Hey Friends! Today you get to read another great addition to the “Inspire Me” series! Meg and Cale run their own business and write a blog. Early in their relationship the couple decided they wanted the best of both worlds, so their goals included figuring out how to be successful at both work and home. The story of how they made and continue to make their dreams come true is truly inspiring! Enjoy!
How you figured out your dream?
Green Couch Design is the collision of our separate dreams coming together. When we met, in collage, Meg was off to Portland after graduation and was ready to take over the world through graphic design. Cale loved architecture, but more than anything his dream was to someday be a daddy. Sounds like our rolls were a little reversed from what you would expect, but that was us and that is what made us fall in love with each other.
Our Universities were two and half hours away so often times we’d meet up on the weekends to catch up on cuddles (cheesy I know!), touch base on life, and you know… fall further in love. Cale had a green couch in his apartment so that sorta became the place we’d let all of our walls down and share our fears and hopes of the future. It became apparent to us that the careers we had chosen required that we either sell out our family to have a successful design career or we would have to give up the really creative job for something more corporate that would support our family and provide a true 9-5 schedule; leaving more time for family. We were not sure exactly how family and a work life would really come together, but more than anything we believed that we could be successful at both. Ultimately we had a dream to raise a family, establish our own design firm (whatever that looked like), and take over the world without compromising our beliefs, our time, or our quality in any of those areas.
The green couch became the launching pad of our little company and so when it came time to name it, there was nothing that fit us better than Green Couch Design.
It was the place where our dreams came together.
When/How did you find the courage to go after your dream?
Fast forward… nearly three years later we were married (finally!) and both working at different design firms in Oklahoma City. It was one of those weeks where you are super busy and you keep missing time for connecting with that other person. We decided randomly to meet up for a quick lunch date. For years we had dreamed and re-dreamed what it would look like to run our own design firm, but it was time to draw a line in the sand and just go for it! We decided then and there that, unless we felt a blatant “no” within our spirits, Meg would quit her job come the first of the year. That was on a Monday in October. On Thursday Cale was laid off from his Architecture job. Obviously this was not the “plan” we had envisioned, but we saw this has an opportunity and definite sign that it was time for us to pursue our dreams of establishing a business around our home life instead of letting work dictate the type of home life we had.
Talk about the sacrifices that you have made and the incredibly hard work you’ve done to get to where you are?
At that time Meg continued working full-time while Cale started up Green Couch Design from home. Because of her employment we could not offer any kind of graphic design services. We had to come up with another way to make a living; an original idea that would allow us to show off our design skills in a creative way. With no savings, not even a printer for our computers, and an income that barley covered our monthly living expenses we had to design products using the materials we had on hand.
For us, that was an extra bag of concrete found in our old Milk Barn.
We didn’t know at the time that a bag of concrete would help launch and establish our little business, but out of it grew a series of concrete jewelry, candle holders, and pots! Obviously we don’t sell all these items today, but that bag of found concrete gave us a starting place to hone in on our craft, experiment, and find a niche that is truly original to what Green Couch Design is today.
In the beginning when we found ourselves in need of extra overhead to produce products we would look around the house and see what we could sell off? We sold all kinds of stuff from old windows we replaced in the old farm house to a quesadilla maker! Ultimately, we refused to let lack stop us from moving forward.
Any tips/encouragements you have for others who want to “love what they do” and find happiness by doing what God created them to do?
Don’t skip the process! Our products and the exact picture of what Green Couch Design is today didn’t take shape over night (and believe us it’s changing as we speak!). It has been something we have had to work and re-work. And the moment you think you’ve got it down, you have to push the vision that much further! It’s not going to be perfect, but learn from your mistakes and move on. Use them to make your business better, and you a better person.
Don’t be afraid to meet up with other shops and creatives in your city to see how they run their small business. Put yourself out there, volunteer in your community, build genuine relationships (which take time) and never forget to enjoy the process!
There have been times we could barley pay our bills or buy groceries, but God has always come through just in time, and we believe we can stand on that knowing that He’s called us to be successful in every area of our life. In a world that makes you feel like you have to choose your home life or your career we are determined that you can be successful at both. We believe God’s put this desire deep in our hearts and we see the evidence of this through the fruit He has continued to provide and produce as we have pursued our dreams. Through Green Couch Design and just life in general we’ve found it’s important to celebrate each victory and each answered prayer (we write them on our shower curtain) so that when we are faced with fears and doubts we are reminded of the journey, of the process, and that we know without a shadow of a doubt that this is what we were created for.
Don’t skip the process!
A huge thanks to Meg and Cale for taking the time to write out and bless us with their story! I hope it has been an encouragement to you today! I love hearing about all the different paths people take to get where they want to go. Sometimes we take a round about path, but the journey is always worth it!
Hey Kara, thanks for featuring us! It’s so good for us to take a step back and remember all that we have walked through. Thanks for letting us share our journey with you and all your friends. We are looking forward to dinner sometime in Tulsa! 😉
Oh my goodness Megan- thank you for contributing! Hearing everyone’s stories is so fun for Tim and I! And yes, we must do dinner soon! 🙂