Cosmos and Commerce Podcast Summary: Michelle Plumby from AR Workshop
Introduction:
Michelle Plumby is a dynamic figure in the world of DIY and home decor. As a representative of AR Workshop, she embodies the spirit of creativity and hands-on crafting. AR Workshop is a boutique DIY studio that offers hands-on classes for creating custom and charming home decor from raw materials. From wood signs to canvas pillows, they provide an experience that merges the joy of DIY with the charm of boutique home decor.
Hosts: Michele Cook and Janis Francis
Main Points:
Links
AR Workshop
AR Workshop Facebook
The Entrepreneur Rollercoaster by Darren Hardy
The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale
https://cosmosandcommerce.com
https://www.facebook.com/cosmosandcommercepodcast
Cosmos and Commerce Podcast Summary: Michelle Plumby from AR Workshop
Introduction:
Michelle Plumby is a dynamic figure in the world of DIY and home decor. As a representative of AR Workshop, she embodies the spirit of creativity and hands-on crafting. AR Workshop is a boutique DIY studio that offers hands-on classes for creating custom and charming home decor from raw materials. From wood signs to canvas pillows, they provide an experience that merges the joy of DIY with the charm of boutique home decor.
Hosts: Michele Cook and Janis Francis
Main Points:
Links
AR Workshop
AR Workshop Facebook
The Entrepreneur Rollercoaster by Darren Hardy
The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale
https://cosmosandcommerce.com
https://www.facebook.com/cosmosandcommercepodcast
Michele Cook AR Work + 2
[00:00:00]
Michele Cook AR Work:
Hello and welcome back to Cosmos and Commerce. I'm your host, Michelle Cook from Body Ache Escape Massage Center here with my co host.
Janis Francis: Janice Francis with the Humble Create Artisan Marketplace and RE MAX Connection Realtors.
Michele Cook AR Work: And today we have a special treat for all of you, aspiring entrepreneurs and small business enthusiasts out there. With us today is the incredible Michelle owner of AR Workshop in Pickerington, Ohio. This isn't just any workshop. It's a place where creativity meets community, where friends, families, and coworkers come together to craft stunning woodworking signs and unique decorations. Now, Michelle's journey through the world of business is no ordinary tale. She has managed to thrive in the world of business for five years, which is more than we can say for about half of small business startups.
Without further ado, let's dive right into her story.
Michelle Plumby: Thank you guys so much for having me. I'm
Michele Cook AR Work: Welcome, Michelle. Welcome. Welcome.[00:01:00]
Michelle Plumby: Thank you.
Janis Francis: so
Michelle Plumby: too.
Janis Francis: to meet you. So Michelle, can you share with us the story behind your first foray into the business world? What did your early days look like?
Michelle Plumby: Yes. I, just to start off, give you a little background, so I was in the corporate world for eight years. I worked for Anheuser Busch and moved all over the place, and so I had a business degree, a little bit of some business background. I moved all over the place in eight years once I got back to Ohio, I wanted to settle down a little bit.
But when I first opened the shop, it was a lot as you guys know, opening a business is a little bit overwhelming. You have to prioritize, you have to make a million lists, you have to meet people, you have to do it all. So the beginning of the early days were very busy, very rewarding but fun.
Once we finally got down to [00:02:00] understanding what we were doing every day.
Janis Francis: Yeah. So was there a specific moment or inspiration that pushed you towards wanting to own a business of your own?
Michelle Plumby: Yeah. So when I, like I said, when I had been wanting to open up a business for years and I have 50 different ideas Oh, maybe I want to do this. Maybe I want to do that. And I had actually gone down to Charlotte. My best friend was living in Charlotte at the time. And she booked us a class at an AR workshop down in Charlotte.
And she was like, Oh, you're going to love this. So I, as soon as we walked in, I was like, Oh my gosh, this is what I want to do. And she is uber OCD was like everything. So like her project, she like couldn't even talk the whole time. So I spent the entire three hours that I was in the workshop talking to the owners of that one.
And [00:03:00] got out of there and I called my fiance at the time and I was like, this is what I want to do. And I had just, it was. Just like things just fell in place like all those other 50 things didn't work so that this one Could work and it just made sense. So that was in December and we're opened in the next August So it's fast.
Janis Francis: quick.
Michelle Plumby: Yes
Janis Francis: yeah, that's quick. So
Michele Cook AR Work: about how long it took us to open to
Michelle Plumby: Really
Michele Cook AR Work: to actual opening. Yeah.
Michelle Plumby: that's awesome. Yeah
Michele Cook AR Work: Yeah, it's meant
Janis Francis: It took me a little bit longer to find a location but yeah,
Michelle Plumby: Yeah, that's a hard part.
Janis Francis: Yeah. So why woodworking and decoration? Is there a story or a passion behind that specific niche other than what you just shared?
Michelle Plumby: so it's funny like growing up. I was horrible at art anything that's just like half like having to like freehand draw. [00:04:00] I was like horrible at and when I was moving all over the place. I was actually in, I lived in Manhattan, Kansas, in the middle of nowhere, and I had bought my first house, and I didn't really know anybody, and I turned to Pinterest.
And I bet I attempted to DIY a hundred different things, and probably 95 of them turned out horrible. But I, it was like honestly like how I got through that part of my life. Like I turned to like crafting and DIYing and my, I started actually dating my husband now out in Kansas, and we actually made these dog bowls that we still have in the shop.
