“Can I Carry You Around in My Pocket?”

For as long as I can remember, friends old and new have been asking me this question! I’m honoured each and every time someone asks it while, at the same time, I giggle a little on the inside at the thought of how a “mini me” would actually live and survive inside a pocket all day long 🤔. So, what I really think might be happening here is that my friends would like a pocket-sized souvenir of our conversation or interaction. It would need to be something quick, simple and tangible that reminds them how they feel about themselves and their awesomeness when they need it the most.   With this in mind, and with some serious inspiration from Gary Vaynerchuk’s throwback to the popularity of trading sports cards, I came up with an idea for GRIT trading cards! So now anyone can have a portable summary of their marvelousness handy … Read more

Do You Believe in a GRIT Gene?

I realized this morning that I come from a family of entrepreneurs; I’m actually the fifth Schepmyer to start a business!  My Mom and my Dad (whom I call Big Daddy for future reference) started Schepmyer’s Craft Company almost 40 years ago. Anthony, my older brother, is the CEO at Vaughan Industrial Supply and Andrew, my younger brother, incorporated his Neurology practice a few years ago. We’ve all faced a unique set of obstacles along our journeys, but we’ve all called on our GRIT to realize our business dreams!  I recall watching Big Daddy and Mom, who is truly the mother-of-all crafters in my books, as they worked so hard to make their small company successful. My Mom does the manual labour of creating art from almost anything! Big Daddy helps with the bigger projects (e.g., driving Mom to shows, framing pictures when she used to make paper tole and helping set-up for … Read more