It’s Finnish Entrepreneur Day!

Between this and Labor Day, I’m takin the day off! But first, I have a quick story to share…

I’ve always been a proud Finn. It’s the foundation of my business after all. This passion for Finland was born more from a family mystery than true patriotism. It started with the cryptic stories of my Grandpa, who’d left a life of royalty behind in Aland, joining the merchant marines and jumping ship into the New York harbor in his early teens, all after being captured by the English (I think), who tortured him by perpetually playing the bagpipes. Two things I know I inherited from my Grandpa are the Finnish tolerance for spirits and a deep disdain for bagpipes. I learned nearly nothing else about Finland from him as he refused to talk about it and passed away when I was 12, but my curiosity for our heritage was already sparked. 

Imagine my surprise when after a recent trip to Scandinavia to casually study interior design, the culture, and my personal favorite, the hyggelig lifestyle, all to bring back to infuse into my Scandinavian Home Organizing business, I also learned… 

1. I may not actually even be Finnish and 2. It is highly debated whether Finland is even a part of Scandinavia. What even is life!? Let the identity crisis unravel. Kidding… sort of.  

My Grandpa Bror Johansson was from the Aland Islands, the largest clump of undoubtedly beautiful yet useless islands in the world, nestled comfortably between Sweden and Finland, and they are, apparently, inhabited by almost entirely a Swedish (as the first language) speaking population. And yes, ‘Bror’ is in fact ‘Brother’ in… Swedish.

It makes sense now that everyone in Scandinavia approached me speaking Swedish! I look the part. A Swedish-Finn? Is that a thing? I don’t know what to believe or how I feel about this yet, but for now, I am celebrating being a Finnish Entrepreneur, if only in my heart, and not my ’23 and Me’ test results.    

Good day to you, laborers, whatever your nationality! 🇸🇪/🇫🇮