Tag Archives: family business

Almost 19 years ago my mom started Mirrix. She was a professional tapestry weaver simply looking for a better portable loom. It turned out a lot of other people were looking for that same thing. When mom started Mirrix I was 11 and didn’t have  much of an interest in parental business ventures. As long as she was still always around when we got home from school, I was happy. It wasn’t until I was in high school that I really became aware of her success and her accomplishments with Mirrix. There she was, this artist without a business degree, running a successful business on her own. That pride has only burgeoned since.

My mom and I were always close. Like other-mothers-probably-hated-her-for-it kind of close. She was always my favorite person in the world, and she will continue to be until I have a child of my own (sorry, hubby, mom wins).

When I was a freshman in college I got this idea in my head that my mom should run for State Representative. For some reason she listened to my crazy idea and that summer we ran her campaign together. We did nothing the normal way. We rode our horses to the town hall to register her as a candidate playing Maroon 5’s “She Will Be Loved” from a CD player perched on my saddle. We had magenta signs and glittery bumper stickers. We made t-shirts with puff paint. We knocked on nearly every door in our district. She lost the election by a few votes, which broke my heart. But it turned out there were some issues at one of the polling stations and a recount was called. I was back at school on the day it happened. I had just arrived home from class when I got a call from a friend. “I just saw your mom on TV. She won the recount.” All she said during that interview was, “My daughter is going to be so happy!” That day she became the first female Democrat to ever win her district.

During that campaign was when we realized that we work very well together. Our strengths and weaknesses played off each other perfectly during that campaign, as they do today running Mirrix.

Years later, after graduating from college, living abroad and having my first real-world job; I started working for Mirrix. At the time I didn’t know if it would be a long-term just or if it was just a placeholder while I figured out what I really wanted to do. It became clear fairly quickly, though, that working for Mirrix was what I wanted to do. Now that I’m at an age where I’m beginning to think about having children myself, I’m happy to know that my job will offer me the flexibility to be available to my future kids in a similar way to how my mom was available to me, and I’m happy to imagine that one day my kids will look up to me the way I look up to her.

When I grow up, I want to be just like her.

Happy Mother’s Day to my wonderful mother and to all of you mothers out there who have loved, cherished and inspired your children in similar ways or in totally different ones.

Side Note: While I do hope to be able to be a work-at-home mom someday (hopefully with a nanny, so I can actually work), in no way do I disparage the lifestyles of mothers and future mothers who have found and will find different ways to balance work, life and motherhood.