MAY 2026:
LET'S TALK ABOUT REST

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Making Cent$ is a monthly newsletter by Mira Katz dedicated to the taboo topics that affect creatives in business. Best enjoyed with a cup of ☕️ and a 🥐.

REST: The Quiet Weeks

Tell me if this sounds familiar:

One week you’re overwhelmed, wishing you had a moment to breathe. Your mind is stretched across decisions, client work, finances, team dynamics, operations, growth, and the thousand invisible responsibilities that come with building something of your own.

You find yourself in the waiting room at the dentist coordinating your dog’s social life, following up on a late payment, and rescheduling a project that just changed timelines for the fourth time.

Or you’re late for a lunch with friends because your manager just quit and you have to respond to an urgent call from a client while also trying to respond to your lawyer about a contract and a response from the plumber about your broken sink.

Busy ≠ Sexy

Maybe that’s just me. Feel free to fill in the blanks and swap whatever you need to adapt the insanity of a busy week as a founder to make it more your style.

No matter your brand of busy, there is an often chaotic and unglamorous reality of building something while trying to hold every moving piece of life together at once.

Then suddenly… the pace of the next month slows down. Your inbox is quieter, you’ve got fewer calls on the calendar, and for the first time in weeks, you finish a work day early and there’s more space for your personal life.

And instead of enjoying it, many founders panic.

Existential Boredom

You start wondering if something is wrong. If momentum is disappearing. If you’re doing enough. The stillness becomes uncomfortable because we’ve become so conditioned to associate movement with progress and exhaustion with ambition.

At least, I know that’s been true for me. The space in between busy periods makes me shaky — I don’t usually ease into them too gracefully. Emotionally, I first start with a gentle panic fueled by the fear of “What if this is it? What if my luck has officially run out?” I’ve learned that my insecurities thrive off of the much-needed pauses (at first).

You've Got Rhythm

The truth is, if you look around, nothing in nature operates in constant expansion. It is all cyclical. Think about the seasons, tides, animals, cells… There are moments of acceleration, moments of maintenance, moments of recovery, and moments of growth.

Why would human beings or businesses be any different? I think part of our discomfort with slower periods comes from the work culture we’ve inherited, one that rewards constant output, constant visibility, and constant urgency. Slowing down can quickly make us feel like we’re falling behind or not doing enough, even when that space may actually be necessary.

Quiet periods can also be incredibly productive, just in less conventional ways. They give you the opportunity to regroup, revisit what’s working and what isn’t, strengthen systems, reconnect with your team, refine your strategy, and most importantly reconnect with yourself instead of constantly reacting to external pressure. Some of the clearest thinking, best ideas, and most important decisions happen when there is finally enough space to hear yourself again.

The Show Must Go On

And please don’t get me wrong, this is not about becoming passive. You still follow up on leads, move the business (and your life) forward, and continue showing up consistently.

But there is a very different energy between building from grounding and building from panic. Maybe the pause is simply space before the next wave arrives… because rest assured, there is always another wave coming.

Founders have to believe deeply in what they are building while also remaining flexible enough to let the process evolve beyond their original expectations.

• You thought you were going to expand to a new city? Maybe those thoughts had to go on ice while you streamline your operations at HQ first.
• You thought you were launching a new flavor? Nope, it’s time to reformulate your current flavors based on all the feedback you’ve been getting while you save up for the R&D fees.
• You thought you were going to double your revenue? Maybe life wants you to tighten up your operations and get more efficient with the budget you have first, so that growth doesn’t hurt so much.

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Sometimes patience and adaptability matter more than forcing immediate results.

Stay Still (Sometimes)

Businesses grow best through clarity, consistency, trust, and the ability to respond to what is actually happening instead of gripping too tightly to what we think should be happening. Stillness can be part of the build too!

So, in case you need to hear this today: You are not behind because this week feels quieter than the last. You are not failing because things temporarily slowed down. You are not meant to sprint through every season of your life.

Life is not happening somewhere ahead of you.

This is it. The busy weeks, the uncertain ones, the exciting moments, the messy periods, the slower seasons. All of it is part of the experience.

So rest when rest is available. Work hard when it’s time to work hard. Stay disciplined without becoming inflexible. Understand that uncertainty and chaos are not interruptions to entrepreneurial life — they are entrepreneurial life.

And most importantly, try not to take any of it too seriously.

You have to enjoy the ride too :).

I hope this makes sense.

With love,
Mira

Happenings

1. I'll be Europe this summer: France, Switzerland, Spain & other stops. Reach out if you're around and want to connect / collaborate.
2. I'm co-hosting a business masterclass in Madrid in July... stay tuned for details
3. The Advisory is re-launching as a full software platform! I can't wait to tell you about. First spots open in June!

let's connect Hi! I really do read every email. Hit reply and share your thoughts, ideas, or what’s been inspiring you. I promise I’ll respond.

For best results, forward to a friend.

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