Mary Beth Schad of EllieandOllie.com and her husband Jim
Martha Stewart's Dreamers into Doers
"We can finally talk about it! Back in June, Ellie&Ollie entered the Dreamers into Doers contest found in Martha Stewart's Living magazine. In August, the phone rang and it was someone notifying us that we had been chosen as one of the 11 finalists in the contest! Needless to say, my jaw dropped, yet I couldn't stop smiling and of course I wanted to tell EVERYONE! However, the rules requested that we keep this little secret to ourselves until the end of October. This was going to be a long two months...
In October, my husband and I were flown to New York City. We were treated like royalty from the moment we stepped off of the plane. Between Talbots outfitting the finalists, Bank of America matching our prize money, attending the TV show, being honored at a formal Gala, meeting Carole King, seeing her perform, and our amazing accommodations, we weren't sure life could get much better. Everyone was so gracious and congratulatory to all of us. We had to stop and thank THEM from time to time as they were the ones who had selected the winners, and they were the ones who were honoring all of us. New York is truly a great city. I have a new spot in my heart for it, it's culture, and it's people.
Speaking of people....up to the moment we arrived in NYC we were excited for ourselves and what we were experiencing. It dawned on us that we were going to meet 10-20 other people who had been chosen just like us, and we knew each of them would have a unique story as well. It is so easy to get caught up in your own self-importance and daily routine that it's easy to develop a myopic view of the world. But, when you are surrounded by the types of people we were with, it humbles and inspires you. We cried over some of the stories we heard, laughed at others, learned some things along the way, and made some new friends. I've told each of them I was coming to visit....so I hope they are ready! Each of these women was inspirational and passionate towards their businesses, causes and their lives in general. There are wonderful people in this world, and it was so nice to meet a whole group of them!
Finally, we would like to thank Martha Stewart and all of her staff who worked so hard to pull the entire week together. We would also like to thank Talbot's for the beautiful (and free!) clothes as well as Bank of America for their generous contributions. Without all of their combined efforts and support, none of this would have been possible.
Ellie&Ollie will do it's best to make you proud you chose us as a finalist."
Go support these folks! Cookies are great!
http://www.ellieandollie.com
