Going green

My husband and I have a two year old home renovation business. Until now I have done very little for it. I basically type and answer the phone. Not too hard, since we don't advertise or even have a card to hand out. I just sent in an application to register us with the state so we can have a registration number and then I can get our name out there. I only recently became motivated to do something.

You see, this is what he loves. He loves building and design. It leaves him feeling accomplished at the end of most days. This business was not my idea. (I wanted a used book store, but we all know they barely make enough money to stay afloat let alone support a family of four.) In fact two years ago I was looking for a job. I was usually over qualified or under qualified, but I never actually qualified. So three or four months passed when he asked me if I would work with him. I was so excited, for about a week. You see, my husband works alone. He is exceptionally good at what he does and the few times he worked with others, they were unable to meet his high standards. He is orderly and efficient at the work site. He also cleans up after himself every day, leaving the space nice for those who have to live there. If you have ever hired a contractor you know how rare all this is. Anyway, when he asked me to be his business partner I was flattered. We had bought a four family, fixer upper 9 months prior to his proposition. In that time I learned a lot about renovations. He was impressed with how quickly I learned and how accomplished I became. My biggest fault was that I was slow, which can improve over time.

Unfortunately, the reality was, I was still only a secretary. Don't get me wrong, I know how important that role is, as I had been doing it most of my life. I just thought I'd get to do something else for a change, something I was good at. I thought I was going to be on the job site, working side by side doing the renovations. Have you ever demolished a ceiling and then installed a new one? It feels so good. Women, have you ever used a pneumatic nailer or a cordless drill? It is so empowering and a lot of fun too. I loved putting on my tool belt at the start of the day. I thought I had a new career.

It proved to be more difficult than we had imagined. With two children going to school, at that time, a half hour drive from home, it quickly became apparent that I would not be able to be on site as much as I hoped. My first priority in life has been my children since the day I found out I was pregnant. Thus, it seemed one of them (and there are only 2) always needed me. Either for a field trip, a school project, to get picked up due to illness...see where I'm going with this? From there, my new career went down hill. I was back to being a secretary. My heart went out of the business.

We recently made a huge business decision that has my blood pumping again. I'm finding I need to force myself to pay attention to the children and not our business. What is this decision? I bet you guessed by the title. We are going green. When we went to college, my husband studied environmental science and geology. I studied sociology and took as many science courses as I could. We love our planet. The field of home building and renovation creates enormous amounts of waste and uses excessive amounts of energy. This has bothered us so much, we decided to do something about it. We are going to be green renovators. There is so much to learn and it is very interesting. Where things are produced, how far they have to travel, what they are made with, how to dispose of waste, which products are renewable, you get the idea. These are just the tip of the iceberg. I love this feeling. I love the idea that we can make a difference in the world. Helping people to live in a way that will have less of an impact on the planet and doing it in a thoughtful way leaves me feeling good about myself and my career choice, even if I am only the secretary.