This past summer, my mom gave me a gift. “You need to have a rag rug from the museum. It is part of your heritage,” she said. She highly values the traditions, customs, and practices inherited from her ancestors.

Some lovely ladies are keeping this almost forgotten tradition alive. They cut strips of fabric from used clothing or bedding and weave this weft into sturdy, durable and beautiful floor coverings and placemats.

What a metaphor for my new business! My previous work history has been a hodge-podge mix of interesting experiences. How could I masterfully extract all of these experiences and weave them into Off~Site Secretary? As I reflected on my work history, I mentally cut out pieces of the past just as the weavers choose carefully the colors and textures for their carpets.

Keeping every scrap possible, I have come up with an interesting pile of “weft”. The technical skills, customer service and communication skills, organizational skills, clerical and administrative skills are strong elements of my business. I cut them from my newspaper job, my insurance job, my nursing home job, my bakery job, my factory job. The “skills” from these “jobs” form the basic fabric of my business.

But that is not enough to consider. The carpets are not made with only weft. The second component, known as warp, is also an integral ingredient. Warp is the thread that is woven throughout the weft to hold everything together. It is what gives the carpet its integrity and strength.

It became obvious to me that successful businesses have strong ethics as their “warp”. Lately, it appears that many businesses have crumbled because its code of ethics was missing or misguided. My thoughts traveled right back to my mom because she instilled ethics in our family consistently. Every time I left the house, her parting words were always, “Remember right from wrong.” Every time – the exact same words. Our family values were clearly defined and were unwavering. We were expected to live them at all times in all places.

Having had this training since early childhood has helped me see clearly the results when people, employees, businesses made decisions based on a strong ethical code and the consequences when they didn’t. My personal code of ethics is the warp tightly woven into Off~Site Secretary. To this day I still hear in my head, “Remember right from wrong.” It’s part of my heritage.

My mom gives the best gifts!