In part 2 of our interview with fab’rik Founder and CEO Dana Spinola, she shared how she empowers her team to find creative ways to deliver on the company purpose as well as frank insights from her founder’s journey. Since opening its doors in 2002, fab’rik has grown into a wildly successful company with over 300 employees and 30 franchise locations nationwide while holding true to its mission to create a place where every woman can afford to feel beautiful.

Giving Purpose a Daily KPI

One of the key performance indicators (KPIs) at every fab’rik store is “wow.” We have all the traditional KPIs that every CEO knows, but it was important to me that we quantify the “purpose” of fab’rik. Wows come in all different forms, but what is inspiring about them is that you get to see and quantify what is essentially a million different nonprofits that play out all day when we show up for people in the way that they need in that specific moment.

What I think CEOs don’t know is the importance of giving your team license to practice the purpose in different ways, and that is what I celebrate. We track purpose with the daily “wow” KPIs and celebrate it at all our company meetings.

For example, at our headquarters, we’ve set up all the donations we receive like a boutique, it’s what we use to source all the clothing for free fab’rik. One day, when I wasn’t in the office, someone came into our headquarters to ask if we have any clothing here. Normally, we would explain to them that this is our corporate office, not a retail store, but one of my teammates saw that this woman needed something more. So, she brought her back to our storeroom and together they picked out eight different outfits. They were taking pictures and having the best time, by the end they were both crying, and the woman said, “I can’t believe you let me do this.”

Another example, we had somebody come in to one of our stores and share her cancer diagnosis with us before she shared it with their family, and one of my teammates decided to slip a little faith necklace into her bag. This isn’t something that my teammates will call and ask permission to do, it’s something they feel empowered to do.

When it comes to implementing purpose, I think a lot of CEOs know how to structurally set up volunteer opportunities within a company but tying that together with the day-to-day KPIs empowers your team to find creative ways to deliver on the purpose. It’s stories like this that inspire me, and I think that’s how purpose comes alive, it’s not necessarily in a manual.

The Business Case for CEO Sabbatical

One day, one of my teammates asked me if I was free to have lunch with her. Of course, I’m in CEO mode and I know that no one is just hungry and wants to have lunch with the CEO. I gear up for a conversation about her career, how I can help her, etc. When we get to lunch, she just looks at me and asks me, “are you okay?”

Now, I had been asked that question a billion times and I kindly answered, yes. But this time, I sat there and answered for the first time in my life, truthfully. I said, I don’t think so.

So, she looked at me and asked what should we do? I suggested maybe I take a break and stop checking email for a week to which she suggested that maybe I could take a break for a month. My first instinct was to wonder what my company would do without me.

What I’ve learned is that if your company can do without you, you’ve done a really good job as CEO. And yes, there’s going to be gaps, and yes, you’re needed. But what if your company could hold up a space for you to go catch a breath?

After taking this space, I came back into a place where the meaning was there, with my engine back on, it lit my fire again. Not only that, but I gained such a valuable business perspective – I got to come back and look at my company as a customer and see all the beautiful things that it does. As a CEO, you’re so critical of what you’re not doing. Having this space allowed me to realize that this place is incredible. You come back with new dreams and innovations that can reignite your company again. All my teammates were so excited to hear what I had to say, what do we do now? What’s next? If find yourself on a path as a CEO and you just can’t feel that meaning anymore, a break is a beautiful thing.

The Practice of Dreaming

CEOs are made to expand, to grow and create, so when a CEO gets on autopilot, it can be really hard. During my time away, I did research on the idea of dreaming. I thought I was going to have great conversations with people, but what I realized is that no one likes to talk about dreaming. I would ask people to tell me how they dream. Do you sit down and write them out? Do you go for a run and dream? The answer I got most often was “I don’t do that anymore, I don’t have time for that, I did it as a kid, but what’s the point?”  The point is that the people around you need you to dream. You’re somebody’s mom, somebody’s boss, and the people around you want to be dreaming about what’s next.

So, I make time to dream. It sounds so crazy, but every year I sit down for a day in a space that I love or go on a long run to clear my mind and then I simply ask myself, what are things that could bring massive joy into your life?

This isn’t about swirling around in your head. It’s about caring for yourself so much that you take the time to think what your soul and your heart really desire. Most people don’t allow themselves to dream out of fear that it won’t come true. But guess what? That’s okay because there is always another dream. Don’t be intimidated by dreaming, you can’t do it wrong.

As a CEO, the roadmap for successful dreaming is not about the destination, it’s about the journey. We all want to hit the target, on time and on budget. That’s not how dreaming works. Dreaming is about having the courage to simply just dream and see the beauty and power that it can open everyone else up to.