Breaking Through Fear to Find Self-Fulfillment

EAST ATLANTA — Carla Foster believes in second chances.

It's a philosophy evident throughout the Carson Bryce Trading Co., a furnishings and home goods story she opened last month at 532 Flat Shoals Ave.

There's the old typewriter that she repurposed now as a flower box, keys and all. There's the librarian's ladder that she restored and uses as display shelf for collectibles.

And there's the giant, working wall clock that she made using an old, metal garbage can lid as its face.

But she and a team helpers also make all-natural handmade soaps, sugar scrubs, body souflées, candles and lip balms using the essential oils of a number of scents ranging from orange hibiscus and patchouli to lemongrass and vanilla.

There's a bit a fun and whimsy in the creations, too. She named one soap creation "ginger margarita" having been inspired by a drink she was having in a bar that included those ingredients.

Another is named "Great Gatsby" after the F. Scott Fitzgerald classic.

"I've always loved antiques, I've always loved handmade soaps, handmade apothecary bath and body products," Foster said, explaining she wants to pay homage to the old general stores of bygone era.

"When I was a kid, there was just something sweet and enduring about a general store."

So she took her love of restoring old pieces and refurbishing them to their original or repurposed uses and married that with her passion for apothecary to create Carson Bryce.

In a sense, Foster who was a Saturday fixture at the former antiques shop that is now the Argosy restaurant, embodies that second chances philosophy of restoration.

The store is named for her son, Carson Bryce Johnson, who was born premature at 7 months, to her and her fiancé, Tony Johnson, but died after only 30 days of life.

"Losing Carson — I can't even describe the grief and the dark place that I was in," Foster said. "But from that really  dark place I was able to create something really, really good out of it."

Though her son is no longer with her physically, he's alive in spirit and she remembers him each time she creates something or says the name of her store.

"Every day that I am able to hear his name and say his name, I'm ble to create freely. Out of his memory, I'm in a space where I can create better."

In some ways the loss of her son propelled her out of her former career as a paralegal.

Something she had done for years, Foster said it wasn't fulfilling and that her creative side kept tugging at her, but refrained from following her dream of opening her own store because of fears — fears of not having the same income, starting a business with economic uncertainty and the cautious nature people develop about risk-taking as they experience the ups and downs of life.

Her son's death, gave her a lot of time and opportunity to pray and reflect on what she valued in life.

"Our subconscious mind it wants to hold on to doubt. It wants to hold on to fear and it's that protective mechanism," she said. "Faith trumps fear."

It explains why she advises those looking to find their passion to not be afraid of the what-ifs life may throw at them, especially if they're looking at starting their own business.

"Do I know all of what I'm doing in this venture? No," she said. "But I am trusting and I am trusting God for he put this dream in me and I've had it for such a long time and I all I can know and believe and be positive about is that it's going to work."

It's not threat of failure they should fear, she said, it's not trying.

"I don't want to look back at my life with regret."