Meet Kayla Silver

We recently connected with Kayla Silver and have shared our conversation below.

Kayla, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?

This is a tough question because I feel that resilience isn’t a thing you have its a thing you practice and almost have to remind yourself that you are to have it. Perhaps some of us do just have an instinct to carry on, to find the solution, to stare down the face of a challenge, challenging times, risk, uncertainty, and not flinch – I certainly can’t say that is me. I can say, that I have the ability to accept the challenge, usually take a second to have my “moment”, but problem solve, navigate, rely on resources, friends, and colleagues and find a way through.

If I had to answer the question more directly I would honestly say I’ve built up a resilience, a thicker skin, or a drive to find the solution through my time (really my whole life) as an equestrian. I grew up in inner Manhattan, NYC – not exactly a thriving horse community besides some rides through Central Park. It took a lot of time, effort, money, and resilience (usually in the form of mucking stalls endlessly to afford this hobby of mine) from age 12 to today. The horse world is unforgiving – it can be judgmental, harsh, lonely, and isolating, no matter how much you love these big amazing creatures, the world of horsing can be tough. If you want to stick with it, it takes a lot out of you, a lot of commitment, and honestly more lows than highs, more slow growth than big fast shiny growth. In each moment where you think the journey might end, if you love it, you’ll find a way back to it. While this is a big love for me, my resilience as an entrepreneur very well might have been cultivated from the same place, a love of what I do, a love of wine, sharing, and hospitality, and a confidence that when you put your best, most honest, most genuine foot forward things will often work out how they are supposed to. That faith in offering resilience with the hope of results has come with a lot of learning, time, and frankly some therapy sessions along the way.

In short – resilience is a practice you keep practicing because you love what you do.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I own and run Salt & Bubbles, a small natural wine bar and shop in Essex, VT and own Leo & Company just a few doors down, a local food market, cafe and deli.
Both of these businesses are special to me, the community we are in, and the farmers, winemakers, producers that we source from and support.
Salt & Bubbles is often referred to as the “cheers” of wine bars where we know your name, what you like to drink, your favorite dishes, and we love to see you, give you a hug and hear about your lives. We’re a staff of fun, quirky, odd, wine lovers, who are often having as much fun working with one another as we are talking and educating our guests about the wines they’re drinking. We source wines from farmers who practice natural winemaking in the vineyard and in the cellar and love what we do and what we get to share.

Leo & Co was born out of a community need when a former natural food market and grocery closed down we found ourselves with a rare opportunity to revitalize it, give it a fresh look, and still provide that niche for the community. We source almost all of our ingredients from local farms and put them on full display in our market. We are a gathering space, we are a creative kitchen, and we have maintained and important community staple.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

I feel there are a few really important qualities or skills some of which I had going in, others I’ve learned over time.

1) (still working on this one) “Let them have their stories about you” – What I mean by this is make decisions that feel right for you, for your life, for your brand and business. Do you have to make that tough decision and let that employee go? Will they say bad things about you in your community? More importantly – whats right for your business. Or, you choose to change your hours because it is a compromise of what is best for your ability to do your job well while maintaining good business practice. Or, you have to raise your prices to cover the costs of a higher quality product. Know yourself, your brand, your business and follow your gut.

2) Financials – this one I cannot stress enough and feel I watch a ton of business owners ask me a lot of questions at the beginning of their entrepreneurial journey and need to work on the most. All small businesses involve a degree or many degrees of risk but know your numbers, know your margins and don’t let it catch you on the back end.

3) Great people to support you – the right team means everything, I’m very very lucky to have had some incredible people be a part of my journey as a business owner and leader and continue to be lucky.

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?

First – if its really really a lot, its stressful, its truly at the point of overwhelm – go have a really good cry. Honestly, it helps. Pretending it isn’t overwhelming or it isn’t a big deal, or it isn’t personal won’t make it easier. It IS personal, it is a big deal.

When you’re ready to re – approach, try and ask for help, reach out to resources you trust, reach out to folks who you know might be able to give you an honest answer, who might be tough, but are looking out for you.

Strategize, talk it out, and ride the storm. Make sure to take time for yourself, to come up for air, see the big picture, and know this time will pass.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.saltandbubbleswine.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saltandbubbleswine/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/saltandbubbleswine/

Image Credits

Daria Bishop (first and primary)
Winter Caplanson (all others)