And there was a Pinterest page in Kansas where there were like 20, 000 people on the page and people would post things that they would make. And I posted these dog bowls and they just went [00:05:00] crazy, so it was funny when I moved to Ohio after that, I was like, Oh man, that was so fun. I loved we both love doing that.
So then when I went to AR, it was Oh my gosh, that's like what we love to do. So funny. Yeah.
Michele Cook AR Work: Nice.
Janis Francis: Yeah, I love that. So before AL Workshop, did you have any other experience in the industry or was it a leap of faith?
Michelle Plumby: It was pretty much a leap of faith. It was, I was passionate about it, I was excited about it financially. It was, it made sense, it wasn't gonna break the bank. And more importantly, it like, I don't know if you guys, or your realtor, I don't know if Michelle, you're ever in corporate world, or found yourself in a job where you just dreaded it every day.
That's like where I was. So I was at a point where I was just like, I felt a relief, and even though it was, like, scary it was definitely a leap of faith. [00:06:00] But I was ready to do it. Yeah.
Janis Francis: Yeah, I can so relate to that. I worked for the state of Ohio for 19 years before I quit to
Michelle Plumby: Yeah. Yeah.
Janis Francis: Real estate and I was scared to death, but I was excited too.
Michelle Plumby: Yeah. Yeah.
Janis Francis: Understand your feelings there Yeah,
Michelle Plumby: Yeah. Waking up every day and just hating what you're doing is just not a fun way to live. I was just gonna do it. Take a leap of faith.
Janis Francis: Other than the obvious, what are some initial fears or reservations you had about starting your own business and how did you overcome that?
Michelle Plumby: So my husband is like, has been like behind me every step of the way. And he has been, he's hot. He like helped me do the build everything he helped with everything. My family has been really helpful and supportive. Everybody's like kind of in Ohio and like really helpful. And. There's other owners in Ohio that I was able to get really close with, so I have a really tight knit [00:07:00] community within the franchise.
So that's been really nice. But for anybody that wants to... So go out and start a business. You're basically, you're betting on yourself and you have to believe in yourself, even when it's like hard, you're betting on yourself and that's just, it's a huge fear, but like with anything, if you let your fears keep you in a box, you're not gonna do anything great.
So that's why I every day I had to remind myself, like it's going to be okay, everything works out. If it doesn't work out, like we'll figure it out. But. Thank goodness it has.
Michele Cook AR Work: So did you keep your corporate job for a little while or did you just jump right in?
Michelle Plumby: I jumped right in. I put my two weeks in on June 1st, 2018. So then I had all and I got the keys to the store on June 1st, too. So I was done June 15th, June 14th, and then [00:08:00] we opened August 4th. So I was able to put like Two, four months into like just getting everything the way that I wanted it to be. So that was nice.
Michele Cook AR Work: Yeah, you burned the bridges. You had to make it work.
Michelle Plumby: Yes. I'm sure.
Michele Cook AR Work: For those out there intrigued by the idea of franchise, can you briefly explain what franchising is and why you chose to go that route?
Michelle Plumby: Yeah. So with franchising, the main thing is it's an established company that's already has. Proven technology and processes and ways of operation. And you just get to adapt all of those processes and the ways to run your business. Which was very intriguing to me as a first time business owner, because it's hard, like just figuring out a website and figuring out types of projects and how to make them and make them cost effective and make your margins work and everything like that.
So going with an established business [00:09:00] and AR Workshop was only, they weren't really established at that point. I think I was only like the 30th franchise to open. And now there's 150 of us throughout the country. But it's, you are adapting and adopting their ways of how you run your business and then you can put your own spin on things and they tell you where to
Janis Francis: going to ask if you had some free reign.
Michelle Plumby: Yeah. Yeah, we have quite a bit. We have to stay on brand with a lot of things, but DIY is such like a, there's so many trends with DIY that like you have to stay up on things. DIY has been around forever, but it's. It's like constantly evolving with Oh, I want to attempt to do this or do that. So it's like with us, it's being able to capture those trends and make it accessible for people so that they don't have to go out and buy a bunch of different things and all this different paint and all these different things.
And they can [00:10:00] make it at our shop and leave the mess with us.
Janis Francis: That's
Michele Cook AR Work: my,
Michelle Plumby: yeah.
Janis Francis: the mess with us.
Michele Cook AR Work: yeah, my mom is big into crafts and she's like, whenever she sees something in the store, she says, I can make that. I said, mom, it would cost you triple to make that than it would to just buy the thing.
Michelle Plumby: I know, right? Yes. That's how I was before. Oof.
Michele Cook AR Work: How many years do you think it puts you ahead buying into a franchise than if you would have started from nothing
Michelle Plumby: At least I would say at least two, because it is, there's just so many things like down to if you buy a four by eight sheet of plywood, which is like a normal piece of plywood that you can buy at any lumber store just like the little things of knowing the exact size, how you can utilize a full size of plywood and get that's [00:11:00] basically how our sizes came about is like taking a sheet of plywood, Cutting it up and not having any waste to anything.
So they took all that guesswork out. And even just like the little things of if you go in our store, like the lights, the color of the lights, there was a, like a lot of Like colors affect your brain differently. So they did research on what makes people feel like happier and what like makes people like, little stuff like that.
