Mckenzie Bridge, Oregon
Every once in awhile I might get a little flack about my business name. People ask me how I came up with it. Where did that come from. Well, this is my story. Way back in the day, when I was a high school kid, I was never encouraged to pursue art as a means of living. As, I grew older, the reality of making a living or going to college was just the path everyone around me did...so I did too. Looking back, and figuring out what I thought I could do was just really all about finding a job that made decent money. Honestly, back then I did not have the internet..and nobody encouraged art as living wage job. So I chose Dental Hygiene Sciences with a minor in business as my bachelor degree...realizing then that I was primarily intrigued with the instruments and equipment to work my job, I had no idea that I was in love with the idea of working with my hands and using instruments or "tools" to do my job.
This brings me to today...after practicing hygiene for over 6 years..I was done with it. The repetition in this job made me feel hopeless. My mind needed so much more..and well my path for seeking what was true to my heart began. Because beading and wire wrapping was a thing I also did for fun..a dear friend of mine whom also was once a dental hygienist turned metalsmtih.... became my inspiration. It was then, I also discovered Etsy...and my whole world of metal started to blossom before me.
Now let's just say that one of my ultimate dreams in life was to be in business for myself. I have always wanted to work for myself ..always. And, so my business name came to fruition. When I was picking out a username for Etsy, Helen's Dreams.....Etsy suggested "HelenesDreams" and this is how this name was born. I like it ..it rings..it rhymes..it was my dream to be working for myself..to do something with my hands ..to create with passion. Here it was. My dream to work and live doing what I love.
Since discovering the ability to sell on Etsy in 2008 I have never looked back. My husband and I now have an even bigger dream, and that is to travel to a new country each year for ten years . Our actual plan is to sell everything in 4 years here in Bend, and live in this simple single wide manufactured home debt free as minimalist here in Mckenzie Bridge and work and play for 8 months and then during the winter months travel and live in other countries to see what we can discover.
It's our plan...it's my dream. I am pursuing it now. We realized that we have a plan, a path, where the light is brighter everyday. We realize that we wanted our life to be about experiences and not just things. We realized that working really hard for a lot of debt was stealing our life away..so we have found a way to be free.
I feel grateful that we were able to accomplish this by lot's of hard work and planning. And I hope that somehow I might inspire others who feel the trap of society taking their precious time. If you have a dream..believe in it, and never give up. Because you know...my mom always said...if there is a will, there is a way.
