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Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Reclaiming Her Life...

WARNING, WARNING this blog has been taken over by stamp geek aka Ms. Stamp, aka Steph! My better half has given me free reign over the blog today to tell my own "coming out" story wherein I recount how I left my old career to become a Stamper (or full time Stamp Dealer for you traditionalists). I will be sure to relate the details including my journey up to now but first allow me to let you in on a little known secret about Mr. Stamp...he is the hardest working entrepreneur in the stamp world. Yes, yes I know, I have a slight bias but it is true, allow me to elaborate. Mr. Stamp (Aka Chris) hits the ground running every morning and if it were not for my gentle reminders (nagging) would work well into the day without stopping for a bite, rest or breath. His constant companion is a big cup of Joe and he never misses an opportunity to refresh his mug. His only breaks are for dinner and whenever I pop downstairs to check on him. I know from experience that if left to his own devices, he would work 32 hours straight without food or rest, without giving it a second thought. Now, I do not want to give the appearance of workaholism but I do want to drive home the point that Chris loves and believes in this business so deeply that he will regularly put his own needs aside to get the work done. I admire this quality in him and as much as I wish he would remember to eat lunch his dedication makes me believe more and more in this business we are building.

Before Chris left his own former career he had mentioned that he saw us working side by side someday in the future and expressed that this was a dream he had conceived of long before we met. He reiterated this dream many times after he left accounting and started hinting that he and I could do great things working together. With some trepidation I left my last job Jan 15, 2016 and I haven't looked back since. Ok, that is a bald faced lie but it sounds better than, "I had flashbacks for two solid weeks after I left." It is no secret that my last career was a challenging one filled with incompetent management and more BS than your usual run of the mill office job. Having said that, I very much enjoyed the relationships I had cultivated with my coworkers and found a great deal of satisfaction in the work I did. Needless to say I had mixed feelings about leaving. I put all of my fears aside and took the plunge and I can honestly say this is the most job satisfaction I've ever had.

Since starting my journey into the deep dark Stamp world I've discovered two very important truths the first being that you are never done learning. I am forever finding some new variety (that is a flaw in the stamp design to you non stampers out there) or reading up about some fascinating piece of Canadian history they didn't teach you in grade ten history class. The second and most important point is never underestimate the amount of work that goes into building a business like this. I set myself what I thought was a very reasonable goal of one month to get through grading, pricing and organizing all of our modern material. Here I am almost two months in and I am only now down to the last box! I remember Chris working long hours on one issue and I would wonder why it took him the time it did. Oh boy have my eyes been opened!

My base camp is the upstairs office/guest bedroom as I find this space has the best lighting for my purposes. Chris has explained his set up in previous posts so i won't go into detail here. The best part of working essentially for myself is that I am no longer at the mercy of other peoples incompetence. Yes, I know that sounds harsh but hear me out. The only ineptitude I must deal with now is my own and when I get annoyed or upset with myself for not getting something as quickly as I would like, myself forgives me almost immediately. Another terrific perk is working all by my lonesome in the office. When I am swearing up a storm and cursing the very creator of a particularly frustrating issue there is no one around to offend or annoy which, for those who know me best, is a real blessing.

Now, we come to the question I am asked most when I tell people I work with my partner: "can you two even work together?" A large part of my decision on whether to join Chris full time was based upon that very thought. I pondered for some time weighing the pros and cons (and writing them out because I love lists) and discovered that I had no clue. I certainly thought we could but I was far from sure so, for the first time in my professional life I took a massive leap of faith. I can say without hyperbole that it was the best decision of my life thus far. Not only do I enjoy working with Chris (albeit in a different area of the house) I prefer it now. We have a great routine and enjoy bouncing ideas off one another. We have disagreements just like all coworkers however, unlike the typical office setting we have a strong foundation of love and understanding so any disagreements are always respectful and resolved quickly (unless of course I think I'm right in which case we argue until Chris gives up).

 In all seriousness, I love the journey I am on and have zero regrets after joining the Stamp world. I am looking forward to growing with our business and being a regular on this blog. Alright, enough break blogging it is time to get back to the grind!

Stamp Geek, out!

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