Owning a Business Hasn’t Become My Personality (That’s Ridiculous)

Amanda Thomsen

Owning a small business can become your entire personality? You don’t say! I wasn’t aware one could become disinterested in all the things that used to delight you. Of course, I still have hobbies. It’s all about balance.

For example, before the shop opened I worked in the yard a lot, enjoyed going to antique malls in quiet Midwestern towns and cooking elaborate themed meals like a Swedish smorgasbord or a luau night. Now my yard looks haunted, my family doesn’t even greet me when I come home from work (even the dogs) and I only eat enough food to keep me from passing out.

You know who cares about the price of watering cans? All of my new friends that own businesses—they get it!

That’s pretty much the same, right? Before the shop opened, I enjoyed long brunches with my friends, but now I only have a Sunday morning off in dire circumstances and my friends don’t want to hear about how expensive cute watering cans are for three hours, while my volume increases in proportion to the amount of mimosas I imbibe.

Seriously, watering cans are so expensive. What’s up with that?

You know who cares about the price of watering cans? All of my new friends that own businesses—they get it! I can send them memes while we’re collectively losing sleep over a text marketing message that didn’t go out when scheduled or a huge order arriving FedEx on our one day off that you just know is going to become a huge problem. Yeah, new friends are a perk! I bet they all have the same interests and hobbies they enjoyed previously to owning their own businesses, as well. I’m sure they all feel a sense of balance  and I bet they get invited to dinner parties as often as they used to, just like I do. Wait, when was the last time that happened? What? Eight months ago? Oh, I’m sure that’s normal for all human adults these days.

Sure, my house is just as organized as it was prior to opening the shop. I mean, I’m here so much less I don’t personally have time to make a mess; I just make messes at the shop. I’m not 100% sure what the rest of the family has been up to, but it seems pretty contained. Maybe I’ll text them later from bed to see what they’re up to in the next room over from me. I hope it’s something cool, but relatively quiet. Why are there cobwebs on everything all of a sudden? It looks like the Tower of Terror in here. I’ll have to buy one of those fuzzy things on a stick to get them down. Might as well make it two so I can have one for the shop as well.

Oh no, it’s my turn to shuttle a bunch of teens around and I haven’t had the back seats in my car in their upright positions since before Christmas. There’s a 4-in. blanket of evergreen needles and soil in every crevice and a stack of empty boxes I meant to take back to that supplier. Kids are durable, right? Especially at 13, they aren’t ashamed to roll up with botanical debris sticking to them. All their peers will think it’s so cool!

Someone at the Buona Beef drive-through told me my car smelled great the other day; it’s totally normal that my car is pungent. I just know it is. I explained to the drive-through guy that my car smelled great because I own a plant shop and my car is currently on the cusp of creating its own compost. I joked with him that I could probably sell it as my own proprietary blend except that I’d have to check with the Illinois EPA regulations because I think you need to be registered to sell fertilizer, but not compost, as far as I know. He definitely cared about what the Illinois EPA requires because he said, “Here’s your to-go order of night-night cannolis, lady,” so I count that as a human interaction outside of just customers.
Yeah, I’m definitely almost exactly the same balanced, fun-loving person I was before the shop.

Or at least I’ll keep telling myself that. GP

Amanda Thomsen is a funky, punky garden writer and author now with her own store, Aster Gardens in Lemont, Illinois. Her store info is at KissMyAster.com, and you can follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Threads AND Instagram @KissMyAster.