The Inconvenience Is the Gift: How I Built a Business Around Slowing Down and Intentional Living

When my daughter asked if we could work together, I didn't have a five-year plan. I had a question that wouldn't leave me alone: What if the whole point wasn't to make things easier, but to make them matter?

That conversation started The Outward Olive, a specialty olive oil and balsamic vinegar tasting room in Crown Point, Indiana. But more than that, it became the lens through which I see everything now: work, family, motherhood, wellness, and what it means to live intentionally in a world that's obsessed with convenience.

The Beginning: A Daughter's Wish

My daughter wanted to build something with family. Not someday. Now. It sounds simple until you actually sit with it. In a culture that celebrates the hustle, the optimization, the "I'm so busy I can barely breathe" badge of honor, she was asking for something radical: “presence”.

So we started small. We were curious about quality olive oil, about how to create experiences around food that felt personal instead of transactional. We tested blends in our kitchen. We hosted friends around a table and watched what happened when people slowed down enough to actually taste something.

What we discovered surprised us: people are starving for this. Not the specialty olive oil specifically. The intentionality. The permission to take time. The experience of being gathered well.

The Product Slows You Down (Even If We Don't)

Here’s what we decided early on: we'll make it easy to get quality olive oil to you. Fast shipping. A curated selection of gourmet foods, specialty olive oils, premium balsamic vinegars, and artisan products that are thoughtfully sourced, not overwhelming. That part is simple.

But the product itself is where the intentionality lives. And that's deliberate.

Good extra virgin olive oil doesn't let you rush. You taste it. You notice it. You can't throw it on pasta the same way you do with bottled vegetable oil. It asks something of you: presence. Attention. A moment to actually savor what you're using.

We've curated our sourcing and our collection because we believe in quality over volume. We're not trying to be everything to everyone. And if you're local to Crown Point, our tasting room is there, a place to come in, experience an olive oil tasting, try everything at once, have a real conversation with someone who knows these products inside and out. It's a perk of proximity, not a barrier if you're not local.

But whether you visit our event space in person or order online, the real experience happens at home. In your kitchen. When you slow down long enough to actually use what you've chosen.

This isn't a marketing angle. This is who we are. And it's become clear to me that people are hungry for products that demand a little presence, even in a world that's obsessed with speed.

What My Work as a Nurse Taught Me

I'm a CRNA (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist). That means I see healthcare from the clinical side: systems, outcomes, patterns in how bodies heal and minds break down. One pattern I notice repeatedly is this: the people who are most stressed aren't necessarily the ones with the most to do. They're the ones who aren't able to keep themselves grounded and centered.

For me and my family, what keeps us grounded and centered is real. It's Jesus Christ. It's faith. And for this business, it's the same foundation: connections and relationships built through love. Quality products built through that love.

In the clinical world, we talk about presence and intentionality in terms of patient outcomes. In my business, I see it in terms of human connection rooted in something deeper. But it's the same principle: the ability to slow down, to pay attention, to anchor yourself to what actually matters. That's what prevents the burnout. That's what makes it sustainable.

That's where slow living, wellness lifestyle, and intentional living actually intersect. It's about building a life around intention, around the things and people and faith that ground you. And then showing up to that life, fully.

Building a Family Business That Fits

We built The Outward Olive family business to fit the life we actually want. My kids are homeschooled. My husband and I run this small business together. We curate our product line because that quality matters to us. We host events in our Crown Point event space because we genuinely love bringing people together. We take care with sourcing because it actually makes a difference in what lands on your table.

And here's what I've learned: when you design your business around your actual values, grounded in faith, connection, and love, something shifts. People feel it. They want to work with you. They refer their friends. They come back, not because your marketing is clever, but because you're doing something real.

The real thing we're offering isn't just specialty olive oil and balsamic vinegar. It's permission. Permission to slow down. Permission to choose quality. Permission to actually taste what you're eating and appreciate it. And it's built on a foundation that actually holds.

And what I'm discovering is that this foundation, rooted in relationships, intentionality, and love, is exactly what allows us to grow in meaningful ways. To reach more people without losing what makes us real.

Gathering Well, Gifting Beautifully

This is our brand philosophy, and it's also how we live. Every choice points back to it: How do we make this more intentional? How do we create space for people to actually connect? How do we make something that someone will remember, whether it's hosting an event, sending corporate gifts, or simply gathering around a table?

The beauty of a quality olive oil or premium balsamic vinegar is that it demands presence. It's built in and it's supposed to be. The slowness, the mindfulness, the intentionality. That becomes the gift itself. The fact that you chose it, invested in it, made it special, makes it mean something.

I see this reflected back in how people talk about their experiences with us, whether they're visiting our tasting room, hosting with our products, or gifting corporate gifts to their team. "It was one of the most memorable things I did all week," they say. We're not talking about logistical ease. We're talking about ease of presence. Ease of being fully there. Ease of remembering why you showed up in the first place.

Whether you're looking for unique corporate gifts, planning a gathering, or simply wanting to invest in quality food for your kitchen, the experience is about mindful eating and intentional living.

An Invitation to Intentional Living

If you're reading this because you're tired of the constant push toward more, faster, easier, I want you to know: you're not alone. And there's another way.

It looks like choosing quality over quantity in everything you eat and buy. It looks like letting a good extra virgin olive oil force you to slow down, just for a moment, in your own kitchen. It looks like hosting people around a table with intention, even if it's imperfect. It looks like building a life around sustainable, mindful choices instead of constant optimization.

Maybe it's finding specialty food gifts that actually mean something. Maybe it's gathering well with people you love. Maybe it's investing in artisan products that demand your attention and presence.

You don't need inconvenience in your life. Life already provides plenty of that. What you need is a product, and an experience, that reminds you to slow down when you're using it.

Come taste with us. Visit The Outward Olive in Crown Point, or order online and bring slow living into your own kitchen. Experience how quality olive oil and premium balsamic can transform not just your food, but your entire approach to eating and gathering.

That's what we're here for.

- Kristina DeRolf

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Kristina DeRolf is the founder and CEO of The Outward Olive, a specialty olive oil and premium balsamic vinegar tasting room, curated gifting house, and event space in Crown Point, Indiana. The Outward Olive is built on authentic connections, meaningful relationships, and quality products infused with love. Kristina is also a CRNA, homeschooling mother, woman of faith, and passionate advocate for intentional living, grounded living, and gathering well.