The decision to intentionally jump off the treadmill of a career composed of ongoing travel, fast paced, intense deadlines and corporate pressure, was indeed planned. Although with 20/20 hindsight maybe it was not as well planned as it could have been. There were times when it really felt like I had fallen off instead. Five years and having spent countless hours on what I call self-work, a completely different life has been created.
Half Time. You may have heard the phrase, of course associated with ball games mostly. Several years ago, a friend of mine suggested I read a book called Half Time, by Bob Buford, which was not about ball games at all. It was about the concept that in the first half of our lives we are busy being successful... focused on ourselves, working our way up in life, saving money and accumulating stuff.
The meeting of Tom Richey, the president of the first company I had ever worked for, Nationwide Advertising Service (NAS), was at an account executive training. It was my first company conference for the agency’s beginning salespeople in Lake Tahoe, NV. After a connecting flight, two of us AEs were in the economy section of the plane with the boss in first class, and I remember our conversation on how ‘someday, we’re going to be in that role and fly first class too.’
It all began when her husband returned from the last of 5 Tours of Duty in Iraq. Jennifer Hambright realized she needed to understand what her husband had been through in service to our nation so she could help him, herself and their marriage survive. With her husband’s Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), the road to recovery for the couple began; aided significantly with Jennifer enrolling into school to become a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW).
The Potter family has very deep seeded roots in the automotive industry. In the 1940s, the late Lee Potter owned a garage in Leasburg and developed a reputation as an A-1 mechanic. In the early 1960’s the lineage continued when the late, Carl Potter and Lee Potter jointly owned and operated the North End Esso gas station and garage in Reidsville. In the mid 1960’s Carl Potter operated Potter’s Garage in Blanch.
As with many entrepreneurs, Selena developed an additional business out of necessity when she discovered that her sons Immanuel and Isaiah had extremely sensitive skin. Over the counter medications were to no avail. Her grandparents shared a couple of home remedies and they have been successful at providing relief. From there, an idea was born. After attending a conference to learn more, Selena and was inspired to begin to make her own teas, skincare products and healing salves branded as the Supernatural Flower Farm.
