Concentrated effort + Time = Success

A while ago, my husband starting taking an interest in real estate investing. Being the reader he is, he read anything he could get his hands on that had to do with this new found love. Through his journey of educating himself on the topic he has come across many motivational books. Luckily for me, he filters out the good from the bad and recommends the ones he thinks I would enjoy or could benefit from in one way or another. The underlying theme in the authors of these books is that they either are, or have studied in depth, successful people.

All of the books have had great messages and sound advice, but the one thing important thing I’ve noticed to be a reoccurring theme is this:

Concentrated effort + Time=Success  

(Funny that I write that as a math problem when I despise the subject-but I digress.)

Seems so simple right? Only when I sat back and actually thought about myself critically, I couldn’t honestly say that I have concentrated on anything (relating to business), and I certainly haven’t done anything for an extended period of time. To put it simply, I am not focused. I have a creative mind that likes to wander from one thing to the next. You should see me clean house. I will start to clean the bathroom, then two minutes later I’m changing the litter in the cat box. Noooo, I know what you are thinking- I don’t have Attention Deficit Disorder. There is always a perfectly good explanation on how I get from point A to point B. For example, in the earlier mentioned situation, I most likely went to take the bathroom trash out to the garbage bin, passing the litter box on the way, and catching a whiff of unpleasant odor. And hey, guess what? The stinky litter goes to the very same garbage bin as the bathroom trash, so might as well just make one trip! You see what I mean? Same applies to business. Only it’s worse because I don’t really enjoy cleaning house. With The Farrier’s Daughter I am dealing with passion, and as we all know, when passion occurs it’s sometimes hard to know where to draw the line ;-)

Since 2006, I have been what I like to call “exploring” my creative side and the industries that support it. In one way, the timing has been perfect. Being a stay-at-home mom has given me the opportunity to try different things without the pressure of making a certain amount of money-or any money for that matter (Insert shout out to my husband-Thank you Nick). On the other hand, being a stay-at-home mom has changed the way I look at things.

For a while I tried to do shows. Gathering and refinishing or re purposing vintage goods was a blast for me! I absolutely loved staging my booth for the shows that I did. However, the cons soon outweighed the pros. As a vendor, I wanted to give my business everything I had. The problem was that I only had so much to give and it didn’t seem possible to give 100% to being a stay-at-home mom, a supportive wife, and a vendor all at the same time. Add to that my lack of storage, and an extra set of hands via business partner, and I quickly realized that that particular arena was not for me. I had the concentrated effort, but it couldn’t go on for long.

After many long talks with my husband, I decided to focus on handmade goods-Cowgirl Canteens specifically, that were easier to store, haul, and set up if I did decide to do a few shows every once in a while. It wasn’t long after this decision that I realized having just one product was going to be a challenge for this artistic brain. I put off going retail for the longest time, then finally pulled the trigger. With surprisingly great success right out of the gate, I should have been on a roll. Unfortunately, I am the world’s worst salesman. Remember when I said I despise math? Well, it’s safe to say I hate selling even more. Don’t get me wrong, I like to have things sell-I just don’t like the process of selling them. While creating a product takes me to my happy place…selling that same product could possibly be the equivalent of hell. Even in the most laid back of situations regarding repping my own product, my heart beats so hard that I swear people can see it trying to jump out of my chest. My hands shake, and my head spins. It is terrible! So, it’s safe to say that trying to drive my wholesale accounts was not something that was going to get my “concentrated effort”.

Meanwhile, some friends of mine asked me to start doing some visual merchandising for them in the form of a HUGE window display at their new salon. Another great way for me to use my creative juices, and while I love doing the job for them, I’m not certain I have the means to turn it into “my job” ... brings me back to that lack of storage issue again. As a result of the window display, lots of people get to see my style, which has opened even more doors. Interior design, business design-all design, but looking through my directional glasses, I have completely lost focus.

So what is the one thing that has stayed consistent through all of this? My desire to grow a business that allows me to use my creativity, my dream of creating a brand that is well-known, understood and successful, and my desire to be able to do those things while being one kick ass wife and mama! So moving forward, I have decided to focus on online sales and events where I get to mingle with people (because that, in my opinion is the only way to sell). I have decided to use social media and this blog as a tool to spread the word about The Farrier’s Daughter. I hope that people are able to get a little glimpse into what we stand for, the uniqueness and quality of the goods we offer….which means I have also decided to start expanding. Yes, finally expanding! For so long, I have heard people say, “I love your style, but I don’t drink.”, or “These [Cowgirl Canteens] are adorable, but I don’t carry a flask, I prefer beer.” I have been listening; your voices have been heard. I’ve been planning and dreaming and scheming about new items for so long, and the time has come to go for it! I hope you join us as The Farrier’s Daughter gives a concentrated effort, because this my friends, is going to last for a long time.

Here are a few ways to follow along:

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

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The Farrier's Daughter website.

FACEBOOK

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and "like" The Farrier's Daughter on facebook.

PINTEREST

Click on the "P" to follow 

The Farrier's Daughter boards on pinterest.

INSTAGRAM

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The Farrier's Daughter on Instagram.

