Like many people, I’ve been using my extra time at home to refocus on what’s most important to me.  As part of that, I am following along with Simon Sinek’s online bookclub for his best seller “Start with Why”.  I was first introduced to Sinek’s concept of ‘Why’ by Colchester leadership guru Debbie Lawrence, in a class where she helped each of us students to find “the why that makes you cry”.

Through her skillful questioning (and perhaps, it is suspected, some wizardry), Lawrence pulled the why, often with some tears, from each of us.

Just as Sinek states that your why will cause you to have a lump in your throat, and tears to well up, when my why was revealed, my eyes ran over.  It’s a why rooted in a little child who was the only girl on the baseball team.  Who was the youngest kid at Brownies, and excluded because of it.  A kid who wiped out on the slide, and the ski hill, in ways no one had ever seen before.  Who insisted she was the Pink Panther, and therefore male, on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Who wore mismatched socks in high school, just to be different (ah, the 80s).  Just a weird kid, marching to a weird drum.

Not satisfied though, in marching to my own drum, I want everyone else to march to their own drum too.  I’ve always been the friend you call to help you justify doing the thing you want to do.  I mean duh, you want to do it!  Seriously: if you want to leave your relationship, start a new career, or go skydiving I’ll back you up.  And of course, if you want to dye your hair or get a piercing, I’m about it.  Do what you’re called to do with your ephemeral form.  Express yourself.  Be You.

That’s my why, in two little words: Be You.

Through Skin Decision we are able to help people be themselves just a little bit more.  Our team members truly want to help each client be their own authentic self.  To get to know you, to help you select pieces that speak to you and of you.  It’s an art, it’s a skill, and maybe, a little of our own wizardry.

The real magic is when the client looks in the mirror. When they see themselves as they had imagined, now made real.  From the 6 year old with new opal ear piercings, to the 80 year old with a diamond on her nose.  That look is the why that I will cry about every single time.

Be you friends.  Be you!

Our two studios have been closed since March 19.  I’m not going to pretend there haven’t been many heart breaking moments since then.  Oof.

Moving our jewelry and valuables away was surreal.  We bring it in, but our clients are the ones that should be taking it away!  Final elbow bumps with employees, even more sad. I really want to keep paying their benefits throughout our closure.  Despite no longer being on payroll, they remain present for our clients and each other. They’re all such good and beautiful people.

We’ve had a space online for clients to buy body jewelry for awhile, and now was the time to rebuild on a more robust platform. I hopped onto that project and will admit I may have got into a few yelling matches with my laptop. Now, it’s here, and it’s pretty alright! I do have more work to do, especially to make it even easier to find things.

Clients have been amazing.  They’ve been making their jewelry purchases online, they’ve been ordering gift cards to use later, they’ve been sending us kind words of strength and empathy.

I know they’re worried about us.  I’m a little worried too. But then I was worried when we opened our second shop. Thinking it would be like when we opened the first one.  It wasn’t. We’d learned so much in the intervening 11 years. And we had so many more people in our corner. And now we have you. You, reading this blog.  Letting us know, we’re not alone!  

We’re still connected, and don’t worry, we’re not going anywhere!

When DJ and I opened up Skin Decision in Truro in 2006, we dreamed of bringing world class jewelry and piercings to Nova Scotia. We had big dreams but we didn’t have much else.  I’ll never forget the night before we opened, 1am, sick from paint fumes and exhaustion, and the sink didn’t fit in the hole in the counter. Eventually DJ took the sink and the counter outside.  And proceded to beat the sink into the hole with brute force and determination. Blood, sweat, and tears isn’t metaphorical. We opened that little shop with a display case the size of a piece of printer paper.

For the last 14 years we’ve poured our hearts and more into the “Little Shop that Could”.  We survived economic downturns, shysters disguised as marketers, and con artists of all persuasions. We put everything back into our business. One day we looked around and instead of that tiny showcase we had huge displays full of gold. Instead of only having each other to lean on, we had a beautiful team. We kept on growing.

That old sink has long since been replaced, but I’ll never forget it.

 This isn’t the end my friends.  It’s a change. But it’s one we’re going to get through.  Together.

We’ve recently had a couple of opportunities to share our space at Skin Decision Truro with our community!

We held a bouncing after party for Black Buffalo Records during Nova Scotia Music Week! Lxvndr warmed us up and we became instant fans! She’s SO talented! Fatt Matt was super rad, what a treat to have him in our little shop! Then the Drunken Arseholes, made up of Truro local DJ Moves and rapper Cee blew our minds and entertained us into the wee hours.

Two nights later, Black Buffalo’s Aquasocks won Hip Hop artist of the year at the awards show!

Then Monday December 9, Sam Madore’s Women’s Social Network hosted one of their fun events in our front room! It felt so good to have so many wonderful women in attendance, and I couldn’t help but feel grateful to have gotten to know so many of them.

Sam herself. A favourite to chat with at networking events, I’ve always felt tremendous support from this event organizer and mental health advocate.

Margaret, Truro Farmer’s Market manager and mother to my daughter’s bestie. Also my classmate, book club mate, and advisor on many subjects!

Vonda, owner of Noveltea. Also a book club mate & classmate. And owner of my favourite wardrobe!

Nancy, interior designer, who just painted my kitchen island turquoise!

Alicia, tattooer and Truro Buzz woman! She took the opportunity to speak to Olivia about starting her journey to update all her earrings!

Michelle, who helped me at the BDC, and brought the loveliest gift for our gift drive! (I wouldn’t usually play favourites, but this weighted blanket is gorgeous!)

Krista & Erin from Future Worx, two women who never miss a chance to support our community. They are always so fun to laugh with at events, I often gravitate toward them.

And there were many more in attendance as well. Women I know, and women I hope to.

It was a great way to wrap up the year, and I’m now thinking of ways we might be able to share our space in the new year!