Did You Know?

 At the beginning of October, I was being proactive and looking at the weekly postings of job listings in the high school newsletter. I was thinking that Austin could pull off a small job when the XC season ended and before track season becomes too busy. I found a job listing that was temporary, just like we wanted, except that it was looking for someone from October to December. It wouldn't even work for Kade because that was when Kade was at the height of his Pumpkin Factory job, plus Zumiez. 

The job description intrigued me, and I thought it would be something fun for me to do. It was looking for someone to fill granola orders through Shopify by packaging them in boxes and writing hand-written notes, thanking the customer for supporting this small business. Besides taking those boxes to be delivered from a box delivery shop nearby, it also requires delivering orders to Zingermann's sandwich shop in Ann Arbor, to a health food shop and store called Argus Farms in Ann Arbor, and to Busch's grocery store in Royal Oak. Another shop in New York orders a big wholesale order every few months to sell from their shop. 

The company Teffola, or Tenera Grains, was started by a young lady whose dad owns a farm and grows teff there, which is the world's smallest grain, native to Ethiopia, and is gluten-free. She created this company around the granola she made using teff, so it's all gluten-free. She has original, chocolate, pumpkin, cherry cacao, and berry burst. She also has granola bites: original, chocolate chip, and almond mocha. 

I contacted her to see about the job because it seemed like it wouldn't be too busy (5-10 hours/week), and it sounded kind of fun! Plus, I love granola! I also want to have some extra money for Erik's two big field trips at the end of the school year, and I really don't like fundraisers.

I interviewed with Claire, and she hired me on the spot since I was available and definitely capable. She offered me more than what she listed and also pays my per diem for when I make deliveries. The reason the job is only until December (now she pushed it back to January) is that she moved to Brooklyn, MI, which is an hour away, and she couldn't do all the back and forth. Besides the company that currently makes her granola, I'm her only employee. She has another business that I know she's working on that probably keeps her busy in addition to keeping her eye on the orders that come through, since it's all online. 

The lease for her warehouse in Plymouth is up in January, so we'll move her to Brooklyn then. I say "we" because she was originally going to hire a moving company to move her business, but I'm hoping she'll hire my boys, since Austin never got a job, besides cat sitting, and she can just pay them. She's not ordering many replacement products now, so she'll have less inventory to move over when she does. That's part of my job now is to keep inventory so we can maintain the business, but not have too much to move. 

Her business is thriving, and I ship packages from Maine to California. I love reading the customers' names and writing my little hand notes. I write their names on the outside of the boxes too, in front of a stamp that says "______ is bold and brave". That's the motto of her company. Bold flavors, brave steps in life, basically. 

The hardest part is the printing of the labels when the label printer gets finicky. The beginning was tough because there's no wifi at the factory, and I don't have a hotspot on my phone, so I had to figure out the best way to buy the shipping labels and then print them, which I do at home now. I just go into the warehouse after my preschool job and fill the orders with the labels already printed. Then I drop them off on my way home. It's pretty easy, as long as everything is running smoothly. 

Last week was super busy with the start of December and all the orders that came through. Also, keeping up with the inventory so she can list on Shopify how many of which product are left. 

It's been a fun temporary job, and I have a better appreciation for small businesses.

Bold and Brave stamp with the Teffola tape I use on the top of the boxes. 

The boxes on top are the boxes I use to pack. The ones on the bottom contain the different types of granola.

Part of my workspace. 

Outside Argus Farms a month ago. 

Also part of Arugu Farms- it's so cute!

My latest and biggest shipment, due to the holidays. 28 boxes!