Desiree's Desires, Inc.Are Business Owners Treated Equally?
How does owning an adult sex toy store affect your perception in the community?
I want to get a little personal in this blog post. My mother and I have been local small business owners for over 5 years now. Over the years we have developed strong connections within the business community. I have to be
honest, this was not easy to achieve. Unlike your local cafe, restaurant, yoga studio, or printing company, we sell sexual enhancement products. Therefore, we are immediately considered different. It doesn’t matter that we all do the same thing – sales. While the business owners down the street may be selling bagels and making copies, my mother and I sell sexual health and wellness products. What’s the difference? We are all selling products that people what. We wouldn’t be in business if there was no demand for what we sell.
I bring this up because in April I announced my candidacy for the Board of Selectmen in my hometown (my mom and I are business owners in a neighboring town). I’m no stranger to elected office. I was elected in 1999 and 2000 to serve on two local school committees and was reelected to a second term. I ran unsuccessfully for the Board of Selectmen 11 years ago, but now I think it is time to try again. This was well before I established a small business selling “sex toys”. I was actually only 18 years old when I won my first election. I’m now 34, have a master’s degree and law degree, worked in state government for 4 years, owned a small business since December 2009, and now have a professional portfolio that is quite diversified. If they voted for me when I was still in high school, living at home, and not paying taxes then why wouldn’t they vote for me now? the answer is easy to some anonymous posters on our local community blog: they love electing business owners for their experience but not the ones that sell “sex toys” for a living. To be clear, I do not hide what I do, and I have actually received a number of positive endorsements of my business savvy.
So I ask: does the fact that I own an adult boutique automatically disqualify me from holding elective office? Moreover, does what I personally do for a living negate all of the positives things I have done for my community? I think not!
A customer visited the boutique this week and asked us how we were doing. He was a fourth generation small family business owner. We chatted that things are going very well, and we were excited to have our 5th anniversary coming up at our location. He replied, “if you can run a small business successfully, you can do anything.” I happen to personally think that is rather insightful. After all, as the business owners, my mother and I are responsible for all aspects of our business: customer service, buyer, merchandiser, accounting, legal, marketing, website design, and even cleaning. I’m sure we do more, but my head is spinning just thinking about it! You learn to diversify your abilities to maximize funds when they are limited, as the business grows. I could have never guessed all the responsibilities we have as small business owners. I would assume these skills would be valuable to any organization.
What do you think? Does what you do define you? Do you believe people can successfully have both personal and professional goals independent of one another?
Check out my campaign website. Let me know what you think. http://ElectDesiree.com