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Bob and Melinda’s Entrepreneurial Adventure
Upper Valley Life by John Walters Bob and Melinda Blanchard were barely out of college when they realized a couple of important things. First, they didn’t like working nine-to-five for somebody else; and second, they really liked being together. In fact, they wanted to be together not only at home, but also at work. So they gave up their day jobs and started their own business. Ever since, they’ve lived the entrepreneurial life, launching several businesses in several different fields. Some succeeded, some failed; but at every step, they’ve followed their dreams. Their current business is Blanchards a widely acclaimed restaurant on the Caribbean island of Anguilla. They split their time between Anguilla and a home on a hillside in Norwich, VT. Now, after more than 35 years of happy marriage and productive partnership, they want to inspire other people to follow their own dreams. The Blanchards have launched a venture called “Live What You Love” that combines inspirational stories with practical advice. You might call it “Chicken Soup for the Entrepreneurial Soul.” Or, perhaps more accurately, “Entrepreneurship for the Soul”–seeking personal fulfillment through work. Melinda explains: “Think of how many people wake up on Monday, and they’re counting the days until the weekend. That, to me, seems backwards. Why shouldn’t you be able to wake up during the week and be excited about what you’re going to do today? To me, that’s living.” TWO PATHS CONVERGE The Blanchards certainly seem to be living what they love. Both are in their late 50s, but they have the bounce and vigor of people 20 years younger. Their life story rumbles out of them in a torrent; often, one begins a sentence and the other finishes. They still enjoy each other’s company after more than 35 years of constant togetherness. They are clearly soul mates, but when they met as students at Lyndon State College, they’d come from completely different backgrounds. Bob grew up in Peacham, a town of 500 in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom; Melinda grew up in the middle of Manhattan. “I got out as quickly as I could, mind you,” she says. “I was the only kid wearing hiking boots and blue jeans. I never fit into that world.” As a teenager, she got involved in an educational program in Vermont–and instantly fell in love with the Green Mountain State. There was one part of her big city upbringing that stayed with her. “I grew up watching Julia Child on television,” she says. “I was fascinated by her!” Melinda learned to cook by taking notes and experimenting in the kitchen. She’s never been trained as a chef but her cooking is the heart and soul of Blanchard’s Restaurant. By the time they graduated from college, Bob and Melinda were a couple. They briefly went into social work, but they discovered they had no patience for office routine. “We’re free spirits, and we’re not very good at doing what we’re told,” Melinda says with a chuckle. THEIR FIRST BUSINESS They decided to open a store. It didn’t matter what kind of store; they just wanted to be in business for themselves. They had $8,000 from a family inheritance. Their search for opportunities brought them into contact with an authentic New England character named Peanie Goodwin. “Peanie was an old logger who owned the land in West Lebanon where all the shopping centers are now,” explains Bob. “He couldn’t read or write, he wore red-and-black checkered wool pants with orange suspenders, a flannel shirt and a red-and-black wool hat.” Peanie had some vacant space in the then-new Colonial Plaza. He asked them what kind of store they wanted to open. On an impulse, Melinda replied, “We might sell pots and pans, cookware.” The idea caught Peanie’s interest, and soon they had a deal. So, in 1976, the Blanchards opened their first business: Board & Basket. The gourmet kitchen store is still in business today, although Bob and Melinda sold it in 1979 for $150,000. Not a bad return on their $8,000 investment. Their next venture, a children’s clothing store called Kids Connection, didn’t end as well. They expanded into four locations: West Lebanon, Hanover, Rutland, and Burlington. They borrowed heavily to fund the expansion. And then a recession hit and interest rates went sky high. “We were paying 21 ½ percent,” says Bob. The stores were successful, but the debt was crushing. They closed the stores, and barely escaped bankruptcy. I GET KNOCKED DOWN This is an important part of their story: it’s okay to fail, as long as you pick yourself up and carry on. “We learned from all of these things,” says Melinda, “and that’s what we say in Live What You Love. It’s not like everything we touch