Happy Monday!! Hope you have been enjoying this Live Brave Series as much as I have! I am so encouraged & inspired by the women who have contributed! Such strength, creativity & diversity. Don’t you just love that we can learn, be encouraged & empowered by each others’ stories!?

Today I am SO excited to introduce you to another amazing woman! Business Owner, Entrepreneur, Creative, Wife,Mom – just to name a few hats she wears!

Patty is the owner of a local boutique in Tempe,AZ  Green Table Gifts – I have the privilege to be one of the store vendors! If you have not yet been to this store you need to!!

*What does Living Brave look like for you?

Living brave started for me when everything in my life was changing. I was going through a divorce, struggling in my new role becoming a single mother, downsizing and moving into a little condo to be close to my parents (to help with my son) In the midst of all of this I longed to be surrounded by the things I love, the things I found uplifting, inspirational, original, uniquely made, and with a story to tell. That is when I thought I have nothing else to loose, and made the leap of faith to open my own gift shop. Let me also add this was at the worst of the economic downturn for Arizona. Retail shopping was going through a very tough time stores were closing left and right. Against most rational peoples’ advice I knew in my heart this was what every experience I had had previously was pointing me to. This is when I started to follow my arrow!

*What are some of the challenges you have faced?

Now don’t let me glamorize this too much for you. I did everything on a shoestring budget, worked 7 days a week 14+ hours a day and put everything on the line to follow this dream. When I opened the shop I had 7 artists that started out with me, they saw the same potential as me and had faith in me. I couldn’t have done this without them! I heard lots of no’s from artists I would have loved to have in Green Table Gifts (that many no’s is hard to get over sometimes!) Working so many hours when my son was only 8 was heartbreaking for me personally as a mother. My parents helped out in every way imaginable. Babysitting, painting, making displays, making product, therapist and even cheerleaders. For me all I needed was one person believing in me to get past all of the hardships. Life is always going to give you lots of good reasons not to follow your dream, sometimes you have to go against the wind, believe in yourself and follow your heart. I still struggle with having as much time with my son as I would like and I continue to have different business related challenges as I grow and nurture my business, but for me personally as long as I have a support system that believes in me that is all I need to be able to face each roadblock.

*What would you say to others who are wanting to try something new?
Find someone who believes in your dream and talk it out together. There are tons of reasons to not do something, if you look for them they will always pop up. Having someone rational and supportive to talk it out will be able to see if this is self-doubt surfacing or a real roadblock that you have to make plans for. I am truly honored to work with so many talented local artists that follow their dreams and bare their heart and soul to do something they love. I opened Green Table Gifts to be able to have a place where we could showcase collections that would make someone’s day! Who knew that in turn they would enrich my day just as much or more.