And then just like down to our, what our websites. Always changing. We have so many different options on our website for things to people actually make in the store. But there's so many like little things that you don't like, you started a business from scratch. I can't even imagine like how long, like all the little things that you had to figure out and the insurance and the, there's just so many things that if you're a first time business owner, you don't know.
So now that I see all the little things that's [00:12:00] Oh. If I ever want to do something else, it's okay, I gotta, I'm like constantly, I learned something new every day. Like I'm sure you guys do too, like five years,
Janis Francis: Yep.
Michelle Plumby: learn something new every day. So I don't know. I'd say at least a year, two years cause I, I didn't.
I had a grasp on from like my family, like being in the business world, but I came in blind and was like, let's just do this.
Michele Cook AR Work: it's probably better that way.
Michelle Plumby: Yeah, I know.
Janis Francis: You got your passion and your drive and that will get you through.
Michelle Plumby: Yeah. Yeah.
Michele Cook AR Work: Tell me what the initial experience was like when you decided to buy a franchise. Like the details of What you had to do to obtain it.
Michelle Plumby: Yeah. So when I left that class, I pretty much on my way back to Ohio, I had sent an email to the franchising team, , through the AR workshop website, there's like a little franchising area. So each company will have a [00:13:00] franchising director that you I talked to her first and then they have you fill out like a financial clip of just to make sure that you have like enough money.
Each franchise will require that you have a net worth of a minimum of. So they'll make sure that you have whatever the minimum is net worth to open the business. And then after that, they'll send you an NDA that you have to sign to be able to get any numbers, see how much everything costs and you get like a full breakdown of like how to open your business.
And then I was able to, they put me in touch with five or six different stores. So I could talk to. different stores and like how they run their business and they have a manager if they do it all themselves if they how big their Spaces everything like that And then once you talk to them and you can actually see numbers Then they'll send you a couple more things [00:14:00] They'll send you an FDD a Franchise Disclosure Statement that you, once you sign it, you have to wait 14 days before you can actually sign the franchise agreement.
So if you are getting funding or if you are, whatever it is, you just have to wait those 14 days before you can actually sign it. In that time, they'll send you literally every, I got like an entire binder full of. Everything it would take to open the business, how to like, how to build the tables, like we built all the, like everything that you can need.
And I had a lot of calls with the franchise director and I kept in touch with a lot of the other stores, just like any questions that I had. So I signed my franchise agreement on April 7th. And then, so then I was like officially an owner, I had to write them a check. Each franchise will have a franchise fee.
That [00:15:00] is just like their fee too. For you to be able to take their name, basically. And then, after that, I was trying to find a space in Pickerington. So there was already a store in Worthington. And there was a store in Grove City that had just opened. I live in Lewis Center, but they basically told me the areas that I could go.
So that we were like all around Columbus and we weren't too close. Because it's a lot different, if you're a coffee shop, you can be a couple of miles away. Like with this, like your radius needs to be a lot bigger to like, because we pull from like all over the place.
Michele Cook AR Work: Yeah, because you're people will drive more to you.
Michelle Plumby: For sure. Yeah. So it's a lot of reading.
You gotta get a lawyer involved to read all the contracts and everything like that. But the process doesn't have to take that long. If you're getting funding, that's where it can hold you up to
Michele Cook AR Work: to get funding or you were able to[00:16:00]
Michelle Plumby: I was able to just, I was able to just pay for everything out of pocket so I didn't have to get any funding, so I didn't have that hold up, thank goodness.
Michele Cook AR Work: Yeah, that's great.
Janis Francis: Yeah.
Michele Cook AR Work: When I was looking to start Bodyache Escape, I looked at starting opening a massage envy first because there wasn't one around me and the franchise was just coming into the area 15 years ago. So I called them and I was like, what does it take? And they said you have to have 100, 000 in the bank.
And I was like, what? Yeah. And we started a body escape with 10, 000. So
Michelle Plumby: You did?
Michele Cook AR Work: yes, it was a pretty, this is 15 years ago.
Michelle Plumby: Oh my gosh, that's amazing. What made you want to?
Janis Francis: Oh,
Michelle Plumby: What made you want to do massage? Did you have background in it?
Michele Cook AR Work: yeah, I went to school for it 20 years ago and I was a massage therapist for [00:17:00] six or seven years at the YMCA and the YMCA was changing how they were doing things. So it was time to leave.
Michelle Plumby: That's one thing I did forget. So you pay them a royalty every month Every franchise
Michele Cook AR Work: a royalty. Okay. So what is like the startup cost for an AR workshop? Is it as much asog envy or is it around like the same or That's
Michelle Plumby: Yeah, it's pretty much around the same. It varies. When I opened five years ago, they're saying it's 60, 000 more than open just because cost of everything has gone up so much, which is crazy. Just to get your doors open. It varies. So with any franchise, they're going to give you a low number and a number.
And then based on like with us. We could choose to have a lot of retail or not a lot of retail or we can choose to We make candles you can choose not to make candles. We have our own patch bar [00:18:00] now so you can pick and choose if you want to do certain things or if you want to Do them later I went all in and I was just like, let's just go.
I don't want to like have as much there as possible. The candles and the patch bar were added later, but I just, I went all in at the beginning just to we're going to do it. We might as well go big.
Michele Cook AR Work: Yeah, I know that one of my friends is a AR workshop groupie. I would say she's in there all the time.
Janis Francis: For sure.
Yeah, so in the journey of building AR Workshop in Pickerington, what would you say was the single most challenging obstacle that you faced?
