Okay, faithful readers. Yes, I'm talking about those of you who followed my boring job history through the years and up to this point in "Women and Work".
You might remember that my dream of the perfect life was that I not have to work, but that I could be a stay at home housewife and mom. Well... that didn't happen so I just had to make the best of it.
One of the most valuable lessons my mom and dad taught me, was to work hard and never burn bridges. Dad was an electrician at a brick yard. He helped our neighbors and friends out by doing their electrical work for free when he wasn't working at his real job and yes, we were always poor. Mom had seven kids and worked in a sewing factory. The cereal we had for supper some nights wasn't only because we were poor... but because she was dog tired at the end of the day as well.
It doesn't matter what you do in life... whether you flip burgers or are president of a country... there's a place for everyone... and everyone is needed.
Ecclesiastes 9:10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.
I've been unhappy in my job for quite some time now... for several reasons. (yes, you can read about my ranting there...)
Finally In September of last year I decided to do something about it. I mentioned it in this blog remember?
Amidst the doubt that crept in on occasion, (I am 56 years old - I should be thinking of retiring, not starting a business), God reminded me of Sarah who conceived and gave birth though she was up in years... glad I'm not Sarah **Yikes!** but what I'm getting at is - Age is just a number.
So without further ado, I'd like to introduce to you....
All About Hearing, LLC
It's not been easy, holding down one job while working on starting a home based business. There's been a lot of red tape, licenses, tax stuff, creating accounts with suppliers, getting inventory into the office, and just plain hard work. But since Gary has been feeling much better, we've been able to work as a team on this and our plan has finally came to fruition.
The hardest part: Telling my boss I was leaving. He offered me complete control of Miracle Ear - advertising, pricing etc. if I stayed. He even said he'd reimburse me the money I have already put into my new business. Basically, he offered me the world. I hated being faced with this decision. I was hoping he'd show me the door immediately, the way he does with most other specialists when they decide to venture out on their own as his competitor.
Should I stay at a safe job where I'm pretty much my own boss and guaranteed to make $50,000 + a year OR should I continue with plans for my own business with no guarantees?
To make a long story short... I decided to take the leap of faith. But I did tell my boss I'd stay on at Miracle Ear for another month yet, to give him more time to decide what he wants to do with the store.
All About Hearing's Grand opening will have to wait another month. But... of course I couldn't leave you hanging. So I thought I'd share what we've done so far. Enjoy!
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| Rissie sits on what used to be a doorway to the kitchen, bedroom, bath and laundry room in our adjoining apartment... the one we turned into our office. |
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| This is that same doorway... now shelves and a wall that separates the other part of the apartment from the reception area. |
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| The reception area. Don't mind the junk piled on the left. Still working on it. These chairs we got at a church closing sale. The flowers, a yard sale. The table, Gary made in shop when he was in high school. |
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| My desk and work area. Once again, we're still working on things. Excuse any mess. |
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| Testing Room. The audiometer was purchased on Ebay for just $2,300. It was only used 2X. It's Like new!! |
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| Lab Coat |
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| Is the ear too tacky? |
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| Our house is a double house. This was once an apartment and we rented it to a sweet elderly lady. When she moved out, we kept it for visiting relatives. We turned 1/2 of this apartment into our office and the other half is an efficiency apartment which can be entered through the adjoined garage and through the laundry room. I'll show you that another time. |
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| Some of our inventory |
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| Important signage |
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| The ad that will run in the phone book. |
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| Business Card |
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| Now all we need are customers! We're looking at a July 6 Grand Opening. We'll be selling mostly Siemens Hearing aids since Siemens is the same manufacturer of the hearing aids I sell now. Thank you, my friends... you've made this venture even more exciting for me and I appreciate all of your kindness, love, prayers, and positive thoughts. |
