Alice Eby spotlight

Alice Eby believes in hard work. So much, in fact, that she often forgets to eat.

Born in Taiwan, she has been in the area since 1982, when she married her late husband, John Eby, and moved to America.

“Working hard means you feel proud of yourself,” the Gap resident said.

When she first came to America, she helped her husband, a Lancaster County native, salt hides. Today Alice still works 18-hour days, but she’s branched into other ventures.

Alice owns two businesses in Intercourse: Eby’s House and Nancy’s Corner, where she sells quilts, pillows, wall hangings and other novelty items for tourists.

She said the road of life can have bumps, but they are what helps someone grow up. With age comes experience, she said. “If you do something you like, life will not be a bumpy road.”

What are some of the biggest cultural differences between America and Taiwan? I enjoy the four seasons. Over there it is only humid. Here it is also nice and quiet. In the city, I had no lawn to mow.

Family: My mother is in California. I have one brother and two sisters in America as well.

What was your life like when you first came to America? Johnny and I worked hard. We would work all day and forget to eat. We were hungry but happy.

The biggest challenges in a new country were: The hardest part was the language. I learned English in middle school but slang here is very hard to understand!

How do you know what tourists will want to buy? I know what the trends are and try to have options for both Americans and foreigners. People come from all over the U.S. and as far as Germany and Australia to buy quilts.

Here, people like flowers. Europeans like solid colors. Right now the big colors are browns and golds, colors popular in the ’70s.

My business advice: You have to try several things before you know what you’ll want to do. If you have a goal, you’ll make it. Johnny said you either float or you sink. I wanted to float.

The difficult part of running business today is: It is sometimes hard to find dependable help. You must always trust people, but they must prove themselves.

America today is different, in that: People used to save their pennies. People used to patch their clothes. Look around today: no patches.

My advice for today’s young people: It’s nothing fancy. You have to save, not use credit cards, and work hard. Learn everything you can and the money will come. Don’t forget that money isn’t everything. The question is: Are you happy?

The recession will pass: If everybody works together and works harder, our country will be like before. We must look up and look at the brighter side.

Planning on retiring? No, I like working! I enjoy it very much. I feel proud when I look at what I have created, and at my business. I like to keep learning.

Any hobbies? No. I work and eat. Work first. Eat second. I very much enjoy my life. Life isn’t about dressing up and being fancy. It’s about working hard.

A final piece of advice: In the end, you have to help yourself. You can have everything you want, but you have to like what you do.