Page 52 of Tacos & Toboggans
I couldn’t help but laugh. His love for the rooster. Honestly, the sentence made me jealous of the rooster. “Understand that a lot of what we do at the diner, bakery, and school-to-work program is tied together. We test things out at the farm and then implement them at the diner or bakery to see if they pan out. Did I expect the rooster to become an urban legend this quickly? No, but since it has, we pivot. We’ll turn over the production to the bakery, while the school-to-work kids will pick up their next project to be tested.”
“I see, that makes sense. They're all training opportunities for the kids, so even if the project doesn’t pan out, it’s still a learning experience.”
“Exactly,” I agreed. “With the holidays upon us, there will be plenty of other projects for the kids to work on. Come January, there will be new recipes but also new training opportunities in other parts of the service industry.”
“Tell me more,” he said, grabbing his glass from the table.
Now was my chance to be open and honest with him in hopes he’d do the same with me. I launched into the changes that Ivy had in store and explained my role in them. “I hope to eventually partner with some of the hotels in Saginaw, so kids who want to learn to work in hotel management have thatopportunity. The possibilities are endless if you have someone committed to planning and implementing them.”
Setting his glass down, he took my hand and lifted it to his lips, brushing a kiss across my knuckles. “I’m so proud of you. You’re going to change lives, and I can say that with firsthand experience because I watched you work on the truck this year with the kids. What about your books?”
“What about them?” I asked, my head tipped to the side in confusion.
“Will you have time to keep writing them?”
My nod was immediate. “Plenty of time,” I promised. “The books are already written and illustrated, so I simply draw the main character’s head and face to resemble the child from the order, and then paste the head onto the body of the character in the book. If the child has a disability, I even have book versions prepared with wheelchairs or characters who use crutches. Once the child’s face is on the main character and their name is in the text, I send the file to my printer, who preps it and sends me a digital proof. If it all looks good, they print it and send it directly to the customer.”
“That’s slick,” he said, surprise written all over his face. “I didn’t know it was that streamlined.”
“I like how you didn’t say easy,” I said, the wine relaxing me enough to lean into the couch.
“Because I know it’s not easy. The lead time on writing the books, doing all the drawing, having the forethought to have versions for kids with disabilities, and then putting a supply chain in place had to be complicated and time-consuming.”
“It was,” I agreed. “But now that I’m finally making books for kids, it was all worth it. While the books are fun and can be ordered year-round, orders are generally concentrated heavily around the holidays. Especially those that have holiday-specific books, such as Halloween and Christmas. The rest of the time, they trickle in, so it's a nice side hustle, but not time-consuming.”
“That could change after the tree lighting next week,” he said, to which I shrugged.
“It could, but I know how long it takes me to create a character and go through the process, plus how long theprinter needs to print and ship books. We’re just about at the cutoff point for Christmas.”
“It’s only the middle of November.”
“Or, as I like to say, a month away from Christmas,” I pointed out. “That doesn’t leave much time when I’m in a long queue of other books waiting to be printed.”
“That’s true. See, this is the stuff you don’t think about when you don’t do something for a living.”
“I’ve been doing it for a few years, but this is the first year I’ve done it as more than a test run. Then this happened,” I said, holding up my arm. “But I learned something, which I think is important in business.”
“You learned that you like doing it as a hobby but not a full-time job?”
“That,” I agreed with a nod. “It’s fun to do, but when you don’t see the kids enjoying the books except occasionally, that takes the joy out of it a bit, and it can just feel like a chore.”
“Versus the school-to-work program, where you get to see the joy each workday.”
“Exactly. It was definitely a trial by fire lesson I needed to learn, but I’m glad it became so obvious so quickly.”
“And that’s why you argued with Mayor Tottle about not lighting the tree since you aren’t a brick-and-mortar store.”
I gave him the so-so hand. “To a degree, but also, I was sure someone else was better suited for it. Regardless, I’ll continue to sell the books since I have the LLC set up, which was imperative, even if I’m doing it as a hobby. I love having a creative outlet, so I’ll continue to do it for that reason rather than to build it into a full-time job.”
“Maybe you should have people send you videos of their kids enjoying the books so you can put them on social media to grow your following.”
“Thought about that and immediately ousted the idea,” I admitted. “The thought of encouraging parents to put their kids online so I can sell more books doesn’t sit right with me. Some may do it, but if someone got hurt or kidnapped because some sicko saw the child on my social media feed, I’d never forgive myself.”
“Hadn’t thought of that. Valid and smart. I know you think you aren’t doctor smart, but I wouldn’t have thought of any of that.”
“Listen, a bachelor’s in business isn’t exactly orthopedic surgery, okay?” I asked with a lip tilt, and he snorted, nearly choking on his wine.
“Our strengths and weaknesses are different, but if, as a couple, you complement each other, then you’re on the right path.”
