To kick off the new year, we gave our PA Wilds Marketplace makers the chance to share their thoughts on 2023, any New Year's Resolutions they have, how they define success and even some silly questions as well!
Here are some of the questions we asked, and they were able to answer any or all of them.
* Do you have any New Year's Resolutions (business, personal, health, inspirational or otherwise) for 2023?
* What was the best thing that happened in your life in 2022?
* What are you looking forward to doing/seeing in 2023? (Again, business, health, personal or otherwise... any way you want to answer is fine!)
* What is your favorite month of the year and why?
* If you could travel back in time for just one year (and then come back to your regular life), what year in history would you go to and why?
* What's one thing that would make 2023 a success for you personally?
Check out the responses below!
Jillia English - Jillia Ceramics
* Do you have any New Year's Resolutions for 2023?
I plan to continue to create lots of new pieces in the new year. A continuing resolution of mine is to keep creating things I love and not get burned out making orders. And to keep my mind sound, I plan to strengthen my meditation and yoga practices within the yoga community of Williamsport.
* What was the best thing that happened in your life in 2022?
The best thing that happened to me in 2022 was quitting my career and pursuing my ceramics business full time! Being my own boss and on my own time doing what I love most is a blessing. I also sold my home and moved into a house I completely flipped and renovated with my partner, it was an amazingly rewarding experience.
* What are you looking forward to doing/seeing in 2023?
In 2023, I look forward to all the new markets I will be vending at and also visiting Arizona! I can't wait to see what 2023 has in store for my business.
Stephanie Distler - Stephanie Distler Studios
* Do you have any New Year's Resolutions for 2023?
A few New Year's resolutions that I have for my business for 2023 are to keep daily working hours, be consistent in developing a content machine for social media and regular newsletters. Creating dimensional art pieces using mixed media techniques, metals and fiber throughout the work or keeping to one technique/medium is very important to my business this year.
* What was the best thing that happened in your life in 2022?
One of the best things that happened in my life for 2022 was the chance to concentrate more on being a creative now in 2023 with. I have come to the realization, in the last couple of years, that prioritizing my artisan business is a BIG part of flourishing in all aspects of life.
* What are you looking forward to doing/seeing in 2023?
I look forward to having the time to put into new work, being outside in the gardens, personal time with family/friends, getting out in nature and the ability to learn something new every day.
* What is your favorite month of the year and why?
April is my favorite month of the year because of the promise of what is going to be possible before the busyness of May and June Everything is anew, you can feel it in all of the living things that surround us.
Rachel Courtney - Sugar Mama’s Appalachian Maple
2022 brought me perspective of what I want the next few years to look like for my business and my personal life. Having this perspective has allowed me to develop 1, 5 and 10 year goals.
This year I am looking to keep taking steps towards my goals no matter how small they seem. I am excited to be starting off 2023 working toward my 1 year goal of a farm to fork food trailer. I'm finishing up details for this new business venture. I look forward to educating about local agriculture as I serve up yummy dishes that reflect our area's resources!
I've always favored fall. The weather, beautiful scenery, and the harvest. I'm hoping to meet tourists this fall through the food trailer business.
If I could time travel for a year I'd pick 793 AD. I'd like to see the Viking raids, the jihad Holy War, and I'd like to visit the Mayan civilization.
Josh Smith - Valley Glass Art
* Do you have any New Year's Resolutions for 2023?
This year I'm trying to devote one hour per week to learning something new.
* What was the best thing that happened in your life in 2022?
I found a job in my field! I have a degree in business and I am excited to have found a full-time position where I get to use my knowledge every day.
* What are you looking forward to doing/seeing in 2023?
Making new glass! I finally have the time, space, and equipment to devote to new product development. Creating glass drinkware has been a goal of mine for over a year now. Goblets, wine glasses, and shot glasses are coming in 2023 from Valley Glass Art!
* What is your favorite month of the year and why?
