Giving Thanks
In the always busy, crazy life, of growing a small business, sometimes you need to slow down, take a break and remind those who are on this journey with you, how important their role is in the process. Things you see on the outside, like our labels, website, photos, and recipes appear seamless and beautiful. On the inside we are mostly running around like we’ve lost our keys and we have an appointment in 10 minutes!
If you have spent much time on the website, you are familiar with Brian (me) and Eric. Eric is our founder, salt maker, flavor developer, and rabble-rouser in chief; I am responsible for packaging, shipping, customer service, social media, and spreading good cheer at our excellent local restaurants.
These are the people you don’t know, but should.
Doris is the one who makes all the crazy ideas Eric and I have about the website come to life. We have given her quite a few almost impossible requests and she always figures out a way to make it happen. If you need a web designer, you can find her at itjustclicked.com
April is our graphic designer and takes our beautiful, yet complicated, merman design and finds ways to make it work across all our social media platforms, labels, clothing, and print material. The artwork of the merman is excellent, however it doesn’t always translate well to commercial printing applications. She always makes it happen, but we do get a few eyerolls.
Misty brings our products to life. She is a fantastic photographer and continually exceeds our expectations. Every time I send her a package I make her life difficult because I always tell her “just do whatever it is you do to make them pretty”. Again, if I could see her face from 800 miles away, I’m sure the eyerolls would be there as well.
Marianne is the office manager at NuWay Printing, the company that prints our labels. We don’t order large quantities and NuWay doesn’t really do labels that often but they do a great job for us. They are easy to work with and the turn-around time is exceptional. When you are a small business sometimes it is difficult to find companies willing to work with you on that small of a scale.
And that brings us to Jim and Stephanie Houchins. The owners of Oliver Springs Vineyard in beautiful Newberg, Oregon. Our infusion process requires an extended use of commercial smokers, which limits the locations available to us. Jim and Stephanie have graciously given us access to one of their buildings and allow us to come and go as needed during our production time.
Growing a small business brings many challenging days and requires you to jump in fully with much uncertainty in front of you. As with anything in life, when you surround yourself with people who believe in you, encourage you, and believe in your journey, you can accomplish anything.