Michelle Plumby: Probably just not living actually in Pickerington. Pickerington is such like a close knit, it's like a big, big town now , but it still has that like small town feel. So not having kids in the schools, not like living there, I literally would go out with brochures.
Myself and like walk to businesses and like hand out [00:19:00] brochures just to be like, Hey, we're coming to town. It was a lot just because I felt like a little bit of an outsider, but then I've just met so many people now, or I definitely don't feel that now. And everybody's so great. That was hard at the beginning.
That was scary.
Janis Francis: Yeah. I think the business world and the chamber and every time, the first time I went to any of those, I just felt very welcomed. I never felt intimidated. And I think everybody. I think this town is really special.
Really do.
Michelle Plumby: it really is because I look at a lot of my friends that own other ARs everywhere It's definitely not the same community feel like at all. So I feel very lucky to be a part of it. Yeah
Janis Francis: Yeah. We're lucky to have you. Yeah. Can you share a pivotal moment or a win that really solidified your belief in the business?
Michelle Plumby: So our Grand opening I was [00:20:00] so stressed out. I was so I had done So much leading up those few months prior and I was like in my head was like, okay If we have five people at this grand opening, I'm going to be really sad and the day came and We had a so we're in the Kroger shopping center on 256 and it was a hundred degrees out that day and we had a line Starting like two hours before we open that went All the way to the program and it was, it was like still to this day just gives me the chills.
Like it was for three hours, it was just packed in there. Like just the entire time we did
Janis Francis: I remember.
Michelle Plumby: takes. Oh my gosh. That was a great way to start and just be like, okay, made the right decision. It's gonna, it'll be fine.
Janis Francis: You can ride on that high for a long
Michelle Plumby: Yeah, yes, and I
Janis Francis: Yeah.[00:21:00]
Michelle Plumby: did, I definitely
Janis Francis: Yeah, how have you pivoted or adapted when facing adversity or unexpected challenges?
Michelle Plumby: So I'm sure with all of us, when the pandemic hit um, we are a very hands on business. Like you come into the store to make stuff. You're we're helping you like in your, not in your face, but like we're in your space. So once COVID hit, we as a company really had to like.
Figure out what we were going to do. So we pivoted to, to go kits very quickly, like within four days. So we went from everything was in the store to, we came up with little kits that people could order online. We get them already. We give them instructions, paints, the wood, everything that they need to make their projects at home.
And that was, it was a big curve ball, but it was. [00:22:00] Something that we were able to do like very quickly that so that we didn't really like we were closed like people couldn't come in, but we were able to like actually keep some revenue coming in. Thank goodness, because that was with all of us, like very scary thing to have to go
Michele Cook AR Work: Did your landlord give you any sort of help on the rent or did you still have to pay the full amount?
Michelle Plumby: He did, he gave us two free months and he didn't. Yeah. And so Kroger owns my building. So I was like, we're not going to help us, but shockingly, and I think a lot of landlords were putting that at the end of their lease. So you weren't really getting free. It was just like put on the back and ours was actually free.
So we got two full months of free rent, which was
Janis Francis: Oh, that's nice.
Michelle Plumby: What about you guys?
Michele Cook AR Work: did.
Michelle Plumby: They did.
Michele Cook AR Work: pay
Janis Francis: I had to pay.
Michelle Plumby: are you [00:23:00] serious?
Janis Francis: Yeah, but I was mine is a little bit different. I, the way I pivoted was I did appointment shopping and I did deliveries and curbside pickups and I did FaceTime shopping with people.
Michelle Plumby: Oh, that's cool.
Janis Francis: yeah, plus my real estate is essential or considered essential job. So I was able to still work real estate,
Michelle Plumby: Oh, that's good.
Janis Francis: kept the doors open.
Michelle Plumby: Yeah. Thank
Michele Cook AR Work: We were able to get the the grant money, the PPP. So it helped.
Michelle Plumby: Yeah, that's good. How long were you guys closed, Michelle?
Michele Cook AR Work: Two months.
Janis Francis: Two months. Wow. And yours is even more up close and personal because you're touching everybody.
Michelle Plumby: yeah. You're like,
Michele Cook AR Work: is this even going to work? I don't know.
Janis Francis: I know.
Michelle Plumby: know.
Michele Cook AR Work: It works, I guess there's some people who still come in and their masks.
Michelle Plumby: Really? Oh my gosh. So crazy. Ugh. Hopefully that never happens again
Janis Francis: Yep.
Michele Cook AR Work: with so many businesses [00:24:00] buying for attention, what marketing strategies have you found most effective for our workshop? We're going to bring all their different groups of friends.
Michelle Plumby: marketing is hard to get your name out there. I don't know if you guys find this too. It's hard and I used to be able to post on Facebook and people that wanted to see us would see the post instantly. And it's just not like that anymore. Unless you're like paying for every single thing that you post, people just don't see your stuff.
That's why I started doing like the local collabs, like with you guys, Michelle and anybody that I can like that's local that wants to do something. I, because then, you know, power in multiple companies that are posting the same thing, getting your name out there and everything. So that's been really, we do a lot of like offsite things at breweries and restaurants and like stuff like that.
So that's been really helpful to us to get our name out there and like Other areas of Columbus is not just Pickerington, but also [00:25:00] using their followers and people that like go there too. Get business too. And then really just, we are our repeat customer rates pretty high. So our like word of mouth or like our repeat customers we call them raving fans, but they are like, if you get somebody that wants to come in and they love it, then they're going to go and tell three other people and they may bring them in and then they may love it.
