Chapter Eleven: The Highs and Lows of Success

The morning after the launch, Maya woke up to a flood of notifications.

Concrete Roses had officially gone live, and the response was overwhelming.

Her inbox was full of messages—from writers wanting to contribute, small business owners asking about ad space, and readers saying how much they needed a magazine like this.

But with the highs came the lows.

One of her freelancers missed a deadline. A photographer she hired sent low-quality shots. And, worst of all, the website crashed for two hours because of the unexpected traffic surge.

By the time she got to ZL Strategies, where Zora had let her use a conference room as a temporary office, Maya was exhausted.

Zora took one look at her and handed her a coffee. "Rough start?"

Maya groaned. "Why didn't anyone warn me that launching a business is basically controlled chaos?"

Zora smirked. "Oh, we all knew. We just wanted you to figure it out yourself."

Maya rolled her eyes. "Evil."

Zora sat across from her, serious now. "But you did it. And people are paying attention. Now, you need to keep up the momentum."

Maya nodded. She knew Zora was right. The launch was just the beginning. Now came the real work.