A Labor of Love

Entrepreneurship has been instilled in my core values from an early age.

Growing up my mom, grandma and aunt ran a successful craft business called "ABC Crafts". My sister and I practically grew up at Pat Catan's craft store and Carter Lumber. We often spent nights and weekends in our garage or grandma's basement helping prepare the seasons hottest craft for the next big event. We learned how to pack and fill every possible cubic inch of the station wagon (a skill that we both still utilize to this day). We would often help set up, work, and tear down the booth at events.

My grandma taught me about painting, keeping the books, running a tight ship, and skirting a table with straight pins. My aunt taught me the efficiency of the assembly line, how to use power tools, and the importance of networking with other businesses. My mom taught me about passion and to put my whole heart into everything that I do...even if that means frantically spray painting wood turkey feathers at 3 am on a Tuesday!

My dad has always been a craftsman. He worked construction for awhile in his 20's but had to settle into a more secure job when he started a family. But that never stopped him from taking on side jobs on the weekends. Throughout my life I have watched my dad build everything from furniture to new construction houses. As the token tom boy of the family, I often followed dad around our garage, workshop, and job sites. Always asking him too many questions (I'm sure) and helping out however I could...which sometimes meant simply passing him tools or carrying shingles up to a roof for him.

In the early 2000's, my dad quit his corporate warehouse job to follow his true passion of construction. I watched him start from scratch in his 40's, while I also heard the whispers of others doubting his decision. But he built a successful business that he still operates to this day! Fun Fact: my dad does construction for the company that I work for, so even as a grown adult I am still following him around the job site! I have learned countless skills from him, but the main value he taught me is the value of integrity or "your word".

Ultimately, they all collectively taught me pride, dedication, hard work, and determination are the keys to success.

As a young adult I was working in the pool snack bar at a local country club. We had a very slow day, so I approached the Chef and asked him if there was anything I could do to help them out. He happily gave me a case of potatoes and a vegetable peeler. Turns out that was a defining moment in my life! A few weeks later I began working in the kitchen on the salad line. From that moment, I dedicated many years of my life to learning as much as I possible could about food production and operating a commercial kitchen. I went from a snack bar attendant with a case of potatoes to the Head Chef of a few predominate local restaurants.

But that was just my "day job". I have always had a deep passion (thanks mom) for sharing my craft with the people I love! That passion has continued to grow and mature with me. In this picture, you can see three very different yet similar versions of me over the past 10 or so years. The glow up has been such a blessing!

I always knew I wanted to have my own business that allowed me to have a creative outlet and highlighted my passion for good food. All of these influences from my family and life lessons are what led me to create Peace Blends in 2021!

To me, Peace Blends is more than my business. It is really my life's work presenting itself in cute little bottles of flavor. I personally wrote every recipe, handcraft each batch of blends, filled each bottle (this is where my husband Steve really helps out!), designed and placed every label, created every morsel of marketing material and the entirety of this website. Every single bottle has been thoughtfully and patiently crafted by me, so that you can have a more flavorful meal experience! At Peace Blends, we are truly creating small batch artisan spice blends. And it's all thanks to the strong entrepreneurs that raised me.

Photo

Top left: Summerdance at Nelson Ledge's. I had an electric flat top, borrowed generator (and trailer), and a coffee pot. Somehow managed to feed a dozen or so friends for 5 days

Bottom left: Resonances at Cooper's Lake. I had a 10x20 car port, propane flat top and burners, and a full pantry set up. The staff tried to bust me for illegal vending, but quickly realized I was just feeding 20 or so friends for the weekend (and that I'm extra...).

Right: Morel Foray at Joe Bottoms Campground. I had a whole silo (or as my friend Matt will inevitably correct me, it's a grain bin) decked out with all the propane cooking gear, pantry, wood fire, hot boxes, chafing pans, and matching shirts for the team! We fed about 100 friends that day.