CHAPTER 1
It started with a major life change.
Back in 2013, a chapter of my life that I’d lived for a very long time came to a close. I won’t go into the details, but I will tell you that it sent me searching. Not dramatically, not all at once, but instinctively and quietly.
I started asking myself what came next? What did I actually want my life to look like?
And somewhere in that searching, I kept coming back to yarn shops.
I’d always loved visiting them wherever I traveled. There was something about walking into a good one that just settled me. The colors, the texture, the inspiration, the community sitting around a table, a particular feeling you get from a room full of beautiful fiber. And finally, the feeling of being among people who understood, like I did, why this all mattered.
And slowly, gently, a WHAT IF? started taking shape.
I retired after 31 years in education in June of 2016. I worked with an amazing business coach from Richmond's Small Business Administration, and wrote my business plan during that last year of teaching.
That following October, just a mere 3 months later, and probably before I’d fully thought it through, I opened Dances With Wool.
I had no business background (something I should have spent another year getting up to speed on). I had no idea who my customer was. I was buying yarn blind, hoping I was choosing products our customers would love. I’d moved to Midlothian just two years before and was still finding my footing in this community.
What I did know, the one thing I was absolutely certain of, was what I wanted more than the product.
I wanted community.
I needed to build something that would feed my soul after everything in my world had shifted. And I had a feeling, just a feeling, that since I built it with enough heart, other people might need it too.
Turns out, I was right about that.
Over the next few months, I’m going to share more of this story with you. The people who showed up and changed everything. The moments that were harder than I ever expected. What ten years of building something from scratch actually teaches you.
And in October? Well. We’re going to celebrate in a way that feels completely and entirely like us.
I’m so glad you’re here for it.
https://cdn.shopify.com/videos/c/o/v/0e22f31f1b334453bf1f0773e5419561.mp4