For years now, I have been wanting to take this little blog to the next level and actually start to really use it!! However, due to the crazy ride that has been Banner Boutique so far, time has not presented itself!! I feel like I have been hanging on for dear life as this little business has taken me for quite the ride! A fun ride, but a very busy, very demanding ride at times too :) I have a whole new appreciation for anyone and everyone who has started ANY kind of business- you really do have no idea what it is like until you do it yourself! :)
With that being said, I so desperately wanted to reach out and get to know our customers. We have been so overwhelmed with the sweetness, love and appreciation that has been shown to us through kind notes and comments in regards to the products we have been selling and through the literally thousands of referrals that you have all sent our way!! Wow- is all I can say! It really makes it worth it to see how happy our customers are- to see those absolutely darling pictures that so many of you share with us- we really do appreciate the outpouring of support we have received!
So- without making this introduction too long, but also making sure we cover enough so that you really feel like you know who Banner Boutique is- let me start by introducing myself. My name is Lindsay Banner, and Banner Boutique was officially born about 3 years ago. When my oldest daughter, Kaitlyn, who just turned 5 was a baby, I would spend literally hours perusing the malls and children's boutiques for hair accessories. I don't know what it is, but I have always felt like an outfit was definitely not complete unless she had something darling on her head. That's where all of the attention is anyway- their face, and I always was searching for a cute little headband to frame that darling little face. Well, it was a rare occasion that I found anything remotely cute, and even when I did, it wasn't quite right, and the price was certainly not right! I remember finding a headband to match her 1 year birthday party dress. It was a cheap silk flower hot glued to a piece of elastic you would use to make a piece of clothing like pants or a skirt- not soft, not even that cute- and I paid $25.00 for it at this boutique!! I think it was then that the wheels started spinning in my mind about a vision of darling, simple, affordable hair accessories. Even my beloved Nordstroms was always lacking in this department- something HAD to be done!!
So, a year or so later, my sister and I had found ourselves finally living close to each other in Southern California. She is a master when it comes to attention to detail and quality! She loves to just get to work- and I don't mind the business/sales side of things. I set out and started hitting up boutique after boutique in Southern CA and wala!- Banner Boutique was started!! It was so fun to see our things sell so quickly and do so well right off the bat! Fast forward another year and a half, Angela, my sister and I both had to relocate for our husbands jobs. Luckily we had had that year to be together and fine tune our products. Once I arrived with my family in Gilbert Arizona, and she arrived in Oklahoma for her husband to finish periodontal school, we expanded not only to more boutiques but started selling to the public through Etsy- and the rest is history! :) Angela handles almost all of the making and shipping for Banner Boutique and I get to do everything else such as ordering materials, paying the bills, conversing with clients, booking orders, answering emails and convos through Etsy etc. This keeps both of us extremely busy, especially when we have large wholesale orders to do as well, but it has been such a great experience!
Above, you can see some pictures of my family (Lindsay). I am working on my sister Angela to get me some "approved pictures" of her family. My husbands name is Mike. We have been married for 7 years. Kaitlyn is our oldest daughter (5), Carson, our son, is about to turn three next week, and we are expecting an unnamed baby girl in the middle of February :) As soon as Angela gets me some pictures, I will introduce her and her family to you in detail as well :)
Mike and I are both originally from Southern CA, he from Redlands CA and I was born and raised in San Diego. We really miss CA but are loving our new life here in AZ. Mike works for Pulte Homes (and is luckily one of the last men standing) and I stay home with my kids and run Banner Boutique. I have too many hobbies to count including digital scrapbooking, cooking, crafting, planning parties, perusing blogs, traveling... you get the idea! :)
My plans for this blog...
1.) Get to know our beloved customers!! - feel free to post comments, email me, send me a link to your blog- I love to feel as in touch with our customers as possible!
2.) Keep our customers updated on what's new and happening at Banner Boutique!
3.) Do some fun promotions and giveaways for our readers!
4.) Share some of the happenings in my life so that we can get to know each other better...
5.) Share fun ideas; recipes, websites, products, etc. that I come across and just can't keep to myself!
6.) Whatever else I feel inspired to post!
So.... I will be leaving this little post up for a couple days. My goal is to post at least every other day- I want this blog to be a bright spot in your day and always offer you something to think about or look at that brings a smile to your face! The next post will be a giveaway- so spread the word that this little blog is up and running and come back in a couple days to enter the giveaway (PS- you will get more chances to win the more friends you tell ;))!! Feel free to leave a comment and say hi so that I can get a feel for who is out there and what you ladies would like to see! :)
XO, Lindsay
I have a confession. But first, a rationalization. I have been really, really, really good at not shopping since we moved to Arizona. I feel like whenever you move, everything old becomes new again. You rediscover old clothes, old home decor etc. etc. It's all fun and new again...for awhile. Then, the Holidays and other fun things come and wala, you find yourself at the mall spending more than you really need to. My biggest weakness, girl and now baby girl (again) clothing. I am in a pregnancy state that does not allow for a very fun clothing shopping experience for myself, but Kaitlyn- well that's a whole other story!! EVERYTHING fits her- and it's all the same size. No guessing "will this or won't this fit her"- it just fits- unlike my own personal struggle when it comes to finding a pair of pants that fits nowadays.
