Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 23 J U LY 1 2 , 2 0 2 1 F O C U S A U G U S TA / WAT E R V I L L E / C E N T R A L M A I N E as somebody who will make things the rest of my life, whether that's a startup or business venture or pottery or music." Taking older adults down memory lane Tiffany Lomax moved from Delaware to Waterville last year to take a job as Colby College's first recreation ser- vices director. She also became a first-time entre- preneur, teaming up with her sister and aunt to launch Memory Lane Cards LLC in February. ey make fill-in-the-blank card kits for older adults, inspired by concern for Lomax's 96-year-old grandmother. Unable to socialize with friends during COVID, the grandmother often forgets to call them, and gives a standard answer of "fine" when family members call to ask about her day. at's when Lomax and her sister, Judie, a psychologist and their grand- mother's primary caretaker, came up with the idea of pre-printed cards with prompts like "Do you remember when…" and "Here's a photo of…" e goal: To bring back memories, and help her reconnect with family and friends. "We were like, 'How do we create more of those moments where she gets to remember the good times and gets to talk to her friends,'" Lomax says, who notes that the cards were an instant hit with her grandmother: "We give her the prompt and she can give us the whole story." Seeking to bring the same expe- rience to others, Lomax and her sister and aunt teamed up to launch Memory Lane Cards with an ecom- merce site. For $20, customers get a kit with three fill-in-the-blank cards with prompts asking for a word or two, a phrase or sentence depending on the person's cognitive level; three detach- able photographs that the person submits; three stamped envelopes; and a set of easy-to-follow instructions. Each card concludes with the sender's name and phone number, so that the recipient calls or replies in writing. With help from Tortoise Labs, Lomax designed a website that touts "snail mail with a new twist" as the perfect gift for older loved ones. She reports a positive response so far and looks forward to the company's next chapter, saying, "I'm excited to see where we can go." Peddling 'the write stuff' to small businesses When Elaine eriault-Currier started writing press releases for small-busi- ness clients in 2020 while working at the Maine Department of Labor, she never thought she'd go into business for herself. For a combination of reasons including the pandemic and having to care for her six-month-old daugh- ter for whom she couldn't find day care, she stayed in her day job while taking on some writing gigs in her spare time. "I wasn't that prototypical bachelor entrepreneur who stays up until all hours," she says. "Instead of working until midnight, I was breastfeeding my daughter." As a result, she wasn't aggressively seeking new clients. at changed early this year when she decided to take the plunge only when it made financial sense to do so, which happened sooner than expected in April. She left her state govern- ment job that month and started full- time on her own in May. Her company, called Pen Name and based out of her home in Windsor, offers public relations and grant writ- ing services for small businesses. Currently working with several food-based businesses, she hopes to expand that niche in the longer term. But she's determined to stay a one- person operation and keep her focus on writing rather than managing oth- ers and editing their work. "I don't want to get away from what I love," she says. R e n e e C o r d e s , M a i n e b i z s e n i o r w r i t e r, c a n b e r e a c h e d a t r c o r d e s @ m a i n e b i z . b i z a n d @ r s c o r d e s P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F E L A I N E T H E R I A U LT- C U R R I E R 'Just start' and other tips for aspiring entrepreneurs W aterville-based Tortoise Labs, owned by Nick Rimsa and Brendan Barr, bills itself as a rural product studio. Over the past four years, it has helped around 50 entrepreneurs turn their business ideas into reality by "teach- ing them how to build things that people want," as Rimsa puts it. His advice to all aspiring entrepreneurs: 1. Just start. Taking the first step is oftentimes the hardest part of get- ting started. Identify the customer you want to help and what you want to help them to accomplish. Figure out what you need to learn in order to create a solution, and then go learn until you've closed the gap. 2. If you want to build something but aren't sure what to build, think about the customer you want to serve. Then go talk to those people and find out how you can help them accomplish something they're cur- rently unable to do. 3. There's always going to be some- one with more experience or exper- tise, so don't let that prevent you from starting. Everyone's a novice before they start. P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F N I C K R I M S A Nick Rimsa, owner and product designer at Tortoise Labs. I wasn't that prototypical bachelor entrepreneur who stays up until all hours. Instead of working until midnight, I was breastfeeding my daughter. — Elaine Theriault-Currier Pen Name C OM PANY: Pen Name, Windsor Elaine Theriault-Currier, 28

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