Perspective

Netty (Lynette) called and gave me a little perspective today. I'm so grateful for her inspiration. She helped me look back and see the big picture. The reason we started this in the first place. We've gotten so caught up in the business/financial side of things that we've forgotten why we started it in the first place. To help and heal our own family and others around us who may be in need of comfort. To honor our mom. And to experience true happiness. We've let some of our fears of failure hold us back a bit. Hopefully our discussion today will help get us back on track and working in the direction the Lord would have us go. Thanks to all of you who support us and who have been giving such positive feedback. We need your energy and love. Thanks!
LeAnn

"Do not let fear keep you from your divine intent and from following your dreams."
- Netty

Some Changes

Well things are moving slower than we planned but they are still moving which is what matters. There have been a few changes though. My sister Karen has now joined Lynette and me in our business adventure. Its nice to have someone else to give us advice, help us make decisions, and keep things moving. She is so great to bounce ideas off of. We went to our first trade show in Salt Lake City in August and we had a lot of fun, we learned a lot, and got some great ideas. Thanks for all your help, Karen. It's so nice to know that I don't have to do this alone. If anyone out there is reading my blog, please give me some feedback. I'd love to read your comments. It keeps me motivated! Here is a picture of Karen and me at the tradeshow. Thanks to the "lotion" man who we rounded up to take the picture. (It was very windy that day!)

Balance

Have you ever been so obsessed with something that it is all you think about? Well that's me and Ruth's Umbrella sometimes. I think all I do is eat, think, and sleep Ruth's Umbrella. Starting a business is hard. I think for a time I need to take a step back and have a little more balance in my life with family, yard work, teaching, hobbies, etc. I've given up a few of those marvelous things that I love to do that inspire me in order to concentrate or worry about this new business of mine. Don't get me wrong, I'm not giving up...just putting Ruth's Umbrella on a more balanced "diet" with the rest of the things that keep me busy in my life and strive to take all of my attention. Balance...it's going to feel so good! (as soon as I find it of course!)

- Moderation in All Things (including Ruth's Umbrella)

The Color Orange...

You wouldn't believe how hard it is to simply pick a color that represents you and your business. Not knowing why, I just kept going back to orange. I looked at our color schemes and options all laid out together over and over and my eyes would always stop on the orange. So that is what I picked. Not feeling so sure about my choice, I called my sister to get her vote and she laughed when I said I had just picked orange because she had just been reading about what the color orange means. Weird huh? I tell ya, angels are guiding us! When you combine the "energy" of red and the "happiness" of yellow... you get orange which represents enthusiasm, creativity, and determination. That so says Ruth's Umbrella! Orange...it was meant to be.

"Good Luck to the World"
-Linda Ruth Barker

A New Look...

We love our new blog design and logo. Carly, from Playful Pickles designed it for us and we love the bright, fun colors, sunshine, and energy that we get from it. Now to work on our website. I have to say that this whole part of starting a business is exhausting. So many decisions to make, a lot of waiting for things to get moving, and worrying that we are doing everything right. (Thus explaining why I haven't written since February) But, we are still in the game! So watch for our new website launch and the startup of our product lines! Send us a comment and let us know what you think of our new look!

If you want to be happy... Be!
-Henry David Thoreau

Decisions

It's incredible how crazy your mind can get when you have so much to think about. As we begin our business, the biggest problems we are facing is what do we do first. Buy product, build website, design new stuff... the list goes on and on. And the problem is that I want it all to happen now. Heavenly Father is teaching me patience! We have so many ideas that it's sometimes hard to harness it all in and focus on one thing at a time. Good thing I have my sisters to keep me grounded. Thanks Netty and Karen!

When my mind starts to get overwhelmed, I try to step back and remember why we are doing this in the first place. My precious mother. So we have set some goals to keep us focused.
1- Honor Mom
2- Help Family
3 - Inspire Others
4 - Change Lives
5- Get on Oprah!

We want to do 8 lines of product (the number of daughters/daughters -in -law my mom had) but trying to decide which to do first is the hard part. I love them all and some are harder or scarier than others. But one I think my mom would be most proud of would be the angel line featuring "everything angel" All proceeds from this line will be dedicated to cancer research. Awesome!

"Don't let fear of failure discourage you. Don't let the voice of critics paralyze you-whether that voice comes from the outside or the inside". - President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

The Journey Begins

This is all very new to me...even blogging...what a weird word for something so cool. But the last two weeks have been a whirlwind for me and I knew if I didn't record it I would someday not recall all the details. My good friend Camille introduced me to blogging and here I am to tell our story.

Like I said, it happened two weeks ago when I called my sister, Lynette, to ask her a quick question. She had been feeling blue and needed to get away and asked me to join her on an impromptu trip to sunny St. George. So I hopped on board, hopping to escape the dreary wet weather of northern Utah. We had no real plans... we were just going to let the weekend take us where it may. We had a lot to talk about and share and we spent a lot of time thinking and reminiscing about our awesome mom who passed away after a courageous battle with cancer in April of 2007.

Looking back, the events of the whole weekend were quite amazing and I do believe guided by an angel. We were inspired and uplifted by many quotes we would see while shopping, relaxing, reading the Ensign, and I couldn't help but continue to think about my mom and how much she loved her 8 children (yes, I have 5 sisters and 2 brothers + me that makes 8), and how much she served and cared about everyone around her. She scattered "seeds of sunshine" everywhere she went. Lynette and I talked about wishing we had something that we could do to honor her and her memory and also to help our family and change lives in a positive way.

So back to St. George. Ironically, it rained the whole time we were there and in the middle of the night on the last night of our stay the thought of my mom, the rain, and helping others, and changing lives just came together. Ruth's Umbrella (named for my mom's middle name) was born. The next morning at breakfast I presented my ideas to Lynette about starting a business selling different lines of product that would brighten some one's rainy day (figuratively speaking since we all have blue, down, or hard times). As soon as the words left my mouth, the ideas and concepts have not stopped flowing and her dreams of teaching yoga, self-esteem classes, and motivating and inspiring others became part of the vision. It has all just come together in a way I never thought possible.

After returning home I had an amazing dream... and let's just say that it was a confirmation to me that we were on the right track. As we get closer to completing our vision I will share the dream with you. But enough for now... more details to come as the journey moves forward. I will keep you all posted on our progress as we move toward our dream.

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams." Henry David Thoreau