I love the blank slate that the start of a new year offers. It encourages veering off your usual life course and taking a different path. Sometimes that path is a dead end or leads back to your old routine, but sometimes something extraordinary happens. That was the case with me on New Year's Eve 2005.
My sister and I had just rung in the New Year and were winding down with a bottle of wine in front of the fire. Recollections of the past year segued into "what's next". We were both happy in our jobs and were at a high point in running. Life was good.
But we knew that when good turns into routine, life can become boring so my sister threw out a curve ball, "We should go into business together". I played along and said OK, but it had to involve something we were both passionate about. We took a few minutes to compile our list of passions separately before comparing them. We had two matches: chocolate & running.
While we both love baking and eating chocolate and even came up with a great name for our shop ("Chocolozy" which incorporates our unique last name), we decided that shop would be a recipe for disaster - both to our waistlines and the bottom line as we don't have the patience or creativity to make our concoctions sellable. On the other hand, the idea of owning a running store had legs...literally!
Over the next few weeks my sister researched the run specialty industry and vetted potential franchises (since neither of us had any experience owning a business - let alone a retail store - we knew we would need the support of an organization). Fleet Feet Sports passed all of Carrie's due diligence so I made the call to their HQ to begin the application process.
Our goal was to open a store within two hours of our parent's new home in West Hartford, CT. We decided Nashua, NH would be a great location and began to look for a storefront, until Fleet Feet Inc called to ask if we would be interested in buying an already established Fleet Feet store. We said yes, but that it needed to be in the Northeast. They replied, "I think you'll like the location".
The next day I received a call from Alice Gold, owner of the Fleet Feet store in West Hartford - the store where my parents shopped! Alice founded the store in 1997 and was looking to retire. I'd like to say that I jumped on the opportunity, but I got scared. It would mean using my sister's and my savings, selling my house and taking out a home equity loan on our parents home - a huge risk considering neither of us had ever worked retail or owned a business. Even with the support of a franchise. I just couldn't make that leap.
The scientist in me needed more testing and knowledge so I went back to school to earn a master's in Exercise Science while my sister earned her MBA. I left my job to work at the local Fleet Feet store near my house. Those baby steps gave me the confidence I needed. Two years later my sister and I became the proud new owners of a fabulous running store and will celebrate our eighth anniversary this year!
Our lives are a journey which by its nature implies movement. Life may be comfortable when it's stagnant, but opening yourself up to new experiences is exhilarating and can infuse your life with fresh joy, love and empowerment. My friend Chuck summed it up nicely: "Life is like rock climbing. Sometimes you have to let go of a fabulous hold if you want to get to the top of the rock."
Let go of that comforting hold this year and see where your journey takes you!
