Our story of why we chose the Berkshires to launch Pomeroy 142.

Living full time in the Berkshires was something that we've been dreaming about. After spending years in the fast-paced tech startup world in Austin, TX, I knew that I needed to align my life with more of the things that made me happy. Hours in traffic and countless 60+ hour weeks were starting to take their toll on just about every aspect of my life.

My partner, Scott, and I started jotting down a short list of cities and places in the country that were contenders for starting our next chapter. Scott suggested that we visit the Northeast, specifically his childhood stomping grounds of the Berkshires. He spent summers at camp there and his father owned a home in New Marlboro. 

Our goal was to spend a few days in New Marlboro with his family and then head north to Vermont. We wanted to understand what it was like in the winter months, to see if we had what it took to live in cold weather climates again.

After just two days in the Berkshires we were sold. The new plan was to try and transition from Austin to Berkshire county as soon as possible. Of course, there were hiccups along the way and what we'd wanted to do in months, actually took years. Over the next three years, we'd spend a month or two at a time visiting and scoping out real estate.

We (finally) landed in Berkshire county in June of 2018 and eventually found our home in Pittsfield in a historic, 200 year-old Federal style house with plenty of history and projects to keep us busy. Our dream was slowly becoming reality. 

I was making a batch of natural soy candles one day and Scott casually said, "You should make these and sell them, they smell much better than most candles out there." We sort of just looked at each other for a few moments and I thought, "Why not?"

I do have a particular passion for living well - and for me, that means nontoxic and natural as much as possible, making things from scratch, and slowing down. I thought it would be fun to start a candle company and see how we could grow it through traditional and tech-centric efforts.

We run Pomeroy 142 very much like the tech startups that I've been fortunate enough to be part of over the years. Taking an idea, creating a prototype, and testing it in the market. 

This adventure has helped us marry our passions of creating sustainable, health-minded products and building a business from the ground up. Our goal is to continue to grow and we hope to expand operations and create more jobs in Berkshire county. 

You can find our nontoxic, natural soy scented candles online at www.pomeroy142.com and in the Great Barrington location of Hammertown.