The journey has not been easy but it’s been full of inspiration and love, and I’ve always managed to find a way to secure the things that I need to keep moving forward. I have not had piles of money in my life and have mostly been unable to pay for help. As such, I have had to learn to do many things the hard way — by trial and error — trying and failing, and building the courage to try again with only the wisdom gained from failure and the determination to succeed. What I’ve found along the way is this: It takes piles of time and determination to get good at doing anything worthwhile, and… money is fluid, it’s time that runs out. So….. How do we put a deadline on a dream?
When my husband and I first found the mini-bus (before it became the mobile boutique), it was being used for hauling tables and chairs to children's parties and it had faded "fiesta clown" vinyl pics smothered on the windows. This is what the inside of the bus looked like after we put in flooring and upcycled some landfill-destined furniture. A cute, little mobile storefront, yes? Aside from a wasted lease on a Broadway shop during my pregnancy and days with an infant, this is how The Collective started.
This is the mobile boutique the summer before Covid made life weirder. I had just started a line of teas named after different poem forms to sell at local farmer's markets. I loved it so much, that I spent the in-between (Covid) years developing my website & branding for Poetic Tea Company. You will find my teas at my new shop or online at poetictea.com. Look how little my baby girl was!!! Bittersweet life.
Creative people have a way of building piles of projects all around them. Once my ideas and projects started to overtake our home, it was time to get a space. This is my new studio/storefront. It’s modest and super close to my home and my little girl’s school. I cannot express how thankful I am for this. Seriously.
The main studio room's antique table was saved from a landfill and I did my best, imperfect job to refinish it. It extends to seat 16 people! I am really looking forward to hosting some amazing and memorable private parties and workshops at this table.
My first guests at the shop were my immediate family. My little girl was insistent about making place-setting name tags for everyone with her six-year old handwriting and tying them on the forks. I don't think I'll ever be able to throw the tags away.
The intimate tea room in the back holds refinished parlor tables and chairs from the memorable Market at Larimer Square in Denver (now closed). My husband and I found some salvage, antique window panes in the mountains and I cleaned and painted them white for the walls (I have a feeling this window project and this room aren’t done, but sometimes, we have to call it done so we can get on with it.) Tick, tock, tick tock.
The outside entrance on the evening of The Collective's completion celebration (Harvest Moon in 2022). What's funny about creatives is that nothing is ever complete -- there's always an extensive list of things to revise, to finish or to start. This particular celebration was very personal to me as it was an actual, material point of completion on this tremendous journey....and for someone who isn't very grounded, that's kinda a big deal. Yay me!!! So…
How do we put a deadline on a dream?
We don’t. Dreams are fluid. We just keep dreaming, keep failing, keep trying, keep growing, keep revising, and keep building our time here into our life stories. To keep moving forward with a brave face is the true success story in life. There will be moments on the journey that really matter. This night was one of mine. What is one of yours?
~ Sara
Hi! I’m Sara, an empath-introvert-dreamer, mum to two kind and inventive children, wifey to a thoughtful and supportive hubby, and slave to a food-obsessed dog and sociopathic cat. I have deep faith in how the rhythms of nature guide us in building fulfilling lives and have found that using these natural cycles in our creative output and reflection time, gifts us with a precious sense of worth and perfection amidst the tragedy and chaos.
My current works in progress are The Collective Boutique, Ltd., a treasure shop and atelier, and my rising and aspiring brands — Poetic Tea Co., The Narrative Boutique, Retrospect Digital, and Tattered & Mod. As I strive to keep everything on track, I find that my progress is often sideways for long periods of time before a forward-reaching milestone is achieved. When I celebrate, it is well-deserved. ;)
I hold a B.A. in Communication Arts, an M.S. in Information and Communications Technology, and have since pursued certifications in digital storytelling, UI/UX design, and most recently, herbal medicine. I have been a life-long student and am now taking my knowledge base and infusing it into my brands and blogs in an effort to help other learners embrace the natural cycles of reflection and creativity.
