Entrepreneurs: Jayne Langton, Karen Pearson, and Vicky Vernile

Business: Circle Home and Design
www.circlehome.ca
905-257-8984

Product: Handmade natural wreaths and arrangements for home and cottage décor; specializing in custom designed corporate gifts

Starting Circle:

We’re a talented circle of friends with a shared passion for design, so it was almost as simple as a giggling pinky-promise when the three of us, sitting around a backyard pool one afternoon, decided to form a business partnership and carve out a market niche for our beautiful creations.

Flying by the seat of our pants, we hit the road running with our debut at the Bala Cranberry Festival in the fall of 2005. Not knowing what to expect, but with a generous offer of a fabulous cottage to stay at and an encouraging nudge from friends, Circle loaded up the van and the unreliable roof pack (which, unbeknownst to us until days later, decorated the Bala highway with several beautiful wreaths), and launched ourselves into a three day adventure that would determine if our fledgling business could in fact fly. Under a rented 10x10 canopy tent, we set up our gorgeous wreaths and arrangements on makeshift walls of old window frames, a painted ladder and a salvaged screen door. With pig races across the street and fry-wagons and “the peeler” for neighbours (okay, vegetable peeler -what were you thinking?!), we saw rain, hail, gale-force winds, and just enough sunshine to warm our spirits. It…. was…. fantastic!!! Representatives of two magazines approached us with offers, the public fell in love with our product, and we knew there was no turning back. We were cold and wet, but Circle Home and Design was hot!

Running in Circles!

As we forged ahead with a suddenly full season of shows and corporate orders, our various strengths quickly became apparent, and it was remarkable how well we balanced and comfortably covered all areas of managing a home based business. The advantages of being a circle of three were undeniable. Constant brainstorming is such an integral part of what we do; what a bonus having two other partners for a sounding board, and a tiebreaker whenever we need one!

Our real challenge? Balancing the schedules of three busy households with the many demands of our new venture! Not only do we fit our “Circle” schedules around the often hectic family life dictated by active grade-schoolers, round-the-clock demands of teenagers, and frequent and ever-important “grandma days”, we must also remain flexible around the personal schedules of each other. Our solution? Meticulous synchronization of calendars; always maintaining a sense of humour; long evening work sessions where we often come straight from our “day-jobs” (no, we haven’t quit them yet!) – and, knowing just how many of these sessions we can get away with before our starving families fail to recognize us.

Family Circles:

As Moms, we all hope to be inspirational examples to our children, and the three of us are very proud that our kids have watched us conceptualize, launch and run our very own company. It is a wonderfully tangible learning experience for Karen’s three young children to witness the full cycle of a business from product design and development to merchandising and sales. Jayne’s daughter lends creative talent on occasion when she’s home from University. Her two teenaged sons have helped out with wiring, drilling, and devising packing and traveling systems for our products, and their muscle power is just the ticket at the end of a long show when it’s time to disassemble the bones of our booth and load everything up for the drive home. Vicky’s grandson has been her cheerful delivery copilot on more than one occasion, and her two daughters are always available to critique, praise, or simply uncork a bottle of wine at the end of a long Circle session.
Full Circle!

The rewards of having our own business are many, but one of our biggest rewards comes from the very nature of Circle itself. When we finish our busy day schedules with work and kids and gather together for an evening of creating and camaraderie, the smell of lavender, the tactile beauty of flowers, and the pleasure of surrounding ourselves with beautiful things immediately slows our pace down to one of pleasant relaxation. The creative outlet of Circle allows us to refresh and refocus, so that we can return to our daily family lives with ever-renewed enthusiasm and energy!

p.s. We can’t wait to return to the Bala Cranberry Festival this year (with a new roof pack)! You’ll find us there October 13-15. For a full schedule of where you can find Circle this fall, check out our website at www.circlehome.ca