Hi. Welcome to our newsletter. We’re really glad you’re here.
Félix Bouchet is a Windsor chairmaker based in the Touraine region of France. Using primarily hand tools and greenwood, Félix builds original chairs using traditional Windsor chair techniques. But if you’re here, I’m guessing you probably already knew that.
I am, on the other hand, the lesser-known half of the chair business. I’m the half that doesn’t spend every waking hour in the workshop, doesn’t go stomping into the forest in search of fallen trees, doesn’t scrupulously glare at a finished chair, wondering if it’s good enough. (Spoiler alert, it’s always good enough.) I’m Félix’s partner, and—aside from helping with communication, social media, strategy & development, admin and accounting work, and even some finishing work in the workshop—I’ve been helping him hold the mental load of running a small business in France since he opened in 2021. Ah yes, and my name is Caroline. Hey!
So yes, I am a part of this company. I was extremely reluctant to take ownership of that role. At first, it felt somehow beneath me and my feminist values. I was afraid of falling into a cliché—wifey who does all the admin work in the shadow of her other half. My mother-in-law generously opened up to me about her own experience. She helped my father-in-law with his accounting company while raising four kids, fully running, managing, and keeping afloat a six-member household. (I honestly can’t even begin to imagine the energy you’d need for that role…) She spoke about certain professional regrets, and her warning is one I took to heart.
A lot of partners of find themselves in a similar position. France even recently introduced a tax status to protect those who work for/with their spouses. In the past, aside from being completely dependent on their husbands, women who were doing hard work but not being paid for it were also exempt from any kind of retirement, vacation, and all of the other social benefits that French salaried workers have come to expect. With this newish tax status, that ungratifying role can be done away with, at least on paper. But there’s still the question of how each individual feels personally about the idea of working in support of their partners, as opposed to putting all that energy into their own projects.
For over a year, I’ve been involved in Félix’s company and daily hustle to varying degrees, and I quite like the idea and feeling of us running this thing together. If it were any other type of company, I can’t say I’d feel the same way. But our long-term goals are aligned, and we both want to work towards a slow, simple life where we steward the land we live on and reject the rampant consumerism that’s become normal for most. I don’t dream of climbing a corporate ladder; in fact, even the idea of working FOR anyone else but myself or my immediate friends and family is one that’s becoming increasingly hard to stomach for me.
All that’s to say, I’m actually really pleased that I a) have the opportunity to step into this wifey/business partner role that’s before me and b) have the privilege of being able to choose.
All that’s to say, I’m saying yes to the family business model, and I’m inviting friends, family, and maybe others? to keep in touch with us via this newsletter. We’re trying it out as a way to keep our community up to date with everything going on with the family business. I hope to send it out once a season, perhaps with the occasional extra post here and there. Lastly, the ultimate goal is to produce something bilingual, but that’ll come in newsletter numéro 01.
See y’all around. <3
Tulip poplar est l’arbre de’tat TN ! 👍🏼