​The “What are we going to do about it?” question was followed up with taking stock.  A Diploma in Counselling Hypnotherapy, a Degree in Education, a couple of kids books that were shelved but not forgotten – it’s obvious right? Now, one of the things you need to know about Megan is that she is a planner, her world is happiest when there is a plan and we know that Rule #1 is “don’t change the plan” (the Transporter taught us that – thanks Jason).  Our tea time visits quickly switched into planning sessions. Countless pages of questions, book formats, publishers, pitches, software, hardware, audios, liabilities…..illustrations?  Each question led to another, and another, and another.  Each step in the process created two more steps, so needless to say, the plans changed with each development, but somehow we managed to keep Megan sane and continued to move forward.  At this time we were both working full time plus hours. There were late night fact finding googley missions, early morning business meetings, long telephone calls and loads of research.  But when all of that information is gathered, where do you start? The Big Picture, the Goal, the End Game, essentially you have to begin at the End – Crazy Right? I know, but without that mission, what drives you to take the next step? This is what our company HAD to do: help children maintain or develop positive mental health habits; provide easy to use resources for children, their parents, caregivers and educators; provide resources for children struggling with a variety of issues; offer support materials for the folks adulting; and it also had to be wrapped up in a neat little package that would be interesting and fun too!
So we knew what the product was going to be, but before you set up emails, register your company, hire illustrators…you really need to call it something.  What’s in a name? Seems simple but OMG!  This is what you will live with, it will be on everything you do, your representation, and two over tired, over thinkers working together, does not make it easier! Examine everything you want this company to stand for and the outcome you want for all the children everywhere.  So we stirred in the idea that it is NOT a healthy practice to look at the world through rose coloured glasses,  BUT with solid health habits which reframing is such a huge part of (yes that is another blog…later), it left us with the simple fact that IS a pretty rosy world if you are looking through the right frame…and “Rosy Window Productions” was born! 

It was a dark and stormy night…no actually it wasn’t, I’ve just always wanted to begin that way.  We are often asked how Rosy Window Productions came to be.  There are also times when I wish people would ask, and listen to the answer.  As with any new business there are always the people that scratch their heads and maybe don’t really believe in what you are doing.  They smile and nod, and say “that’s nice”.  I could say at this point what I think they are thinking, with their smile and nod, but one should really not try to read minds (bad mental health practice – yes there will be a blog about that…later) If I had to guess some of the key phrases might be – dream too big, never make a living, nice hobby, you get the idea. So here it is the story of the adventure that I embarked on 5 years ago, with one of my best friends, my rock, my business partner, my daughter.
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One of my favourite places to be is at a kitchen table with a cup of tea with one of my three daughters, we discuss our lives, work, loves, challenges, and the world in general. Megan, my oldest, had trained to become an educator and worked long hours teaching elementary school. Many times our conversations would be around her students, or situations that I had come across in my Counselling Hypnotherapy Practice.  My part of the conversations that I remember went something like “…if only someone would have helped this guy out as a kid, he wouldn’t have struggled his whole life with this…”
(a repeat of many similar discussions).  Megan’s classroom stories reflected the kids that would potentially become the adults who would seek help from a counsellor, the kids that had low self-esteem and the obvious uptick in the youth anxiety cases in both the classroom and my office.
 
The statement that Megan made is vivid in my mind “So what are we going to do about it? Everyone sits around the table and “saves the world” but not too many people do anything about it. 
“What are we going to do about it?” That simple question, turned into a powerful statement, a call to action that has changed our lives.