THE LIFE OF GAB - Barb Grupido Faith is taking the first step when you can't see the stairwell. Starting GAB Social Solutions wasn't quite a blind step for me, after working as an entrepreneur for over 30 years I could see the wall at least. In 1984 I opened my first business, Busy Bee House Cleaning. After growing it from a single person to a nine-person cleaning service and into a profitable small business I sold my share to my business partner to commit myself to raise my family. Having six kids takes a lot of work and organizational skills, but I guess that wasn't enough for me! After my fifth child was born I opened my second business in 1994, Wheat's Wear Embroidery. By 2000 Wheat's Wear Embroidery had grown and changed names to Wheat's Wear School Uniforms, with my second business name, One Stop Shop Embroidery & Screen Printing and my third Scrub Up Medical Scrubs & Supplies. All with the help of my own marketing and sales strategies and my first ever website services. Tragedy struck in January of 2006 when I was diagnosed with Lupus and began chemotherapy. I kept my small-businesses open and running for four more years, then at the insistence of my doctor, I closed up shop. Having leftover product from the store though, I set up my own home online shop to clear out the inventory. My own strategies had to grow as the technology we used evolved. The days of fliers and ads at the movie theater were flying by. If I wanted to get people to stop by my new online shop, I needed to evolve with the times. You see the steps here are made of the ever-changing landscape of social media. So, I grabbed the railing, looked at the wall I had already built from years of running and marketing my own small-businesses and started to climb the stairs of social media and website building. I had faith that while I may not be able to do the work I once did thanks to my illness, I could make social media work for me. So I've been learning and growing my strategies as the world around us does ever since. Follow Barb Grupido's steps and have faith that GAB Social Solutions will help you make it to the top of your own proverbial staircase. View all posts by gabsocialsolutions