The Life Behind the Beads 💙

We've spent the last several weeks talking about beads, buying a bead business, moving a bead business, surviving a bead business, and occasionally wondering why I thought buying a bead business was a good idea in the first place.

So this week, I thought we'd take a little break from all of that and talk about the person behind B&B.

Hi. I'm Angie.

Not Angela.

Angela is for real NOT my name... It is Angie. My mom chose the name as she loved Angie Dickison from the show "Police Woman" that aired from 1974-1978. Did I just date myself?? Sure did!

I live in Peterborough with my son Owen, my partner John, and our crested gecko, Christo. Yes, a gecko. No, I never imagined I'd own a reptile. Yet here we are. He licks his eyeballs and I love that about him!

Owen is my miracle baby and the absolute center of my universe. I know every parent says their kid is special, but this one really is. He's funny, thoughtful, kind, and somehow ended up being so much like me that it's honestly a little unsettling.

He's anxious. He's ADHD. He has a slightly twisted sense of humour that occasionally catches me off guard because it sounds exactly like something I would say. He feels things deeply, overthinks things, and cares so much about the people around him. Watching him grow into his own person has been one of the greatest joys of my life.

And also one of the greatest lessons in self-awareness because sometimes it's like looking into a tiny mirror.

Then there's John. If you've been following along for a while, you've probably heard me mention him more than once.

John is calm where I'm chaotic. Practical where I'm impulsive. He is the person who listens to my endless stream of ideas, plans, worries, and "what if we did this..." conversations and somehow manages not to run away. I genuinely don't know how he does it.

Actually, that's not true.

I do know.

He's ridiculously patient.

Thank goodness because I have enough ideas for at least three people.

I've always been creative. Long before beads.

I've worked in optical. I've worked in travel. I've spent years in insurance. Looking at that list, beads seem completely random, but somehow, they make perfect sense.

The common thread through all of it has always been people. Helping people. Connecting with people. Creating experiences. Solving problems.

The medium just changed.

If you know me in real life, you know I love to laugh. Not polite little chuckles. Real laughter. The kind that leaves your face sore and makes it hard to breathe.

I'm also a little weird. Actually, probably more than a little. And I've finally reached the age where I'm completely okay with that.

Life is more fun when you stop trying to fit neatly into whatever box other people think you should fit into.

I've had some incredible highs in my life and some really difficult lows. More than once, life has forced me to completely rethink what I thought the future would look like.

But through all of it, I've learned something important.... You don't have to have everything figured out. You just have to keep moving. One step. One decision. One day at a time.

These days, one of the things I'm most proud of is that I'm showing up fully for my life. Sober. Present. Engaged. Not watching from the sidelines. Not waiting for the next chapter to start.

Just here. Living it. Imperfectly, of course.

Because perfection has never really been my thing.

When I'm not working, you'll usually find me planning a road trip, drinking coffee, spending time with my little family, laughing at something ridiculous, or coming up with another idea that probably doesn't need to be added to my to-do list.

But that's who I am.

A little creative.

A little chaotic.

A little weird.

A lot grateful.

And incredibly thankful that this little bead business has brought so many wonderful people into my life.

Including you. So, thanks for being here.

Now next week, I promise we'll get back to beads.

Probably.

No guarantees.

😏

Angie 💙