Quirkiness | from Page 11
and accounting.

“These are things we have no
background in. So it’s like, ‘All
right. Time to take a stab at social
media,’” laughed Jamie, who lives in
Washington, D.C.

“Which needs more than a stab,” Lisa
chimed. “Actually, I think it needs to
be strangled.”
They also had to learn how to juggle
and manage this new relationship.

It’s become more collaborative.

“Sometimes when I tell people I have
a business with my mom, they look
at me like I’m crazy,” Jamie said.

And she admits, that sometimes
she feels like this might be a crazy
endeavor, but she enjoys the honesty
and openness that comes with the
partnership. However, their mom-and-daughter
life has blended with their business.

They agreed it was inevitable. In
the beginning, there relationship
seemed to revolve around the
12 September 2017 washingtonFAMILY.com
business, so they had to work hard at
disassociating themselves in certain
situations. sometimes I feel like we are more like
“There were times I just wanted to
hang out with my mom, and not
my business partner,” said Jamie. “I
just wanted to do normal mother-
daughter things.”
relationship.” “You can’t really have a conversation
anymore without me giving her an
update or her telling me something
she’s worked on,” said Lisa, a D.C.

native who now lives in Rockville,
MD. responsibilities of Oh Bessie. She
There’s no way of separating the two,
Lisa said, but they both agree they’re
getting better at managing them.

What’s also helped is understanding
and respecting each other’s work
ethic. with their kids, they need to know
Lisa’s favorite aspect of working with
her daughter is seeing customers’
reactions to the designs. Knowing
her daughter created such marvelous
things and seeing them spark wonder
in the eyes of others means a lot to
her as a mother.

“It has brought us closer, but
business partners,” Lisa said. “But
it has enhanced or broadened our
Lisa acknowledges that starting a
business is hard work. She’s had
other ventures throughout her
career, which prepared her for the
couldn’t imagine taking on this
endeavor when her four children
were small. Oh Bessie has become
her fifth child.

“If someone were to go into business
that their relationship is strong
enough, that there won’t be negative
repercussions from doing it,” Lisa
said. “A few times along the way, I
worried about it.”
“The older I get, the more I realize
what an amazing accomplishment
it was for her to manage four kids’
schedules and raise them fairly
successfully,” Jamie laughed. Lisa
beamed. Check out their products at ohbessie.com.