Uncommon Personalities: Meet Gaby Germaine

Gaby Germaine, UncommonGoods Creative Director

My home town is…
Smack dab in the middle of the heartland, Van Meter, Iowa.

I’m inspired by…
Hard working people, nature, color, and kindness.

Working at UncommonGoods, I’ve learned…
That this Thomas Edison quote I love is 100% accurate. “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” I have been fortunate enough to work with and learn from some amazing people who have not been afraid to work and to work hard.

The most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen is…
The Great Barrier Reef in Australia. I saw colors I had never seen before. I got so excited I forgot I was underwater and started talking out loud through my snorkel about how amazing it was (and taking in a lot of salt water).

I’m stubborn about…
I prefer to call it determined 😉

My guilty pleasure(s)…
French fries, ice cream… and Christmas music way before the season starts and long after it ends.

The most ambitious crafts project I’ve ever done was…
One year I knitted everyone in the studio I worked with a scarf as a gift and everyone in my family as well. I had yarn all over my home and could barely move my fingers come Christmas morning.

An uncommon fact about me…
I have won three talent shows by speed reciting the tongue twister Betty Botter Bought Some Butter.

If I could travel back in time, I’d…
I would want to be a fly on the wall in an early 1920’s Parisian café and listen to Hemingway, Pound, Stein, Joyce, Eastman, and all the other masters of that time as they chatted.

With a pile of stuff in front of me I would make…(You’re given a Reclaimed Wine Barrel Lazy Susan, a dozen pairs of nylon stockings, a stick of red lipstick, double stick tape, and 5 straw, wooden-handle brooms.)

I would probably use the Lazy Susan and brooms to make a table to serve some appetizers on. Slap on the red lipstick and stockings and throw a party. Oh, and pocket the double stick tape… that stuff is useful.