Childhood Dream

I was different than most girls growing up.  For starters, my family moved a lot.  With my Dad in the military a move every couple years was the norm for us.  Our childhood provided us with memories scattered across the country and making and saying goodbye to friends a way of life.  I was happiest in the branches of a tree and pouring through craft books I picked up from our local library on a regular basis.  When asked as a young adolescent what I wanted to be when I grew I would answer in no uncertain terms that I wanted to own a craft store.  I would create the physical structure of the store in the basement of our home with the boxes from our latest move and spend hours crafting and creating the merchandise to display on the cardboard shelves.  I had a cash register on my list for Santa for several before he finally realized I wasn’t kidding.  Unfortunately, that’s where it ends, for now.  Pushed to the back corner of my mind.

Great Experience

Life happens and my plan got a bit derailed for two decades.  Instead of bringing my dream to life I acquired two business degrees and a boatload of experiences in corporate America managing people and working in the business world.  I gained invaluable experience during this time but can’t actually say this was my dream job.

The Big Move

In April of 1996, I packed up my home in Chicago to marry the love of my life and to move to his home in Troutdale, Oregon.  The only two things these two cities have in common is they are both known for their wind and lots of it.  This was a BIG change for me!  Without a job, friends and family, I did what every bored housewife does when she is waiting for her husband to come home from work, I took stock in my new life, dug deep to discover what was truly important to me and took time to dust off my childhood dream.

The Business Plan

Business plans are important for a new business and I took mine very seriously.  I wanted to create something unique but I also wanted it to be successful.  I wanted to follow my bliss, create something truly special and innovative and fill a void in the marketplace.  With the help of my talented husband,  we brought the dream alive in 1997 in a store called CELEBRATE ME HOME nestled in the heart of the downtown Troutdale at the mouth of the Columbia River Gorge.  My vision was to create a place surrounded by, what in my mind made a house a home.  It wasn’t just a business plan, it was a master business plan with three separate businesses.  Our original store was a gift store, café and floral shop all rolled into one space under the same roof.
They say it couldn’t be done

Not many would say it directly to me but I knew people thought I was crazy.  I had no experience in any of these three businesses how did I think I could pull this off?  Troutdale is not a large town how can a store like this possibly make it?  We’ll fast forward a bit here to spare you all of the 19 years of details but suffice it to say not all of the original plan worked.  We have morphed into three distinct retail spaces that are the result of constantly tweaking the original concept.   We ran with what worked and edited what didn’t.  We have had great years and we have had some lean years.  Despite it all, there hasn’t been a day that has gone by that I wish I was doing something else.  I LOVE WHAT I DO AND THE PEOPLE I WORK WITH!