My work with the couple continued for about three months, all the while encouraging her to move by home to Atlanta where she could prove to herself more than him that she could take care of herself.
After much discussion and stress, she agreed and made plans to move back east by March. It was more than challenging for her and I had to be somewhat removed from the emotions I felt at her dilemma. My issue was he would never respect her if she didn’t follow through. Eventually his acceptance of her artistry versus his business acumen would become an issue, especially during any stressful moments, I was sure of it.
So off she went. She found a delightful house just outside of Atlanta with windows and a deck all around the home. It was bright and lovely. It was an ideal house for her to create art.
I gave her guidelines to work with. She was to call 20 specific gift and card stores every week to promote her work. Her website had been designed to make it easy for a buyer to see the quality and variety of her work. Her business literally exploded. She increased her sales by 200% in the six months we had been working and she kept her expenses down.
Then I got a call in the middle of May.
“Guess what?” her excited voice questioned, without first telling me who she was.
I laughed and asked, “What?” recognizing her voice.
“We’re getting married!”
When a few months previous she thought her world was over, she now would have everything she had always wanted.