Chaotic Canning Co.

This morning I stood in my kitchen simmering a pot of marinara sauce with tomatoes from my uncle’s garden and herbs from mine. My grandpa taught me how to grow food, and my grandma taught me how to preserve it. I was preserving their son’s harvest with their skills passed down to me. Generations in a jar.

From there I went to my nephew’s football game and watched him play a sport he loves. I carry so much love and pride for him and my niece, with a twinge of ache—because their dad was one of my closest friends, and we lost him far too soon.

I stopped at the marketplace to grab a jar of my own dilly beans to fill an order, then closed out the night conducting a real estate closing. You see, I spent 20 years of my life in that career, and it was a surreal moment to sit back down at a closing table and reflect on it. These borrowers had been through many closings before, and they told me it was the best one they’d ever had—short, fun, crystal clear, and actually enjoyable. I remember relishing in those compliments when I’d receive them, and it felt good to hear those words again.

Earlier this week, a real estate agent I’ve never met in person even called me to purchase my company’s product as a closing gift for her buyers. Talk about strange overlaps.

And that’s what makes it hit me, in some weird way: I’ve built something of my own. A company that’s rooted in family, tradition, resilience, and love. A business that grew from my grandparents’ lessons, my own heartbreaks, and the determination to keep going.

A lot has changed for me in a very short amount of time. But one thing I hope always remains the same is my ability to connect and explain things that might seem overwhelming or complicated in a much more understandable, fun, and human way. And today, part of my time will be spent planning and preparing to teach a class tomorrow—showing others how to preserve their own food in a way that feels approachable and simple.

Because life’s complicated enough—the least we can do is make understanding each other easy.