And then, so it's ours is a lot of. Yeah,
Janis Francis: Yeah.
Michelle Plumby: because ours is like it's an experience like we want their projects to turn out good but like more than anything like it's a night with your friends or your co workers or your You know family or whoever to go out and be crafty what about you guys?
How what do you guys do for marketing?
Michele Cook AR Work: I made it so that whenever anybody searches massage near me or something that we pop up pretty high. So that's our number 1 [00:26:00] way. And then word of mouth. Yeah.
Michelle Plumby: Yeah so hard
Michele Cook AR Work: you, Janice?
Janis Francis: Mine's pretty word of mouth too. I get a lot of people coming in and say, Oh, my friend got something here the other day and told me to come in here. Word of mouth advertising is just priceless. It's priceless, but I do take out some print ads and somebody came in the other day because of something that was in the Pickerington's best magazine or something like that.
Yeah.
Michelle Plumby: Yeah. Anytime anyone wants. Yeah.
Janis Francis: now to, yeah, for all of us, for all of us.
Michelle Plumby: Yes.
Michele Cook AR Work: Yeah. Can you share a campaign or strategy that you feel particularly proud of? And that had it big impact.
Michelle Plumby: Yes. So I actually help with corporate's research and development. So I have actually been a part of I don't know if you guys have seen, we do chunky knit pumpkins with our like big thick yarn. That's really cute. [00:27:00] So I, I have come up with the Chung Unit pumpkins, where like, kind of, we saw one thing, and then I was able to modify the whole thing to make it AR.
And then, so there's been, like, four or five different projects that I've been able to work on in Pickerington, and then we get to roll it out nationally. Those are fun things to work on. The pumpkins were the first thing that I got to do. And they're still going strong today. So
Michele Cook AR Work: Oh, so they get to see it first at your shop. Huh?
Michelle Plumby: yes,
Michele Cook AR Work: That's cool.
Janis Francis: oh, I love it. So as entrepreneurs, we all have those lessons we wish we have known beforehand. What's something significant that you had to learn the hard way?
Michelle Plumby: man. I feel like I, there's so many,
Janis Francis: Yeah.
Michelle Plumby: Probably the one that I have had to work on the most is you're not going to make everybody happy. I am a people pleaser at heart. And I want [00:28:00] every single human that walks into my space to love 100 percent of it, and that's just not realistic.
And even though they're choosing to come in, some people just don't want to be happy. And that was really hard for me to process. And think that it's me, but it's not the shop. It's not, it's not what they're doing. It's just maybe it's a work outing and they had to come and then they just wanted to be mad the whole time, like that was really hard for me.
And in five years, we've had two bad reviews and I let it like ruin my day , that's just, it's hard as humans, we have, we see a thousand positive things and we let one negative thing, take us down, so that was hard at the beginning. If anybody had anything like negative to say, I like really took it to heart, but it's just, you can't, when you're in a business, you're not going to make a hundred percent of people that walk in your doors happy.
And that's okay. As long as, 99 percent of [00:29:00] people like what you're doing. It's okay.
Janis Francis: You have a hundred other positive reviews,
Michelle Plumby: Yes. Yeah.
Janis Francis: on that.
Michelle Plumby: Yes, for sure. And that there's ups and downs with business. There's ebbs and flows and you got to figure out like when you're on a high, you got to figure out how to ride that high. And when you're on a low, you got to figure out what you do to climb yourself out with anything in life, but there's a lot of ebbs and flows in business.
So you guys
Michele Cook AR Work: I took a business class. They called it the entrepreneur rollercoaster.
Janis Francis: Oh, yeah.
Michele Cook AR Work: with every business owner. Yes.
Janis Francis: Is that a book? Is that a book too, Michelle?
Michele Cook AR Work: I think it is. Yeah.
Janis Francis: Yes. I think it
Michele Cook AR Work: Hardy or something.
Janis Francis: Yeah, I think so.
Michelle Plumby: I would like to read that.
Michele Cook AR Work: it was good. It was a good one to listen to. He read it. He was, it was good.
Janis Francis: Yeah.
Michelle Plumby: I'll have to look it up.
Janis Francis: If you could travel back to the day, our workshop open, what advice would you give yourself?
Michelle Plumby: [00:30:00] Find one thing every day to be proud of. Because I feel as business owners, we are problem solving a lot. Which can take us down more of not a negative path, but like you're focused on like fixing things. And then you're not like, oh, that was really good that I did today. Or that was good that this happened this week.
So I think, yeah, yes.
Michele Cook AR Work: Yeah. That's a good
Michelle Plumby: Maybe not every day, but every couple of days. Pat yourself on the back a little bit that you're still going.
Michele Cook AR Work: Yeah. Focus on the good.
Michelle Plumby: Yes.
Michele Cook AR Work: Okay. Success is often accumulation of daily habits. Are there any rituals or habits that you credit to your business success?
Michelle Plumby: Maybe not like rituals, but I think just like surrounding yourself with good people that like uplift you and that make you want to do better. And I would say that because there's [00:31:00] been a couple people that have come into the shop to like work or whatever and you can like definitely feel that like shift in energy and I've struggled with that.
