Life Support

Life support.  Many think of that phrase as something that is hanging on by a thread or is really struggling.  For me, these three are my life support but in the opposite meaning of the prior.  They are my life support in terms of keeping me on my toes, my support team, my cheerleaders, my business associates.  I can't live without these three goobers.  When Justin and I discussed in great length making our hobby of making confections for friends into a business it was our family we thought about. What future did we want for our kids?  What did we want for our family?  Business ownership isn't always a piece of cake...however, when you have a great life support team it makes all of the blood, sweat and tears (okay, we've not had tears...yet) worth it.  As parents we feel it's our duty to show our kids an example of what hard work can do for your way of life and make them understand at a young age that things will not be handed to you and even if they are you better know what you're doing or your chances of losing what you have are high. Although our kiddos are young, we're already asking their input and valuing their opinions and talking to them about options in life and business at just 4 & 6 years old.  Since this is a family business I'd love to take a minute and share with you what role each play within our company.  Jack, our 4.5 year old (far left) is our little spark plug and we lovingly refer to him as our "Bulldog"-- Jack LOVES our caramels and has since he was old enough to enjoy them.  Jack is our Chief Executive Taste Tester (AKA Quality Control Manager) and takes his role very seriously.  Justin (middle) is the king of our castle and serves as our Head Sugar Daddy (AKA C.F.O.).  Justin's primary role is to reel my creative and marketing mind in when it goes off shore...he truly keeps my mind grounded and enables me to see the other side of things...he IS the heartbeat of my life support.  Madilynn, is our 6 year old (far right) and is our go-getter in every sense of what a red-head should be.  Madi's official title has yet to be named as she serves many purposes within our company.  She's honestly not too fond of our confections (she's a chocolate girl and trust me she's pushing for mom to add artisan chocolate to our line) and because of that she's is an asset as we reflect on her side of things.  Our MadiFran is showing her natural marketing mind already and together she and I often chat about how we can market our products and new flavor options.  As I reflect on the last 5 months of our official operation I realize just how crucial my life support is.  My first priority is our children; picking them up from school, aiding in homework and being there at bedtime.  As a business owner, it's often hard to be there 24/7 but I am blessed with kids who see the big picture and are supportive of our growing business.  I'm more blessed by our Head Sugar Daddy as he balances his full time career, aids greatly with 'mom duty' at times during the week and playing his vital role within our company.  There is a great balancing act in our household right now as we grow but without my life support I would never have been able to get this venture off the ground and have a vision and goals for where we'd like to see our business grow for years to come.