{"id":139,"date":"2025-10-26T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nwnotaryonthego.com\/thenotarynook\/?p=139"},"modified":"2025-10-25T14:06:24","modified_gmt":"2025-10-25T14:06:24","slug":"building-community-one-signature-and-story-at-a-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nwnotaryonthego.com\/thenotarynook\/building-community-one-signature-and-story-at-a-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Building Community, One Signature (and Story) at a Time"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When Greg and I first sat down with our SBDC advisor (shoutout to Rudel!), he told us something that stuck: if we wanted our business to succeed, we\u2019d have to connect with people in our community. We didn\u2019t have a built-in network \u2014 just two transplanted Southerners trying to find our footing in Oregon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That conversation has come up more than once since Greg\u2019s job moved us here from Portland. Even there, we never built much of a social circle. We left our roots in Louisiana behind and got so focused on adjusting to our new lives that we never really looked up. But we want things to be different this time \u2014 not just for our business, but for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ll never build real connections if we keep everything filtered through ChatGPT (no offense, ChatGPT). It\u2019s been helpful, but it can\u2019t tell our<\/em> story the way we can. So this post is my first real attempt at showing who we are \u2014 not just as a business, but as people. Hopefully, some of it resonates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who We Are<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re both Virgos (five days apart) and relocated Southerners who still feel a bit out of place despite five years in Oregon. We both work full-time jobs alongside running the business, and our household is… lively. Two dogs, three cats, and a few \u201cbasement cats\u201d who drop in to eat and nap in the shelter Greg set up for them. All rescues, because neither of us can turn away an animal in need. Our house is usually messy, and we\u2019re usually tired \u2014 but we\u2019re still each other\u2019s favorite people after twenty years of marriage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have a Gen Z daughter we adore, even when we don\u2019t entirely understand her world. We love music of all kinds, but hard rock has our hearts. Concerts are our main \u201cdate nights,\u201d and our living room walls tell the story: one side covered in autographs and band photos, the other in snapshots of us doing things we never dreamed possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our Roots and Our Why<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When we first married, we were flat broke \u2014 like \u201cborrow $12 to get married\u201d broke. We couldn\u2019t afford a car, much less a wedding. When we finally scraped together enough for a beat-up car, we couldn\u2019t even find a notary nearby to sign the title. Those experiences stuck with us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moving to Oregon gave us breathing room and the chance to live authentically without so much fear of judgment. We miss home sometimes, but every visit reminds us why we left. The only thing I still miss daily is real Cajun food \u2014 if I want it, I have to make it myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we started our business, I wanted to help people who might be in the same position we once were \u2014 struggling with access, transportation, or cost barriers. I had technically been a notary for three years but had never notarized anything. Once I brushed up on the training, I dove into what notaries really<\/em> do. That\u2019s how I discovered loan signings \u2014 a way to support people through big, life-changing decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also learned that in some states, notaries can officiate weddings. That\u2019s not the case here in Oregon, but it inspired me to get ordained so I could help couples who might not be able to afford a traditional ceremony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our Hopes Moving Forward<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Starting this business has been about more than income \u2014 it\u2019s about belonging. We\u2019re excited to build real connections here in Tillamook County and beyond, both through our services and by contributing to our community. We want our work to matter, to help someone who needs help, and to build a life we can look back on with pride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks for being part of that journey.<\/p>\n\n\n

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When Greg and I first sat down with our SBDC advisor (shoutout to Rudel!), he told us something that stuck: if we wanted our business to succeed, we\u2019d have to connect with people in our community. We didn\u2019t have a built-in network \u2014 just two transplanted Southerners trying to find our footing in Oregon. That […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":140,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[51,12,50,32,52],"class_list":["post-139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-community-connections","tag-mobile-notary-tillamook","tag-notary-life","tag-oregon-notary","tag-relocated-southerners"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/nwnotaryonthego.com\/thenotarynook\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_0579.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nwnotaryonthego.com\/thenotarynook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nwnotaryonthego.com\/thenotarynook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nwnotaryonthego.com\/thenotarynook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nwnotaryonthego.com\/thenotarynook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nwnotaryonthego.com\/thenotarynook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nwnotaryonthego.com\/thenotarynook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":141,"href":"https:\/\/nwnotaryonthego.com\/thenotarynook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139\/revisions\/141"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nwnotaryonthego.com\/thenotarynook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nwnotaryonthego.com\/thenotarynook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nwnotaryonthego.com\/thenotarynook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nwnotaryonthego.com\/thenotarynook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}