Written by: Katherine Haugh, The Convive Collective
Dear friends,
It’s June 2026 and I’m sitting on a couch next to my Dido (which means “grandpa” in Croatian). We’re wearing matching dark blue Adidas tracksuits. This is my Dido’s daily uniform. I thought it would be funny to get a matching suit. At least my Dido thought it was funny, but then again, he also thinks the sun shines through my a**.
We’re watching the World Cup together. We mostly sit in silence, but occasionally he expresses his disappointment with a call from the referee or puts his hand on my leg and explains why a certain coach is simply “not up to code.”
I’ve chosen to spend two weeks of my summer here with him because my Nana—my grandma, and my Dido’s best friend and soulmate—passed away suddenly in January, leaving a Nana-shaped hole in our family and especially in my Dido’s life.
I’m actually sitting in her spot on the couch, where my Dido and Nana spent 80% of their time. I can feel how the couch has sunken in from her daily rhythms. It’s both heartwarming and heartbreaking to be sitting where she once sat every day.
Now, my friends: I’m no major sports fan. I’m quite into fitness myself and would choose Sporty Spice as my Spice Girl icon, but I don’t particularly care about watching sports. I’m only interested if I’m on the field. (I’m aware that I may have lost some friends in making this statement, but I said what I said.)
And you know, I’m an evaluator. I can’t shut my curious mind off. So while I’m sitting with my Dido, day in and day out, I start thinking about what helps athletes perform at their best, consistently.
I dove into the literature (my happiest place). I expected to get absorbed in training routines or nutrition. I read somewhere that that Norwegian guy eats roughly a bazillion pounds of salmon per day.
But what caught my attention was how seriously athletes take recovery. Purposeful, powerful rest.
High-performing athletes build recovery into their routines. Sustaining that level of performance means balancing the demands of training and competition with enough time to recover.
That tracks with what I know about building a high-performing organization: people need dedicated, protected time for recovery and reflection.
In a world where leaders are often expected to be the “hardest working one in the room” and often wear signals of burnout, exhaustion and overworking like badges of honor, I am choosing differently.
When I set out to create The Convive Collective, my dream was to build a place where people have the autonomy to do their best work as it works best for them. This means having more than enough time for creative pursuits, leisure, reflection, and time with the people they love.
I’ve seen what that makes possible at Convive. When we have room for full lives outside work, we bring more energy, creativity, and focus to the work we do together. I call this working in your “zone of genius.”
And as I sat on my Dido’s couch over the summer, it dawned on me that if I want to nurture this kind of organization, I also need to take periods of recovery and rest, too. In fact, it may be one of the most important things I can do as a leader: to walk my own talk.
And so I am!
With the support of my team and our clients, I’ll be taking a three-month sabbatical from January through March 2027. Some things I’ll be up to:
My partner and I will be attempting a “van life” experience in New Zealand (which the house hermit in me may loathe—stay tuned!).
I’ll be reconnecting with my artist self and leaving open space to follow my curiosities.
I’ll be practicing the Dutch art of niksen: doing absolutely nothing. Other highlights of my slower days may include a nap, a nice hike, or a great lunch.
I’ll be spending time with my family and especially my Dido in the States. (Spoiler: the whole family has dark blue Adidas tracksuits now. LOL! I can’t do anything chill. It’s always 0 to 100 with me.)
In January 2027, it’ll be exactly one year since my Nana passed away. And I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate her life than to celebrate mine. And to spend time with the people she loved so much.
I want to say thank you to our clients, collaborators, and especially my amazing colleagues at Convive for encouraging me to take this time. I was nervous as heck to share it for fear of judgement. Instead, I’ve heard, “Yes Kat, yes, yes, yes!” and have been truly overwhelmed by the trust, confidence, and support that has come my way.
My dream has always been—and will always be—to create a Collective where people can have an optimal work-life balance. And it starts at the top.
I’ll see you in April—hopefully well-rested, possibly a van person, definitely still wearing the tracksuit.
Sending lots of good energy to you all.
Warmly,
Kat