Celebrating 5 years of Matriarch - here’s the annual blog from Ria. Thank you for all your support.
I’m not going to start with an emphatic ‘Wow, I don’t know where to start or ‘what do I say’. I’ll just get into it.
Five years of Matriarch has come around like a shot, in the same way, that the last 5 years of my life have gone by in a blink. For anyone new here, I’m Ria, Founder and CEO of Matriarch. 5 years ago, I was sat on the sofa, the night before we went on our family holiday. I felt inspired, opened WordPress and started a blog. I called it ‘Matriarch’, made it yellow because that was the colour that best represented me and wrote a post called ‘The Disney Looking Glass’. 5 years later, I’m writing a blog post for our rebranded website and our business, Matriarch, the company disrupting the education industry and providing people with a life education, outside of education.
I never could’ve predicted where we’d wind up with Matriarch, even if I dared to dream that big. But I knew that it would be the thing I’d end up doing and the part of my life that was never going anywhere. Intuition is an important skill and I’m grateful I’ve always had a strong sense of it with Matriarch because a lot of these last 5 years have been me, navigating a ship with no map, course or compass. Going off of pure vibes, trust and intuition that either way, I’d figure it out. A real something-from-nothing vibe.
Running a business was never on the cards for me. But when I reflect on it now, it does make sense. I always intended for Matriarch to be the ‘job’ I ended up doing, I had a strong leadership skillset and I wanted to make a real difference in the world. I don’t think I quite realise, even writing this now, the impact Matriarch has had in genuinely improving people’s lives - from our game-changing sessions for clients to how we make people feel seen and heard online. But every comment, piece of feedback, like, message, and ticket sold for our events - they all add up. They’re proof of our impact, putting more light into the world.
Personally, I want to thank Matriarch, the beast that she is. She’s gone from a blog to a platform to a podcast to a community to a brand to a business with so many evolutions and forms and my god she’s beautiful. A product of everything she’s been, is and will be, all the people that make her. And don’t you know it takes a fucking village! Naively, 3 years ago I posted that I was looking for ‘1 intern’ to help raise and run Matriarch. To my surprise, 14 people applied and, with my glorious lack of willpower, I hired 5 people. Now, we’re at 16 and my mind is blown. Every day, especially on the shit days, I’m reminded that there are 16 beautiful people in the world who give up their free time, outside of their full-time jobs and studies, because they believe in Matriarch and what we’re trying to achieve. Not only that, they are some of the most driven, talented people you will ever meet. They have taught me so much and if I’m ever emblazoned as a good leader, it’s because I had them shaping me as one. Jana, Antonia, Tilly, Siena, Clare, Evie, Alicia, Saskia, Shanice, Alycia, Rhea, Sarah N, Nathalia, Gail, Olly, Susanna, Daisy - words fail me. I love you, thank you. And to Chloe, Lulu, Harriet, Nausika, Barney, Sarah J, Martha, our previous team members and permanent cheerleaders - your contributions are not lost. You have all become some of the most important people in my life and I’m all the more richer for it. You’ve made it easy to trust putting my baby in the hands of someone else.
I often refer to Matriarch as ‘a selfish public diary’ which is very accurate. It was my safe place to express and exist, authentically, whilst learning that who I am is okay and bloody brilliant. But up until 3 years ago, it was this very personal space and ‘Matriarch’ was entirely synonymous with ‘Ria’, one and the same. When this started to shift, I think people found it a bit confusing that it suddenly wasn’t about me or my life anymore, as solely as it had been before. But that was never the intention and I love what she is now - something by and for everyone.
Naturally, as a founder and leader, I have an ego and a possessiveness over Matriarch. It’s my baby. But it’s also been my north star. For those who are new or don’t know me personally, the last 5 years have been a lot for a young person. Covid happened and all that jazz. But significantly, just over 4 years ago when I was 19, my Dad died and it changed the trajectory of my life forever. I went on to graduate with 2 degrees, get my first job and navigate that already difficult early 20s period with the added frosting of grief. I will probably never experience something as earth-shattering as that again in my life and I’ve experienced some of the deepest pain life has to offer. And yet, Matriarch’s been there as salvation for my hurt, fear, isolation, loneliness and confusion for the last 5 years. So when I say it’s my north star, I really mean it. It’s my life purpose. So this isn’t just any other anniversary. To me, this is a summation of the last 5 years of my life and a mark of what I’ve achieved as an individual. I’m the product of many people, my friends, my family, my mentors, and my team. But as women, we’re also not so good at the taking-the-credit-celebrating-our-wins thing and I’d be a hypocrite not to. I’m so proud of where I’ve come from and where we’re headed together.
But none of this would exist without the people who have so warmly received, believed and interacted with us these last 5 years. Whether you’ve been here since July 2019 when I’d post my meal preps and workouts on our stories every day or you found us through this blog post - thank you, in all earnest, thank you. You trusted and believed in something that at times I’ve struggled to. You supported something that was so freeform and unexpected. You gave it the hype it deserved to reach the people it so desperately needed to connect with. That’s not on me, that’s on you and I can’t thank you enough.
I hope Matriarch makes you proud. Something you think of or tell someone about because you’re proud to be part of it, proud to know us and proud to spread the good we’ve got because really, that’s all we’ve got. Thank you.
Here’s to the next 5 years - the horizons are higher than any of you know.
All my love,
R x
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