Monday, January 24, 2011
How it all started or the day my paradigm shifted
by Kathleen Rutledge
A paradigm is our perception of reality, it is our view of the world. Mine shifted in 1993.
Many of us have been with a company during those final days before it is sold. There is tension, frustration, and anger when faced with so many unknowns. I was working for Provesta which was to be sold from the parent company, Phillips Petroleum. As the dates for the acquisition approached, the thought of starting my own sensory research company grew stronger. I worked with a group of experienced, trained and highly motivated sensory panelists. in 1993, they represented nearly 100K in investment. With the pending sale, they were to be disbanded.
My husband and I had been having desultory conversations about me starting a company for several months. I would idly doodle clever sounding company names on paper margins but that was about as far as the daydreams went.
As the sale of the company approached, my discussions with my husband acquired more urgency. Then one night, it happened. We were in a hotel in Tulsa and it was the night before the annual 15K Tulsa Run which my husband has run every year since 1985. He was preparing for the run; I was enjoying a nice glass of Cabernet.
He simply said, “Let’s do it”.
And my whole perspective of my relationship with the world shifted. I lay sleepless all night buzzing with thoughts and plans. I was overwhelmed and excited.
The next day, as we drove past the strip malls in Tulsa, I saw them with new eyes. Each storefront was a story of dreams or despair and I was about to throw my hat in the ring.
