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For over a decade now the pages of Victoria magazine have been graced by the
creativity of thousands of women. We began in a modest way to find women whose
passions were taking them into successful business
ventures. It might have seemed that one's efforts were
playful—"I think I'd like to have a Bower shop" or "Wouldn't
it be fin to make stuffed animals?" More often than not, those notions became
viable realities, The essential ingredient was always the true passion for the
enterprise. It was that drive that led these women to get the support they
needed and not to give up after a few wrong turns on the toad to their dreams.
Because these entrepreneurs are involved in labors of love, their sharing
of skills and services has been welcomed by so many others who seek goods
endowed with caring.
In our search to bring our readers the special, the truly
one of a kind, we have met many women just like the ones you will meet on the
pages of The Business of Bliss. Personally I have been rewarded by their
stories and inspired by their hard work and
their dedication to what they set out to accomplish. What is astonishing
is that the well never seems to run dry. Each year more and more such
stories land at our editorial offices. Always there is a new direction,
even if the theme is one we've seen work in the past. With a great deal of
pride, I welcome you to this book and hope you embrace
its spirit.
Dream and then begin to set your plans in motion. And to all whose
hearts beat with enthusiasm, we offer the examples of women, just like you, who
have made the decision to fly on their own wings. If your plans are carefully
made and your passion for the enterprise truly exists
then turning what you love into profit can be a
blissful reality.
Nancy Lindemeyer
(Editor In Chief)
(Foreword from Business Of Bliss)
- Hardcover: 224 pages ; Dimensions (in inches):
0.83 x 9.51 x 6.51
- Publisher: Hearst Books; (December 2001)
- ISBN: 0688160840
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Pages 126 to 129
Though her dried flower creations are as whimsical as they are lovely, Beth
Sique1and-Gresch approached the opening of her own
shop anything but lightly. The shops called I Grasmere, in Barrington, Rhode
Island, was the fruit of no less than six years of careful planning and research
on the part of this former art and art history student, After working in visual
display for a large retailing corporation, Beth knew the corporate life was not
for her and that she wanted to open her own business.
 To
learn the ropes, she apprenticed herself to a series of floral and horticulture
businesses, studied up on the mechanics of running a small business, and
scrimped and saved some start-up money.
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It's about
finding a way to do what you love.
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When she was almost ready to open her shop, she took her
arrangements to a few craft shows to see what the response would be, and it was
overwhelmingly favorable. Then she opened her doors in a renovated 1930s gray
clapboard farmhouse as a retailer of some ready-made creations but, even
more, as a custom designer. Beth offers rather unusual solutions to interior
design dilemmas. Customers love her topiary dividers, and her custom-sized
wreaths—made of such elements as parchment fruits and roses—which add
three-dimensional drama to a spot where a painting might otherwise hang.
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Beth's first year was tough, both more work-intensive and more cash-intensive
than she had anticipated. But by the second year, as she gained experience and
confidence, Beth managed to turn a small profit, and succeeding years have
brought more returns, She has diversified somewhat, and has taken on more
special events and weddings than before, but the core of the business is still
the custom-designed dried flower creations that she and her loyal customers
love, Still, she acknowledges, "This kind of business will never make me
wealthy. It's more about finding a way to do what you love, and making a
sustainable income doing it."
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