Real Relationships

A ribbon cutting ceremony marks a "new beginning" for a business. While LJ Artisan Designs is not a new business, (In fact, we will be celebrating 10 years in business in September! 🎉) when given the recent opportunity to have an official ribbon cutting ceremony, I jumped at the chance!

In honor of Small Business Week, Denton Mayor Gerard Hudspeth along with the Denton Chamber of Commerce offered businesses who do not have a storefront to have a ribbon cutting ceremony at Town Hall.

What happened next brought me so much joy and gratitude that I actually teared up when it was all over. So many lovely ladies showed up to support me and my small business (the above photo doesn't even show all of the people who were there 😊).

Did you know that small businesses generate the vast majority of jobs in the US? Small businesses play a central role in building a strong country. I could recite all of the statistics about how important small business is to our economy and to our community, but when I looked out at all of those wonderful ladies who showed up to the ribbon cutting ceremony, what I saw was how important relationships are to us as humans.

In this age of big box stores and products showing up on our front porches made by anonymous people in other countries, I think that we are craving real connections with people.

So many people tell me that they love knowing that their jewelry was created by hand and knowing who made their jewelry pieces.

As I stood with these phenomenal women to cut the ceremonial ribbon, my heart was full because when I first started making jewelry, it was honestly just about my desire to create beautiful things. I never dreamed that it would lead to such beautiful relationships.

A huge THANK YOU goes out to all of the women who attended the ribbon cutting ceremony (and a shout-out to all of you who wanted to be there, but could not make it)! You are the reason I have this small business.

Yes, it is to help support my family and our local economy, but it is also because I value relationships too and I believe that the world is a better place when people are valued over everything else!