Real Women. Real Stories. Real Bravery. 

Yay, it’s Monday!! Hope you had an extra fabulous weekend!! Not sure about you…but I have had many opportunities to “live brave” recently!!

I feel like I say this every week.. BUT.. I am just so excited about today’s post & contributor! Seriously, I am blown away by so many incredible ladies that have shared their hearts and their stories! I truly believe that many have been encouraged, inspired & empowered by these ladies…  so to those of you who have shared… THANK YOU!

I had privilege to meet today’s contributor several months ago at a creative business retreat. I was immediately struck by her authenticity, humility, sense of humor & rad style!  Her story of how she started her business was so inspiring to me!

She played a big part in me beginning this series… So Thank you Bobbi for living brave and inspiring me to do the same!

Meet Bobbi, owner of the Mason Bar Company

When I hear the word brave it automatically gives me anxiety… haha!  But seriously. How many of us can hear this powerful word, apply it to ourself and feel capable?

Probably a small portion. I am definitely in this portion and hope to encourage you today with my story and thoughts on bravery.

My name is Bobbi and I am the oh-so happy owner of The Mason Bar Company.

I met Candi at the Dream Rock event this past February and was immediately drawn to her passion for life and sweet spirit.We chatted over a healthy and delicious lunch with the red rock mountains in view… a very cool and memorable setting!

Anyway, Candi and I began chatting about life and big vision. You know, typical first meeting kind of chat ; ) By the end of lunch I knew that this lovely soul was about to embark on a special journey! I also decided that I talk too much. Haha! It’s been a few months since Dream Rock- I was really flattered by the invitation to share with you all here on the White Five Blog… pardon my poor writing abilities and thanks for forgiving any grammatical errors. xo

Being brave to me means stepping outside of my comfort zone and saying yes to the still, small voice inside that’s prompting action.

In all of our busy lives whether we are career women or mom-women… we’re overwhelmed with the daily to-do’s. Am I right?It’s extremely difficult to slow down and listen to our bodies, contemplate our thoughts or pray as well as listen.I find that when we take the time to do these things, we find out some pretty awesome stuff. Stuff that’s possibly life changing!

I have a question for you: have you ever passed up the opportunity to do something nice for someone else? Of course you have! We are all human and we do it all the time.

Well, it’s in those moments of opportunity that I personally believe we practice an elementary kind of bravery that’s put in our way for the purpose of prepping us for the bigger and braver decisions in our life.

I would encourage you today to look for opportunities to give of your time, your encouraging words, maybe your finances or even a simple conversation to someone in your path.

I’ve seen beautiful lessons and unexpected reward come from these types of acts of kindness. The more I consider the person next to me, the less I am concerned with my own problems and that’s pretty awesome.

As I see the reward from stepping outside my comfort zone to reach the needs of others, I feel a bit braver and I’m motivated to test the waters a bit deeper.

Bravery is a process.

In my every day, I have to make the decision to press on and move forward in the business. I don’t feel capable of working with prestigious brands or even feel deserving of networking with some of the incredible people that I have the privilege of doing business with… but I press on, dig deep and find the courage to say yes to new relationships and yes to putting myself (and my company) out there for all the world to see.

My bravery comes in the form of forward motion into areas of business that I do not yet understand or know. I am not a college graduate. I am nothing more than a hard working girl whose heart desires world change and goodness.

Whenever I’ve taken leaps of faith, I’ve never regretted them. It’s always in the extremely uncomfortable moments that the magic happens. And then, when time passes and you’re able to see the fruit of your bravery, you realize just how amazing life can be and all that it has to offer is on the other side of comfort.

Take those leaps of faith. friends. Please step outside of your comfort zones and notice those around you.

Start with small bravery and remember that you are capable of anything you set your heart and mind to.

We are all created with specific desires and those desires will ultimately become our destiny.

Thank you for allowing me to share with you. I am forever grateful.

xoxo

Bobbi Story of The Mason Bar Company:

It all began one warm July afternoon when three friends were sipping iced latte’s while galavanting around town… This is my story.

It’s the truth- it’s where the mason jar tumbler idea was birthed. Out of annoyance that I couldn’t conveniently sip my iced coffee in the car, I said to the girls, “Why don’t we figure out how to put a hole in this metal lid so we can put a straw in it?” That’s it, folks. The rest is history! But I’ll give you a bit more story, of course.

Two months later, the first hand crafted Mason Jar Tumbler sold from of my “jewelry” shop on Etsy. I wasn’t a jewelry designer by any means, heck I’m not even a crafty person!

Lord knows it was really crazy for me to “quit my day job” to craft jewelry. I opened up shop in August of 2011 because my heart told me I just had to… and you know what! I don’t think I would have taken a chance on the tumbler lid if I hadn’t already been dabbling in online sales via Etsy.

That leap of faith changed everything. Christmas rolled around and I sold roughly 800 Mason Jar Tumbler Lids! I gave up the jewelry business and dove head first into what is now The Mason Bar Company.

The Mason Bar Company is located in a small mountain town called Sonora which is about an hour from Yosemite National Park in Northern California. The business is 3 1/2 years old and thriving!

MBC has a tremendous crew of ladies that take care of our customers and put all of our orders together, retail and wholesale. We’ve shipped MBC goods all across the globe! Products have evolved from the hand crafted metal lid to the BPA free plastic lid to our newest product, the bamboo wood lid. All of our products are made in the USA.

Happy Drink. Happy Earth. Happy Customer.

-Bobbi