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Note from Ro: Five years ago today, the Scrap Girls boutique opened for business. I knew it was a significant day, but I couldn't have foreseen just how much Scrap Girls has changed my life. As I look back over the years, what stands out to me are the people I have grown to know and love. Every day, I count my blessings for our team, our members and our loyal customers. Without the people, Scrap Girls would not be here today. It seems trite to just say, "thank you," but the English language is woefully inadequate to transmit the gratitude I feel.
Today's muse is a rerun of an article I wrote in 2007, telling the story of how the company began.
Ro Paxman
Ready To Sail Again
"When defeat comes, accept it as a signal that your plans are not sound. Rebuild those plans and set sail once more towards your coveted goal." - Napoleon Hill
"We're going to have to let you go."
Those are the eight worst words I have ever heard in my life.
The first time I heard them it was not unexpected. The company I worked for routinely balanced its profit/loss sheet by releasing employees into the world. Every other quarter, rumors would begin circulating about the next layoff and employees would speculate endlessly about how deep the cut would run. My turn came along with 600 other people – including my boss and his boss. Under the circumstances, it was hard to take it too personally, although I suppose I could have spent many hours picking apart the motivation behind my particular release. I chose not to do that because I needed to focus on finding a new spot in the world.
The next time I heard those eight words was far more difficult. I had been at a job for a short time and had only heard encouraging words about the quality of my work. My boss told me a couple of times that I didn't fit in because I was so much older than my peers. But, I hadn't taken the remarks too seriously because my age isn't something I can do anything about. Instead, I chose to focus on my work so that I could bring value to the company.
It turned out that my age was a bigger deal than I thought because those eight words came and were expanded when I was told I was being let go because I didn't fit in.
Sigh...
I had been defeated twice.
After I went home and licked my wounds for an appropriate time, I began rebuilding.
I fired my local builder (me) and hired the cosmic architect (God) to help me find a new direction for my life. The hints came bit by bit, here and there.
The first hint came as I sat by my daughter in church a few weeks after being fired from the second job. She asked me to draw some girls for her. I took out a notebook and drew some teenage girls.
She loved them! Something told me to keep the drawings, so I took them home and redrew them in Illustrator. I looked at them and asked myself, "What kind of girls are these?" The answer came to me with a strong voice, "They are Scrap Girls."
I felt something thunder inside of me.
Scrap Girls.
(Notice the girls are paper scrapbookers. I didn't have any idea about digital scrapbooking yet.)
I looked up Scrap Girls in Utah's business name locator. Nobody had it. Not knowing why, I purchased it. Then, I looked up the domain name on the Internet. Nobody had it, so I bought it.
I knew that I was going to build a Scrap Girls something or other. As I considered what to do, I asked myself these questions:
- What talents has God given me?
- What things do people want me to do for them?
- What skills have I learned in previous jobs?
- What have I learned that can be useful now?
As I answered the questions, I realized the Great Architect had been working on a plan from the beginning. I had missed it because I was so focused on remodeling my kitchen that I missed a skyscraper being built in my backyard.
Losing my jobs shifted my perception. I had to look up, peer out the window, and see the shell of what I could become so that I could overcome my feelings of failure. My defeats were an indication that I had been sailing towards the wrong port. I learned that if I was willing to make some adjustments, God would show me His plan for me as He helped me sail towards a better destination.
It took millions of moments and billions of small decisions, blessings and moments to get us to Scrap Girls in its present form, but God did it and I still can't help but think that I started on the final journey the day I was laid off of the first job.
So, if you get the opportunity to hear the eight, great words, "We're going to have to let you go," it may be that you are ultimately being blessed. Perhaps, instead of being thrown over a bridge, you have just been pushed towards a greater future. If it happened to me again, I might be brave enough to shake the news-bearer's hand and thank him for giving me such a great opportunity.
And then, I'll run out of the building and shout, "I'm ready to sail!"
- Ro
P.S. Of course, after I shout, "I'm ready to sail!" I'd probably sit on the curb and cry a little bit before I stand back up and walk reluctantly forward. I'd have to get past the shock of losing my job because I am human, after all.
P.P.S. I have actually heard these words three times now. Because it makes the story more complicated, I didn't initially explain that after the second time I heard the words, I was hired by a third company. They were a small, struggling business and it became apparent after a short time that for various reasons (including their financial struggles) that it was time for me to move along. They offered me two weeks' severance if I quit. Because I was mentally exhausted by the year's events, I chose to take their offer. It was at that time that I started working on Scrap Girls full-time. It was terrifying because our family needs my income to survive and, to be honest, I'm not sure how we got through it. But, through God's grace and His many blessings, here we are today.
Muse: To be absorbed in one's thoughts; engage in meditation. Not intended to solve the world's problems, another person's problems, or to cover topics completely. One does not have to agree with musings to enjoy them, just as one does not have to be the same as someone else to appreciate who they are.
Would you like to earn a $20 Gift Certificate? Send your own muse to [email protected]. If it is selected for publication in the Scrap Girls newsletter, you'll get to have fun shopping!
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