What's The Big Idea?

Like most folks, giving a presentation in front of a room full of other folks is not high on my list of fun times. The thought is a little intimidating, even when I'm talking about something I love. In this case, the other folks will be 7th Graders and I'll be presenting about Entrepreneurship. It's a fun topic for me, but I'm sure it will be a snore for the 72 7th Graders who will be forced to endure it.

While trying to come up with something quasi-interesting for this group, my second grader complained about how difficult her homework was. Her class is working on reading comprehension and her teacher had instructed her class to find "The Big Idea" in the story. My daughter could not always identify the underlying theme of her stories...."The Big Idea".... because there were often several themes in each story. It dawned on me that this problem is just like business. And just like life.

In business, you need to define your "Big Idea" to construct a business plan....the map for the expected progression of your business. Our "Big Idea" here was to make quality, custom made Nursing Scrubs. We included a few "Small Ideas" to further define the purpose for our business. One "Small Idea" was to include garment options for a wide range of sizes and lengths to help out scrubs wearers who were not served by the "off the rack" scrubs manufacturers. Another "Small Idea" to back up our "Big Idea" was to offer the same service to pregnant nurses - a segment of the population sadly ignored by other scrubs manufacturers. All our small and big ideas combined to make a plan for our Company.

I decided if every person could determine his or her "Big Idea" as a goal to map out their own lives, we'd all be in a happier place. Nurses discovered their "Big Ideas" when they decided to enter Nursing School. Dentists faced their "Big Idea" when attending Dental School. I decided I could challenge my 7th Grade listeners to find their own "Big Ideas" and to concentrate on a few "Small Ideas" to help complete their own map.

In business, it is wise to review your Business Plan regularly, to update it and to revise direction, in case your path to your "Big Idea" needs some tweaking. That's a great idea for all of us, I decided, in our personal lives. Review, update, revise, tweak.

And I decided to see what these bright 7th Graders could come up with as "Big Ideas" in their lives. They still may snore through my presentation, but hopefully, they will think about their own paths in life, and come up with some "Big Ideas" of their own.

Passion

Yep - we're a passionate crew here at Sassy Scrubs. We're passionate about our jobs, and we're passionate about the garments we create. Yes, we're excited about scrubs. How can this be, this strange passion for uniforms, you wonder......

Well, here's the answer. It's our people. Ours is a lovely small town nestled among lakes and vineyards. If you find a hill tall enough you can see two or three lakes in the distance. It's beautiful here, and the land itself is full of passion for growing, for creating.

Self-motivated and well-trained, our Seamstresses are from our local community. We have a lot of farming neighbors, and a lot of those farming folks are quilters. This means quilt shops galore, and more importantly for us, people who love to sew. They are just tickled to be able to work here at Sassy Scrubs and get paid for what they love to do! Their passion for this skill shows up in their work. They understand fabric and they understand how a garment should be put together. Mostly, they love the idea of creating an entire garment for one person. No industrial sewing done here....each Seamstress sews an entire garment. She owns it. She loves it.

We have two new Seamstresses starting with us this week. They are experienced and excited about working with all our unique, colorful fabrics. If you sew, you know the passion. If you don't, well, just take a look at all the 1400 fabrics we feature on our website and you can imagine the oohing and aahing that takes place around here from our Seamstresses. Our new ladies will fit in just fine with everyone and might be sewing your next order for you! If they are like the ladies they join, they'll probably be sewing when they go home at night, for themselves and their families.

Now, what about everyone else, you ask! Well, Ruth, our Production and Alterations Manager, sews when she can during the day, when her other dutires allow. Her passion begins when she arrives home. She takes along bags of our fabric scraps and makes quilts for our Blankets for Babies Project. She quilts every night and all weekend. She's made over 200 quilts in the past year. Talk about passion!

Jody is our Marketing and IT Manager and she's a quilter, too. With a house full of busy boys, she doesn't have much time available to herself, but she carves out a few hours every month to join her friends in a quilting group. Sewing is second nature for Jody, and creativity runs through her veins. She has a passion for sharing quilting with others.

As the President of Sassy Scrubs, I relax at my sewing machine too. An evening or a few hours on a weekend spent creating in my sewing room is worth a week of vacation on the beach to me. Whether it's making baby blankets for our Blankets for Babies Project, or sewing tote bags and potholders with my girls, it's all fun. Sewing and quilting magazines take up equal space with business journals in my mailbox and you can probably guess which ones I look at first. If it's about sewing or fabric, it's all good.

With all this creativity, knowledge and skill, we all get excited about our jobs here. We love creating for our customers and love how Sassy Scrubs feeds our passion. You'll notice the care we put into your order and we know you'll sense the passion that makes it possible. One look at the fabrics and the details and you'll know. Then, you'll understand the passion, too.