Is it time to leave your comfort zone?

“Yes, why not?” Karina said.

I was shocked, because when I asked her to do this with me, I wasn’t prepared for a yes. I had just asked her to turn her life upside down – join me in becoming an entrepreneur.

It was December 2022, and we’d been colleagues for years, sharing the same office space and bouncing between countless marketing projects. Both of us had traditional 9-to-5 corporate jobs, or in Norway’s case, 8-to-4. We worked hard, we delivered, we learned. But underneath the surface, without ever really saying it out loud to each other, we were both yearning for something different. We wanted to make the world a better place, but had no idea how.

When I asked her that question, on that cold December morning; “Why don’t we solve our own problem?” – her immediate “Yes” flipped a switch inside both of us. That single word changed everything. When I later asked her what made her say yes so quickly, she told me that she had carried this deep yearning for years – a desire to show the world that there is a better way. Little did I know that my why was exactly the same as hers, and that moment would be the one that transformed our lives completely.

Read more: Here’s the brutal mistake we made

But let's be real. The minute we decided to start Gemz, things got hard. It’s easy to romanticise entrepreneurship, but no one talks about the inner battle

– the ego that starts ringing alarm bells the second you push yourself beyond what you thought was possible.

Perfectionism, imposter syndrome, fear, doubt and guilt – they all hit us like a unison high five to the face. It was like our minds were on overdrive, screaming; “What are you doing?! You have kids, you have responsibilities!”

People's voices of good willed advice were also echoing in the back of our mind:

"Is this really a good idea?" 

“Being an entrepreneur in this economy is bad timing.”

"What about stability?" 

They weren’t trying to discourage us on purpose, but those words of caution made the fears even louder. Karina and I had small children, routines, and lives that, on paper, seemed solid. I mean, it was solid. Comfortable, even. But that’s the thing about comfort – it can become a glass ceiling.

We started to wonder when it would be a good time to become an entrepreneur. And maybe we should wait till we have more stability? But then again; how could we know if it was a good idea without even trying? 

Deep down, we knew this was the moment we had to take a leap. All those years of asking “why” – why things were done a certain way at work, why we couldn’t do them differently – finally found an outlet. Gemz became that outlet, and it wasn’t just about the business.

It was about what kind of world we wanted to live in.

How we wanted to live our lives and work – on our own terms, driven by something bigger. 

And the good news? Once you’re an entrepreneur, the only glass ceiling is the one your mind creates.

The idea behind Gemz was born from a very real frustration we both faced as mothers. We struggled to manage the piles of clothes our kids grew out of and the clothes we no longer wore. Selling second-hand seemed like the logical step, but the process was SO time-consuming, so clunky (dare I even day old fashioned?). None of the existing platforms had made us make those 236+ ads we had to make in order to sell. That’s when we thought; “Why isn’t there a better way?”

Enter Gemz: An AI-driven platform designed to help women, especially moms, take control of their wardrobes. It’s more than just a resale app – it’s a digital space where you can easily manage what you own in your personal, digital closet. Sell what you don’t need, and find inspiration from others doing the same. It’s sustainability made easy, with a touch of style and community. Making the world a little bit greener – one closet at the time.

Looking back, that cold December day was the start of something we couldn’t have fully imagined. But Karina and I were ready. It was time to break free from the corporate mould, to trust that our “why” moments weren’t just frustrations, but signs that we were meant to do something different. 

And so, here we are – redefining not just how people buy and sell clothes, but how two women can build a business with heart, soul, and a whole lot of why’s.

This is just the beginning.

Lisa & Karina
founders of Gemz