I’m a sucker for people who strike out on their own, who decide that rather than work for somebody else, they would rather work for themselves.
I find that most of the time, those folks are doing something they love to do. I mean, why else would you decide to be your own boss if you don’t like what you are the boss of?
Not everyone gets to know what it feels like to jump out of bed excited to go to work. Most of us struggle out of bed, resigned to the fact that we have to go to work. Maybe we don’t hate our jobs, but we don’t whistle “It’s off to work we go,” assuming that’s actually the name of the song the seven dwarfs sang.
By the way, something tells me that the people who put Disney’s “Sleeping Beauty” together loved what they were doing.
For the past year or so, my wife has been having her frame work done by a woman named Krista Beck. I guess I should explain that by “frame work,” I mean having things such as pictures and posters framed. I don’t mean “frame work” in the framing a house sort of way, although with my wife’s penchant for remodeling, we had people framing houses for us at one point and probably will again someday.
My wife likes to collect things. She likes to save photos. She likes to save tickets to events. She likes to save programs from dance recitals and sporting events. She likes to save seashells and souvenirs from vacations.
What I’m saying is that my wife likes to save things, and many of those things she likes to have framed, which is where Krista comes in. I’m not sure how my wife found out about Krista; I just know that she did. I don’t know much about framing, but the things that my wife has had Krista frame look fantastic.
So the other day, I asked Krista how she got into the framing business. She told me that back in the 1990s, she worked for a large chain-type store in Wichita, Kan. She started as a clerk but soon wrangled a job in the framing department. Within a year or so, Krista was the store’s chief framer, and she had found her calling.
“I love it, love it, love it,” Krista said.
A few years back, Krista transferred to the company’s Joplin store. Last year, she decided to strike out on her own. It was, Krista admits, a scary thing to do, and while she loves being her own boss, she is mindful of the pitfalls. As the sole owner and employee of If Walls Could Talk, Krista is the bookkeeper, janitor, worker, manager and owner. The good thing is that if someone screws up, Krista knows who to blame; the bad news is that if someone screws up, Krista knows who to blame.
But that’s the price you pay for being your own boss. If you hate your boss, you may have a problem.
Krista told me she loves challenges. Although she enjoys framing normal things such as photos and paintings, she really enjoys the odd things.
“For one customer, I framed a baseball stadium chair, a bat and a jersey,” she said. “I’ve done turkey feathers, seashells ... the more obscure the better.”
Krista said a woman had a Lucille Ball jacket that she wanted framed, but she couldn’t decide if she wanted the front of jacket or the back of the jacket to be displayed.
“So I put it on a coat hanger and hung it between two pieces of glass so you could see both sides,” she said.
If Walls Could Talk opened in March 2011 in Evans Plaza, 2501 N. Range Line Road. The store is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays, or by appointment. For information, people may call 417-208-5000.
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Mike Pound: Woman loves being own boss
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