This August Seattle Gift Show marks my tenth anniversary with HOLDEN & CO. Ten years ago, I went to the show in part to help my mom in her business, in part to visit an old junior high school friend, and mostly to chase any cute boys Seattle may have been hiding.... I came home from that show with a vision of what HOLDEN & CO could become, and Gail and I have never looked back.

In the years between, we have seen many changes. The business has grown from Gail and I in a tiny (and I do mean tiny) office and one desk, to two showrooms and five employees. It has grown and changed, and we have loved watching it evolve.

We too have changed. Gail’s husband died and she had to adjust to single life. I became married and then a mother of two. In ten years our employees have gotten married, moved away, retired, had babies, left and come back. The business has evolved along with all these changes. (For instance, as I type, my daughter and Gail - her grandmother - are coloring on my office floor. Gail and I have just finished our meeting. This is the way to run a business.)

Our customers have changed. Some have grown their businesses and others have left the industry. There are always new customers and new opportunities. The one constant has been how much enjoyment knowing them brings to our daily work.

Our manufacturers have changed too. For many of our lines we were their very first rep and are still their reps today. Many new lines have come (and gone) in the ten years, and many are the same. We have seen lines evolve and grow, and some stay happily, blissfully just what they are.

Each and every part of our business has evolved and changed in the ten years since my first trade show. Some of the changes were hard to take or scary, initially. Some were exciting and thrilling. Most were comforting reassurances that we were working in the right direction.

There have been days (if I must be honest) that I was not at all sure we were heading in the right direction. Only to be followed by other days that made me feel like we would conquer the world. Growing a business, it seems, is much like raising children: lots of extreme highs and lows. And inbetween, lots of ordinary, happy and uneventful days.

I know it sounds cliche to say, but all these things have happened for the best. Or we made the best out of them. Either way, we learned, we grew, we have prospered. And we are having fun. Here’s to another ten years...

xoxox, Karen