This year I began soapmaking as a hobby. But by Christmas, it was a full-blown business with Web site and purchase orders...and customers!
So I had to step back and take a hard look at why I wanted to be in business. Historically women have run businesses from their homes to make the ends meet, but more recently it has been to affirm their self worth, their ability to create and have people value their creativity.
I created ChesapeakeBayBathandBody.com because I value the legacy of craftsmanship which is so much a part of the American landscape.
Quality craftsmanship leaves its mark on the senses...a touch, a smell, a sound.
Levi Jeans began as an idea purchased from a customer who in the 1800s. That idea was placing metal rivets at the points of strain - pocket corners, and at the base of the button fly. He did this in order to make the pants stronger for the laboring men who were his customers.
Levi paid for the paperwork for the patent and blue jeans were born. The first manufacture of the jeans was undertaken by individual seamstresses who worked out of their homes.
Coach, the maker of fine leather goods, began more than half of a century ago as a family-run workshop in a Manhattan loft.
Six artisans handcrafted a collection of high-quality leather goods using skills passed down from generation to generation. Discerning consumers soon began to seek out the high standards of Coach workmanship.
The founder of Coach was first inspired by a baseball glove when he saw its distinctive markings and how supple it became with use. After refining it, making it softer and stronger, he created Coach's first handbag.
The Coach story continues to inspire me because I believe in the legacy of family. When my son, now five, is watching me pour a newly made batch of soap into the mold, or as I hand wrap each bar, I am hoping that he is learning a lesson that good craftsmanship is also a source of family pride.
And I hope that my clients open their wrappers and revel in the scents, touch the rough hewn bars that are the hallmark of a handmade product and find what we are striving to achieve.
This blog will take a look at the phenomenon of so-called kitchen table businesses and track my own progress as I build my business.
Okay. So let the games begin.
Kathy A. Gambrell
Founder
ChesapeakeBayBathandBody.com
So I had to step back and take a hard look at why I wanted to be in business. Historically women have run businesses from their homes to make the ends meet, but more recently it has been to affirm their self worth, their ability to create and have people value their creativity.
I created ChesapeakeBayBathandBody.com because I value the legacy of craftsmanship which is so much a part of the American landscape.
Quality craftsmanship leaves its mark on the senses...a touch, a smell, a sound.
Levi Jeans began as an idea purchased from a customer who in the 1800s. That idea was placing metal rivets at the points of strain - pocket corners, and at the base of the button fly. He did this in order to make the pants stronger for the laboring men who were his customers.
Levi paid for the paperwork for the patent and blue jeans were born. The first manufacture of the jeans was undertaken by individual seamstresses who worked out of their homes.
Coach, the maker of fine leather goods, began more than half of a century ago as a family-run workshop in a Manhattan loft.
Six artisans handcrafted a collection of high-quality leather goods using skills passed down from generation to generation. Discerning consumers soon began to seek out the high standards of Coach workmanship.
The founder of Coach was first inspired by a baseball glove when he saw its distinctive markings and how supple it became with use. After refining it, making it softer and stronger, he created Coach's first handbag.
The Coach story continues to inspire me because I believe in the legacy of family. When my son, now five, is watching me pour a newly made batch of soap into the mold, or as I hand wrap each bar, I am hoping that he is learning a lesson that good craftsmanship is also a source of family pride.
And I hope that my clients open their wrappers and revel in the scents, touch the rough hewn bars that are the hallmark of a handmade product and find what we are striving to achieve.
This blog will take a look at the phenomenon of so-called kitchen table businesses and track my own progress as I build my business.
Okay. So let the games begin.
Kathy A. Gambrell
Founder
ChesapeakeBayBathandBody.com
1 comment:
Thank you very much for posting this blog. It confirms that I am doing the right thing in building my home-based business. However, it also lets me know that I am thinking small and really need to think outside the box.
Keep up your great work. I am new to blogging but I can stay up all night.
Monica
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