After the review, the good resolutions for 2026; it’s a must, right?
As you may have read, 2025 was rock and roll and I’m hoping for a bit more calm in 2026... even though I think you’re starting to know me, and you know we won’t just sit on our achievements 🤣!
Nevertheless, 4 major resolutions clearly stand out and those, for sure, we will stick to!
Let’s go!
1. Stabilize and empower our new team
In 2025, we hired 6 people! That’s crazy!
It’s a real challenge when in 2024, there were only three of us: Céline, Marie-Hélène and me in the store with Gaëtan providing administrative support behind the scenes.
In 2025, in preparation for the opening of a second store, we hired:
- Vanessa in January with the goal of having an experienced person to help us set up a second space (currently absent)
and then when we got confirmation of the Woluwe opening:
- Ségolène in September (sewing, pattern making and sales instructor)
- Noémie in September (sewing and sales instructor)
- Céline De. in October (sewing and sales instructor)
- Justine in November (sewing and sales instructor / replaces Vanessa for the courses)
- and Rose in October who took over Vanessa’s hours to help me in the store.
By the way, you can find some of the team portraits here.
Note that Gaëtan was heavily involved in 2025 for the creation of the second store-workshop but also for customer support, especially for invoices (thanks pepol), for managing digital patterns (designers and customers), for maintaining the IT platform... in short, his workload also exploded!In 2026, my role and objectives are to stabilize our new team; and above all to help it grow. A major goal for me is to work on delegation and empower our new recruits for routine tasks.
The life of a workshop and a store is filled with repetitive tasks (as in any profession) and I want the team to be able to handle them without my own intervention. The goal is also for me to be freed from these daily tasks to focus on the "manager" and development duties.
For that, of course, you have to train, explain, but also evaluate, correct... I can no longer just say and have Céline and Marie do... Today, there are 8 of us working on two sites and that requires team coordination, finely tuned schedules, structured course planning... I who had thrown my team leader hat into the weeds; I had to go get it back... obviously it stings a bit but I’m getting back into it 🤣!
By the way, Gaëtan and I are currently doing the 3-month evaluations of our new hires...
We evaluate:
- their technical and teaching skills to give courses,
- their advisory skills in the shop,
- integration into the team and their motivation/commitment to projects
- ease of work (speed of completing simple tasks, understanding priorities...)
- knowing how to be with customers and students with respect for everyone.
On the 2026 resolutions schedule, we also decided to hold a team meeting every 6 weeks or so to share key information and coordinate as best as possible.
These moments are also important for Gaëtan and me because we like to exchange, share around a nice team meal... we want everyone to feel good and find their place within "our little family".
We are demanding for the good of the company but that doesn’t mean we can’t work while having fun! Marie won’t say otherwise especially during our photo sessions!
These moments of sharing are also an opportunity to celebrate birthdays together and this January it is Gaëtan (the 2nd) and Noémie (the 9th) who will be honored 😊.
2. Expand the range of wools and available product lines
Bigger space means more room!
I who complained about the space in the Ixelles store and was looking for room, I am served with our second store, we will be able to increase the offer.
We are very proud to have been able to offer you since the end of 2025 the products from the Fonty spinning mill and our goal is to offer you even more yarns during 2026. It is clear that for the wool it will be for the winter 2026 collection even if the summer will hold some surprises for you 😉 in terms of yarns but shh... it's still a surprise because I am still working on the summer collection!
We will also strengthen our ties with Japan and our current and future partners because I already have prospects for 2026... both in yarns and fabrics!
Regarding fabrics, don’t worry, we’re working to offer you a constantly renewed range with original, quality fabrics, as natural as possible while keeping an excellent quality/price ratio in mind. We will continue to choose different fabrics for Ixelles and Woluwe so you have as much variety as possible, even though basics will be available in both stores.
Finally, on the embroidery side, I will continue to look for partners to offer you new products both in sashiko and classic embroidery.
Note that I’m linking this here with resolution 1 because to find new suppliers, attend trade shows, and visit producers... I need both shops and workshops to run without me; at least with some autonomy for a few days or even weeks... so girls, I’m counting on you!
3. Propose new course themes
New recruits mean new ideas, even though frankly, I’m not short of them!
We have lots of ideas for summer and winter 2026!
Note that the course schedule is already set until mid-April, so don’t hesitate to take a look now and suggest the course themes you’d like to see on the agenda.
I want to thank Marie who has developed lots of new knitting courses for early 2026... and you know knitting takes time! So if you want to master increases and decreases in circular knitting like a pro, the new course will please you!
We still have plenty of ideas for knitting but a little patience!
Céline has also worked hard, and we're offering introductions to Tunisian crochet 😊 plus there will be more crochet themes coming... stay tuned!
Finally, when it comes to sewing, ideas are plentiful, and our first team meeting of the year will be dedicated to preparing the summer themes.
Ségolène, Noémie, and Céline have already shared quite a few ideas with me... we're excited!
4. Taking care of yourself and others: finding balance
Clearly in 2025, I tapped into my reserves and my batteries need recharging... let’s be honest!
The opening of the new store, managing Vanessa’s absence, recruitments, reorganizing the scheduling and planning of courses (we had to create a software tool for that; thanks again Gaëtan!)... have cost me a few new white hairs 😂!
First goal to recharge my batteries and that’s already booked: I will go to Japan this year and it will do me good to reconnect with my heart country ❤️. Landing in Japan feels like coming home to me and leaving it hurts more and more each time... of course, we’ll see our suppliers but it’s a different pace and I love that!
Gaëtan and I will also take more time off in 2026 (at the same time, that one won’t be hard to achieve because in 2025, we didn’t take any real vacations).
Secondly, resolution 1 has to work because I can’t start 2026 thinking I’ll keep working more than 65 hours a week... that’s not good for me, the team, or you!
But that’s not all because I want C'est du Joly to keep its family values: "we work hard but we have fun!" Everyone will have to adjust, find their balance, and I know we’ll make it!
One thing is certain: I need to delegate, of course, but also plan further ahead whether it’s the editorial line, communication... I have to look at the schedule over several months... not easy for me as a resolution but I know it will save me time so I’m going to get started!
I’ve kind of become the control tower of C'est du Joly and I think I’m going to do that well.
For 2026, I also aim to sew for myself and others, embroider, and learn lots of other techniques.
I’m going to keep devouring books, listening to music, but I’m also going to add spending more time with Gaëtan, discovering new restaurants, sharing great moments with friends, going to the movies or theater, and tidying up 😂 my apartment... putting order in your life and belongings is quite a project!
And you, have you made any resolutions this year?
I find it really feels good to write them down...
So this week, grab your pens to write a new chapter!
