Nancy: I'm here with Martha at the yarn shop in Gillette, and she's a very good spot. And I don't know, have you been thinking about a story you might be willing to share? 

Martha: Yeah, I think so. My husband and I were married when I was 18. And we're still married, so we're going on 34 years, which is fabulous, because he's a great guy, he has allowed me to reinvent myself. And I get to reinvent myself about every 10 years.

Which has made my life fun. I don't know, so many people, I can't imagine staying at the same job for 25 or 30 years. It just sounds sad to me. I just can't do it. So the first was I got to be a mom and stay home, and I tried homeschooling. But, I have boys. And they didn't think they had to listen to Mom. So I'm like, "Fine, go." And that was the first time I got to change and I became the executive director of a museum district.

Nancy: Wow. Yeah. That's a big change. 

Martha: It was a big change. It was in Crook County, Sundance. And so it was a small town, but what I learned, I'm not built for politics. Fair. Which is fair. You have to have a special personality to be in politics. And then I tried , I worked for a Harley store.

Nancy: Motorcycle dealership? 

Martha: Yep, I was in the parts. 

Nancy: Oh, I love this. 

Martha: So I did parts for a while. But, that wasn't me, that just is not my lifestyle. Even worked in Sturgis for a while. bThat was interesting. Again, not really who I am, but you have to try different things. And I met some fabulous people. 

Martha: So there was that. And then I managed a hotel. So I don't manage people well. I learned I don't like it. I just don't like being the boss other than myself. I tend to question and push against authority, and I wanna make sure that they're there because they're supposed to be. I don't like bad authority. 

And then that didn't work out, so you know, I keep failing sideways. Which is good, you know? 

Nancy: It is good. 

Martha: I became a paralegal for a couple of attorneys in Spearfish. And they gave me the best education. I love legal work. It was a lot of fun. I worked for him for 10 years, and I was able to work remotely.

Nancy: What area of law? 

Martha: It was a lot of criminal defense, civil litigation. I just thrived. It was a lot of fun. They allowed me to be who I was. I didn't have to hide. I didn't have to, I could be as snarky as I needed to be. And it was so nice after, you know, you're being told too often how you're supposed to be as a woman, and how you're supposed to think. 

And I don't always think that way, which is okay. But after 10 years, I was bored. And I had been working remotely for at least five, so I was also lonely. And the opportunity came up to buy the yarn store. So I had actually just turned 50, and my husband was like, "Well, if you want it, we'll make it work.”

So that's what we did. We cashed in our retirement because, well, why not? You only live once, and you can't take it with you. And we might be eating rice and beans, but it's been fun. And I have met the most amazing people, and I feel like I get to help women be themselves. They need that, a safe place. Just if they wanna be grumpy and rage against the world, they can be. If they wanna be flighty and put fun colors together, we can do that. It doesn't matter, and I want women to stop saying they're not good enough. Because we are intuitively good enough

Nancy: I love that you say you failed sideways. That's great because that's like, and we've talked before we started recording just about how failure can be so generative and insightful. I don't know what my real question is. I'm just thinking about you wanting to create this space for women. How, in your own internal dialogue, internal monologue, how do you create that space for yourself?  What do you say to yourself on the hard days? 

Martha: It's not nice. That is a really good question, and I'm not sure. Because I do struggle with being lonely. At times— oh, I got someone in. Yay! A customer— yeah, I think I am just very blessed in what I have. You know, not take it for granted. 

Nancy: Sit with the blessings. 

Martha: Mm-hmm. 

Note: The transcript above has been condensed from its original audio recording to improve the flow and readability of the story.