ABOUT EGOpicks

THE ONLY ‘ONE-WOMAN SHOW’ IN THE BIZ

THE ONLY ‘ONE-WOMAN SHOW’ IN THE BIZ
I often get asked how a mother of two from Winnipeg, Manitoba got into the business of making custom guitar picks … so here’s the story.

From the age of 17, I had worked in the music retail industry, (Discus Music World, and HMV to be exact), so music and customer service was a daily part of my world for many years. As hard as it was to leave that world behind, I happily entered a new phase in my life - Marriage and Motherhood.

For my entire parental life, I was very fortunate to be able to stay home and raise my two wonderful kids throughout their childhood, and it has been – by far – the most rewarding ‘job’ that I have ever had. As the kids grew up, they – along with many of their friends – took an interest in music and I couldn’t have been more thrilled. With a background in music retail, a long-time love of live music, and a particular disinterest in being any kind of sports mom – this was music to my ears.

Tanner has been drumming since he was 10 years old – and to this day, I still get goosebumps every time he gets behind the drum kit. Throughout Tanner’s 10+ years of formal training, playing in various bands and percussion ensembles, and eventually teaching drum lessons himself – I definitely earned a whole new respect for the mind-boggling talent that drummers possess. I won’t even get into how poorly I did when I asked Tanner to give me a drum lesson. Trust me … it’s WAY harder than it looks.

Carly’s instrument of choice was the guitar. Prior to her birthday in 2007, I scoured the internet in search of someone that would do a small set of custom picks with her name on them. No such luck. Not only did I find out that the smallest order back then was 144 picks I also discovered that there wasn’t even anyone that did custom guitar picks in Canada!

Frustrated and disappointed (yet somehow inspired), I knew that I couldn’t be the only person out there looking for a small quantity of custom guitar picks. That very day, I began the process of starting up EGOpicks – with less than $2,000 to my name, and basically zero knowledge of where to even begin.

Today, this one-woman show has proudly done custom guitar picks, drumsticks and band merch for bands, artists, businesses and events all over the world. - and I do whatever I possibly can to pay it forward, give back, raise funds and support causes that are near and dear to my heart. (See the 'Giving Back' section of the website)

In an industry that has always been male-dominated (countless emails that I receive start with ‘Hey Guys’) - I guess I’m pretty proud to be the only female owned and operated business of this kind. I am so thankful for every person that I’ve had the pleasure of making custom products for, and for all of the amazing relationships that I've built over the years ... and I definitely look forward to those that I might be fortunate enough to work with in the future.

Keep Rockin'