Yes. This week’s topic is the immense gratitude I’ve felt for the people in my life. But what does that have to do with building furniture or home improvement projects? Well, I’ll tell you…

When Sam and I started out on this Furniture journey, I was a little shy. I didn’t immediately go and tell my friends and family. Ok, besides my mom and dad and Joyce. But instead, I’ve kept it a bit under wraps. I had anxiety about the future. Will this endeavor work out? What happens if it doesn’t? Well… the downside didn’t look so bad. We may lose a bit of income for a little bit, but so what? Then we go back to the usual grind, like we have been doing for years now? Blah blah. It really was time to shake things up in our lives. Sam is smart, I’m smart, so why wouldn’t we be able to make it on our own, with our own business?

I let that feeling sit with me for a few months, and now I’m starting to talk to close friends about our plan. And bam! Support from all sides came FLOODING in. I’ve listened to a lot of talks online about starting businesses, what to do, what not to do, and one major thing I kept hearing was “Tell your friends and family about what you are doing.”

I didn’t force it, I just let it come naturally. When people ask me how was your weekend, what did you do? I’d tell them. When someone asked; what have you been up to? I’d tell them. I’d show them pictures.

Now mom and dad had been in on the whole spiel for a few months now. I could see they were starting to catch on how great of an artist Sam is. (Speaking of; I should really post some canvas art he has done. It’s very good.) And I have to add, that my parents are really great. They are so supportive, proud, and not judgmental at all. They are still my safe place and sounding board. Great ideas and support flooded through; “Why not try Park City, or Jackson Hole?” Those two places are on our list. Mom told me about a little Amish store 25 miles away, and that’s now on our list to scope out for inspiration. We keep bringing new pieces over to mom and dads to show them, and they are always excited to reflect on them with us. They have both been extremely motivating and supportive, in all aspects that you can think of. I know that if we need anything, I could ask them, and they would help in any way possible.

On the topic of parents, Sam’s mom Joyce has been very motivating as well; and the same goes for her as my parents. If we need anything, she’s there for us. Heck, she’s contributed to a few pieces I’ve written about in my blog so far. (Pirate Treasure Box, The little Pie Safe)

My boss Cheri needed a decorative table in her office, so I made her one. She loved it! (Check out my Skinny Entryway Table here)

I started exercising with an old friend of Sam’s, Deonne, and she listens to me talk about our furniture twice a week now. One of the first things she did when I told her I wanted to paint furniture, was offer me an old headboard! She’s also been my sounding board on possibly starting a business and given me encouragement to show our pieces at local vintage fairs, even though we are a ways off from that prospective right now.

Then my BFF Nick. I chatted with him the other night, shared my website with him, and he really took off running with inspiration, next steps (designing business cards, working on branding, thinking about insurance.). He’s even offering us a place to stay if we wanted to go to Cali to sell! (Ok, he’s been offering us a place to stay for years to come visit him, and we haven’t taken him up yet.) But there is a market in Palm Springs every Thursday that he has encouraged us to check out.

Then, I took a break at work with my friend Holly. I chatted her up about going to markets, and flipping furniture. She got real excited, which was very motivating for me! She’s in the process of purchasing a new house, and wants to do it a shabby chic farmhouse style, so I offered to go picking for her! I could flip a few pieces. She even offered, “If you turn this into a business and it picks up, maybe you will need some help?” How cool is that? I’ll be keeping her in mind.

Saturday mornings, Sam and I always get out around town, so we did a drive by at mom and dad’s. (My work was selling 4.5 year old white cheddar, so I had to pick some up for them to try, and drop it off.) and my brother was there. I started telling him about my website. Now, I knew that Jörgen worked for a company doing their marketing and IT, and would love to help guide me. And would you know that the platform he runs the companies website on is WordPress based?! He immediately asked me what my platform was, and I told him, WordPress. “Good, WordPress is really the best site you can use, especially with google analytics.”

So he sat down with me, and gave me a few tips on how to improve my site. Baby steps, mind you. He really taught me a lot, and I felt immense gratitude for that. It’s just what I needed!!! He will be an invaluable resource to help continue this site.

So, once again, the lesson I’ve learned is that when you are starting out on a new path, listen to the advice that is given to you by those who are more advanced in that particular area. You don’t have to learn the ropes by yourself, and people around you who love you want to help.

So be it that we are now just starting out as hobbyist furniture builders and flippers, maybe the future has more in store for us?

We are working on finishing up a lot of pieces right now, so stay tuned!

With Love, Erika Nora