Where Did the Last Few Months Go?

I mean, really?  Is it really May?  We are at the end of school, beginning of summer, and a busy spring under our belts.  As always we have hit super highs and super lows in the last few months.  We have had our best single day of sales during this time and have been so excited that our projections have so far all come through!  Production has been totally slacking though - ha!  Just kidding, when you sell more than it is possible to make in a day with just one person being the maker, well things start to become an ever ending race to catch up. How grateful we are to have that be the case! 

Charlie and I have been running the show with all the production and retail on our shoulders.  Charlie trying to keep up with all we are selling in the shop, me being locked in to a retail shop every day with not being able to help get kids to school, pick up, and go to school events.  We have taken off 5 days in total from the shop since opening in March.  Our kids are wondering if we will ever be a family of 4 again or if that is going to be forever forgotten with the drive to survive in this world.  Our youngest is NOT happy.  She's taken the brunt of the our life re-org.  We used to spend our days in and out with our kiddos as they flowed between our work life and home life freely with full access to us both. Now, one of us is always making hats in one place, one of us is always selling hats in another and for now there has been no in-between.  Expressing our gratitude that we are this busy doesn't go far with a 6 year-old who could live in a tent all her life as long as she has her parents with her full time!  So, now we enter life's lessons of, sometimes you have to do things you just don't want and be grateful for it - I'm still learning this.  Expecting a 6 year-old to grasp it might be pushing it a bit.

The question is, can we continue?  At this pace - no.  We have so many ideas/thoughts of where and how we want to take this business and really can if only we add the necessary help.  Luckily, in comes help! We are bringing on an employee at the beginning of June and are so excited.  Even just thoughts of help have ignited Charlie and I with the energy we need to make it through. 

So many new offerings in our shop, it's really amazing what we have accomplished when we think back with just the two of us.  We have introduced new color schemes for our fur felts and straws, increased our band production, re-arranged and built out the shop another few times... its a constant tinkering with us, added some amazing products from our friends and favorite farmers in Paonia of true Quality CBD oils/salves and herbal teas and we are in the works with a few other items that we are super excited about with our Soltree Sedona side!! 

Cheers to all those small business owners striving out there! I see you and know how hard it is but oh so rewarding.

April-