"A goal without a plan is just a wish." -Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
At the beginning of 2018 I set a list of intentions for Paper Perennial. Along with thousands of other people at the beginning of the year, I made goals for improvement. What happened to those goals? I...
I met Eberley and Darrin early in 2016 at a McDonald's in Volo, IL. When meeting clients face to face, I like to meet in a mutually agreed upon location, preferably one with food available. Starbucks, Barnes and Noble, Panera, anywhere is fine with me as long as they...
"Every life a legacy, every small business a school." - Michael E. Gerber
When I was growing up, I didn't see a lot of my father. He was often gone in the mornings before my brother and I left for school, and didn't come home until 7:00 or even 8:00 at night. Saturday...
Saturday afternoon I was sitting at my kitchen table eating leftover fettuccine alfredo from Maggiano's the previous night when I received this text from my best friend Whitney.
As I stared at my phone in mute disbelief looking at the beautiful pictures on People.c...
In my first year of selling flowers, I would tell people that I had a "teeny, tiny, itty, bitty small business" when they asked me what I did (aside from teaching, tutoring, taking music lessons, getting another masters degree, and trying to maintain my sanity)...
It's that time of year again. The time of year when men from 12 to 62 feel like they have to show their love in some extravagant manner to prove themselves. Valentine's Day. I grew up in a household where, while certainly loving to their children, my parents never s...
Kusudama flowers are a lot of work. I was downtown a few weeks ago at the Museum of Science and Industry looking at their annual Christmas Around the World exhibit and spotted a number of kusudama balls on the tree representing Japan. Kusudama is the art of paper fol...
“Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.”
- Louis L'Amour
It's funny; I spend most of my days demanding, urging, cajoling, inspiring, and pleading with teenagers to write. "Write what you know," I say. "Write what you wan...
