Like many creative and successful businesses, the idea for A19 began on the back of a cocktail napkin. Owner Cinnamon Finken and a friend sat down at a local watering hole and dreamily hatched their plans to run their own shows. They’d do what they really love and inspires them. They’d treat their employees like family. They’d make their own hours. They’d never work weekends and they’d take long vacations. They’d change the world! (Okay, maybe they’d just make a difference.)At the start of the next workweek, Cinnamon sat down with her boss, looked him square in the eye and launched into her jaw-dropping proposal: She either wanted to purchase the company or start one of her own. To her surprise, he thought it was a great idea and encouraged her to explore purchasing the business. Flash forward to a couple of months later. Reality soon set in; crunching numbers and creating a business plan made it clear there was much more to this entrepreneur thing than vision and determination. Cinnamon needed support– and lots of it. So her ex-boss became her mentor; she then approached key co-workers– each an exceptionally talented crafts person– to see if they were passionate enough to make a go at starting a new company. And A19 was born. That was 1998, and the drive to create the highest quality handcrafted lighting fixtures, to provide attention and service unparalleled in any business, is a continuing success.