About
I build small things that last.
I am Maya. I run Fieldnote, write Second Draft every Sunday and host Small Rooms, a podcast about tiny companies. I live in Austin with a partner, a loud cat and too many notebooks.
I used to think a company had to be big to count. Then I met a baker who works four days a week and is the happiest founder I know. That changed everything.
I grew up above my parents' print shop in San Antonio. I learned early that a business can be small, loved and enough.
I forgot that for a while. I raised money, hired fast and burned out. Then I remembered, and built everything since on purpose: small teams, clear writing and work that leaves room for a life.
Timeline
How I got here
2013
Socks in a car
Started Loose Threads at weekend markets with one box of recycled cotton socks.
2016
The big swing
Cofounded Kindling, raised a round and hired eight people in four months.
2017
The hard email
Shut Kindling down, refunded every customer and wrote an honest postmortem.
2018
A happy exit
Sold Loose Threads to a larger apparel company that could grow it better.
2019
One screen
Started Fieldnote with a friend. Charged five dollars a month from day one.
2020
Sunday letters
Sent the first Second Draft to 212 people. Most of them were friends.
2024
The book
Published The Unbusy Founder, a short book about doing less on purpose.
What I believe
- 01
Small on purpose
Small is not a stage. It can be the whole plan.
- 02
Write it down
Clear writing is clear thinking. Every decision gets a paragraph.
- 03
Say the boring part
The numbers, the mistakes and the Tuesday afternoons are the useful bits.
- 04
Leave room
If a company only works when you are exhausted, it does not work yet.
Right now
- Building
- Fieldnote 3.0, with a quieter search and a better export.
- Writing
- Book two, about pricing. Very slowly.
- Learning
- Sourdough. It is going badly.
- Reading
- Anything about bakeries and small shops.
Off the record
