"The Firsts of 14+ Years"

This message is for all of my customers, friends and family who have supported my passion for organics: Thank You. I hope you enjoy the next several installments of how Organic Matters came to be 14+ years old.

The store has given me so many "firsts" in my life: painting a room for the first time, accumulating enough money to help buy our first house, learn the craft of buying, starting our family, discovering how to over-buy, learning how to stop buying when over-bought, learning to balance a budget, just to mention a few things.

Having this business for 14+ years has been a tremendous education for me. I was 29 when I first opened Organic Matters with my Sister-in-law, Linda, and another business friend of our, Jolene. It was agreed that I would manage the store and be the owner on-site under their direction and help of start up costs. I would get paid pittance until the store got it's sea legs and we would all split the profits.

The concept of the store was a gathering of ideas, intuition, experience and lack of experience. All three of us knew we could work together. All three of us knew we could rely on each other. It was really Linda and myself who formally put the concept together. She was earthy, yet sophisticated, and I was earthy and sophisticated. We wanted a store that would knock people's socks off. A store that served consumerism in a totally new light. A store that would be well received, but most importantly we wanted this store to be creatively gentle to the earth.

Now Linda and Jolene had opened a really cool store across the street a year earlier, with much success, and had a good sense of what type of product mix sold in our area. Armed with that knowledge, we all three went to gift shows and bought product that fit into the before described scope, or "business plan" and planned for our store opening.

It was 1995, and we'd slated to open after Black Friday, but there was quite a bit of work to do with the building before that date.

We had sub-leased a space from a local kid's store owner who was moving out of state-quickly. So quickly, that upon receiving the new keys and opening the door the first time, our mouths dropped open to the sight of abandoned hay bales that were used as display tables, garbage cans filled with donatable merchandise, wads of clothing on the floor, broken toys and fixtures strewn among the littered invoices. Oh, did I mention the shock of red, white and navy blue walls? John and I looked at each other and dittoed, "Holy Shit!"

My Dad was in construction most of his life, so if there was any painting to do, it was on his Honey-Do list, not a job for us five children. Painting looked easy enough to do. I watched my Dad paint tens of walls in the many moves we had growing up. Choosing the color was what seemed to be the easiest for me (not my Mom's). Ah...I digress.

I first learned of primer when it came to cover the many layered red, white and blue painted walls in our newly leased space. First of all, it stinks, it's virtually impossible to re-use the brush, but did it do it's job! One coat and the space had a serene feel-just as was intended.
We chose an eggshell color for most of the walls and ceiling, then a beautiful sea foam green color to accent the newly built (and permanent) shelving units, replete with crown molding.

The first time Linda opened her can of paint and "just started painting a wall" was shocking for me. I asked myself, "Whoa...won't she get in trouble for doing that? Where's Dad? Shouldn't he supervise to make sure she won't get paint on the industrial dark blue and gray rug?" She painted not only with confidence (I could tell she had been allowed to do this before), but with purpose. She re-dipped, and then I got excited. I wanted to do this! It had to be my turn.

I will never forget the feeling of the first time I stared at my open paint can and dipped my new brush into the top 1/8th of the paint. I was (am) and artist, and not only did my Dad teach me not to get paint up to the ferrel, but my art teachers confirmed the same method. Little did I know I was metaphorically painting my next 14 years as I spread sea foam green over the primer ed shelving unit like I spread Nutella on bread at home. They both went on creamy, opaque and just a few inches long.

Like owning a business, this feeling, this freedom was the first step toward growth.

To be continued...