Wednesday, June 16, 2010

I Have Two Very Silent Business Partners



There are some blog posts I write with the reader solely in mind, i.e. something during my week occurred that I wanted to share with you. There are other posts that I write because I want to inform.

And then there are some that are really just written for me. Something I want to record about a feeling that I have and is so heartfelt, pure and raw that it is almost hard to put into words, much less share with another person. Normally in my journal, I would write something like this. This time. . .I want to experiment with trying to let you see what I often times do not share with others.

People ask me why I named my business Little Lucy and Scooter. After all, the name does not tell anyone what it is that I do for a living or what is the nature of my business. That is just fine by me, because I had that intention when I named it. Let me explain a little further.

As you may or may not know, Lucy is my daughter and Scooter is my dog. Some may think that this is a typical mom thing to do. . . to name her business after her kid. But there is so much more to the choice of this name.



I started this business as I sat in Starbucks writing morning after morning and trying to figure out what to do with the next chapter in my life. I started making lists of what I liked about my former life in retail and what I did not like - something my mom would always encourage me to do. "Make a list," she would say. With no better starting point, this is what I did. I would get up at six o'clock, roll out of the house (with my daughter and husband still asleep at home) and sit for one hour in the same spot and write.


It was not always easy. There were days the writing just poured out of me. There were days that it was hard to write 5 sentences. But I committed to the practice of 3 morning pages with Julia Cameron as my writing guide and mentor. And EVERY day I wrote those 3 pages. I still do.


I wrote down what I liked and missed about retail. There were a lot of dislikes written down too. I don't need to spell them out. What I did differently for the first time in my life was IMAGINE a life, a job, a lifestyle even, that fit with what I really wanted for my life. And one thing I wanted for sure was.....
To Wear Jeans Every Day That I Worked In My Job!

Now this may seem kinda silly to you. But for 28 years, I was not allowed to wear jeans to "the office," and if I was going to start my own thing, I was going to be able to wear jeans every day, because for once in my life, I wanted to be able to make the rules.


And I as I thought and dreamed and wished and prayed, a funny thing happened. I took one step. That one step brought me to the next step. Then a friend of a friend of a friend brought me to the next one. Low and behold, I had a business. It even had all the components that I sat and wrote about in Starbucks every day. This was not me that made this. This was me putting out to the universe what I wanted and it directly listening to me and giving it right back. I truly believe in answered prayer.


I have the privilege of a very loving husband who once wrote something to me that I carry inside my journal as my bookmark and rad every morning before I write. It says,

"Know with quiet certainty, I believe in you."


If this wasn't blessing enough, I then got aligned with the two best partners I could ever be with...Lucy and Scooter. Because it doesn't matter to me that my business say what I do, what matters is the feeling I receive every time I tell people the name of my business. I feel good starting something with my daughter's name on it. Proud. And Scooter? Well, if you had a dog like Scooter, you would name your business after him too.


3 comments:

Unknown said...

This post about your two silent business partners reminds me about a story I read about a guy who would bid on lots of projects just to see what would stick. In case he ever wanted to rethink his low bid, he added a clause that said all offers must be approved by his business partner. His business partner was his dog.

Anyway, I love the fact that you have so much support in your business and it's reflected in your company's name. Maybe it should be called Little Lucy and Scooter and Joby. All the best to you, Molly!

Molly Ann Quigley said...

Brenda,
It makes my heart so happy about what you said. It is amazing to have support from a spouse. So many artists do not. Looks like your man is happy to see you create too. Give him a kiss for that today.

Maryellen said...

I'm at that point in my life now too, Molly, but have never journaled before. Any ideas for this creative soul on how to get started? Wouldn't it be great if your creative reinvention had a domino effect?