Today I'm re-sharing a blog post I wrote exactly two years ago. Then, it was 15 years since my brother died, now it's 17. That's a LONG time. And in so many ways, the past is so far past, you'd think it would all be behind you. Not actually the case. I was driving home from work today, and this analogy of grief came to me:

Running a small business is no joke. Running and growing a small business while raising 3 kids, during a pandemic, with another job to boot, well that sounds a little bit crazy.

When Nicole and I decided we wanted to start a "little card company" a few years back, I truly had no idea what I was jumping into. Designing pretty things... fun, easy! Manufacturing them, marketing them, trying to create social media, learning new software... HARD, and overwhelming. We started slow and small, growing modestly until all of sudden, we were a real business with things like inventory, reports, sales reps, office space and breaking down boxes and taking out the trash. You name it—Nicole and I do it.

May is National Mental Health Awareness month and it wasn’t so long ago when those words would have gone unnoticed by me. I was honestly more likely to notice National Ice Cream month.

The sun is shining here today and hope you get the change to have some sunshine on your face today too. The below is the next issue of the 5 things taking up space in my brain.  

Enjoy!

Is there anything more important than a true friend? I am lucky to have a handful, and as my brother Tim often said before he passed, if you can hold up your hand and count a true friend for every finger then you have it all.  He was right. This is a short story of my daughter Taylor’s best friend Hope, and how she inspired our newest “love you” tee. 

We are excited to share with you a new monthly post—Nik's top 5. A quick read of five of the coolest, thought provoking, interesting, (and maybe even funny) tidbits that we are loving. 

Saying “I love you” seems like such a simple thing to do.  

And, in fact it is. 

I say it all the time – to my family, friends and anyone else I feel compelled to share it with.  I can speak for Emily as well in that she is equally as generous with this simple sentiment (it’s one of many things we have in common!).

The news of late has been dark and scary to say the least.  Although we are watching and and worrying about the state of our world, we have reason today also to celebrate!

When Emily and I started our little company, all we really wanted to do was put “good design and good words” out into the world.