Our Whole Business Is Story

If you were to take a peek at my journal from this past year,
you'd learn a whole lot about the resilience of our family
& our resounding awe at the way our small business
both sustains & inspires us against all odds. 

• A year ago yesterday, our home & studio was ablaze. We didn't lose everything, but we were suddenly displaced on the eve of our daughter's birthday & at the cusp of our busiest time of our small business year.
• And then, on the day of her birthday (today!) last year, we had 50+ friends show up to a city park with every kind of food, three birthday cakes, & mountains of presents for our girl. Even the firemen who had saved our house the day before came by & let the kids climb on the fire truck! 
• We commenced with our typical schedule of holiday retail shows & winter tradeshows. Traveling at breakneck speed & relying heavily on our amazing team to keep all the cogs moving back at home.
• And then, just like you, our lives were suddenly disrupted & wholly changed in March when news of COVID came to light. What had been a bustling spring landscape of small business activity, suddenly changed & instead we quickly had to move out of our hotel accommodations of the previous 5 months, lay off our team & figure out how to navigate a pandemic & construction project all at the same time.
• And then... sure, there were hard moments & plenty of confusion... but there's also been hearty amounts of good! We were featured in Country Living Magazine! We undertook the still daily rituals of gardening & banging pots with neighbors for first responders each night. There's been rest & re-evaluation & new learning that has strengthened our work lives & created more balance. We were able to bring back one of our team members to work at a distance. 
• Plus there have been some amazing additions: We started a weekly book group for all the kids in our daughter's grade level at her school. We're on our third book & we're about to have our very own zoom Halloween party! And we also started a weekly meeting of other makers from around the country. We spend our meetings sharpening each other with new skills, sharing strategies, & sometimes just hearing the stories each of us is living as entrepreneurs weathering a pandemic. 

And so, as you can see, it's been quite a year. We really are stronger, wiser, & braver... Thank you for your part too. We marvel every day that you let us be a part of your story.