Kristen and I have been discussing what her own tattoo studio would look like for years.
A year ago we started looking at properties in our desired area. Prejudices met us at every phone call and email. We weren’t ready to reach out to our social circles and we felt isolated and frustrated.
We paused in our searching and concentrated on devising creative solutions. We reached out to arts groups and business-owning friends, but still there was little to encourage us.
At the beginning of this year, we both felt that we were poised for the next chapter of our lives. Co-owning a business felt so right that we decided to again dive into the world of commercial realty to see what we could discover. We found more properties, sent more emails, made more calls, filled out more web forms, and carefully pushed when we met resistance. Over and over we were turned away or ignored. It was frustrating, but signs started to appear. They were vague, but it was clear that we were meant to keep pushing. My mantra became, “This place wasn’t right for us, we were blessed to be rejected.”
Then, a few weeks ago, Reneé from Elevated Studios texted me. They were moving their school to a larger location and there was an open space adjacent to the one they were considering. She connected me directly with the landlord and the puzzle started to fall together.
The number of coincidences, synchronicities, and signs that followed is too great to list here. It has had a to-good-to-be-true feel as each new challenge is resolved with ease.
However, after a productive day of setting up hardware and software needs, an old concern from an earlier search of this same neighborhood resurfaced. There was a tattoo shop in a shopping center right around the corner that had slipped our minds. It wouldn’t stop us from our plans, but how would we be received? Should we introduce ourselves? Try to befriend them? Ignore the proximity and do our thing?
As I thought about the possible approaches, I sought out their social media feeds to get a feel for their attitude, hoping to find a mutual friend or other connection to facilitate communication.
That’s when the WTF moment hit.
The other shop moved this week. This week. Our nearest competitor just moved farther away. God is making room for us.
What The Fuck? Each confusion is followed by greater clarity and encouragement. God has had my back many times in my life. Never have I been so aware of, and affirmed by, the signs.
Tomorrow we get the keys and start moving in. We’re working hard, but the path is being laid out before us with ease. We are blessed.