So not like a ritual or like something that I do every day, but like just making sure that like you're constantly your team's good. You're, the people that you're surrounding yourself with or. you and not dragging you down in some type of way. What about you guys? Do you guys do any rituals or anything?
Michele Cook AR Work: I think I'm going to start one every time an employee leaves. We're going to stage the office.
Michelle Plumby: That's a good idea. I like that. It is crazy though. Like the vibes when there's not a great one in there, like It's very apparent with everybody, with the whole staff, that's how we feel anyway.
Janis Francis: Yeah.
Michele Cook AR Work: Yeah, I
Janis Francis: I don't really have a staff, it's just me. So I
Michelle Plumby: That's good. [00:32:00] You bring the good vibes. Yeah.
Janis Francis: try to bring it on myself. Yeah. No matter what's going on, leave it at the door.
Michelle Plumby: I like it.
Michele Cook AR Work: I like to when I wake up, I like to start my day with a good cup of coffee and read a little bit of some sort of professional development book. So that's one of my, one of my winning rituals.
Michelle Plumby: I love
Janis Francis: I've been riding my bike every morning now.
Michele Cook AR Work: Oh,
Michelle Plumby: good.
Janis Francis: I know. I've been doing pretty good.
Michelle Plumby: That's great. We've been trying to walk.
Janis Francis: on wood here. Knocking on wood.
Michele Cook AR Work: How do you ensure a work life balance, especially owning such a hands on community based business?
Michelle Plumby: This took me like three years to figure out because I thought that I needed to be there 24 7 Work every class do everything and you just don't have to once you have a good team in place now I try to Be there. We're usually closed [00:33:00] like during the summer and like spring and summer. We're closed Monday, Tuesday, and then we're open the rest of the week.
But so like during the week I try to leave before the classes start so I get everything ready and then have my girls come in and they work the class and then not be there. And then I'll also come in Saturday mornings, but I'm trying to like, let them handle things and me just, not have to be there 24 7.
Because you don't have to be. Yeah. That took me a while to figure out, but I'm in a good place now. Much better.
Michele Cook AR Work: Yeah. A couple years ago, I switched into that like business owner mentality where I was just like, I'm, I hired the people to do it, let them do it. And I can step out and just oversee everything.
Michelle Plumby: Yeah.
Janis Francis: hard because you feel that people aren't going to do things the way, even though they get the job done, they may not do it exactly the same way you do it. And it's hard to be hands off, but you got, if you pick good people, then [00:34:00] get, they'll get the job done, but that's, it's hard to
Michele Cook AR Work: Yeah
Janis Francis: goal.
Michele Cook AR Work: I think that I made that mentality switch when I was like. I'm not going to get to where I want to go, being a control freak and having to like, tell everybody exactly how to do things. If I want to go far, I need to like, give up some of that.
Michelle Plumby: Yes. For sure. And I think with me with both of us, Michelle, we both have a very It's not like you're going through a drive thru and getting a coffee and the interactions for 20 seconds. It's like you're with somebody for, with you for an hour, two hours, and with me, it's two and a half to three hours.
So it's it's so personal that it's like, it, you can get caught up in oh, they don't, they're not as bubbly or they're not as friendly or they're not as helpful or whatever, but you train your people then. They should be, they'll get the job done a good way. Yeah.
Janis Francis: yeah. [00:35:00] Yeah. So your business is centered around fun and creativity. How do you incorporate that same spirit of fun into your personal life?
Michelle Plumby: We do a lot of DIY at our house too.
Michele Cook AR Work: Oh!
Michelle Plumby: My husband, when he was growing up, his dad had a, they used to build houses. So I make him do a lot around here. I find fun. He probably doesn't. But my family's like here. Or in Ohio too. So we're, we do a lot with our family. And we just try to have fun. Just we enjoy each other.
We've only been married for five years. It's been fun
Michele Cook AR Work: So you got married and you opened a shop at the same
Michelle Plumby: Yes.
Michele Cook AR Work: did the same thing!
Michelle Plumby: Did you really?
Janis Francis: it 13 years
Michelle Plumby: No way! Yeah. Oh my gosh.
Michele Cook AR Work: married I opened a Body Ick Escape in June and got married in August.
Michelle Plumby: Oh my gosh, no way.
Michele Cook AR Work: 2010. What about you? When did
Michelle Plumby: We got married, so we got married in June and then opened in [00:36:00] August.
Janis Francis: That is like this, you're like the same,
Michelle Plumby: that is so funny.
Janis Francis: apart.
Michelle Plumby: That is hilarious.
Michele Cook AR Work: Oh my god.
Michelle Plumby: Ready for this rollercoaster, honey. Yes.
Janis Francis: yeah. Hang on.
Michelle Plumby: Hang on, here we go!
Michele Cook AR Work: Yeah, I always tell Joe that it's because of him that I haven't had enough guts to open my own place.
Michelle Plumby: Yeah,
Michele Cook AR Work: That I wouldn't have done
Michelle Plumby: too. Yeah, I know.
Michele Cook AR Work: was my like
Michelle Plumby: Yeah,
Michele Cook AR Work: my study. Yeah.
Michelle Plumby: imagine doing it without the support. It's a lot. It's a lot.
Janis Francis: Dave's been real supportive with me too, because it was hard. When I quit my state job, I was at my state job 19 years, right?
