She Came, She Sold, She Conquered

There's nothing I love more than when things just work out in life--like when you wish/hope/plan/think about something and the universe lines up for you and says: "hell, yeah!"

It was seriously scary for me the first time I actually acknowledged the idea of selling my business. It had been floating around in my head for a few weeks before I blurted it out to my husband one night. Once I faced its existence, my idea moved in with me--it was almost like a third roommate that didn't have a lot of friends and needed all of my attention, so of course I obliged. There was a big part of me that felt like I was giving up and throwing in the towel (which I hated), but was I really giving up by saying "hey, I can't do this anymore, but I betchyoo there is someone else out there who could."

I thought not.

This is where the universe came in. I started researching the process of selling your business-- talking to business brokers, networking with friends, looking into purchasing ads in trade magazines, posting online. Then I decided that I may as well just post something on my blog as it was free, easy, and I had absolutely nothing to lose. And, so I did...and, miraculously, it worked.

I'm not saying that the best way to sell your business is to post a for sale sign on your blog, but it kinda worked out like a charm for me. Lo and behold, I found a smart, sassy, cool LA mom who I knew just "got it" within the first few minutes of our phone call. She's way more organized than I ever was, is excited about taking the brands to the next level, and could not be more of a perfect fit for both Paper Bride and Paper Mama. She'll probably make millions of dollars doing all of the things that I should have done and didn't, end up on Oprah (in which case you BETTER get me a ticket to the show!) and make the cover of Entrepreneur magazine.

We thought it might be fun to document the process of passing the baton as I hit the road, and she comes screaming around the corner in her Ferrari. I'll mostly handle the "leting go of your business and moving on" sort of stuff, and she'll tackle all of the "oh crap, how do I do that?!" sort of stuff. Then, eventually, I'll fade away into the chorus line and move on to whatever the heck is next for me . Sound good?

And so, without further ado, I'd like to officially introduce the proud new owner of my former l'il ole company...