Getting Started

Writing this quick blog just to show I'm getting started with my new business venture and tell you a little bit about how I began.

First, I would like to tell you a little bit about my background and what lead me here. I'm married (11 years) and have 3 daughters and 1 son, ranged from High School to a new one. I've worked in the oil and gas industry as a Landman since 2004. With the economy crashing a few years ago, I was without a job for a year. I spent hours, days, weeks, months desperately trying to get a job anywhere I could. Fast food, grocery stores, I didn't care. Still no luck. So, I ended up going back to a quick school program so I could land a decent job in the medical field with medical assisting. I excelled in school earning many awards and a 4.0 gpa. I loved every minute of it and thought maybe nursing was my calling. I did all of my internship hours with my OB/GYN and learned a whole lot of things that I wish I didn't know... haha. During my internship, I was offered a job back in the oil and gas industry as a Landman (Not Landwoman). I had a decision to make and it was a very easy one. Being a Landman meant I got to work from home, make my own hours and make some really good money to pay off some of the debt we had accrued while being out of work for a year. I left my medical field behind, but decided that IF I ever really needed it, that I could go back. For the next 2 years, I worked as a Landman again and word started going around about major layoffs. My husband and I both worked together and survived layoffs until the very end, with our company closing its doors. I forgot to mention, I found out I was pregnant around that time. My husband and I discussed our options and decided that this would be a great time to put some time and effort in at home with my children and enjoy my pregnancy. I could have looked for a job in the medical field, but the $10-$12 an hour wasn't going to cover daycare so it was pointless. My husband and a coworker decided to open a roofing company with their new free time and had an amazing kick off, I was so proud of him. Then winter hit and work slowed down. We were just watching our bank account dwindle and worry set in. He was offered a job he couldn't pass up and it meant we would be okay. Here I am, 7 months pregnant... and the job is out of town, only being able to come home every other weekend. It was emotionally difficult with my husband being so far away and only home very little. But I handled it like a champ.. I used all of that "stress" time to really focus on getting my house in order and spending time with the kids. The months flew by and before I knew it, it was time for the arrival of our little one. I gave birth to our son at home with a midwife, my husband, kids, parents and inlaws all in the room. It was a spectacular moment. 2 days before Christmas. My husband was able to take off of work through Christmas and New Years and then he was back out of town again. I really don't know how military families do it once a new baby comes in. Anyway, while I was managing 4 kids, 2 dogs a big house, tons of laundry, 3 girls and a newborn.. I got the bright idea to coach soccer too. I have to say, I handled that pretty well somehow. I even started painting furniture in my spare time for the nursery. I wanted a clean, fresh look. I worked for weeks sanding, priming, painting furniture and it still had streaks in it. I couldn't get it to turn out the way I wanted it to, but left it alone. Over the years I've painted a lot of furniture in our house and it was a really hard chore that made a huge mess and took way too much of my free time. After many trips to Canton over the years, milk paint and chalk paint intrigued me. However, I didn't know where to go about getting either of those because it wasn't at Lowe's. I started talking to my Mom about it in early April of this year and she said a friend told her about a little shop that sold it. So the next time I went to visit her, we went and checked it out. I watched millions of videos and read tons of blogs. My excitement about this paint was just unreal. I walked into this store like I was going to meet a celebrity. My mom and I both bought our paints and ran over to goodwill to find our first victims. We both have always dreamed about doing furniture as a retirement kind of hobby or for fun. Once I brushed that paint on to that furniture, I could not believe the results. No sanding, no priming.. sometimes not even a second coat is needed. The waxes are so amazing too, sealing it all in and changing the piece with a new depth. I have never been so blown away in my life. I'm hooked. I'm an Annie Sloan Chalk Paint junkie and there should be medication for it. I can now put my vision, my imagination on a piece and make it shine. The furniture looks happy, feels smooth and great to the touch.. I am in love with what I do. While staying at home with the baby and the kids, and my husband back home now.. I paint my furniture in my free time and hope to one day be so busy that I'll need to get a shop somewhere in town to really showcase everything I love. To really get out there in the public eye and get this thing going even bigger, full time, my life.
So there you go, a little bit of history that lead me to where I am today. Been painting for lots of years, but never quite in love with it like I am now. I'll never go back to another paint and I hope this allows me to work for myself, doing what I love and enjoying this one little life that I was given.
Thanks for reading,
Michele