Up until March 22, 2017, butterflies had very little meaning and purple wasn’t my favorite color. On that day, my dad passed away in hospice care. A purple butterfly was placed on his door to indicate to the staff and visitors a patient had gone on to a new life.

My husband, Neil, and I have embraced a new life, too, with the opening of The Purple Butterfly, a children’s boutique in downtown Franklin, TN. We both had successful careers: Neil from founding The Wall Street Journal Online to most recently as the executive editor of the Courier-Journal in Louisville. As for me, I was a successful sales executive working with financial institutions.

As a mother of three boys, when our first grandchild, a beautiful little girl named Erika, was born, my inner child was born again, too. I fell in love with all things baby — toys, gifts and clothes ... and monogramming on the latter as much as I could. Our second grandchild, an equally beautiful little boy named Chase, helped to neutralize the pink world I found myself living in. Our third grandchild, the beautiful Charlotte, shares my birthdate. And now we have a fourth, Sofia.

Neil and I are excited to share our passion for children and our wonderful little boutique with you and yours.