Solpak Building - Day 5 of 14 : The Artifacts

This is what twenty years looks like when you lay it out on a table.

An Oliver binder from our principal supplier. A Pelouze scale we used to weigh packaging samples. A faded Solpak hat from the early days. A handwritten sales order form. A document titled "Plan d'expansion vers l'ouest." A card from our 20th anniversary. A bag that says "I AM A FOUNDER." And an old Oliver pamphlet that reminds me of where it all started.

None of this is worth anything on a balance sheet. All of it is worth everything to me.

The scale reminds me of the days I did my own demos. The sales forms remind me of the days I wrote every order by hand. The expansion plan reminds me of the day I decided Solpak was bigger than Quebec. And that pamphlet reminds me of my father-in-law, who introduced me to the Oliver team. Without that introduction, there is no Solpak.

Founders move fast. That is the job. But if you do not stop to look at where you have been, you lose perspective on where you are going.

These objects are not nostalgia. They are proof. Proof that showing up, over and over, for twenty years, compounds into something you could never have planned.

What is on your shelf that proves you showed up?