They say it takes a village; and you know what? “They” are right! When you run a business there’s a lot you have to do yourself, but there are some things that you just don’t have time for, don’t enjoy or just have to realize that someone else is better at.

It probably goes without saying that in order to sell my products, they need to be seen. Many of us relate best to visuals and in today’s world, that often means sharing your products on a website, blog and social media.

This is where my “village” comes in. For the second year in a row, I had an incredible professional photographer, Rikki Snyder, (https://rikkisnyder.com/) come out to Golden Hill Studio to take my vision and work her magic, creating stunning images of my glassware and home décor.

She brought along assistant, Jan Puccelli, https://www.janpuccelli.com/ who’s artistic eye helped us stage numerous shots during the two-day shoot.

In addition, Shelley Nicholson, (https://www.nicholson.solutions/) who I work with on a weekly basis to handle my social media posting and some website content, was there to offer suggestions about what types of images work best for that.

When the photographs are complete, it’s easy to forget how much prep work goes into them, but this entire shoot was timed for the middle of June for a reason. Two of my dear friends, Julie & Dave, visit me from Australia each summer. Julie helped me shop, bake, mix cocktails & prep food for the shoots, and generally keep my sanity, while Dave was on call any time we had a computer glitch or other technical issue. Lastly, Austin and Alden, (yes they are brothers) who are gems when it comes to yard work and maintenance, were literally running, to freshen up the gardens, lift heavy boxes and equipment, and pretty much do whatever I directed, whenever I directed.

So yes, I own my own business, and yes, I work hard to make it successful, but it’s times like these that I remember that collaborating with talented, hard-working, genuine people also lends to my success and I feel very grateful to have them in my life.

(Most of) The Team: Left to Right - Sarah, Bette, Julie, Shelley, Jan, Rikki