Poppy Shop Talk: Let’s Talk Shop
Lord, please let someone buy my stuff today.
This is usually my first thought each morning before I start my day; at least it has been ever since starting my own small business last year.
Last summer out of seemingly, nowhere I announced to my friends and family that had I decided to start a business selling my own homemade natural bath and body products. I told them that I had a plan, a theme and load of creativity waiting to be put to some use! Then I shut my eyes tight and waited for their reactions.
I was fortunate that most were supportive, and even excited! My fiancée assured me he would be by my side to help in any way. My best friend jumped in and volunteered to do all of my product photography free of charge. My cousin showered me with encouraging words and told me the she would, and this is a direct quote “advertise the crap out this thing!” However some were not as enthusiastic. My mother was silent for a while before she asked me how I was going to fund it. Others had similar concerns and said things along the lines of “In this economy?” I had been ready for all of those reactions. I said them all to myself 20 times over before I decided to share my idea. In the end I was lucky and with advice and friendly warnings they all eventually offered their full support and well wishes. That was when The Sleepy Poppy Shop began…well not quite. It began long before my ideas of a theme and a product line, long before I learned of websites like Etsy.com and long before I got the “okay” from my loved ones.
In December 2009 I received my BA in English Literature with a concentration in creative writing. All through my college career I had idea of what it was I planned to do with my degree when I graduated. I considered accruing my MFA and perhaps eventually a PHD in English so that I might one day teach at the college level while I continued to write and attempt to publish my own novels and short stories on the side. I also considered law school, an idea that excited my father. I planned to take my LSAT exam as soon as I felt confident and ready.
When my graduation came however, the brightness of my prospects was somewhat darkened by the news that my father had been diagnosed with cancer. With my youngest sister still busy working on her degree, my older brothers and sisters working to provide for their families and, my mother working to support everyone, I was the only one who no longer had any personal responsibility to speak of. I had graduated and no longer had a job away at school. I had no children and I was unmarried. I was the perfect candidate to come home and take care of Dad to help my family. So I did it, and I was happy to do it. I moved back home to Vero Beach, Florida, 3 hours away from the Tampa Bay Area where I had been living all through college. Every morning I woke up and drove my father back and forth to radiation and to his dozens of doctors appointments. It wasn’t all bad. I reconnected with old friends; I got to unwind after my senior year and spent time with my family. Dad did surprisingly well and at the end of the summer when his radiation was over we had a huge 75th birthday party for him to celebrate. Our whole big Italian family came down to party and congratulate him. When the weeklong event was over I planned to leave home and return to Tampa Bay. Dad was doing much better. He no longer needed me to drive him around town and his prognosis was positive. I left in mid August 2010 to return to my fiancée who had since bought us a house in St. Petersburg. I was excited to start my new life and finally start the road to the career I always thought I would have after college. I was aware of the state of the economy in Pinellas County where we now lived, but I was optimistic and quickly started to send out my resumes, singing up for the LSAT and GRE exams and applying to new schools while I decorated and furnished my new little home. My bliss and optimism did not last long however. My mother called two months later with news that my father was in emergency surgery due to an intestinal rupture and that he might not make it through the night. I packed up my bags that day thinking that I would either return soon with blessed news or return after we put Dad to rest. I never thought that I would be gone for 6 more months.
Dad made it through. He was in ICU through Thanksgiving, then Christmas then New Years and finally on Valentine’s Day 2011 he was sent to an acute rehabilitation center where he stayed until early spring. We were by his side every day. When he finally returned home it was after several strokes, a major sepsis infection and an episode of cardiac arrest. He was in bad shape and the responsibility of his care fell into my lap once again. I had the help of my younger sister this time but the level of his needs was something I never thought I would survive. My mother refused to send him to a nursing home and so my sister and I became his nurses. We fed him, dressed him, took him to the bathroom and did all that goes along with elder care. I helped for months until I started feeling like my life was never going to be able to start. I had been waiting for a year just to START my life and it kept getting put on hold. I was losing myself. When my mother finally got an established nurse after a few months I ran back to the Bay Area as fast as I could. I knew the current level of unemployment but I was still depressed with the lack of interviews I was getting, besides after all that had gone on in my life I no longer knew what I wanted to do with my degree. The one thing I still felt confident in was my creativity. I could still write stories, I could still draw and paint and make crafts. One day when I was feeling particularly down about my family issues and the current state of my life, something clicked. I knew I had to turn the little hobbies that made me happy into something bigger. I had to because I had no other drive left. When I got the idea to make my own organic exfoliating soap products the ideas just kept coming. I used the seed from my favorite flower as the exfoliant. I used references to some of my favorite literature as a theme. I had found something that was making me happy again, something that was mine. It made me happy, gave me pride and with that came a better outlook. I applied to masters programs again, my relationships with loved ones improved and my life turned around.
Now every day I work on my business in some way. I make a new product. I design labels. I crunch numbers and I fill orders (that’s the best part). I go to school and I continue on with life. It’s still new. It may succeed. It may fail but I will never regret trying to run my own independent and creative business because it pulled me out of a rut I could have easily gotten stuck in. Through this process I have met many others who have done the same. They may not all have the same story or reasons for starting a small business but we are all trying, fighting similar obstacles, dealing with the same economy and struggling to do what we love. I hope to use this space to talk about this. The life of a small business owner is an interesting one. What’s life like when you are your own boss? What’s life like when you are your only employee? I hope to delve into the next generation of independent entrepreneurs, share in our success, learn from our failures and inspire others who may be sitting at home with the next great idea and I hope you will join me!
My own business
poppyshoptalk 