Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Halifax Business Awards
 I feel a bit like Nurtured has come out of the underground and has been embraced, in a huge and positive way, by the Halifax business community.
In 2006, I was a mom of one, pregnant, with a new website. I worked part-time at my previous job as a civil engineer, marketing and promoting and responding to emails in the evenings and on weekends. After BananaMuffin had gone to bed, I would sit on the couch, laptop propped up on my HUGE belly, trying to learn the mechanics of this website. Luckily I had taken a couple of programming courses in university and it came semi-quickly, but even with that, it took me HOURS to add a new product, or figure out how to fix a mistake. In that first year, the sales were very slim.
By the time Spunky was born, the word started to spread about the business and I had a really difficult time keeping up with two children under two and a growing business. I tried a multitude of iterations and work arrangments, and as local demand grew, Becky joined me one day a week to help work at home. It was at this time that we really had to make a decision: shut the business down, or open a store.
At this time last year, my friend Tory (pregnant at the time) were in what is now the back room at the store, scrubbing and cleaning each and every piece of filthy barnboard I had salvaged for the decor. I was working at home three days a week plus meeting with designers, contractors, bankers and agents, all while Spunky was riding on my back in a mei tai.
When the store opened, the first day was absolute chaos. Gillian and I worked tirelessly to get merchandise priced, the computer system was BARELY set up, most of our stock hadn't yet arrived, and I was living on a diet of cola and chocolate bars, working 16 hour days 7 days a week. It was so busy, it's become all a blur to me now.
In the fall, Nurtured was nominated for the Halifax Business Awards presented by the Halifax Chamber of Commerce in the Small Business of the Year category. I was shocked at the nomination. I submitted my application package, completed while sitting in the casino of the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas an hour before the deadline closed, where Scotian and I were staying while attending a trade show to find new and interesting products for Nurtured.
And then Nurtured was short listed. Again, I was shocked.
The events that followed included cocktail receptions, a photo on the cover of the Chamber of Commerce Magazine, Business Voice, and a gala dinner. No one knew who the winners were until the night of the event.
The day of the gala, I treated myself to a little something special and had my hair and makeup done at FRED salon in Halifax. It was a great afternoon of pampering and something I don't normally do.
At the dinner, Nurtured was announced as the Silver Award winner, beating some very long-established Halifax businesses. After less than a year in a storefront in Halifax, already Nurtured has made such an impact! Make no mistake: there is still lots of room for improvement, but it gave me such enthusiasm and drive to push forward. I'm still so honoured as cards, certificates (including one from
[posted by April @ 9:36 PM]
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