Summer Is Why I Work for Myself
Entrepreneurship isn’t easy. But at least I get some vitamin D.
Starbucks: Where Nobody Knows My Name
My Starbucks name is Summer. Not because I’m trying to be weird, but because “Sonya” seems to baffle even the most seasoned barista. (Is it with a Y? An I? A J? “Sewn-Ya?”) And to my disappointment, occasionally, Summer gets butchered. “With an O or a U?”
Still, I keep using it. Not just to get me to my grande green tea faster, but because the name feels like a spoken little prayer. A wish. A reminder of who I want to be, where I want to be when I’m not buried in fluorescent light: someone warm. Someone free.
Crying in a Bathroom with No Windows
Last summer, I was working at a law office. My desk was in the middle of the floor, so I didn’t even have a window to the outside. The only light I saw came from my two monitors and the tiny electric landline flashing green when a client put me on hold.
I remember one particular afternoon. I'd gone to the bathroom (for the millionth time just to get some steps in) and sat there slumped with my head against the icy stall wall. My body was done. It was telling me it’s been in the wrong place too long.
It was the sunniest days of the year, the sunniest days of my life, and I felt like the dusty plants forgotten on top of the filing cabinet.
It wasn’t the job. I liked the work, and the people were kind. But outside, the season was passing away without me, and I longed for more.

One Tuesday in June, I Realized Everything Has Changed
This summer is different.
Last week, Rick and I went up to my parents’ Muskoka cottage for a whole week. We hadn’t done that in over a decade. This wasn’t a holiday; we actually lugged a giant extra duffle full of tech and AV gear, but it was a change of scenery.
On Tuesday evening, Rick and I were floating in the lake together before sunset. “Rick,” I said as we practiced our synchronized swimming comedy routine, “wasn’t today the most perfect workday"?”
Recalling the day together, we agreed. It was.
He was already up when I padded downstairs — drained coffee mug next to his open laptop, brow furrowed, getting ahead of the day. I made myself a green tea, stretched a little, and after breakfast joined him in the sunroom overlooking the lake. We call the posture “dualling laptops.”
At some point in the morning, he brought me a bowl of blueberries. Each burst of fruit tasted like everything good.
That day was full of work. Zoom calls, writing, client notes, meetings where we’d take turns slipping into the back room for privacy. But we also built in breaks. A walk down to the water. Lunch on the sunny deck with my parents. Two quick 2 K runs where the mosquitoes made us sprint faster than we intended, laughing and waving our arms like maniacs all the way home.
At five, I looked up and said, “That’s enough.” And poured some wine.
After dinner with my parents, we jumped into the lake.
Not Glamorous, But Ours
Let me be clear: this entrepreneur lifestyle isn’t an escape. It’s riskier. Less certain. No safety net, pension, or work pizza parties. No team (yet). Just two people figuring it out and investing in our zone of geniuses.
But there’s sunlight. And choice of office. And only wooden stairs for a commute.
We’re not working less. Far from it! (If you haven’t gathered, yet, the hustle is real, baby.)
But we get a summer. That counts for something. Maybe everything.
The Power of a Sun-Lit Work Life
Most of the year, ‘work’ means shutting the blinds and hunching over a desk for eight hours straight. But some summer days, it can look more like drafting emails in your head with your feet in the lake or doing legal research while the loons call from across the bay.
In the summer, entrepreneurs have a reason to stop working. We also have a reason to work hard because when the forest calls. Since we have a reason not to waste our whole days inside, our work is more focused and meaningful. We can also take breaks or lunch outside, and sometimes, that’s all we need for a refresh.
In summer, the hustle can feel warm and free.
Maybe that’s why I keep saying my name is Summer. Maybe I’m designing my life to so I become her.
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Hi! 💫 I’m Sonya (It’s SAWN ya, with a Y), and I write this Substack weekly to give you insight into my life as I build my law firm. I have big dreams, and so I’m going to use my business experience and my legal education to create a secure and protected firm that doesn’t run me ragged, allowing me to have more time in the sun.
I support creative business founders and CEOs in protecting, structuring, and scaling their businesses. If you need my services, schedule a free 1:1 call with me.
I love this. Ah, summer!