Holding onto a vision.

Fortune favors the prepared mind . . .

I’ve always been someone with big dreams and visions that are put into forward motion years before they come to fruition.

In April of 2020 when we were all locked away waiting for the world to end I got stoned and went on a walk in downtown Arlington.

It was on this day I looked through the windows of the most beautiful building I had ever seen sitting empty at 105 N. Olympic.

I remember thinking WOW this building checked ALL the boxes; industrial, open, flooded with natural light, concrete floors, vaulted ceilings and a new for-lease sign!

I ran home that day and told Jill about this opportunity! She looked at me like I was crazy and said, “ Uh no! We have no income, we have no idea what the world will look like after Covid, we don’t have enough resources to renovate. You are not ready.”

Shucks, she was right. I hung my head.

We were grocery shopping in tyvex suits and trading hand sanitizer for gold bars with no idea when it would change.

I held the vision of that empty building in my mind for the next 2 years and I made an effort to drive or walk past that building every chance I got. “One day I’ll be ready,” I told myself.

In June of 2020 the building was rented and my opportunity to rent a piece of Arlington History was gone.

I put my head down and kept doing the work. We continued organizing the back end- book keeping, inventory management, even the junk drawers.

I put myself in hatmaking school and developed my skill set.

My sister joined us full-time, further developing our handmade line.

We expanded our branding/marketing team and met weekly.

We invested in more tools.

We listed everything in our warehouse for sale on Etsy.

We put away cash every month for something.

Then out if the blue, in July of 2022, We heard the building would be coming available, the current tenant fell on hard times and he needed out.

I never saw it coming . . . Jill looked at me and without hesitation she said, ”You’re ready now, we can do this.” 🤩 I was overcome with Joy.

We took over the lease September 1, 2022 and spent the next 8 months renovating the space and the rest is her-story in the making.