Girls Gone Curly

I have to share with you one of the cutest things in our store right now:

Curly Girl magnet board

Here's a close-up of the message:

And the coordinating magnets, my favorite part:

We were only able to get a few of these in, and they're bound to go fast as we approach the holiday season.  I won't be able to enjoy them for long, but I know they'll go to good homes! 

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

This horrific mess can only mean one thing.

Yikes!

It's time to redecorate the shop for Christmas! 



For those of you in warmer climates, that white stuff outside the window is SNOW!



The maestro at work.



We don't have a lot of space in the company store, so we have to cram a little holiday cheer in where ever we can.  Cheryl is going for a Victorian Christmas theme this year...

...complete with dolls and vintage furniture from her mother's collection.

And what Gently Spoken holiday display would be complete without Cheryl's famous flocked trees?  We try to get away with keeping these beauties up all winter long.





That ginormous ornament is a Kelly Rae Roberts angel.

Now we just need to wrap some pretend presents for the dollies, and we'll be just about set to face the season!



RIP Halloween!

Is there anything sadder than putting away Halloween decorations?

 

Some may find it odd that we’re just now dismantling the last holiday when it’s nearly Thanksgiving and most people are getting Christmas up and running, but we are in Anoka, the Halloween Capital of the World. The way I see it, we’re entitled to a longer Halloween.

It will come again next year of course, but I will miss the cheery faces of ghost in the store!

See you next year, Halloween!

Are You Listening?

Many people aspire to live the lives they’ve always dreamed of, but it’s rare to meet someone who actually makes those dreams a reality, which is why Lynn Sunde is such an inspiration. Downtown Anoka shoppers will likely recognize her smiling face from her work as former longtime manager of local coffee house Avant Garden. Now Lynn is realizing a lifelong dream of becoming her own boss with the publication of her debut, Are You Listening? Lynn recently joined us in the company store to sign copies and catch up with old friends.

Writing a book wasn't a lifelong goal of Lynn's.  All she knew was that she wanted to be her own boss someday, and had always loved the therapeutic process of writing.  She even wrote a gift book for her mother of life lessons, but never really thought of combining her entrepreneurial goals with the written word until she came across a letter she’d drafted to a friend and tossed aside with no intention of ever sending. The letter was a response to her friend’s comment that there was no point in talking to God because he never felt like God was listening. Her response, detailing all the ways in which one can find God’s voice in every day life, eventually became her first publication, Are You Listening?  She’d written the letter mainly for herself, to get her feelings out on paper, but it wasn’t until she showed it to someone else and was blown away by their powerful reaction, that she realized she’d written something with the potential to inspire others.

Working alongside the entrepreneurs of Anoka (including our own Cheryl Karpen) provided Lynn with the inspiration and knowledge to pursue self publishing, as did a friendship she’d struck up with graphic designer and publisher Guy Mahmarian of Vision van Gogh. To tackle the daunting task of publishing a book, Lynn began by creating a list of steps necessary for achieving her goal and set about crossing them off. After working out time frames, budgets, marketing, and a year and a half of revising and designing, she finally had the finished product in her hands. How did it feel? “It was crazy,” Lynn laughed. “I couldn’t stop smiling. It’s a book!” All the hard work she poured into Are You Listening? should pave the way for coordinating gifts (calendars, magnets, and posters) and a second book in the next year or so.  But for now, Lynn is enjoying the sense of accomplishment and relief that come with a job well done, and is looking forward to getting her message out to new audiences.

To learn more about Lynn's book, check out her website or stop by Gently Spoken's company store to read a copy.

www.anotherwordpublishing.com

T

Ode to Barrie

Since we deal in affirmation and encouragement at Gently Spoken, we throw around words like “inspiring” a lot. But the other day, I spoke with someone who truly defines the word through her thoughts and actions. Her name is Barrie, and she’s about as close to an angel on earth as you can get. At one point in our conversation, I told her I’d feel set for life if I could muster even a small percentage of her compassion and positive energy. In response, Barrie started laughing. “Not if you’d had to live the life I’ve had to get it!” she replied. But let me back up.

We first met Barrie some seven months ago, after she’d come across a copy of our book Eat Your Peas for Me. The uplifting, self-loving message really resonated with her, and she needed a new book to pass out to people in need since her previous choice, Love Letters from God, was now out of print. It’s not uncommon for readers to stock up on their favorite Eat Your Peas books to give to friends and family, but what makes Barrie unique is her affinity for identifying strangers in need of a pick-me-up. During our most recent conversation, she said she wakes up each morning with one goal: to do everything she can to overcome her own worries by helping others. In the retirement complex of nearly 600 people where she resides, Barrie is known as a friend and healer. (“You can go now,” one such friend informed the emergency personnel trying to assist her. “Barrie’s here!”)

Barrie’s philosophy, informed through her life experiences and deep faith, is that all most people need to feel good is for someone to listen—really listen—to them. In my work as Gently Spoken’s customer service manager and resident (unlicensed) psychologist, I can vouch for the veracity of her claim. Prior to joining the team here, I spent my early college years working in an academic support center as a tutor, and I saw first hand that what most students needed, even more than study skills, was to believe they could do well. Without that experience, it never would have occurred to me that so many people live in constant uncertainty of their abilities (I lack this uncertainty not because I’m a super genius, but because I absolutely refuse to fail). Barrie’s made it her life’s work to seek out these distressed people and offer them hope and encouragement through tokens, conversations, and handmade reminders.

We’re truly honored to have such an amazing woman utilize our simple, sweet little book in her goodwill ministry. She’s living proof that kind gestures both large and small really do make a difference in the world. 

-T-

A Day in the Life of Whirled Peas Headquarters

Our day begins at about ten to 9:00 am, when our office manager pulls into the back lot of downtown Anoka and enters our happy, colorful shop.

