06/03/2026
I browsed and browsed for the image I thought should accompany that cool little nomination logo. I weeded through what felt like a million photos—MANY of them selfies of me in tears.
When I’m overwhelmed or when self-doubt creeps in, the tears flow, so I naturally take a selfie. It’s part of my personal journey. I need the reminder that this is hard. Really really hard. And that if I scroll just one photo past those tears, there are endless images of happy people creating in this space and the hard becomes a bit easier and I remember why i’m doing all these hard hard things.
But I chose this photo instead.
I chose it for this little girl—the one I feel most connected to these days. The little girl who struggled to feel comfortable in her own skin. The one who always wanted to make things, create things, and work with her hands.
Since opening this store, I’ve done things I honestly never thought I was capable of. Put me in the corner and I’m as content as could be but when you open a business in this economy, the corner won’t serve you well. I learned to be loud. Well not that loud but loud enough to be heard.
Am I doing it perfectly? Nope.
Do I wish I was? Hell yes but I’m still growing.
But maybe the point isn’t perfection. Maybe it’s having the courage to keep showing up, learning, creating, and growing anyway.
And if this little girl also known as mick or cricket could see where we are now, I think she’d be dang pretty proud.
Thank you for this nomination.
