The Permission I Was Waiting For

Here's something I've never said out loud: we've had this store for years.

Not the idea of a store. The actual store. Back around 2018, we were drop shipping, telling everyone (and ourselves) that we were about to really start. Then years went by. The shop sat there, mostly empty, while we kept saying "soon."

So what was I waiting for?

I used to think I was waiting on permission. From the market, from the right moment, from somebody who would finally tell me it was okay to go. But that person doesn't exist. The person I was really waiting on was me.

I want to tell you about a job I had at Bank of America. My boss used to say it over and over: you can't make your sales numbers if you never even try to sell. Wayne Gretzky said it too: you miss 100% of the shots you don't take. I heard it, and I still didn't swing. I was so scared of hearing no, so scared of looking foolish, that I just wouldn't step up to the plate. And I lost that job because of it.

Fear didn't protect me. It just made sure nothing happened.

I'm 52 now. And for a while I felt stuck, sitting still because something might not work, while nothing was working precisely because I wasn't doing anything.

I'm done with that.

Some things won't work out. Some things won't go the way I plan. I'm doing them anyway. I'm giving myself permission to live the life I want, to go after the things I want, and to stop being scared of failing in public.

That's what this store is about. That's what this blog is about.

On October 26, The Velvet Pumpkin opens its doors for real. You'll find a holiday shop full of glitter and glass, and one-of-a-kind driftwood sculptures shaped by water and finished by hand. But that's just the beginning.

I want The Velvet Pumpkin to be a place of comfort. Pieces you can wrap yourself up in. Home decor that accents who you are and builds on it. Mugs for the slow mornings, stationery for the big ideas, gifts for the people who matter, and Grab Life by the Cherries pieces made for women who are done waiting. As the store grows, new collections will keep arriving.

Everything here comes from the same place: someone saw something and said, this is beautiful, and I want you to have it and connect with it. I want this to be where you find good things that help you tell the story of your life.

And right here is where I'll tell the truth about building it. The wins, the stumbles, and the "well, that didn't work" moments. All of it.

Cherries ripen on their own time. So did I.

If you've been waiting on permission too, consider this your sign. Better yet, give it to yourself. Grab your life. I'm grabbing mine.