The first part of the morning is spent returning phone calls and invoicing.  Paperwork time!  We love it when orders are waiting for us online from customers all over the country (and a few from other countries).  Most of our orders are sent to our fulfillment center in St. Paul to be shipped out by our tireless friends at Ideal,

but small orders are packed in house.  Every order gets a few of our famous Scatter Joy cards and a personal note thanking them for their order.

10:00—time to open the store!  This complicated procedure involves turning the satellite radio on to a soothing station,

pulling the cord on the open sign, and propping the door open to welcome customers and let in fresh air.  Sometimes that “fresh air” is a cloud of exhaust and cigarette smoke, but what can you do?  On a good day, the birds are chirping, the air smells like breakfast at G’s and Truffles, and the marching band is gearing up over at Sandburg. 

As customers select goodies to take home from the store, supplies must be replenished from the back room.

Recently, the shop got some extra special product courtesy of Cheryl's move and subsequent need to clean some things out: antique head vases!  If there are any interested collectors out there, shoot us a line; these lovely ladies need good homes.

When she's in town, our owner/author Cheryl can usually be found working away at her desk or hanging out with pictures of her famous (at least around here) mom in the store:

Lunch is often enjoyed across the street at GrassRoots (Cheryl) or at a desk with a good book (Torrie).

In between helping customers in the shop, our general manager toils away at her computer invoicing orders, concocting newsletters, and overseeing shipments to customers all over the continent.

5:00 - Before you know it, it's time to close up shop (literally), tally up the day's sales, and head out to the car to drive home.

See you tomorrow, Anoka!

Small Town Blue (jeans)

I never really thought of Anoka as a small town. It was just Anoka, a place with cute shops and a nice waterfront. Case closed. But then we moved our offices to the downtown. Possibly the best part of having a storefront is being part of the retail community here. We have the best neighbors, and getting to know them has taught me a whole lot about quality customer service.

Here’s a perfect example: we love Jenson’s and would shop there for the excellent selection of clothes if for nothing else, but the service there is nothing short of amazing. Just this week, an intrepid associate brought Cheryl a pair of pants to try on. That’s right—she walked down the street with a pair of pants our owner had set aside, just so Cheryl could try them on at her convenience. If that isn’t above-and-beyond customer service, I don’t know what is!

The greatest thing about independent retailers, in my humble opinion, is their ability to have independent thought. That sounds blatantly obvious until you consider the utter lack of independent thought at many chains. Let me be clear: I have nothing against chains and certainly shop at them for many of the necessities of life. And it’s not the fault of the employees that they can’t make decisions on their own. They’re not allowed! I’m sure there’s bundles of research supporting the efficacy of such top-down thinking, but it sure loses something in the human connection. Can you imagine a Macy’s associate walking out the door with a pair of pants for a Cinnabon employee in the mall to try on? The alarms would go crazy!

Last night, a companion and I dined at my absolute favorite restaurant. Our waiter smiled when he saw me, took out his order pad, and said, “Bean burrito and side of rice, right?” Another waiter, who wasn’t even serving us but who knows us all too well, brought frothy cerveza over without needing to ask. It’s like walking into Cheers! Before I get distracted thinking about that tasty dinner (mmm), the point is it’s incredibly nice to feel like you’re not just a number to a company, but a valued customer/participant/neighbor and even friend. That’s definitely something we’ve found in Anoka, and I hope you find it at your local shops, too. If not, come to ours—we’ll share!

T

Same Kind of Different

Every once in a while I stumble across an extraordinary book. The kind you want to shout out to the world that it’s a must read. Being an enthusiastic person by nature, I think many people just kind of ignore my recommendations and chalk it up to another one of my obsessions.


My new friend Sally gave me same kind of different as me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. It sat on my shelf for weeks until I brought it along on a flight to Nashville last week. Everyone on the plane knew the book I was reading was really good. Tears kept rolled down my face; so many that I think I used up a box of tissues. I’m sure the passenger sitting next to me wanted to say, “It’s going to be okay, it’s just a book.” But he didn’t. In fact, he leaned the opposite way. Most men don’t like seeing a woman cry. Maybe he doesn’t know that tears are raindrops of hope. It was obvious: I was transformed, touched and inspired by Ron and Denver’s story. You might be too.


We get one chance, one lifetime, to make a difference on this earth. You’re probably already doing it, but I need to get really busy.

I’d tell you more about the book but I’d probably just start crying again. I’ll just say that it’s a beautiful story about faith, courage, adversity and grace. You can learn more about the book and its authors at www.samekindofdifferentasme.com. Read it. Embrace its message and tell a friend. You won’t be disappointed. Promise.


Here’s to spring and all its forthcoming beauty!

Name Your Year!

Hard to believe it’s already the new year!  It seems like just yesterday we were putting up the Christmas trees and prepping the window for the holidays.  Now all the razzle and dazzle are gone! (Well, not all of it; we left the flocked trees up. After all, snow-covered trees will still be timely until at least March here in Minnesota!)  In exchange for all the shiny wrapping and bows, we get something even better: the chance to start over with newly defined purpose.

Here’s one of my favorite ideas: name your year!  I love this idea because it works.  Think about a theme you’d like to live your life by all year long.  Here are some examples we’ve used at Gently Spoken: Year of Heroic Customer Service, Year of Affirmation, Year of Listening.  Think about what matters most to you.  Maybe your family, group of friends, or coworkers could join together to name the year.  How about the Year of Community Involvement of the Year of Gratitude?  Better yet, the Year of Positive Self-Talk!

As a gentle reminder, place signs around your house or place of work.  Put them on the mirror or fridge, or whatever you look at on a daily basis.

Live your year!