History of the Business: The Bow Next Door
At Shop Small Fort Worth we are all about preserving our community’s character through local businesses. We care about their stories, their trials, and their successes. We are excited to get to know the business owners and creators on a more intimate level and understand exactly what inspired the formation of their businesses and how they want their business to impact the local community. Here, in our “History of the Business” Blog Series, we let them tell their stories, and maybe, by doing so encourage others to start one of their own!
This week we welcome our guest blogger Emily Lee of The Bow Next Door. We loved Emily and her awesome local business before but feel even more connected to her after learning about her road to small business ownership and how she got to where she is now. She is such an encouraging force! Make sure to read to the end as she has some VERY exciting news to share with us!
If there's one thing I've learned about running a small business, and life in general, it's just keep at it.
My childhood wasn't a normal one but it's all I knew. My three sisters and I were Air Force brats and moved schools every four years. My mom didn't have a traditional job because my dad was deployed or on TDY (temporary duty) but she did manage to run her own small business. Before Etsy, or even the internet was around, she hand-sewed and sold Christmas tree skirts and stockings out of our home (one of which was purchased for Barbara Bush when they were in the White House!). I remember going to Junior League markets with her up and down the East coast to sell her goods. At the end of each market, I was allowed to buy one thing as my 'pay' and it usually involved some kind of saltwater taffy or fudge - I'm cheap help!
When it was time for choosing a college, we were stationed in Southern Illinois waiting for our next transfer. My parents told me I could go anywhere that is less than a 12 hour drive from San Antonio or Colorado Springs, the two bases still in consideration. I choose TCU and they moved to Colorado Springs. After four years, I graduated with a degree in Chemistry and moved across the country to begin studying Polymer Chemistry at Virginia Tech. After a year in grad school, I realized that chemistry wasn't my thing (would've been helpful information say, five years prior) and I moved back to Fort Worth.
Long story short, I met my now-husband, began working for his family business in the HR department, got married, and had my first born. Shortly after my daughter was born, we decided it was easier for me to stay home with her because of my husband's hectic travel schedule. Being someone who loves to keep busy and work, this new normal wasn't 'normal.' I felt like I was losing myself. Three years and multiple losses later, I was diagnosed with PPD and anxiety and began my road to recovery. The following year my son was born and I began feeling more like my old self. I decided to do something for me. I began taking smocking lessons at Berry Patch Fabrics on Hulen and learned to sew. The end product wasn't great but I got the 'me time' I so badly craved. After smocking a dress for my daughter, I had extra fabric so I made a (hideous) bow and my third baby, The Bow Next Door, was born.
I found something I enjoyed but more importantly, something that got my drive back. My husband was 100% supportive and I was 100% committed that I would spend no more than I took in (still to this day). I would sew at nights when the kids were asleep then post pictures on Etsy, and to my surprise, people actually began to buy bows. I wasn't in it for the money, and customers definitely weren't in it for a good product, but I kept on because I was happy. I tweaked the style, fabrics, and sizes until a figured out the perfect, classic bow. I would spend hours aimlessly walking fabric stores with my shopping buddy buying new fabric and getting ready for craft shows.
I began selling at local craft fairs and building a customer base. I would see repeat customers or even people who would tell me that their friend sent them to shop. My Etsy site began to take off within the first year and stores began reaching out to me on Instagram. They would ask for wholesale info and line sheets while I frantically googled 'what the *$#* is a line sheet?'. I sold my first wholesale order in March of 2015, they posted my product on their IG, and multiple stores started requesting info. I knew I was on to something different.
Babies on the Boulevard owner, Lauren
That year, I sewed each bow by hand and cried multiple sleepless night attempting to get orders out on time. Fast forward to January of 2016 when I signed my first contract with a showroom at Dallas Market Center to rep my line at market. They wanted to launch my line in June which meant I had to provide samples for my Spring / Summer 2017 collection. I quickly realized I wasn't going to be able to keep doing it the way I've been doing it. I found an amazing manufacturer in Dallas and a wholesale fabric supplier in NYC. I learned about trademarks, look-books, line sheets, price sheets, profit margins, and taxes in record speed. I reached out to local friends for help with my logo (TCU sorority sister extraordinaire), pictures (Sabrina Gebhart Photography), models (too many great friends to mention), amazing fabrics (Brooke Wright Designs), and attorney recommendations. Ready to launch at market, it was suggested that I close my Etsy shop and start my own website. It was scary. I had a following. Repeat customers. But I took the plunge, designed my own site, and closed my Etsy.
Dallas Reps
I held my breath last June wondering if anything would sell. Would people follow me to my new website? Would stores order bows at market? Well, the gamble paid off. The website is a hit, my first market sold over 1,000 bows, and I signed my second contract for a showroom in Atlanta's AmericasMart.
I wake each morning and check The Bow Next Door's Instagram and see pictures of customers that are wearing my bows in their special moments. It's an unbelievable feeling. They've ordered a TBND bow for their child's first birthday, or family pictures, or Christmas. I'm beyond honored.
I've added styles along with way that just didn't make the cut and quickly died out and others that were hit out of the ballpark. Our Basket Bow was an enormous success this past Easter and our patent-pending Beckham Belt (handmade right here in FW) is quickly catching up!
I know it's cliche but I truly believe everything happens for a reason. We're put where we are to make us better. To make those around us better. To lift each other up. I've met so many exceptional entrepreneurs along the way and have learned from them all. We ALL have our struggles. We ALL have those days that we're not sure this is all worth it. But we keep at it because you never know what the next day will hold.
Well, that next day is coming in September, Fort Worth! I'm so exciting to be teaming up with Paige Casey and Amanda Galati of 'Lila + Hayes', Kori Green of 'Kori Green Jewelry', Calli Galati and Rachel Hausser of 'Wabash Road', and Ro Rynd of 'Ro Rynd Interiors' to open LOCAL - design studio. Our new location (Vickery and Montgomery next to Pittsburgh Paint) will give our five businesses a place to call 'home'. We will now have office space, warehouse space, and a gallery space. We'll be open to the public 1-2 days a week for shopping and/or picking up website orders but will also begin hosting trunk shows, girls' night out, sip-n-shops, and special events. Fort Worth has been so good to all of our small businesses that we cannot thank y'all enough so keep an eye and ear open for our grand opening date!
Under Construction
If you asked me four years ago what I'd be doing today, it definitely wouldn't be 'running a successful small business.' Just remember that anything is possible. Things don't happen over night. Work smart. If someone tells you 'no' go ask someone else. Believe in yourself. Love what you do. Just keep at it.
Emily Lee, owner
The Bow Next Door, LLC
Proudly Made in Texas
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Thank you so much Emily for opening up, sharing your story and encouraging us to keep at it and never give up! Making dreams a reality is NEVER easy and we love hearing your success story. Find a few details on The Bow Next Door below as well as in their listing on ShopSmallFortWorth.com!
Follow The Bow Next Door on Facebook and Instagram.
Would you like your business to be featured in our “History of the Business” blog series?
Email us at marketing@shopsmallfortworth.com for more info.
