My Realizations about Shop and Family

I could fill a book with the things that owning and operating a small run specialty store have brought to my life that I never anticipated. Together with my husband, Colin, we opened Lex Running Shop in 2018 in the small town where we live in Virginia. With any career change or new job, there are a variety of unforeseen challenges, joys, and circumstances that come about. Starting a business must be an amplification of those realities. LRS has played a pivotal role in the life of my 11-year-old daughter, Sloane, and I would count it among one of the most powerful and positive unforeseen joys of owning a run shop. 

A Meaningful Blend of Work & Family

I had no way of knowing when we opened six years ago that the shop would become such a central force in our family. For many working Americans, you go to work, then you return home. There is a distinct line between your work life and your home and personal life. The roles you play at work are largely distinct and separate from the roles you play as a parent, a spouse, a friend. Not so with owning and operating a business! When you own a small business, those lines become blurred in ways you never imagined. As one might suspect, this can evolve in countless ways. For our family of three, the blending of work and family has felt meaningful and rich. 

For most working parents, your child rarely interacts or observes you operating in your professional setting, and the same with your spouse. You likely talk about work at home, in both positive and negative lights. Sloane, on the other hand, has experienced the front row seat of seeing Mom at work. She has watched me help customers, work alongside employees, and sit in meetings with brand representatives. She has observed me handle difficult situations; she has seen me frustrated, overwhelmed, and overjoyed. She has seen me screw up. She has seen me crushing it. She sees me busting my butt on a busy Saturday and doing my best to keep my cool when dealing with a difficult customer. She has overheard my worries, fears, hopes and dreams. She hears chatter about inventory, marketing, margins, and profits. 

Making the World a Better Place

Sloane has also found her own role at the shop. She has cultivated meaningful relationships with staff members, who know her and love her. At the beginning, she loved helping tag socks and accessories. Now, she does Squishy Shoe Reviews on our social media. She has also discovered her inner entrepreneur. Several years ago, prompted by boredom, she decided to make bracelets to raise money for our local SPCA. That year, she raised $300, which LRS matched. And she was just getting started. She expanded her nonprofit side hustle by making key chains, cards, and bookmarks. In the last several years, she has raised hundreds of dollars for the World Wildlife Fund and Ocean Conservancy. She is making the world a better place for animals and humans, one handmade item at a time. And, she is teaching us that small can still be mighty, and that together we can work to make our communities better. 

Enriched Relationships & Lasting Memories

As far as basics in parenting, we all know how important it is that we really know our kids, that they feel known, seen, and understood. Because of LRS, I’ve learned the incredible value of being known more fully by my daughter. She sees even more clearly my strengths and my flaws. She has seen it all, and I believe that the deep personal knowing of a person and the authenticity that comes with it enriches our relationship. She has learned that life is unpredictable, and all we can do is to bring our best each day to the work we have in front of us. On the last Friday morning of July, Sloane came with me to the store. We had several flies in theback of the shop, in the storage room. Brenda, an employee, and Sloane and I rolled up someold Runners World magazines and made it our goal to kill the flies. Gross, and strange, I know. Given Sloane’s seemingly inexhaustible knowledge of animals and insects, she gave Brenda and me precise instructions on how to slowly get close to the fly before nabbing it. Here we are, grown women, accomplished and well educated, spending an hour swatting flies per the instructions of an 11 year old. We laughed so hard, we cried. It was hilarious and fun and weird. And I know that Sloane will remember that morning for the rest of her life. Days later, she was still telling Colin the story, about how much fun we had swatting flies with Brenda. We made the most out of an irritating problem, and we had fun together. 

Sometimes it’s hard to tell the forest from the trees, as we work hard to serve others in this wonderful industry. On the surface, we are selling shoes and gear. But if you take a moment to look around, you’ll realize we are doing so much more than that. You will notice that you are shaping your kids and inviting them into meaningful experiences with amazing people. Let’s get to it.

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