Here Endeth the Lesson

          By the fall of 2012, my transition was complete.  I had gone from a disinterested bystander of my wife's hobby to a full time job as the co-owner of a quilt shop.  If a customer wants low loft fusible batting I know what they're talking about. I'm knowledgeable about shot cottons, eyelash yarn and and greige goods. I also know that long stemmed Egyptian cotton is the best for thread, and that high quality thread is double gassed so that it creates less lint when it's used in a sewing machine.  Etc., etc., etc. The rest of the journey is a lot of "inside baseball" stuff about the quilting business that bores me to write it.  I can imagine how boring it would be to read it.  So the blog stops here.  If you want to keep up with what we're doing at Judy Lea's Quilt Studio, you can check out our Facebook Page or sign up for our newsletter at www.judyleasquiltstudio.com.
          Some final observations.  In the dark times of 2009 I wasn't sure if I would ever work again.  It's a sad fact that after you reach your mid fifties, you're basically unemployable.  In a professional or managerial position, you typically have a 42 year old hiring manager interviewing 38 year olds who have achieved about as much as you have, just not as many times.  As someone once said, "people don't want to hire their parents friends to work for them".   If you apply for a more menial job, the hiring manager looks at you and thinks, "this guy has worked for 30 years and he wants this (crummy) job?  He must have something wrong with him".  Realistically you only have only 2 choices, get hired by an ex colleague, or create your own job by starting a business.
          The situation that I ended up in is pretty sweet.  I can walk to work.  Judy and I have total control over the hours we work, how the shop runs and all other issues therein.  The pressure on us is fairly low. We could close the shop tomorrow, liquidate the inventory, go home and retire for good. Or we could go back to doing quilt shows and travel around the country again.  The building will eventually be sold and we'll at least recover the money we spent on renovations.  I've read articles where people say that they're going to continue to work after retiring.  Say what??  I thought retirement meant that you quit working.  What they mean to say is they want a job that is fun and fulfilling.  Not the stress filled, soul crushing, back breaking job that you need to support a family and "get ahead".   I've got the perfect "retirement job".
          The job does have it's stresses, and so far Judy and I haven't been able to take much money out of the business.  Not a surprise.  I was speaking with the owner of a big quilt shop, and he said that he wasn't able to take money out for the first 4 years.
          Some advice for those of you that might want to do the same thing as Judy and I did.  You're marriage needs to be rock solid.  You'll be spending 24/7 with your spouse, and all the stresses of running a business will cross over to your relationship.  I'm a very lucky man in this regard.  This September Judy and I will be celebrating our 44th wedding anniversary.  We've had our ups and downs, but in the end we've been a great team.
          They say that life is what happens to you when you're making other plans.  I can testify to that.  Thanks for reading my blog.