Back in the 1980s and 1990s, when I was doing a lot of writing and reporting, the business of the month feature was one of my favorite assignments.
The Pike County Chamber of Commerce would announce the recipient at its monthly board meeting, and I’d set up an interview and photograph with the owner.
Almost from the start, the first thing people tended to say when I would arrive was this: “I can’t figure why they thought I would have anything interesting to talk about.”
Then they would proceed to tell me about how they got into owning and running a small business, and it was always an incredible story.
A lot of the people I interviewed saw an unfilled need, or wanted to work for themselves, or just had to see if they could make it on their own. It was fun to get them talking about their success stories.
One time, in the 2000s, a young reporter who worked here for a year or two grumbled about the business of the month assignment. He told me it wasn’t real news.
“A lot of these people have invested everything they have into their business,” I said. “What else do you need to know that it’s a great story?”
Now, fast forward to today. Other members of the staff write business of the month stories as I moved on to editorials, columns and keeping an eye on remaining profitable.
But I’ve never forgotten those small-business stories, and recently had the chance to put one of them together.
We have a couple of special projects coming up. Our Pulse section is running a little behind schedule because of a newsroom vacancy, and I didn’t get to a story for the section until recently.
We’re doing some profiles of our Readers Choice winners in the Pulse section, and we’ll follow it up with more photos and stories in another section dedicated to the annual Readers Choice promotion.
Anyway, two of my interviews were Monica Allen, owner of Perfectly Polished nail salon in Summit; and Brad Fortinberry, whose physical therapy business is about a block away from Allen’s place.
They both came through with remarks that would win the Quote of the Week Award, if one existed.
Allen, talking about her childhood interest in taking care of nails, said, “I was once grounded from nail polish because my grades were falling.”
What kid loses privileges for that? It was too funny.
And Allen, on a roll, followed up with another gem, admitting, “Several of my clients think I have an addiction to nail polish.”
We laughed the whole time during the phone interview, and again when I went up there a few days later to get some pictures. It’s easy to see how Allen built a good business that won her an award.
Fortinberry was just as fun to talk to. He started his business almost nine years ago, and like Allen, he delivered two great remarks about it.
The first involved his opening day: “A guy came in, and we had forgotten to buy any pillows for our PT tables,” he said. “So my wife hauls to Wal-Mart and buys every pillow they have.”
Good quote. But this one was even better: “I even sent myself mail the first couple of weeks because I kept checking the mailbox and nothing was there. I was so scared. I just sent myself a letter with nothing in it.”
Today, it’s a great story. But the fear of failure back then was real. That’s why I’ve always admired people who took their shot and succeeded.
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This thoughtful idea from a regular contributor was intended for the My Two Cents column, which was already filled. So it slides over here.
“On Nov. 11th, Tuesday, take a moment and realize we live in the greatest free country in the world,” the email suggested. “Take a moment to thank a veteran for that. One Nation under God. Thank you, Veterans.”
