My name is Tiffany and I am the owner of The Gray, a women’s boutique located in Lake of the Ozarks, Mo. This is my first year in business and getting to this point in my life has been quite a journey. Let me start at the beginning (well sort of).
For 10 years I was married to my high school sweetheart. We had 2 beautiful and amazing children together and were planning our futures (in our early 30’s) when my husband had a tragic accident at work. He fell 3 stories on a jobsite and did not survive the severe trauma to his brain. At 30 years old, I found myself picking up the pieces of a shattered life and a shattered heart and trying to make sense of the chaos that had broken my family.
My children were 4 and 7 at the time and for the next several years we endured a deep grieving journey as we battled our way towards healing. It was hard and humbling work and one that often brought me to my knees asking God all those hard questions about WHY, and WHERE WERE YOU, and HOW DO I MOVE FORWARD?
But, we did move forward...one baby step at a time. I completed a masters degree in counseling and became a school counselor at a local high school. Counseling teenagers was one of the most rewarding and meaningful things I’ve ever done career wise, but also extremely challenging and trying at times. I loved working with teenagers and often felt like I learned more from them than they did from me. I was so blessed to get to watch them grow and mature, stand alongside them as they wrestled with struggles and hard life questions, and to be inspired daily by their creativity, passion for life, and pure energy!
But after 8 years of working so hard in this career and going home to my own kids mentally and emotionally spent on the daily, I began to long for more autonomy in my life and family. I desired to have more ownership in how I spent my time, how much money I earned, and what my message could be to young women. I have always loved fashion (my students even voted me best dressed on a couple of occasions). Making the decision to say good bye to them was one that was so hard...but the super cool thing is how they all cheered me on and shared how proud they were of me for pursuing my dream!
Thus, Gold+Gray was born and I said good-bye to working in public education and began to create a space and place I felt did not exist at the Lake of the Ozarks. In part because of the lessons I learned as a result of losing my husband, Jason, I was willing to take a big risk and pursue a dream that kept nudging at my heart. One major philosophy that I live by is that life is too short to settle! My message for young women is one of inclusivity and community and it doesn’t just go away because I don’t work in a high school anymore. In fact, it’s gotten louder, clearer, and more real than ever! I'm working to create a super cool store to shop and an environment of love and support for all women! I hope you’ll come check out Gold+Gray the next time you’re at the LOZ!
For 10 years I was married to my high school sweetheart. We had 2 beautiful and amazing children together and were planning our futures (in our early 30’s) when my husband had a tragic accident at work. He fell 3 stories on a jobsite and did not survive the severe trauma to his brain. At 30 years old, I found myself picking up the pieces of a shattered life and a shattered heart and trying to make sense of the chaos that had broken my family.
My children were 4 and 7 at the time and for the next several years we endured a deep grieving journey as we battled our way towards healing. It was hard and humbling work and one that often brought me to my knees asking God all those hard questions about WHY, and WHERE WERE YOU, and HOW DO I MOVE FORWARD?
But, we did move forward...one baby step at a time. I completed a masters degree in counseling and became a school counselor at a local high school. Counseling teenagers was one of the most rewarding and meaningful things I’ve ever done career wise, but also extremely challenging and trying at times. I loved working with teenagers and often felt like I learned more from them than they did from me. I was so blessed to get to watch them grow and mature, stand alongside them as they wrestled with struggles and hard life questions, and to be inspired daily by their creativity, passion for life, and pure energy!
But after 8 years of working so hard in this career and going home to my own kids mentally and emotionally spent on the daily, I began to long for more autonomy in my life and family. I desired to have more ownership in how I spent my time, how much money I earned, and what my message could be to young women. I have always loved fashion (my students even voted me best dressed on a couple of occasions). Making the decision to say good bye to them was one that was so hard...but the super cool thing is how they all cheered me on and shared how proud they were of me for pursuing my dream!
Thus, Gold+Gray was born and I said good-bye to working in public education and began to create a space and place I felt did not exist at the Lake of the Ozarks. In part because of the lessons I learned as a result of losing my husband, Jason, I was willing to take a big risk and pursue a dream that kept nudging at my heart. One major philosophy that I live by is that life is too short to settle! My message for young women is one of inclusivity and community and it doesn’t just go away because I don’t work in a high school anymore. In fact, it’s gotten louder, clearer, and more real than ever! I'm working to create a super cool store to shop and an environment of love and support for all women! I hope you’ll come check out Gold+Gray the next time you’re at the LOZ!