energy, longevity, and well-being. Having the health, metaphorical and mental space, opportunity to show up fully for myself, family and work, is what makes me feel my most successful. It is a privilege to be able to wake up and be excited about the work I am doing, and get to dictate what I am doing, where the business is heading, and when I get to stand up from my desk to go spend quality time with my family. To be truly content is to find that balance.

Entering Motherhood and My Relationship with Fashion, Consumption and Business 

Before having my daughter, the term entrepreneurship meant the constant hustle towards that ever moving finish line of “I made it!”. Little did I know I was the one moving that finish line further and further away. After having Andie it was a moment to reframe it all. Being burnt out and in that constant rush meant less time watching my daughter grow and develop before my eyes. To put revenue and profit over being actively present for her was an equation not even worth calculating. The goal should always boil down to be to enjoy life, the time I get to spend on this Earth, and focus on the connections that feel bigger than myself. 

This business has gifted me the opportunity to have that freedom. I get excited when I start my workday because I get that headspace to face that challenge I was trying to figure out and solve the day before with fresh eyes. Before starting my business I read the book Atomic Habits and the idea of aiming to improve 1% a day really stuck with me. I now tell myself I don’t need to have it all figured out, I just need to put in my 1% and it will compound and grow into something bigger. 

But finding purpose and making sure my work connects me with something bigger than myself has also integrated into the AALLYN business model. I love that I get to work everyday with women I admire, respect, and adore. Hiring my best friend and cousin Sharon has always been a dream of mine ever since I was a young girl. Our dads are best friends and growing up seeing how they uplifted each other translated into Sharon and I’s relationship as well. Sharon also has a daughter similar in age to mine, and through AALLYN she’s also got the flexibility to work from home and enjoy her daughter’s childhood as well. 

Another of my closest friends, Jordan, also covers my customer service. I hired her right after she had her first child. The job gave her the opportunity to work in those 8-minute spurts in between tending to her newborn and it also feels so meaningful to create work that she can do and tackle in 8-minute spurts. 

Tatiana is a model I work with regularly and is a big part of our brand image as she is consistent throughout our visual media. She is the first model I have ever worked with and we continue consistent projects in both modeling and content creation till this day. Like me she is also a mother, and has been added to our family of creatives who are redefining what a work-life balance looks like for them. 

Then there is Leela who covers my digital marketing, who when I met her was a digital nomad in search of living and working flexibly and freely. We connected over crafting careers in creative ways that do not disrupt the chance of truly enjoying life. 

This group of women who represent AALLYN bring a level of intention and likemindedness when it comes to our shared work ethic and focus. We all desire to live with intention, and do so to our fullest. 

All to say is that becoming a mom taught me that a job is just a job, and although important to sustain my life financially, it is more important that it adds to my feeling of purpose and daily fulfillment. 

Lessons About Work and Lifestyle I Hope to Pass Down to My Daughter 

I hope my daughter learns from my example how to build a life around her own values, even if it means taking a less popular path. Prioritizing competency so she values care and excellence over appearances and shortcuts is something I want to pass on. I want her to know that success isn’t about what it looks like on the outside, but about feeling proud of what you’re creating and the person you’re becoming. 

When starting AALLYN, I covered every role that I now outsource within the company. This helped me not only develop mindfulness around every job I provided, but also gave me a certain level of confidence in my abilities. Through this trial-and-error approach I learned that my skills are not limited to one field, and instead only limited by the amount of working hours in my day. 

It is important my daughter Andie learns to work hard for her dreams, but not just for the sake of being busy. I have no interest in pushing her in one direction or another such as entrepreneurship, but I do hope she too learns to build her competence and then confidence in a diverse set of roles and positions. True fulfillment comes from combining the hard work with purpose and that comes from living in alignment with what matters most. These are lessons I learned through my experience, and I hope to not only teach her by lesson, but also by the example I lead. 

The Role Family Plays in Shaping the Values Behind AALLYN 

Don’t live for how it looks, but live for what matters.

Growing up I watched both my parents live by their values, not by appearances. As immigrants finding their footing in America, they had little time to focus on vacations, luxury, or what things looked like from the outside. Instead, their choices were grounded in what mattered most to them and their sustainable longevity as a family and that clarity helped shape me and taught me not to chase things for how they look, but to ask myself what it was all really for. Funny enough this realization didn’t hit me until my 30s, but when it did, it hit me hard. And I have been implementing that life lesson into my path ever since. 

