My Story
When I owned a tiny, quaint, and cozy gift shop in a cool little town in southeast Michigan, customers would come into my shop and ask if this business was always my dream. I answered that it probably was, but I didn’t even know it until it came to be.
I was a school social worker for more than twenty years. Retiring from that position without a plan, I was determined to appreciate the open path in front of me, hoping and praying to have the vision and wisdom to recognize the right opportunity that I was confident would appear.
My next two years were spent working in a pregnancy center with young adult women, helping them to recognize and build on their strengths, and supporting positive life decisions. With new insight and passion, gained from that experience, I set out to find a setting that would allow me to do more of that on my own. I thought I might be looking for a coffee shop where I could also do workshops in a casual setting. Confident I would know the right thing when I found it, along with encouragement and inspiration from a dear mentor/friend, I stumbled across the perfect setting for the work I believed I was supposed to do next. I rented the tiny building, and dove in to transform it into a bright, hopeful, happy place.
Using experiences, concepts, activities, and knowledge gained from my work in schools and at the pregnancy center I began to map out a Girl emPower workshop series. That series included activities and discussion with small groups of girls and young women, designed to help them identify their strengths and to build the confidence to use those strengths, empowering each to be her own person, among the pressures from peers, the media, and the world.
During that time, I had a random encounter with an angry young woman who was struggling with her world. Recognizing the sad, hurt little girl inside, I felt led to help those girls and women who aren’t feeling beautiful or loved on the inside, to find a way to “wear” or reflect the beauty with which each of us is born. Sometimes when you are struggling, you can start by making the inside feel better. Other times you can start by treating yourself well on the outside, building and internalizing confidence from there. With that in mind, I set out to find unique, beautiful, handmade items that reflected something meaningful and also offered hope and positivity to girls and women, to sell in my boutique. The variety and quality of merchandise continued to grow, including pieces from local and non-local artisans, as well as a collection of my own hand-painted signs that made a perfect wall of words of hope and inspiration in the shop.
The posters I had authored, in response to the needs of students with whom I had worked as a school social worker, became part of the product offering in my little shop.
After four years in my shop, my husband and I moved to beautiful northern MI, where my urge to be creative was poured into the new home we built there. Finally settled, I returned to work part time in a teen clinic, to counsel and support teens, again, in hopes of finding and building their skills and strengths that would best help them cope with their own challenges and struggles, in addition to the pressures from their peers, the media, and the world. Pieces of my shop moved with me, appearing in a couple pop-up events in my home, then as a part of a local quilt shop that opened in my town, and now settling into what I hope is a successful, inspiring online experience.
Along with that part-time job as a therapist, and my new online store, I round out my life and time with a skin care business, and most important of all, time with precious family. I used to experience my full plate as stressful, feeling distracted and pulled in many different directions. But truly, it’s all connected. It’s all part of a big picture that allows me to connect with people, to support people in knowing they are “worth it” and to serve them, and God.
I humbly hope that something that I offer through karefish is able to impact a life here or there. I continue to be inspired by the people I meet: the customers who touched my life when they came into my shop, talented artisans and vendors who create the beautiful merchandise, the brave girls who have participated in my empower groups, their parents who recognize the opportunity to support their daughters in this tough world, the teens I connect with in my current work, as well as students and clients from my past experiences.
I carry a worn, folded, faded note in my wallet from a former client that reminds me to be open to being where I am supposed to be when I am supposed to be there:
“Karen.. ….you see girls go through everyday life situations and see them before and after. You make such an impact on our lives, it’s something that will forever be remembered. I know, by me anyways! Your class made me come alive and realize I am Worth It! So yeah thank you for believing in me…..”
So, yes, thank you to all who have believed in and supported karefish.
Gratefully,
Karen
I was a school social worker for more than twenty years. Retiring from that position without a plan, I was determined to appreciate the open path in front of me, hoping and praying to have the vision and wisdom to recognize the right opportunity that I was confident would appear.
My next two years were spent working in a pregnancy center with young adult women, helping them to recognize and build on their strengths, and supporting positive life decisions. With new insight and passion, gained from that experience, I set out to find a setting that would allow me to do more of that on my own. I thought I might be looking for a coffee shop where I could also do workshops in a casual setting. Confident I would know the right thing when I found it, along with encouragement and inspiration from a dear mentor/friend, I stumbled across the perfect setting for the work I believed I was supposed to do next. I rented the tiny building, and dove in to transform it into a bright, hopeful, happy place.
Using experiences, concepts, activities, and knowledge gained from my work in schools and at the pregnancy center I began to map out a Girl emPower workshop series. That series included activities and discussion with small groups of girls and young women, designed to help them identify their strengths and to build the confidence to use those strengths, empowering each to be her own person, among the pressures from peers, the media, and the world.
During that time, I had a random encounter with an angry young woman who was struggling with her world. Recognizing the sad, hurt little girl inside, I felt led to help those girls and women who aren’t feeling beautiful or loved on the inside, to find a way to “wear” or reflect the beauty with which each of us is born. Sometimes when you are struggling, you can start by making the inside feel better. Other times you can start by treating yourself well on the outside, building and internalizing confidence from there. With that in mind, I set out to find unique, beautiful, handmade items that reflected something meaningful and also offered hope and positivity to girls and women, to sell in my boutique. The variety and quality of merchandise continued to grow, including pieces from local and non-local artisans, as well as a collection of my own hand-painted signs that made a perfect wall of words of hope and inspiration in the shop.
The posters I had authored, in response to the needs of students with whom I had worked as a school social worker, became part of the product offering in my little shop.
After four years in my shop, my husband and I moved to beautiful northern MI, where my urge to be creative was poured into the new home we built there. Finally settled, I returned to work part time in a teen clinic, to counsel and support teens, again, in hopes of finding and building their skills and strengths that would best help them cope with their own challenges and struggles, in addition to the pressures from their peers, the media, and the world. Pieces of my shop moved with me, appearing in a couple pop-up events in my home, then as a part of a local quilt shop that opened in my town, and now settling into what I hope is a successful, inspiring online experience.
Along with that part-time job as a therapist, and my new online store, I round out my life and time with a skin care business, and most important of all, time with precious family. I used to experience my full plate as stressful, feeling distracted and pulled in many different directions. But truly, it’s all connected. It’s all part of a big picture that allows me to connect with people, to support people in knowing they are “worth it” and to serve them, and God.
I humbly hope that something that I offer through karefish is able to impact a life here or there. I continue to be inspired by the people I meet: the customers who touched my life when they came into my shop, talented artisans and vendors who create the beautiful merchandise, the brave girls who have participated in my empower groups, their parents who recognize the opportunity to support their daughters in this tough world, the teens I connect with in my current work, as well as students and clients from my past experiences.
I carry a worn, folded, faded note in my wallet from a former client that reminds me to be open to being where I am supposed to be when I am supposed to be there:
“Karen.. ….you see girls go through everyday life situations and see them before and after. You make such an impact on our lives, it’s something that will forever be remembered. I know, by me anyways! Your class made me come alive and realize I am Worth It! So yeah thank you for believing in me…..”
So, yes, thank you to all who have believed in and supported karefish.
Gratefully,
Karen
