Girl About O-Town

Tuesday night, this girlaboutOtown attended The Fuchsia Factory, founded by the savvy and dynamic Tina Yelle.  This speed-networking event specifically for women entrepreneurs was only recently established in Ottawa, but is already generating interest well beyond the Queensway.  It is a super-cool concept that combines the benefits of a business network, the splash of a swanky girl’s night out, and the swiftness of speed dating.

Held at HUSH Clothes, a top notch trendy consignment shop on Wellington, The Fuchsia Factory event was by all accounts a total success.    Thirty-two marvellously motivated women were on hand, each one primed to share their passion for business in a less-than-one-minute pitch!  When the whistle went ( in one-minute intervals, literally), all thirty-two women switched one seat to the left and settled in again to start their spiel all over.  In less than two hours, every single participant had met face to face, and spent just enough time with each other to learn what they needed to.  Connections made and disasters avoided, all in the space of a very stimulating but conveniently short stretch.  Brilliant!

Instead of being an unofficial observer though, this time I too was there as a woman entrepreneur.

As you know, I recently escaped my cubicle to honour my hunch.  So many of you have written to me or commented!  Thank you.  I have been unbelievably buoyed by your support and encouragement.

So, I guess it’s finally time to give girlaboutOtown readers the real goods…My name is Katharine, and I’m a home-aholic.

For as long as I can remember, I have been helping people figure out their spaces.  I have moved stuff around to make rooms more comfortable, and created cozy vignettes with travel trinkets and flea market finds.  I have brought neglected furniture pieces back from the brink with fabric remnants and a few bold strokes of paint.  I have counselled about colour and cautioned about couches, and all the while, remained focused on helping people achieve that essential “feeling of home”. 

It is possible I was unduly influenced by my serial-renovator-of-a-dad and decor-savvy-mom who utterly overhauled every place I ever lived.  I do recall drifting off to sleep lulled by the sweet sound of a skill saw and spending many a waking hour working through wallpaper choices, but in surviving it all, I learned by their example.  There are tangible benefits to good design, and home feels like home when it works with you.  Anyway, their incredible ingenuity, commitment to conserve whenever possible, and appreciation for personal history is now deeply ingrained. 

Combine this way of life with a creative instinct and an undeniable love of fabric, furniture and colour, and you begin to get the picture.  I have lived in many different places and had to figure out some seriously challenging spaces, but with each move I made, it has become easier to achieve that elusive feeling of home.  And all the while, my tastes have refined, my experience expanded and my passion ignited.  

Not satisfied with simply perusing pretty pictures or hobby watching HGTV, I have for some time been a serious, self-motivated scholar of design.  I signed up for school years ago in search of technical training.  I conscientiously curated a comprehensive design library,  determinedly developed an historical appreciation for the decorative arts, and voraciously consumed countless sources for information, insight and inspiration.    In addition to studying all manners of style, I have absorbed the importance of architecture and incorporated an intellectual examination of the idea of home.   Along the way,  I happened upon genuine happiness, but am no longer able to contain it to the margins of my otherwise professionally occupied life. 

No ma’am!   I have decided to put aside my professional experience in politics, policy-making and public service to follow this passion of mine full-time.  

This girlaboutOtown is excited to announce that I am officially offering design coaching services, specifically for home buyers.   These services are completely unique, and are the perfect expression of my experiences, my dedicated efforts and my natural talents.  Working exclusively with my fella Malcolm Gibb, who is a realtor, we help people make the most of their move to a new home.  

I hope you will read all about this innovative new approach right here on my Design Coaching page.  I know have a long way to go – since I’m starting from scratch – but stick with me and watch as business grows! 

Here I am at age 3.  Thanks to my longtime friend MB for sending me the sentiment seen here on this bracelet by CorineGrant on Etsy.