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New years is here, and with it brings the possibility of change.

As one behavioral scientist put it, first starts are really powerful.

So as you head into 2023, LifeKit is a great resource to help you plan your life and tackle changes, both big and small.

Listen to the LifeKit podcast from NPR.

Hey, it's Guy here, so back in the early 1960s, Gordon and Carol Siegel borrowed a few thousand dollars to open a houseware store in an abandoned, dumb-waiter factory.

They were going to call it barrel and crate, but you eventually decided, Uncratin' Barrel.

It's an incredibly inspiring story, the kind of startup story that would never happen today.

If first ran in February of 2017, hope you enjoy it.

Every store we open between our opening in 1962, our first built store in 65, our plaza de la Agostone 68, our Oakberg store in 71, every time was betting the company.

Every time, every time, and every time we knew if we failed, the company might go down.

From NPR, it's how I built this, a show about innovators, entrepreneurs, idealists, and the stories behind the movements they built.

I'm Guy Razz, and on today's show, the story of how Gordon Siegel and his wife, Carol, built the houseware's empire, crate, and barrel.

From one little scrappy storefront in Chicago, and how that single shop helped change the way we furnish our homes and apartments.

So there's probably a good chance that you have a piece of IKEA furniture somewhere in your house or apartment, and it probably looks pretty good, right?

You know, nothing fancy, but functional, well designed, kind of European looking, and the main thing is, it's affordable.

But back in 1961, if you wanted vaguely European looking furniture or plates or whatever in America, you had to be rich.

And in 1961, Gordon Siegel and his wife, Carol, were definitely not.

We got married in the summer of 1961. Now for our wedding gifts, we really didn't get any of the kinds of things we loved.

We'd shopped at department stores and see beautiful dance designs and a new Danish look and whatever, and none of our relatives had the money or the taste to buy us those kind of wedding gifts.

So you just figured we just can't afford that, so yeah, so we'll just move on.

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