#4: Time To Expand
July, 2010: chicago + cincinnati
The smartest thing any entrepreneur can do is to realize once they’ve outgrown herself.
I’ve had my fair share of missteps but but one thing I’d like to think I’ve done pretty well is recognized once it’s time to expand. And just who the right candidate should be.
My sister Melissa and I had learned years earlier that we balanced each other well. I always sought to push harder. She tended to err on the side of caution. She was the yin to my yang.
Thus Enter Melissa, Sarah Vaile Design’s left brain.
She is very much the reason we are still operating ten years later. You see, most designers don’t specialize in the only-buy-what-you-can-afford, don’t-spend-like-your-first-record-just-broke, are-you-sure-we-don’t-need-that-expensive-antique-for-inventory type decisions. We love to spend. And collect. And acquire. What can I say, it’s the very nature of the biz. Every designer should just hope they bring aboard a Melissa before it’s too late.
