A Horse Trainer?

Remember those tests you took in high school that were supposed to give you a direction in your career choice? It consisted of a bunch of questions about your interests and hobbies, as well as things you wanted to stay clear of. The basic idea was that if you answered honestly, your test results would yield a few fields that you might want to pursue in college and when all is said and done you would have yourself a happy career!

Mine said “horse trainer”. Yep, horse trainer. It also said “vet”, and something else I can’t remember for certain, but the faintest part of my memory tells me it said “gym teacher”. While everyone else was getting things like “doctor”, “lawyer”, or “president of something awesome”, mine was a joke. Not that I have a problem with horse training- I bet it’s awesome. The joke was that I had never in my life had anything to do with horses and I didn’t have any desire to train them. Apparently I showed a great interest in animals in my answers, that is, animals and athletics. It was ridiculous, and made me feel more lost then when I started the test.

The truth is that I never had a clear direction in high school about what I wanted afterwards. Maybe I was too immature, or maybe figuring out a career choice is too much to put on anyone who has never done anything more than babysit for money. I did have friends who knew exactly what they wanted to do and where they wanted to go to school to get it done. BUT, I also had pretty freakin’ smart friends who were incredible students. Me, not so much. I liked school up until my freshman year. Then things got harder, and I never studied properly, so I mostly tested on the knowledge that I retained during classes (that is IF I focused and paid attention that day… ADD). As I started struggling, I tried less and focused less, and disliked school less. So the idea of college wasn’t exactly something I was dying to do, other than the part where I got to leave home and live with friends - that sounded fun. And that part was fun. Lot’s of fun.

I’ll skip a few years and just sum up the fact that college wasn’t for me, or not at that time. I moved back home and began working and eventually got into retail and loved it. I moved up a few times in management roles, changed companies several times, got myself into the luxury end of retail, and eventually I made a nice career out of it all in both sales and retail management.

Twelve years later I would move from Philadelphia to Atlanta to be with my now husband. I went back into retail in Atlanta for a short while, and thankfully transitioned out of retail (thanks to my MOL) and into the field of plastic surgery. I started part-time at the front desk with an incredible doctor who taught me a lot and learned as much as I could. I would eventually have an opportunity with another office to become the practice manager for Dr. Elizabeth Morgan. She is one of the greatest women and bosses I have ever worked with. Everything that was important to me, was important to her: family, integrity, and a good work ethic. She taught me that I can put my family first, and still be successful. She showed me that my integrity made me valuable to her, and I saw first-hand that she put integrity before money over and over again. She showed me that there is nothing that can take the place of hard work and that I cannot expect to be successful without putting in the time and effort. I take those invaluable lessons with me and I hold them dear to my heart as I begin this journey.

My position as a practice manager over time became more of a consulting job part time so that I could spend more time with my kids. During my fifth year with her, I decided to walk away and pursue a dream of my own. Starting my own business.

So how did I get here? When did I pick up this whole decorating thing? The truth is, it was always there and I never thought it was important. I had been doing it one way or another ever since I could, rearranging things in our house growing up, painting things to put on the walls, and then there were all the magazine tear outs that I would frame and try to create a gallery wall of cool things. When I lived on my own it continued, but on a “broke” level, so I became pretty resourceful and creative. In fact, I have spent most of my life on a tight budget, until recently. What’s great about not having much money to spend on decorating is that you learn where and how to save money, and what’s great about that is that I can pass it on to my clients. I love saving money. I love decorating. It’s a win-win. You know what I don’t love? Flies. Or horse manure. And I’d be dealing with a lot of both had I taken that darn test seriously. But then again, maybe I’d be a rich, Kentucky Derby-winning horse trainer. I’ll never know.

What I want people to know through me and my story is that we can choose to reinvent ourselves. We can choose today to start something new tomorrow. It’s okay not to have all the answers, it’s okay to screw up, and it’s okay to look like an idiot. And most importantly what I want people to know is that if I can make the decision to start a business and actually do it, anyone can.