Inside The Cart

12/27/2025

This year asked for honesty, patience, and growth.
I’m grateful for the people who crossed my path, stayed, and supported. May 2026 bring us a lighter year!

12/25/2025

The year 2025 asked for honesty, patience, and growth. I’m grateful for the people who crossed my path, stayed, supported, or just witnessed. Thank you for being here 🤍

- Love & Light, Olga

12/09/2025

I used to think dismissal was just part of life. People can cut you off, joke at your expense, talk over you, and you’re supposed to shake it off and not take it personally.

I called it “constructive criticism", “learning to be tougher,” and just “me being sensitive.” But the truth is simpler:
--> Some people don’t care how they make others feel.

I wrote about what happens when dismissal becomes the language of relationships and business, and what it does to the person on the receiving end.

If you’ve ever felt small for speaking clearly or confidently, this might hit home. Read the piece here (no popups, no banners):
https://www.insidethecart.com/blog/2870775_inside-the-cart-when-dismissal-becomes-the-language-of-relationships-and-business

12/03/2025

Mission businesses grow differently than big-city brands — our community wants to know you, not just see your ads. So I’m curious... Which one feels hardest for you right now?
A) Consistency
B) Clarity
C) Community / Connection
D) All of the above (it’s okay 😂)

I'd like you to please drop a letter... your answer helps shape my next set of free tips for local businesses.

12/02/2025

UPDATE: MISSION, we HIT 79 responses in less than 2 hours. Keep 'em coming! Your input helps my research paper. ..........
Hey Mission friends, quick community help needed! Many local restaurants are struggling, but they’re actually trying to improve. I’m gathering anonymous community feedback to help them make better decisions around food, service, hours, and atmosphere. If you’ve ever said:
“Why does everything close at 8?”
“Where do we go for a fun date night?”
“Why is take-out so expensive?”
“Why is there nowhere to go after 9 pm?”

It’s short, anonymous, and your answers will be shared with local restaurant owners, so please be honest, as it truly makes a difference. Link is in the comments. Your 2 minutes genuinely help the local scene more than you know. Let’s help Mission become a town we want to go out in.

Call now to connect with business.

12/02/2025

Lately I’ve been working with a few local restaurants here in Mission… and wow, the patterns are almost identical. It’s not really the food or “people don’t want to work.” It’s the systems behind the scenes.

Here’s what I keep noticing:

-> Owners are burnt out because they’re juggling everything. When the structure is shaky, every shift feels like survival mode.

-> Staffing issues aren’t actually staffing issues. Good workers do exist; they’re just looking for places that feel organized, stable, and worth committing to.

-> A lot of restaurants are leaking money without realizing it. Not in big dramatic ways… but in small, daily ways that add up fast.

-> Online presence matters more than people think. A clean Google profile, decent photos, and a simple hiring process can completely change the flow of customers and staff.

The good news?

These things are fixable and they can make a restaurant feel 10X lighter almost overnight. Mission, BC has so many incredible local spots. It’s been really eye-opening to see that most of the struggles aren’t about the industry at all and more about clarity, systems, and support. If you’re a restaurant owner and want fresh eyes on things, feel free to reach out. No pressure as I’m just sharing what I’ve been seeing lately. 😊
FB / IG / Tiktok:
Insidethecart.com/blog

12/01/2025

It’s Monday 💛

Your brand becomes powerful the moment you stop trying to be everything for everyone. This week please choose clarity over complexity.
Choose depth over quantity and direction over noise. Your people can only find you when you know where YOU actually belong.

Who are you speaking to this week?

11/28/2025

What I Finally Realized About Being Seen Online
(the honest version no one tells you)

I used to think visibility was about:
– posting consistently
– having good graphics
– using the right hashtags
– trying to “beat” the algorithm

And I’ll be honest…
I wasn’t following half of the advice I see everywhere online, because most of it never felt natural to me. Here’s what I finally realized: People don’t see you when you're polished. They see you when you're clear, and they remember you when you're HUMAN. So instead of pretending I’m perfect at this, here’s what I’m actually learning, right alongside you:

1️⃣ You can’t attract people with content that doesn’t sound like you.
If your posts don’t carry your tone, your personality, or your thought process, they disappear. People respond to YOU, not “content.”

2️⃣ Most of us skip the part where we explain WHY something matters.
We jump straight into “what to do” and forget the human angle. But the WHY is the part that makes people stop and feel something.

3️⃣ Engagement doesn’t rise when you post more — it rises when you post something that feels true. Not perfect, trendy, or AI-smooth.

4️⃣ You don’t have to follow every marketing rule to grow.
You just need to follow the ones that make sense to you, and let the rest go.

So this is your reminder (and mine): You don’t have to do everything right, just have to show up honestly, speak clearly, and let people feel who you are.

Next Friday, I’ll share the next thing I’m learning in real time because I’m building this WITH you.

11/27/2025

If you’re new to running a small business (or just feeling overwhelmed), these 5 apps will save you hours every single week. I’m curious though:

👉 Which one do YOU need the most help with?
A) Canva
B) Square
C) Google Business Profile
D) Trello
E) Meta Business Suite

Drop your letter, I’ll create a free mini-tip for the most popular one next Thursday.

11/27/2025

STORY TIME — How I Finally Stopped Playing Small
A little over two years ago, I reached a quiet yet very real moment when I realized I was done shrinking myself. Nothing dramatic happened; it was just this feeling that kept growing, the sense that I had so much more inside me, and I was tired of waiting for the “right” time or some kind of permission to start using it. Around that time, this spare room in my house kept catching my eye. It was just sitting there, randomly used, holding things that didn’t really belong anywhere. It felt like a reflection of how I’d been treating my own potential, always in the background, always pushed aside, always meant to be dealt with “later.”

One day, I decided that later wasn’t coming. So, I took a real, practical step. I bought paint, furniture, and office supplies. I decided that I am creating a space that matches where I want my life to go, not where it has been. I didn’t know what Inside The Cart would eventually become.

I didn’t have a five-year plan or some polished vision statement. What I did have was this pull, this feeling that if I created room for my life to expand, it would.

This office isn’t just a renovation to me. It’s a reminder that I invested in myself long before anyone else saw what I was building. It’s proof that I took my own dreams seriously, even when they were still messy and unknown. I built something out of a room that used to have no purpose… much like I rebuilt the parts of myself that used to stay quiet.

So welcome to the studio behind Inside The Cart. This is where it started, not with perfection, but with one honest decision to choose myself.

11/27/2025

This little mermaid has been sitting on my desk ever since Lea put her here “to watch me work.” And honestly… she stayed.

I work with all kinds of clients — small businesses, local entrepreneurs, people who are building something meaningful… and apparently, one very committed mermaid who refuses to leave her post.

Behind every business is a real life, a real family, a real story. That’s what I love about working with our community, because it’s never just strategy and screens. It’s people, moments, and the little things that remind us why we’re doing all of this in the first place. If you ever wondered what “soul-led marketing” looks like… Sometimes it is like this.

11/26/2025

What’s one thing that helps you slow down? I would love for you to leave a comment!