P. A. C. E.
Passion
Acceptance
Courage
Empathy
It happens every Saturday we are out at our favorite venue for our pop-up shop. We hear, "We follow you on Facebook", or "We came out here to see you". It sounds a little self-serving to ask folks when they visit us at the marketplace if they saw Tyler on the news.
I promise it is purely proud Mom stuff going on here. We have certainly been walking on Cloud 9 over all the lovely messages we've received from our friends, family and people we've never had the chance to meet yet. They are telling us we have inspired them and it really means so much to us both. We appreciate needing to hear about the success of a person with learning disabilities, because that is our life too. If we can help others see their potential in life, encourage them, include them, we are thrilled. Getting our story told has been very rewarding to us. There are definitely two stories, Tyler's as a young adult that has learned to focus on sharpening his skills with no matter how hard it is. And my own story as his mom, teacher and now business partner, learning how to help him grow up into the person he is today and use my career knowledge to create and build our company. When we were asked about being featured on the news I felt, and still do feel, that Tyler is the main attraction to Sawdust & Sage. 100%. Thank you Sarah Rudlang for helping us tell our story.
While I have had a lifetime of experience in sales, worked as a trainer and motivator to others to achieve goals, I'd have to say that the most significant mentors I've had in my own life were those I found while navigating our homeschool journey. Like all parents, I wanted my child to be successful at school. When I came to the conclusion that no IEP in the entire world was going to give him the support that I could, my decision was made. I felt then and still feel now that the most valuable thing I could make happen was to not be on someone else's schedule. We needed time, so we took it. I believe the encouragement I felt in our early years to follow our own interests is undeniably the best advice I ever received. By deeply valuing the things that were important to him, our relationship wasn't dictated by grades (good or bad), homework (done or not), tests (passed or failed), or any other traditional measuring stick. I observed and witnessed what happened when I allowed him the downtime he needed to marinate over new ideas. I gave him more of what was highly interesting to him, and helped him learn to look for the answers he wanted to know. The world was our classroom. Ah, these memories of not quite being sure what we were doing was right, only to now feel completely validated. These days what he wants more of is expensive tools- but he makes those purchases now!
He's very smart guy and I'm so proud of him.
Our spot on the news definitely boosted our already robust building schedule. We have steadily grown over the past year and now with the holiday season upon us, we will be working almost everyday. My gratitude for being able to be with him growing our business everyday is always present but just let me share- what we do is hard work. He is better equipped to muscle through the weather extremes and heavy lifting. I can keep up (somewhat), I just pay for it more later!