Twenty years ago, Naomi Schneider’s career took an unexpected change of course.

Like a lot of islanders, the Navy had brought her family here. Schneider had taught school previously and came to Whidbey expecting to apply with Oak Harbor Schools. Then she stepped into Kate Rose’s Oak Harbor art shop, Polka Dot Papery. Schneider mentioned that she was new in town.

Rose offered her a job on the spot. And this now-former teacher never looked back.

Through Rose’s multiple art-focused ventures, Schneider stuck with her. They became best friends. In 2009, with Rose’s enthusiastic support, Schneider opened her own art supply store, Collage. She later added home décor and antiques and rechristened it Frida’s, A Beautiful Mess. Frida’s “allowed me to do all the things I love,” she says today.

What happened at Frida’s inspired Oak Harbor resident Wendy Shingleton to recommend Schneider for this column. If the theme is civility, said Shingleton, and building community around common ground, “she’s a treasure… a warm hug of a person. She’s welcoming to all.”

Schneider started offering small group art classes in her shop. As they grew in popularity, her sign on the wall – “the gathering place” – became a real thing. And at some point she realized she had built a community. She’s still not exactly sure how it happened.

“It wasn’t intentional, I was just sharing something I loved,” she says today about the vibe in those gatherings. “I had some older customers, people who stuck with me many years.” Schneider recalls the appreciation some of those folks had for a safe place during Covid, where they could find some camaraderie and learn and work on their art projects.

Soon, “it was not about the class. We became friends. And we were always welcoming to new people.”

One of those friends is Sandra Perry. Hearing Shingleton’s “warm hug” portrayal of Schneider, she confirmed “it’s all true.”

When Perry was new to the island, she stopped by Frida’s. “Naomi was warm, interested in getting to know me and about our shared interest in art. She just exudes ‘community.’ With her warmth and authenticity, you wanted to be a part of it. We used to tell her that six dollars for an art class was not even enough to cover her materials, but Naomi just said, ‘it’s my joy.’”

Of course there’s a business lesson there. Treat people like family. Give them a reason to want to come back. Create a place they want to tell their friends about. Build their loyalty, they’ll spend money, make you profitable. It seems simple.

There’s a bigger lesson too, if we pause to listen to it. Isn’t that how we ought to treat each other anyway, on a grander scale? Our neighbors, our fellow Americans, even those who disagree with us? Be welcoming. Be kind. Be safe. Find common interests. Share what we love.

For Schneider, it’s a form of giving back. When her husband was transferred to Canada, she painted her house bright colors inside to ward off the depressing grey she expected outside. But the weather wasn’t so bad and, she says, like everywhere else they went, “the art community was always so welcoming.” So she continued in gratitude here on Whidbey by being the welcome for others.

Schneider’s best friend and mentor, Kate Rose, passed away earlier this year as Schneider prepared to close Frida’s and retire. It was a devastating blow to Schneider and to Rose’s many friends around Whidbey. Just months earlier, the two best pals had discussed new chapters in life, and looked forward to fresh adventures together.

“Kate was the definition of a leader,” Schneider says in admiration, noting Rose’s recent work at Leadership Whidbey. “She tried to bring North and South Whidbey together. She encouraged diverse people to be involved, and she genuinely liked people.”

With a sigh acknowledging that we need more Kate Roses, Schneider adds “she believed in the good in people, the good in the world.”

Schneider sees the desperate need for Kate Rose’s style of kind, open-minded leadership all around us. She admits to pushing back in anger at public figures who seek to gain power by dividing us.

“We’ve gone to seeing other people as ‘them,’” she says, “not as ‘us.’” She points to immigration as an example. Americans have found it easy for hundreds of years to build up our walls, to snub and reject those who don’t look and talk like we do, to slap the “other” brand on fellow humans to justify inhuman treatment.

As the daughter of Mexican immigrants, Schneider poses a simple question. “If your kid is hungry, and there’s no food here, but there’s food over there… wouldn’t you go over there? Where the food is?”

“How do we get it back?” she asks about the acceptance, the kindness, that allows us to move forward together, to find our way as neighbors and as Americans.

Suddenly Schneider’s eyes brighten. “There’s hope in our youth,” she says. “My daughters and their friends are amazing.”

And there’s still hope in Schneider’s adopted home town, right here on Pioneer Way. As Frida’s moved out, Marisa Sedillo moved in from across the way with A Vintage Affair, offering consignment antiques, clothing, and furniture.

“Everyone loves Naomi,” Sedillo says. “She’s been with me since day one, when I opened across the street. I asked her, ‘why would you want to be in my little antique store, when you have an entire shop? She just loved the community surrounding it.”

Sedillo misses the unique, welcoming vibe Schneider brought to Frida’s and agrees it was something special. But Sedillo says “she has a space in our current location too. She is still building community and visiting with the customers at my shop. I hope to be just as welcoming and warm as Naomi.”

Kindness is good for business. It’s good for all of us on Whidbey. And thanks to people like Naomi Schneider, it keeps on paying itself forward.

William Walker’s monthly “Take a Breath” column seeks paths to unity on Whidbey Island in polarized times. He blogs occasionally at www.playininthedirt.com.