|
 |
|
|
Sunday, Oct 12, 2008
|
|
|||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
Business Spotlight: Jody Laine of Tiempo Timepiece and Jewelry |
|
 |
|
| Business Spotlight: Jody Laine of Tiempo Timepiece and Jewelry | |
|
by Lisa Wardle -
SGN Staff Writer When meeting with Jody Laine at Tiempo Timepiece and Jewelry, I was greeted with the face of what it means to be the owner of a small shop. She had forgotten about our interview, and was rushing around unpacking clocks from boxes and organizing a new window display. I was pleased to help out, admiring the gorgeous and eclectic selection in the store. While we were piecing together the summer beach theme for the display, Jody answered several questions and clued me in about her business and her passions. Lisa Wardle: Where are you originally from? Jody Laine: I'm originally from San Diego. My partner, Shad Reinstein, and I moved from upstate New York, over by Ithaca, back in 1987. Shad came to Seattle for acupuncture school. There are thousands of them now, but, back then, there were under one hundred [acupuncturists] in Washington State. LW: How long have you been together with your partner? JL: We met in '83, well she reminds me that we met a couple of times before that. We both worked at the Seneca Women's Camp for Peace and Justice. Shad was on the planning committee for a couple of years, and I showed up to help with logistics and stuff. I'd like to say that it was love at first sight, but it's a little more difficult than that. LW: Where does the name of your store, Tiempo, come from? JL: "Tiempo" means "time" in Spanish and Italian, and it was part of my mother's maiden name as well. My mom's name was Senitetiempo. LW: How long has Tiempo been around and what made you decide to open the shop? JL: It's our ten year anniversary. Technically, it will be ten years in November, but to hell with it, you're working on it before the store opens up. Before opening this store, I worked in a workshop over at 10th and Union. I started out in theater, community-based theater, and once I turned 35, I thought "Oh my god, I'm so not going to retire doing this." My friend from the East Coast, upstate New York, moved over here and handed me a North Seattle Community College catalog. They have the Watchmakers of Switzerland Training and Education Program (WOSTEP) there, providing the same training you'd get in Switzerland here. Now, I'm on the advisory committee for that program. It's extremely difficult to get into: only 9 people a year, and three thousand hours of school. I went over to Highline for the jewelry program. After school, I had the impression that my punky self wouldn't be hired by anyone else, so I started my own place. The larger companies seem to want employees with a more standard gender-appropriate appearance. LW: What are some of the struggles that you have encountered as a small business owner? JL: You mean a small business on a side street. It would be a very different story if I was located on Broadway. This has a neighborhood-y feel to it and not a business district. I thought originally that having a side street store, I could put up a "gone fishing" sign for a while and that would be fine. But people come here all of the time. Even though we're small, we have an extremely skilled group of workers. They have PhDs and masters degrees in various things. We don't make as much money as a larger store or company might, which means that we can't do as many things for the store, but we have a community feel. One issue I would say is trying to get people to know about and find the store. Unless you have an advertising budget of a conglomerate, your methods have to be different. I also wish that I could get some more time off for vacation. LW: You have a lot of certificates and plaques on the wall, what have you done to receive those? JL: It's not about the plaques, it's about being a part of the community. The plaques just come along with it. I was on the board of the Pride Committee and a member of the GSBA. I also helped to make a video for Camp Ten Trees and was on the board for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. We are involved in those organizations because we take leadership in the community. LW: Why are you interested in clocks and watches? JL: My passion is for the arts, this is just a job. So, I thought to myself a few years ago "Oh, I need to do something else more artistic." I worked on making a documentary film with my partner and Shan Ottey called Mom's Apple Pie. The three of us took a documentary class at the University of Washington and the film was our result. We have a distributor now and the film has shown in New York a couple of times in addition to the film festival here a couple of years ago. LW: Why do you think that customers choose to patronize Tiempo? What is special about it compared to other stores in the same business? JL: I am involved in the community, not just the Queer community, but the Seattle community. I'm open to suggestions from customers about ideas for organizations and efforts to support. If someone comes in here, I enjoy helping to support the things that they are passionate about. One of my clients is opening up a new hospital and I donated a bunch of industrial clocks for the building. Part of our mission statement is to be a philanthropic shop. Though we won't support everything, we try to support things that promote getting people together, leadership, women in power, and underserved communities. LW: I saw your shop listed in the GSBA Business Guide this year. Do you think that most of your customers know that you're Queer? JL: I'm not trying to hide it. There are plaques on the wall and I have my GSBA Guides that I hand out to youth who come into the store, telling them that the scholarship deadline might be approaching and that they should apply. I'm proud of the incredibly diverse clientele that I have here. People come from Bellevue and all of the far reaches from Seattle. There are little old Black ladies from the First Avenue Church and bar-hopping Gay boys. This is a place that people aren't afraid to walk into. LW: You do a lot of volunteer work, what is your motivation for that? JL: I volunteer because it's great. It's where the action is and it makes the world a better place. I like to keep the world on track. I love thinking that I am a part of the larger community; building bridges here and there in an effort to help others. And I'd like to thank all of my supporters, even the ones who have just come in to get a battery changed, because they have helped to support our store and the community. Tiempo is located at 1511 14th Avenue, between Pike and Pine in Seattle. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 post your own information on the Seattle Gay Blog |
copyright Seattle Gay News - DigitalTeamWorks 2007