Woman’s life changed by $700 tip

A young woman is attempting to turn one of her favorite hobbies into a career after a stranger gave her some seed money to get going on her dream.

Rosie Salice met this kind stranger while serving her and a party of diners at Mint Tea Bistro in Vancouver, Wash.

“I was serving this very polite family, about eight people, and she had complimented me on a piece of jewelry I had made myself, and it was just a really casual interaction, nothing out of the ordinary,” Salice tells KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson.

But following the meal, something very unusual happened.

“On her way out, she very casually handed me a $700 check and told me that she believed in me,” says Salice.

The generous gift left Salice speechless.

“I was very, very shocked,” says Salice. “When it first happened, I couldn’t find any words to say – and usually I’m pretty good at talking, but I just decided I needed to give her a hug. That’s the only way I could really express myself to her.”

While waiting on the table, the customer had asked Salice if she’d tried to sell any of her jewelry. Salice had explained she tried to convince some of her friends to get pieces, but hadn’t really found anyone willing to invest in her jewelry-making hobby. The confidence the stranger displayed in her really had an impact.

“The thing that affected me the most wasn’t the money or anything like that, it’s in the fact that to have a stranger come up to you and put that kind of selfless faith in somebody else, a complete stranger, she has nothing to gain from this. She didn’t know me. She just put complete trust in me. It’s really kind of beautiful to experience.”

And after her story went public, the woman at the restaurant wasn’t the only person to help out Salice.

“We had a local woman who donated about $300 worth of tools and supplies to us. That was actually just yesterday. That was amazing. She was also such a beautiful, kind woman. Then we had somebody offer to help set us up with a website,” says Salice.

With all this support, Salice a full-time student at WSU-Vancouver, and a server, says she’s definitely moving forward in pursuing her jewelry-making dreams, but she wants to do it in a smart way.

“We want to go about this the right way. We’re kind of just putting together a legitimate business plan and trying to just define what we’re going to do. Because we don’t want to just rush into anything without setting it up correctly,” says Salice, who is still pursuing school along with the jewelry business.

She tells Monson that what the woman did really changed the course she was on. “I realized that had just shifted the path of my life.”

Monson jokes that Rosie had better make something of this business because there are now a lot of people watching.

“That’s a little stressful, but it’s almost encouraging because it’s a lot of faith and a lot of faith from the community,” says Salice.

“Failure is just not an option for you, Rosie,” says Monson.

“No way!” she says confidently.