Michelle Plumby: Wow,
Janis Francis: Two little boys, a mortgage, and I quit that steady job to sell real estate. Complete, looking back, I'm like, what was I thinking, but the journey I've been on since then, [00:37:00] meeting Michelle and everybody at the chamber and just all the people I've met, it's just I can't imagine. Having stayed at the state for 30 years and
Michele Cook AR Work: you knew Dave wasn't gonna let you be homeless. So
Janis Francis: know.
Michele Cook AR Work: that helps when you have somebody that's not gonna let you be homeless.
Janis Francis: Yeah. Yeah. He's a good guy.
Michele Cook AR Work: Yeah.
Janis Francis: guy. So what's your most memorable event or a moment that's happened at AR Workshop that still brings a smile to your face?
Michelle Plumby: So we opened in August and then we released chunky knit blankets in the late September. So we're open August 4th and mid September. We launched the blankets and it was unlike anything I could have even imagined. Like I would post a blanket class on Facebook and it would be sold out in five minutes.
Every single one for a year and a half. It was. So [00:38:00] that first holiday season that we were open was like so crazy madness, just like it was just wild. And we closed for the holiday. Our last day was December 23rd. And I don't think I had taken like a second to like breathe and take it all in. And I remember.
It was like probably 9 30 and December 23rd and I locked the front door and I just took a step back and looked at the store and I was like, Oh my gosh. And it was like, like I needed a couple of days to like breathe because we came back and it was crazy. But I remember that just like standing there, like looking at the shop and I just stood there for five minutes.
And oh my gosh it's gonna be okay. You did this, we're doing good. And it was like, it was just a really special moment. Just
Janis Francis: That made me cry. That [00:39:00] brought a tear. Honestly, cause I'm like thinking I can relate to that so much. Michelle, you probably can too. You're like, look what I've done.
Michelle Plumby: Yeah. And I feel we don't There's so many days where I'm I suck at this. I'm like, not good at this. And then you like stand back and you're just like all of us, we're still open through COVID.
Like that alone is like a thing that a lot of people can't say, like we kept jobs for people in town and, that's really special because it was really hard,
Janis Francis: okay, so after hearing about your cool story and all the smart stuff you've shared. Let's spice things up with some fast questions we are gonna throw some quick questions at you and we can't wait to hear your quick Answers, are you ready for this fun?
Michelle Plumby: I'm ready.
Michele Cook AR Work: What is the book you've most given as a gift or the book that's made the biggest difference in your life?
Michelle Plumby: The power of positive thinking.[00:40:00]
Janis Francis: Okay what purchase of 100 or less has most positively impacted your life
Michelle Plumby: We adopted one of our dogs for 80 and he is hilarious and I love him so much.
Michele Cook AR Work: What kind of dog?
Michelle Plumby: He's a Boston Terrier. We have two right now. We, one just passed away last month. We had three, but now we have two and they're hilarious. So I wish I could have a hundred love dogs.
Janis Francis: Oh, it
Michele Cook AR Work: What's an unusual habit or an absurd thing that you love?
Michelle Plumby: I still have a baby blanket that I keep in my bed that I rub, that's weird.
Janis Francis: brings you comfort.
Michelle Plumby: It does.
Janis Francis: from when you were a baby.
Michelle Plumby: it's weird. It's very strange, but I still have it.
Janis Francis: Oh, I
Michelle Plumby: I'm proud of it,
Janis Francis: yeah. That's awesome. I'm impressed you still have it.
Michele Cook AR Work: I know.
Michelle Plumby: [00:41:00] Oh, it's in shambles, but yes, it's still there.
Janis Francis: So what is your proudest accomplishment?
Michelle Plumby: Definitely the shop still being here through everything. Absolutely.
Michele Cook AR Work: What is your current passion project?
Michelle Plumby: My sister and I have been, and my husband have been on like a little bit of a health walking journey that we've done this summer. And so we've taken on dog walking in the morning and I love it. So we walk dogs for people around and I love it. It's so fun just to get our steps in.
Janis Francis: that's cool.
Michelle Plumby: Yeah.
Janis Francis: What is one skill that you would like to master?
Michelle Plumby: My sister is a Excel wizard. It truly blows my mind. I have her do a lot of analytical stuff for me, and I need to sit down and actually learn it instead of her doing it. [00:42:00] And so yeah, I would love to excel in business analytics and like doing all that through Excel.
Cause like I understand it, I can do it, I can put together stuff. But I wanna like really dive in and like nerd out on it.
Janis Francis: I get that.
Michelle Plumby: Hard.
Michele Cook AR Work: in the power of manifestation? Yes.
Michelle Plumby: Yes, I do. Absolutely. Do you
Janis Francis: we do too. Yeah, totally.
Michelle Plumby: this isn't a fact, but
Michele Cook AR Work: think about something to manifest...
Michelle Plumby: I last August, there was like one of the Power Moon things, and it was like right down here or whatever. And so I did it, and I wrote down what I wanted to accomplish by the next year, and I keep it in my book.
Whatever book I'm reading, I keep it in my book. I don't read it, but I just keep it there. I was like, I know what's on there. From last year I have accomplished three of the six things, so that's [00:43:00] good.
Janis Francis: Oh, that's good.
Michelle Plumby: Yeah, three to six. So then I added those three to my next list. So
Janis Francis: Oh, that's great. So what was your first job?
Michelle Plumby: I worked at L. A. Tan, tanning, when I was 15.
Michele Cook AR Work: Nice! Nice! you do it for the free tanning?
