Paper. Pretties & Dirt is 3!

3.  I’ve always loved the number 3, as my birthday is the 3^rd of December, 3 sides in a triangle, which I love the fact a triangle can’t be broken… my list could go on and on…

3 years ago I hit the “submit” button on a Facebook group that to this day, is still going, and has brought me not only a business, but it brought me to complete strangers, a fun hobby, a way to “shop” for others, extra income, and at the right time of my life, a sense of purpose.

If we all want to hit rewind on what was going on 3 years ago, we all will probably close our eyes for a second and think, wow, Covid was 3 years ago.  This was a time in my life, I’ll be honest, was all over the place. I know many of us also were in this place.  Pulled in a bunch of directions and not sure which one to take. Many of us were at our homes and not venturing out. This meant that kids, spouses were also all under one roof, all at the same time for days after days.  This time was hard for me, as I had been working from home full time, a parent to a 1^st grader that had distance learning from Mid-March to beginning of June, a preschooler that had a couple of weeks at home and then hybrid for a few months after that, so it was a crazy time. I learned balance more than anything in 2020. I’ll add patience in there, but that was just a given to us all. This was also the time when I knew things in my marriage were not going to go in the forward direction. Holding on to all of this all at once, I realized that I needed to be as strong as I could, and work as hard as I could, because I knew what was ahead wasn’t going to be easy.

As I started this group, I also knew that was going to be something that was all mine, possibly turn in to a business, something to grow, something I needed at this point in my life. A sense of purpose, a sense of giving, a sense of serving, a sense of fun and social. This is where you all came in, you joined this group you knew nothing about, a group your friends told you to join, or one you stumbled upon and joined for the hopes of saving money. 

As you all looked at this group, I am sure you questioned the name… what is “Paper. Pretties & Dirt?” I’ll give a quick rundown.. Paper:  I love to write, I love notebooks, pens, stationary, all the things, this is where “paper” came from. Pretties: Who doesn’t love “pretty” things? I know I do! I also have a daughter, who when she was more little, would say “pretty” a lot!  Dirt:  Life is can be messy, not everything in life is perfectly clean, plus I have a son who loves all things “dirt.” Tractors, cars, legit dirt to drive his tonkas in..  Put us 3 together, and that is where the name came from.

The first year of the group was amazing. So many members, and I would have all sorts of businesses, third party affiliate groups requesting me to go with them, so much fun. I also made Paper. Pretties & Dirt an LLC and is a registered business.

Going in to the 2^nd year, the group continued to group and the business was strong. I loved finding all the deals, the engagement, the fun! I loved all the special events, especially Prime days.. so many deals! And I would tell people, it wasn’t all about the income, it was the fun of finding deals, it was like personally shopping for others and it was a great time.  Then in October 2022, I took a different job and I realized that my time was split in completely different ways. At this point I was rocking the single parent thing and me and my kids were rocking life! I also watched my time being spent in completely different ways then it was when I first started the group in 2020. As much as I wanted to post in the group, it kept getting further and further down the list. As my kids started to be in more activities, as I became more involved in my kids’ school, my job, traveling more, posting was something I just wasn’t doing and each day, that was hard for me. Dishes or posting.

Just recently, I told myself, it is time to bring this group back to it’s glory days..

Fast forward to now, 3 years of Paper. Pretties & Dirt. A group of almost 13, 000 members!  I have tried so hard to get us to that 13,000 and I know one day it will!

On this note, I want to thank ALL of you.. whether you are here from day 1, or just joined, thank you!  Your support in this group has not only been awesome as a business owner, but you have helped me have a sense of purpose..

Happy 3^rd Anniversary to us, Happy 3^rd Anniversary, Paper. Pretties & Dirt!