ancient journeys
by byron ballard

We’re not starry-eyed twenty-somethings. We are three women with experience in many areas—work experience, life experience. We are three women with strong spiritual goals who work hard and sometimes even play hard. We are circle-sisters, part of a women’s group called The Willful Harpies—not without reason.
And we three are starting our own business. This is how it began.

We were returning from a weekend conference in Greensboro. It had been a good conference, and over the course of the weekend, both Teleri and Kayla had mentioned a personal dream for the future. As Kayla turned her “Little Purple Car” onto Interstate 40, I asked them both to elaborate on their dreams. By the time we reached Winston-Salem, we had a lively discussion going. By the time I-40 rose to meet the Blue Ridge, we had decided to start a business. We briefly considered a non-profit but rejected that possibility for something more exciting and less safe. We had each worked in the non-profit sector and wanted this venture, this adventure, to be a different kind of business.

In speaking of our business, we used words specific to our generation, our time in history and our personalities. Discussing others who do similar work, we talked in terms of our spirituality informing our services. We wanted our work to reflect our personal values in a corporate world—we used words like “authentic” and “genuine”. And we began to talk tentatively about the resources each of us could bring to this business. We talked about each other’s strengths—Teleri’s broad knowledge, Kayla’s good money sense, my ritual skills.

Before we got home that evening, we agreed to think about it and meet again in a week, on Sunday evening.

That has been our pattern since that fateful homecoming. We meet on Sunday evenings for dinner and red wine, then we get down to “bidness”. We’ve kept a notebook that holds the hard practicalities and endless lists of our dream. Each week we bite off a chunk and chew on it, learning as we go how to create this new thing, how we birth a business. First, the mission statement: the vision of three women who complement each other’s shortcomings and play to each other’s strengths. By the end of the first Sunday evening, we had researched and chosen a name—Ancient Journeys. It’s a business that began with travel and our plans continue to take us walkabout through our past experiences and into unknown territory.

We got a book about starting a business and it was full of things we didn’t know. A business plan? How on earth do you tackle such a beast? You take it on in pieces, we’ve discovered, a bite at a time, and then re-assemble the pieces into a whole. Bookkeeping? “Limited knowledge” might be an overstatement, but on the recommendation of several people, we met with a woman who made money and taxes and corporate organization not only understandable, but exciting. Her passion for numbers is infectious—she helped us see money in a whole new light.

And that’s how it continues to be for the partners that are Ancient Journeys. Accountants, business advisers, graphic artists. We keep exploring this strange new world of ambitions and visions. The business plan is almost finished; the first afternoon workshop is planned and the site booked. Each of us tells friends, colleagues—sometimes complete strangers—about the excitement and passion we feel about doing this work. I see Kayla and Teleri’s faces light up when they talk about pilgrimages to Avebury and Malta, and I know my voice becomes more animated when I talk about exploring the Divine Feminine in this age of fear and anger. Sure, there’s still a website to put in place, advertising to create and pay for, brochures to write. With hard work and a little luck, you’ll soon be able to visit us at Ancient-Journeys.com and see our advertising in WNC Woman. And our walkabout keeps us learning and growing, birthing these new lives through our own journeys.
But this Sunday evening we’ll sit down with a bottle of good red wine and we’ll consider another bite, another piece of this remarkable puzzle.

Where will your journey take you?

Byron Ballard is a playwright, Pagan advocate and WNC native. Her other hats include Mom, ritual leader, bookseller and Irish aficionado. She can be reached at byronb@buncombe.main.nc.us.