Michelle Plumby: Yes, I did. How horrible is that we used to do that? Oh my gosh, don't do that. Don't tan.
Michele Cook AR Work: Where do you see yourself in five years?
Michelle Plumby: We would love to buy some land and Have a bunch of acres and be in like a peaceful place where we're like happy, peaceful, not in a neighborhood with a bunch of people. And yeah, peaceful
Janis Francis: With a hundred dogs.
Michelle Plumby: with a hundred dogs. Yes. dog sanctuary, if you
Janis Francis: Yeah. Oh,[00:44:00]
Michelle Plumby: will.
Janis Francis: I love it. So do you have a pump up song? What's your pump up song?
Michelle Plumby: Anything T Swift, anything Taylor Swift.
Michele Cook AR Work: Oh. Did you get to go to her concert?
Michelle Plumby: No, I was out of town when she was in Ohio, and I have... I've had the biggest FOMO of that concert. Not being
Janis Francis: I've seen so many posts. I hear she puts on a great show.
Michelle Plumby: my gosh. I've been to four of her other concerts, but I was so bummed. I know!
Michele Cook AR Work: Since we are called Cosmos and Commerce, what is your drink of choice? Oh, so
Michelle Plumby: wine, but if I'm like at a restaurant or something, I gravitate more towards a Manhattan. I like bourbon. Yes, really. I went to the university of Kentucky, so there was a lot of bourbon happening
Janis Francis: Okay.
Michelle Plumby: once I was
Michele Cook AR Work: Okay.
Michelle Plumby: If
Janis Francis: Would you rather create a massive [00:45:00] woodworking masterpiece that takes a year to finish, but lasts for generations, or have the ability to whip up a unique, beautiful decoration in just five minutes, but it only lasts a month?
Michelle Plumby: I was really good at woodworking, I would definitely pick the woodworking piece, but I feel like we're more like DIY, which follows the trends. I would go for the second one. I like new things. I like coming up with new things. Probably the second one.
Janis Francis: Okay.
Michele Cook AR Work: All right, finally, what is next for you? Are there any exciting projects or ventures on the horizon that you'd like to share with our audience? Hopefully
Michelle Plumby: We have a lot of really fun new things coming up at the shop. If you haven't been, we'd love for you to come check us out. AR Workshop, Pickerington. We've actually been in talks with a couple other franchises to opening up something else, [00:46:00] but I don't know, I feel like with everything going on, it's just a busy time.
Everybody's so busy everywhere. So focusing on the shop and coming up with new stuff and hopefully we're around for another five years because we want to be.
Michele Cook AR Work: longer than that.
Michelle Plumby: Yes.
Janis Francis: Yes. Yeah.
Michele Cook AR Work: Where can our listeners find more about you? Tell us where they can get in contact
Michelle Plumby: Our website's ar workshop, www ar workshop.com/pickerington. We're on Facebook AR workshop, Pickerington. We're on Instagram AR workshop, Pickerington, and we're at the store pretty much every day off Hill Road.
Janis Francis: What's your physical address for on Hill Road? What is your physical address?
Michelle Plumby: It's 1039 Hill Road North.
Janis Francis: And do people ever just walk in and, do you have walk ins or does it have to be an appointment?
Michelle Plumby: [00:47:00] We prefer it to be appointments, but we have so we do candles now that anybody can walk in and do. We have our patch bar that anybody can walk in and do. And then we actually have. Some smaller projects that you can walk in and do, they just won't be like personalized with your name or anything like that.
Yeah, we will have, we do have that kind of stuff available for people to just walk in.
Michele Cook AR Work: with you. What is a patch bar?
Michelle Plumby: So do I have one in here? So have you seen like the bags that have like a name with a little patch on it, like a, it'll say like face.
Michele Cook AR Work: patch, like a Girl Scout badge.
Michelle Plumby: On. Let me grab one for you. Give me two seconds. I want to show you. I'll show
Janis Francis: I'm not sure. I'm not sure either. Waiting with bated breath.
Michelle Plumby: Okay. This is one of our cross body bags.
Janis Francis: Those crossbody bags are so popular right now.
Michelle Plumby: And then you pick the patch [00:48:00] that you want on it. We have different like size bags that you can choose. And then we do sweatshirts and shirts and stuff like that too.
Janis Francis: Okay.
Michelle Plumby: Yeah,
Michele Cook AR Work: embroidered,
Michelle Plumby: these, they're not, they aren't embroidered, they're the 3M thing, and then we add glue, so they're not, they don't go anywhere. Yeah, these have been really fun.
Yeah, and then we have besides letters soccer balls, and basketballs, and, mermaids, and rainbows, and stuff like that too.
Michele Cook AR Work: Yes. Unicorns.
Janis Francis: all kinds to choose from.
Michelle Plumby: absolutely. Yeah,
Janis Francis: Michelle, thank you so much for joining us today and sharing your wisdom, experiences, and heart with our audience. It's been truly enlightening, and I'm sure our listeners have taken away a wealth of knowledge. For those tuning in, if you've enjoyed today's episode, don't forget to subscribe to Cosmos and Commerce and share it with someone you think would [00:49:00] benefit.
Until next time, stay inspired, keep crafting your own journey, and of course, never shy away from mixing a bit of cocktails with commerce. Cheers.
Michele Cook AR Work: Cheers. Thank you, Michelle.
Janis Francis: Thank you so much. It was so nice to get to know you.
Michele Cook AR Work: Yes,