It's a Make Work Project

The other evening I received a Facebook message from a Mompreneur friend asking whether I know of anyone looking to hire a hard working young man who has not had any luck finding a job.

It seems that her 22 yr old son has done everything he possibly can do to find work including completing Ontario Works programs, putting in his resume everyone as well as the Temporary Placement firms and any firm that would consider his coming on board but unfortunately has not had any luck.

With the state of the workforce in Ontario as it is, it is my belief that we are seeing more homeless men and women on our streets than ever before, more children living at home longer along with many Mother's working three different kinds of Direct Selling businesses to help their families stay afloat. Even this single Mom, although fortunate to have a Monday to Friday job, started DJ's with the hopes of helping balance out some of our house bills here and there.

Thirty years ago there were hints of "It's who you know, not what you know" whereas nowadays it happens a lot more often than not. Even with my 25 yrs of Sales experience I too have benefited from "who you know" and I was thankful for the assistance but all too often Employer's are hiring someone that doesn't necessarily have a solid understanding about the business or the position that they have been selected for. It negatively impacts said Business while hurting our Employment rate at the same time.

Not knowing the stats myself, I won't ramble on but what I can say is this ... my 16 yr old was told for two years that Employers will not hire him due to his age because of insurance impacts. Now that he is finally 16 he is having a tough time finding something. One reason could be because there are more Adults working jobs that used to be held mainly by teenagers.

Also, I believe that he has lost out on two crucial years of mental and emotional growth, learning how to be independent, more outgoing and less afraid. He is fearful and concerned about approaching people he doesn't know, his communication skills are lacking to some degree and he has not been given the opportunity to learn about work ethic and expectations outside of my home.

In turn the longer it takes him to figure this stuff out, I feel it will hinder him in finding something suitable sooner rather than later.

I started working at 14 yrs of age, and this was after two to three years of babysitting. My first real job was working cash and the Drive Thru window at Burger King. By the time I turned 16, I had worked for four different organizations including held a dishwashers job at the Art Gallery cafe. And at the age of 18, I moved into my own apartment and began living an independent life working as the Manager of a Children's clothing store.

Our kids are not getting chances like this anymore and it will drastically impact them in the long run.

So how can we combat this issue? I for one hire my son to help with my business and we added the fact he does a performs some General Labour for me onto his resume. I do strongly suggest to him that he is to go out looking for work, just like every Mother/Father should, I mean how is he to learn if we aren't teaching them ourselves.

I "make work" for him, I find odd jobs that he can perform and I am proud to say that my son can pack a van with DJ's product a heck of a lot more efficiently than I!

Are you able to create "make work" projects for your kids, assisting them with learning about business and creating a solid work ethic? And if you are able to, do you?

We absolutely need to help these young folks grow up to be self sufficient, we cannot allow them to be too dependent on us because what will happen to them when we aren't around anymore?

Chores are not chores at all, they are a make work project in which you train your family how to be effective in their own lives.

Keep this in mind when you have a 10 year old standing next to you complaining about your not having washed their favourite shirt. Even a 10 year old can learn to wash their own clothes!

Now, back to my friends son ... I am pretty sure that this boy learned all the skills I am speaking of and it is unfortunate that he is having struggles finding something ... anything. I have my fingers crossed for him and even provided some names and suggestions on where to go, now we are just waiting for some good news.

The Life of a Dresser

In my business I am constantly re-purposing old discarded items and turning them into new design features however I haven't actually taken the time to do much of anything for myself, until now.

I finally retrieved an old dresser that has belonged to me since I was a small child, my folks bought it for my sister and I to share in our tiny bedroom. It was already old when they brought it home and it was likely purchased at an auction as were many of our furnishings growing up. It was painted white, had a harp and large mirror and you could tell it had been hand crafted. I've since lost the harp and mirror and for years it has been sitting in my ex-husbands home, originally providing our son with familiar pieces to comfort him after our divorce.

The dresser has been through a lot, it grew up with me essentially; had stickers stuck to the mirror, make up spilt all over it, cigarette burns (sadly). Then just before our baby was born I painted it the same big bold colours we had used in the rest of his bedroom. Many years later I came to find out that it had been put in the basement and used as storage after our son had grown out of it.

So a few months back I asked for it, sans harp and mirror unfortunately, as I had an idea of what I wanted to do with it. It then sat in the garage covered in a tarp being used as a second surface until I finally decided it was time!

As I scraped off nearly 100 years of paint, sanded and started to stain the drawers I had a bit of an epiphany about my business, myself and life in general. This dresser is about to go through its fourth transformation since coming to live with me and not unlike everything, or everyone else, change in life is inevitable. For some it doesn't always go well, all too often things and people are discarded, not cared for enough, thrown by the wayside. Toys, furniture, windows, doors, books ... when they get a second, third or fourth opportunity at being useful they have been well loved by those that have taken them in.

Our society often throws things out without second thought now, which doesn't bode well for our world, our environment or us in general.

From a personal perspective, I've been through a great many transformations of my own. Not always successfully but learning from everyone of life's lessons. This dresser is almost representative of my recent focus on getting the showroom together, considering what's next in the business, how will I grow and sell my offerings and the fact that I have been fortunate to be given a second opportunity at working with returning clients already.

I want to thank those who appreciate our history, those who share their "castaways" through garage sales and donations to the United Way or other similar locations. I want to thank those contractors who know a good thing when they remove them from an old home, and to thank those on Pinterest who have done all the work they did before I started my own.

Now I want to thank those who have supported me and helped me to realize I am capable, I am talented, and I too can breathe new life into my own.

This dresser is just the beginning, not the end ... Thank you dresser for always being there!