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Princess and the Pony~Cowgirls Don't Cry

When we first brought Polly home last spring, the girls got started riding bareback right away. No pad, no bridle, just good old-fashioned hold onto the mane, find your balance, and enjoy the ride while Mom leads the way, kind of riding. It was good for them. I could see them getting stronger and more confident with every ride. I vividly remember the day my oldest daughter (Raegen) rode down the path telling me all about how she planned to someday be a trick-rider. She had just seen another one of those little girl and her pony movies and I could tell she had borrowed a few ideas. As she dreamed out loud, I heard all about her plans to stand on Polly’s back, ride her into the water and dive off of her four legged friend. From where she sat, she couldn’t see my smile. But as her energetic words filled the air, I couldn’t help but recall a few of my own childhood cowgirl dreams. It was as if a mini-me sat atop the pony that day.

Time passed and the girls continued to become better riders. I decided it was time to get them in a saddle. A phone call away, sat the saddle that I learned to ride on as a young girl. My father was kind enough to not only save the saddle, but pass it on to his granddaughters. After a trip to the saddlery shop, it was good as new. 

Before too long, the no-hands trick was getting old, and Raegen was ready to move on. She begged for a faster pace. With her cowgirl hat on straight, hands on the horn, and a determined look in her eye, she told me she was ready to trot. So trot we did. Only, a few strides in, Raegen’s hat flew off of her head, giving Polly a bit of a startle. She quickly picked up speed, and then threw on the brakes all in what seemed like the blink of an eye. Meanwhile, Raegen went flying forward, landing on the ground. She was fine. No broken bones, just a couple of bumps and a mighty big scare for a little girl. She stood, dusted off and cried. I held her, and as I did, my childhood came flashing back into my head again. I remembered my first horse mishap. I remembered crying, never wanting to ride even a carousel again, and I remember my Dad making me get back in the saddle. I squeezed her tight, wiped her tears, and when she was settled down, I told her that she had to get back on. She didn't want to at first, but with a little convincing, she threw her leg over the saddle and was riding again. I was so proud of my little girl in that moment. She was brave and strong, and she learned an invaluable lesson that she will hold onto her entire life. How do I know this? Because, I learned the same lesson, the same way, some 25 years ago.

Our Ever-Changing Kitchen Remodel

I've been asked by so many to do a post on our Kitchen, but have always avoided it because it has never felt "finished". It dawned on me the other day, that it may actually never "feel finished". I've realized in my 32 years that by the time I finally get around to making a room feel complete, I have moved on to yet another style, color scheme, or big idea. So, from start to finish, our semi-complete, Heart of the Home...

Our Kitchen:

 Believe it or not, this is what the kitchen looked like when we decided to purchase this 100+ year old house. Not only was it the ugliest kitchen I'd ever seen, not one thing made a lick of sense. We started by happily gutting the entire space.

 It had a chimney that had been dry-walled over, a window that looked into the garage, YES you read that right, a window overlooking an enclosed garage! It had cabinets of all sorts in all of the wrong places, and an oven that stuck right out in the middle of the walkway. But, somehow, through all of this, I had a vision.

Out with the wall dividing the Kitchen and Dining Room, out with the funky garage-view window, and out with the ugly oak cabinets! My goal was to transform what once resembled a cave into a bright and airy kitchen with as much natural light as possible.

 This is the view from the Kitchen looking toward the Dining Room and Living Room.

Where once stood a dividing wall, is now an open space with breakfast bar.

The only thing that remained in the Kitchen was the original wood flooring. A little (okay a lot) of TLC, and the old floors are new again.

I wanted to have a piece of cabinetry that felt like a built-in hutch, so the section next to the refrigerator has pretty feet (unlike the rest of the lower cabinets). The uppers have corbels mounted to the bottom that match the open shelves on the opposite wall, and some of my favorite knobs from Anthropologie. Another little surprise is the expanded metal we used in the cabinet doors. It ties in with the pantry door, and our staircase. After cutting to size, we washed it with a push broom, soap and water, then spray primed and painted it black.

Here is a view from the Dining Room looking in.

The wood slab that makes up the breakfast bar is from my late Grandfather, and is supported by some antique architectural corbels I picked up at a local sale.

The open shelves were a risky choice in a small Kitchen, but have really helped in making the space seem larger and brighter.

Pendant light kits and old rusty Crawfish traps were an inexpensive lighting option for overhead, and cast the most beautiful pattern on the ceiling above. They also lend a nice contrast to the crystal Dining Room chandelier.

While yes, I have a business that specializes in Cowgirl Canteens (fancy hip flasks for women), my husband and I are actually fans of microbrew beer. So, this old bottle opener on the end of the breakfast bar gets it's fair share of use.

One smart splurge in the Kitchen was the apron front sink. I love it!

I made up for that splurge by installing all of the white, subway, backsplash tile by myself.

One thing I've had to get used to is not having a window above the sink.

Instead, I took an old antique frame, gave it a face lift and turned it into a cork board for all of the pretty pictures my girls make for me, any important reminders, and a plethora of other random things.

To the right of the refrigerator is a mirror/apron holder, and to the right of that is the pantry.

In my opinion, a pantry is a must if you are going to opt for the open shelves.

For the door, I found an old screen door, replaced the original screen with the expanded metal and added the gate hinges for a little extra fun.

The door to the Mud Room was swapped out for a glass door and an old sash window was installed above my desk area to maximize natural light.

So why isn't it "finished"?

Well, I have an old butcher block that my Grandfather used to cut meat on that is awaiting a new set of wood-turned legs that will become my new island...until then, I have this antique flour table that sits center stage.