November has always marked the official start of the holidays and hunting season. This time of the year has always meant more time with family which I will always cherish.
* If you could travel back in time for just one year (and then come back to your regular life), what year in history would you go to and why?
65 million years ago - Dinosaurs
* What's one thing that would make 2023 a success for you personally?
To sell at least one hand-blown glass goblet.
Linda Stager - PA Suncatcher Linda Stager
* Do you have any New Year’s resolutions?
I wouldn’t say that I make New Year’s resolutions, but I do make a list of things I want to look forward to in the coming year. Years ago, I had a metal detector. I never found much of interest, usually an aluminum tab or some other junk metal. But I remember the anticipation every time I took the metal detector out. I was so excited to think about what I might find.
The metal detector taught me some valuable lessons, one of the most important was that anticipation is a great emotion.
I know I will have a great year. And I look forward to all that’s yet to come.
I do create a bucket list, so to speak. And I always choose a word to guide me through the year. This year my word is “Message”. I can be the conduit for so much.
* What was the best thing that happened in your life in 2022?
I could list my accomplishments for the year and there have been many. Many awards for my photography and many articles that have been published, some of which have also won awards.
But my best accomplishments are the simple ways I have affected others in a positive way. Whether it’s a relationship with someone who needs one, or time with my family and friends, that’s my aim and I have felt the warmth that it creates.
Ubuntu is my favorite word…” I am because you are.” That’s the best thing that has or will happen to me. The Ubuntu concept was taught to me years ago by a very special friend. She lived her life in a way that shared this philosophy. Ubuntu is an African indigenous term that translates to “a belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity.” Being an authentic and caring human being is what I hope happened for me in 2022.
* What are you looking forward to doing/seeing in 2023?
I could share with you how excited I am to go on a family trip to Florida in February of this year.
That trip seems important, for sure, but it’s also superficial. I want to be healthy. I want my doctor to be satisfied with my health activities. I want to learn, to grow, to meet new people, to cherish the people that are currently in my life.
I want to feel more. I want to “see” more deeply. I want to savor life.
* What is your favorite month of the year and why.
I don’t have a favorite month of the year because I work hard to make every month a good one.
As a photographer, I hate grey, dreary days, so I work to find something else to do on those days. November is one of those months that is dull brown, the leaves have come down, and the skies are often grey. The nights are longer, and it feels like it’s hard to see the light, often because there isn’t a lot of light.
On the other hand, my birthday is in November and there are other family traditions that I can savor instead.
Here is another example: I was married in February almost 50 years ago now. Why February? Because I wanted something to look forward to, to anticipate in the dark of winter. It has worked every year. I like February!
* If you could travel back in time, what year and why?
I do have a savior complex and I would love to turn back time and fix some mistakes that have impacted my life forever. Wouldn’t we all love to do that for those we care about. Could I avert accidents, deaths, sad, or tragic events?
But that sort of thinking isn’t productive, is it. So I’d rather find a way to accept what is, and anticipate the good that is yet to come in my life. To savor the present.
I have used the word “savor” three times now in these short paragraphs. It was my “word” for 2022. It’s a beautiful word and makes life so much better. It’s the difference between “looking” and “seeing”. It makes for a much deeper connection with the world around us. I love the word—and the concept.
* What’s one thing that would make 2023 a success for you personally?
If you notice I haven’t talked about my business, PA Suncatcher-Linda Stager, or any of my products. My business simply isn’t that important in the grand scheme of life.
What is important is that I make a great product and that every product goes to a good home because I made a connection between my work and the person who wanted to take it home with them. Connecting emotionally with my customers is my goal.
I want to be seen as honest and having integrity.
I want to be healthy and to have good relationships with others.
I want to positively connect with others. If I send a simple present at Christmas time as a surprise from my business to someone I meet on social media and later find out that my present was the only present that person received for Christmas and it made them smile and feel just a little more loved, I’m all for it.
Now THAT’s success.
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