My Relationship with Money and How It Has Evolved 

During my corporate career, money felt like the ultimate success marker. Pay and title was the goal, and I thought it could buy me the life I wanted. I worked hard to get to what I thought was my dream role—-being the business manager in a large tech organization, but around the same time I had just become a mother and something inside of me was shifting. 

I could feel the transformation happening even though it hadn’t fully run its course yet. 

My resources were stretched so thin and I remember breastfeeding at 3am knowing my 6am alarm for work was coming and asking myself “What am I doing with my life??”

I was hustling hard to put our daughter in day care, to pay for an expensive home, to work 50-70 hour weeks, and for what? All of a sudden the foundation of my reality and this maze of expectations that I had set up for myself, felt very shaky… All these reasons and justifications for my way of life didn't feel like enough anymore. 

I couldn’t ignore this question I had inside:  What do I actually want? 

This was the turning point. I saw how easily I could get swept up by the momentum of chasing titles and paychecks and end up living a life that wasn’t really mine. I put my notice in abruptly, much to the surprise of everyone. ‘Wasn’t it your dream job? Your dream life?’ But I knew something was off. 

Stepping away helped me redefine my relationship with money. I no longer see it as an end goal. Now it’s a tool and a resource I can use to build a life that feels aligned, intentional, and true to me. 

Success today isn’t about accumulation. It’s about alignment and freedom. Freedom to make choices that align with your values, freedom to spend unhurried time with loved ones and to be present for both the big events and small moments. It gives the space for creativity, to solve problems, and to pursue work that makes you proud. This change gave me a chance to authentically set an example for my daughter. 

Money is the tool that I use to build a life full of things I've consciously chosen for myself.

Life Practices and Daily Habits that Align with my Intentional Living Practices 

Making space for presence with my family, whether in our daily ritual of unhurried morning cuddles or showing up for every single school event on the calendar has been a crucial readjustment. I love my comforts as much as the next person, but keeping my home as minimal as possible has helped not only making more intentional purchases of new items, but also truly valuing the items I already know and love. I like to keep open, empty spaces, where possible in my home — I find it helps me stay creative and keeps my brain flexible for problem solving. 

This is mirrored in our bag designs where I focus on what’s essential, pared down to balance what’s beautiful, comfortable, and versatile, without the frills. 

In my life I prioritize presence, so in turn at AALLYN we prioritize longevity. Creating bags that are meant to stay with you for many seasons of life rather than being swapped out for trends. 

I want AALLYN to reflect intentionality and give women tools (or bags) that support the life they actually want to live and are living, not the one they feel pressured to live.

Practices and Principles that Help Me Consume with Intention 

A practice I implement to keep myself consuming with intention especially about clothing is to ask myself a few questions: 

Does what I am buying look comfortable that I’d know how to wear it? 

Is it something I’ll grab easily and understand how to style or use it? 

We all have those items we’ve bought that look nice but when brought home we have no idea how to actually incorporate it into our lives. 

So it just sits there, unused, because you don’t reach for it. 

I ask myself if it adds value or makes me feel good about myself.

At AALLYN when I designed the bags we kept that all too common predicament in mind. So that is why we aim to create pieces that customers want to reach for, that feel natural, comfortable, and easy to throw on. But that still gives you some added oomf! 

How I Approach Thoughtful Ownership 

My philosophy on money has always been that we should own our things and our things shouldn’t own us.

 A long time ago I figured out the outfit formula that worked best for my style and body silhouettes that felt best on me. Once I figured that out, I realized I didn't need a huge closet. I just needed some pieces that fit the silhouettes I loved, across a few different occasions, that I could repeat over and over. 

Learning to rent clothes that I don’t wear often such as occasionwear has helped me reduce my cost per wear on items I would probably only reach for once or twice. Poshmark over the years has also become a useful tool that I use to let go of items I haven’t touched in a long time. I used to be a big seller there before AALLYN started where I used to buy new or preowned clothing. I’d then wear it, and if I found I didn’t reach for it enough, I’d resell it, often at the same price I paid. I told myself it was like “renting” my wardrobe until I figured out what I liked. It was a fun way to figure out my style without overspending.

Now I am usually in casual clothing. And I tend to focus on having good quality staples that are true workhorses that I can build my formula around. To elevate those everyday outfits, I invest in accessories that polish the look without being overdone like jewelry on repeat. 

A core part of AALLYN’s ethos ties into this formula. They are versatile, easy to wear, and their purpose is to give that effortless look I want most days. 

Closing 

AALLYN is a part of me. And it never made sense for the brand I invest my time, energy, and focus on to scale, and sustain, to not be fully representative of the philosophies and practices so tried and true in my life.