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Love is a Rose

Love is a Rose, Sid Fey

Title / Role: President
Location: Warrenville, Illinois
www.loveisarose.com
SHARE THIS SUCCESS STORY
My successes.

The Kindness Project is in full swing & making a difference all across the country.

What do you do?

I am the president of an internet company www.loveisarose.com.

We take real roses & preserve them in gold & then put messages on the petals of these flowers (we are the ONLY company on the planet that is able to do that.) In 1966 I invented a product called "The Engraved Family Tree" where we take the history of a family & engrave their names, dates, & birthstones on the tree in the form of magnetic hearts & discs. The tree creates a permanent record of a family's heritage. These trees become a family's most prized possession. Our business is based on inspiration & relationships.  So the Kindness project became a natural extension of our work.

What inspired you to start your business?

Kathy & I have a commitment to working to help create a world that works for everyone with no one left out. For us that includes inspiration, gratitude & kindness. There is healing & joy when we see folks being in relationships & loving one another & giving back to others.

The “Kindness Project was born out of national & local events that were turning friends & neighbors against each other, as cruelty, discrimination & bigotry were being enabled & tolerated. It affected me personally as my golfing buddies for 30 years suddenly were sending racist & bigoted emails out, as if a switch was turned on. (Almost like they were given permission to be hurtful). I knew that I needed to do something about it. It seemed obvious that the opposite of hate was kindness. It was just a germ of an idea. I turned to the folks at SCORE for help. SCORE volunteers Ed & George came forth and were instrumental in the formation & development of “The Kindness Project”. The Mission of the Kindness Project is to create a Decade of Healing and kindness.  We appreciate the expertise & hands-on concerns for our project that Ed & George provided. They certainly showed their kindness. It enabled folks from all over the country to jump on board.

Our first stage was to donate live roses with messages of inspiration & gratitude to the nurses & health care workers in hospitals & nursing homes.  Over 20,000 healthcare workers have been so honored.  They are the “Heroes of the Decade” for sure. 

Phase two of the Kindness Project is to honor & thank our teachers and assist them in creating discussions around “KINDNESS” with their students.  There is no intention to dictate curriculum or lesson plans nor is there any political agenda.   We wish to work with schools and teachers to enable them to introduce Kindness into their classrooms via discussions & projects.  Kindness can be an antidote to bullying & discrimination, as well as creating a way of being that once adopted, can become a lifelong attitude.  Kindness has the power to help create a world that works for everyone with no one left out.  Like most things, we are not born kind, and we can adopt Kindness as a way of life.  We can discover how to be kind to others & ourselves.  In our experience students love it.  They can be a real force in doing something kind.  What a wonderful way to live a life.  We have created 2” red heart-shaped Kindness buttons that have a safety pin for all students & teachers.  Girls can even add cords & make them into necklaces.  This can be “The KINDNESS Badge of Honor” and provide the start of a discussion about, “What does Kindness mean?” “Why is Kindness important?” What does it look like to be kind to others & ourselves?”  This can be a created group discussion that organically will grow into an actualization.  Students are smart & can come up with wonderful ideas & contributions.  When they discover that they can “own” their Kindness, amazing attitude shifts can take place because they are proudly choosing a context for living their lives. Have everything be voluntary & freely chosen.  And most of all FUN.

Phrase three is about creating entire Kindness Communities in every state in the USA. LaGrange, Ky. has self-proclaimed itself “The Kindest City in Kentucky”, and out of that proclamation, they transformed their town. See their efforts to change their culture on a YouTube video. Search LaGrange Kentucky Kindness Program.

What's special about your business?

We get hundreds of emails just like this from these nurses & healthcare workers who are the Heroes of the decade. Serving THEM makes it all worthwhile:

"Dear Sid and Love Is A Rose Team,

 WOWEEEEEE!!!!!! Where to even begin?

Thank you all so kindly for the incredible roses that you have delivered to the entire NM Ortho Team members in Warrenville.  The love, excitement, and appreciation seen were incredible!  PSRs, MAs, RNs, PAs, APNs, and MDs all enjoyed the sweet surprise – so amazing!  Thank you for making our day, and having us feel the love, warmth, and care that came with the delightful rose.

The Kindness pins and messages from the rose boxes are pinned up to many of the recipient's desks in our phone room. This is a great reminder of what you all stand for.  Each of you has over exceeded in kindness and can’t thank you enough for who you are and what you do.

 May you continue on this journey as you are touching lives and reminding those how awesome they are.  You all are angels and made us feel like a million bucks.  Thank you so much for the love, joy, excitement, and hope you have instilled in us.

 Keep up the fight, continue to be strong, and thank you for making us feel so special.

 Blessings, hope, and strength to you all..."

What influenced you to seek help from SCORE?

I was hoping that their expertise & experience would move us forward.

Ed & George far exceeded expectations.

How SCORE helped.

The Zoom meetings with Mentors Ed & George kept me going & provided coaching & support that was invaluable.

What's great about my mentor?

They both had a wealth of knowledge & expertise that they were more than willing to share with me.

What advice would you give to someone thinking of starting a small business?

Starting a new business venture can be a daunting endeavor.  The only difference between work & play is what you call it. So have fun.

Helen Keller once said, "Cherish your visions & your dreams, as they are the children of your soul, the blueprint of your ultimate achievement."

What would you tell a fellow business owner about SCORE?

Run don't walk.

My mentors
Edmund Peterlinz

I can help SCORE Clients with business plans. I have extensive experience working with food related...

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Headshot of George Safford
George Safford

A strategic planning consultant for non-profits for 40 years, Safford worked with executive teams...

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