turns to gold, and people need to know that!” Bob went to work as a carpenter. “And Melinda went into the kitchen and started making salad dressings,” he recalls. “I thought, well, she must have a plan here!” Well, really, they both did. They’d soured on the retail business, and decided to try making a product they could wholesale. After Melinda developed several dressings, they headed to the 1983 Gourmet Products Trade Show in California. And they were a big hit. “At that show, we [were accepted by] Bloomingdale’s, Neiman Marcus and Macy’s all across the country,”’ says Bob. “We wrote $30,000 in sales orders and hired sales reps in 14 states.” Their salad dressings, sold under the name Blanchard & Blanchard, hit the market at the start of a boom in gourmet foods. (1983 was also the year when Ben & Jerry’s first ventured outside of Vermont.) Even as Blanchard & Blanchard continued to grow, the couple started another business, Artech, a mail-order dealer of ski-racing gear. At the time, their teenage son, Jesse, was into ski racing. “We saw a need for tools and accessories that the kids couldn’t get at a regular ski shop,” says Melinda. Artech filled the need very well, and quickly became successful GETTING OFF THE TREADMILL The Blanchards were running two growing businesses. If they’d been in it for the money, they could have settled into executive roles and watched the profits roll in. (Both companies are still in business today.) But they didn’t want to be tied to a desk, even if it was a desk of their own. So in 1989 they sold the businesses and moved to Anguilla. Why Anguilla? Well, they’d gone there on vacation, and it was “love at first sight;’ says Melinda.”There’s no crime, there’s no cruise ships, no casinos. It’s got these beautiful beaches, and it’s about 80 to 85 degrees year round.” They planned to open a simple beachfront eatery and live a life of ease. But their entrepreneurial energy, and Melinda’s inner Julia Child, led them to much more than that. Blanchards Restaurant gained a reputation for top-notch food in a casual setting. It’s been called one of the region’s best. It’s been written up in Gourmet and Bon Appétit; and the wine cellar won raves from Wine Spectator. For most of the 1990s, they immersed themselves in the restaurant. Melinda cooked every dish that came out of the kitchen; Bob was the host, greeting every patron and maintaining that renowned wine list. They assembled a loyal, talented staff from the local population. SPREADING THE ENTREPRENEURIAL WORD After a decade of island life, they began yearning for home. “We love Anguilla;” says Bob, “but we’re Vermonters.” In 1999, they built a house in Norwich. Since then, they’ve split their time between Vermont and Anguilla. Their staff keeps things going when the Blanchards aren’t there. The restaurant led to their first book, a memoir of their Caribbean adventure called A Trip to the Beach. Two cookbooks followed. And then came the idea for Live What You Love, a way of using their experiences as a guide to help others realize their own dreams. [The series] includes two books, with a third due out by the end of 2009; and a web site that includes a retail outlet for products made by like-minded entrepreneurs. The idea came out of reader reactions to their memoir. “People started asking us how we did it,”’ explains Bob. “How did we take that leap? How did we get up the nerve to drop everything and move to the Caribbean?” In the process of crafting Live What You Love, Bob and Melinda examined their 30-plus years of successes and failures, their pursuit of dreams, and their ability to change course when it’s called for. They’ve drawn a strong response. “We get e-mails every day,” says Melinda. People say, “Thank you!’ and ‘You gave me the courage to do this.’” “We have a long list of people who have quit their jobs because of us, which is probably both good and bad,” adds Bob. “But they’ve gone on to try to do something more meaningful.” Although they advise people to follow their dreams, they emphasize the need for thoughtful preparation. “It doesn’t mean being frivolous or careless,” says Bob. “It means planning very carefully how you can get the life you want.” This may turn out to be just the right moment for the Blanchards’ new venture. There aren’t many jobs anymore that let you punch a clock for 30 years and retire with a hefty pension. Live What You Love may turn out to be not only a prescription for personal fulfillment, but a survival kit in an economy that offers few guarantees. “We don’t give up, even when we’re down and out,” says Bob. “That’s a great message for people, especially in these tough economic times. You learn from the bad things that happen to you, and you try to turn them into good things.” |
