That’s A Wrap 2022
Episode #71: Welcome to the She Builds Show, I’m your host, Stefanie Olson and this week I want to wish you the happiest and most merriest of Christmas I could possibly exude to you. I want to talk to you about a project I just finished. I haven’t ever done a project like this where the people that I have, or had as clients, were my near and dear friends’ parents. And it’s always concerning to either hire family or friends as your employees or work with clients that are too close. I couldn’t have said that it’s gone any better than it possibly could. And, I’ve never been so emotionally involved in a project because, to me, this project meant more than just redoing a kitchen and redoing a house. It meant that family members got to grow up together.
Ready? Listen in…
SHOWNOTES:
• So this scenario with this project is bringing back grandparents with grandkids, and obviously parents with children, grown adults with their parents. And I think it meant that much to me because of the pain that I have in my heart about missing my parents so much and having them miss out on so much with my kids. And I think the depth of what it meant was because of the pain that I carry around that topic. And so for me to be able to do this for somebody else was actually really healing for me. I got to take this kitchen and this home where when the kids get dropped off at the bus, they can literally walk to grandma’s house from the bus stop. They could ride bikes or the golf cart from their house to grandma and grandpa’s house. And I could not be happier for their family because I used to have that with my parents where they used to be extremely close by to my kids where they could walk. And I don’t have that anymore and being able to give that to both my friend, her parents and her kids, was just so meaningful to me because I value family so much. And being close by to your family is something that I will never take for granted again. (02:32)
• If you have a second, go to our Instagram page and check out the Estates Project. The kitchen just turned out beautifully. I also got to really incorporate a piece from their original home. It was a stained glass that the client had, I think, made for her mother-in-law and she had passed away. And then she had put this stained glass piece in her front door. She asked me, could you put this in my new front door? And her front door was set up with eight little windows and there were double doors and it wouldn’t have worked. So I really wrapped my head around how could we incorporate this stained glass into the kitchen. And it was the day before we were supposed to turn over this project to them, and we finally got the tape lights. I wanted it illuminated. I wanted it off the wall. I wanted to be able to turn it on and off with a switch. And it got done like hours before we were supposed to turn over it to the clients. It is probably also one of the things I’m most proud of, to take the history of something that is so important to a client and kind of revamp it into this gorgeous focal point in their new kitchen. (04:21)
• I guess what I want to say for this Christmas season is that make an effort to be with your family or make an effort to thank your family for being there. Make an effort to spend time with them, to not be so busy that you can’t just sit with them, because once those things are taken away from you, you really have no idea how much you’ll miss them. I just want you to stop and take a moment and just hug the people that you love. Tell them Merry Christmas, because that’s the best gift you could give them, is just your time and your attention and your ability to be present, not give them presents, but to talk with them and ask them questions and to show your love in a way that is intentional. And I intend to do that this Christmas with my kids. I intend to take two full weeks off and to just enjoy my family and to de-stress from the stress I’ve been carrying through the last few months.(05:51)
• Thank you for listening. Thank you for this beautiful year of She Builds Podcasts. This is the first full year that I’ve had this show going and it’s one of the things I love the most of what I get to do. Because even though I’m sitting in a room by myself talking to no one, it’s a way for me to process and to share and to give you maybe a glimmer of guidance or knowledge or hope. And I think for so long in my life, that piece was missing, that like depth, that importance, that creativity. You know? I’m so on all the time. So right brained, a detail oriented and never allow myself the space to see the other side of me, which is this. You know? Like just being vulnerable and sharing what I’ve learned and sharing what I failed at and talking to incredible women who are in the same industry, that I’ve got to get to know this year. And how incredible that has been for me to just be encouraged that there’s other women like me and there’s other women like you that can do hard things. And I’m just so impressed and so grateful and so thankful for all of you. So happy 2022 and Merry Christmas. (07:33)
WAYS TO CONNECT WITH STEFANIE…
• Website: https://shebuildshomes.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shebuildsbetter
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shebuilds.homes
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/shebuildsshow