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Heart to Heart with Sarah of Custom Gemini

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Many times, we hear of men and women moving to Airdrie because of the community and how ideal it looks to raise children here. Hardly ever do I hear of the move being driven by a career choice.

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Primarily raised here in Airdrie, Sarah moved away as a young adult. Only to see herself a few years later returning with her spouse and children to be closer to work at Condillo Foods . The convenience of working near her home attracted her back to her hometown. And of course, having Mom and Dad around the corner for babysitting was a plus!

As we all know when planning a wedding, the Bride wants every fine detail paid attention to. For Sarah, this meant she would invest in a home dye cutter to make everything from scratch. She made the invites, decorations and more. After the wedding she would fuel her creativity by making birthday cards for family members and homemade gifts. Then people were starting to ask her to make custom (hence Custom Gemini) gifts for their family members and friends.

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While working her full-time career and having young children, Sarah started to invest in commercial equipment for Custom Gemini. She figured it was the way to “up her game” either in becoming a business or having fun with it. Right before Christmas 2016 Sarah’s spouse asked her a life changing question: “What do you want to do?”  Sarah was taken aback by this. Her career was very successful, their children were happy and healthy, and she had a growing side gig. Life was busy but it was good. The question opened her eyes. She started to see her vision of staying home with her children and making Custom Gemini her full-time career. She decided to give it a try, she would quit her stable job and run Custom Gemini. She handed in her notice and on her last day of work, she discovered she was pregnant with their 3rd. Knowing that as an entrepreneur means no maternity leave, Sarah said she had to “dive in and make it happen.”

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A crucial next step was applying to Smart Start and being accepted in the 2018 program. Her leader and inspirational role model was and still is, Jennifer Benner. This was Sarah’s top pick and she was over the moon excited to know she had received Jennifer as a mentor. Jennifer has continued to inspire Sarah with community efforts and business evolution. Sarah comments “I was very fortunate to be paired with Jennifer.”

With Jennifer’s inspiration and Sarah’s big heart, both have been contributing Airdrie citizens. Sarah is passionate about a few events around town including Project Jack n’ Jill,  but her all time favourite ones are Boo at the Creek and the recent Pride Festival. Boo at the Creek for Sarah means more than just Halloween. As she explained to me, Boo at the Creek provides families and friends to gather in an inclusive environment for one thing – to have fun with kids! “It doesn’t matter what your costume looks like or what your beliefs are, there are activities for everyone to enjoy and it’s all free so everyone can come!” as Sarah shared. This is her 4th year being a part of the event. Her main role with this event is supplying volunteer shirts and sweaters. She also throws in a basket to help raise funds for the event. She always looks forward to it and hopes the community does too. Secondly, the Pride Festival celebrated this summer here in Airdrie brought out a lot of emotions in Sarah. Growing up here since Grade 4 age, attending this event showed the growth and transformation Airdrie has taken on. “It was really cool just to be a part of it all” Sarah proudly said. She had a table at this event which enabled her to take part and witness one of Airdrie’s historical moments. One day we’ll look back and think, “Wow look at what our city started!”

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I had to ask Sarah, what are her favourite things to create. She said she has a lot of fun playing with logos. For example, creating a funny quote about physiotherapy paired with a Physiotherapist office logo. Or having fun with a business logo to make it custom for an event. She shared with me one business project; she transfigured their logo into a maple leaf for their Canada Day celebrations. She also really enjoys making the Mermaid Flip Pillows and most kids in Airdrie appreciate that she makes them! Her children finally received theirs recently and are very happy that mommy made them one too! She absolutely loves seeing her work around town, whether it’s on a coffee mug or a shirt, it brings her pride knowing she was a part of that marketing and networking.

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Growing up and raising her children here gives Sarah pride. She is proud to honour Airdrie traditions and relive them with her children. She is proud of the advancements and growth she has witnessed and been a part of here. Mostly she is proud that Airdrie has retained that small town community feeling. Her biggest wish for Airdrie is to keep focused on that small-town community support and not give in to the big city mentality or drama that comes with growth. With leaders like her in the community, I trust Airdrie will retain that small-town focus.  Thank you, Sarah, for all your effort in the community.

Check out Custom Gemini at www.facebook.com/customgemini/ or customgemini.com

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