Customer service is a priority for Simply Blessed Mamas, but sometimes ensuring excellent customer service means pushing pause on marketing efforts. In addition to being wives, moms and entrepreneurs, Steph and Tara each have other careers. Steph is a teacher at Timmerman Elementary while Tara co-owns Orange Leaf and is a substitute teacher. With so many demands on their time, these businesswomen occasionally need to slow down demand for their boutique items. “We know if we post on Facebook, the orders will start coming in, so when we need to get caught up, we'll take a break from posting for a week or so,” Steph said. The side-hustle-turned-full-timebusiness means a lot of late nights and enlisting husbands and children to help. “Sometimes we have our husbands help with the heat presses,” Tara said. “And our girls like pulling the backing and extra pieces off the vinyl, so they'll put their little fingers to use for us.” Because so much of what they create is made to order, working ahead isn't always feasible. But when they can build up inventory in advance, such as for their special edition earrings or holiday T-shirts, Steph and Tara use their time wisely. “Over the school breaks we'll get a bunch of our Trendy Tuesday earrings
done, get them all ready to go, get the posts scheduled on Facebook,” Steph said. “I think customers appreciate our fast turnaround, so we try to stay on top of everything.” CREATING THE FUTURE As demand grows, production space has become an issue. The Davises are building a new home, and part of it will include a workspace for Simply Blessed Mamas. “We'll be able to have both heat presses there, our Cricuts, our materials and inventory, plus more space to spread out and work,” Tara said. “It's going to be so nice.” For now, Simply Blessed Mamas intends to stick with its local focus. Business is steady and the trade-off for opening an Etsy store, for example, is more than Steph and Tara are willing to do right now. “Our turnaround time would have to be longer,” Steph said. “And we feel strongly that our quick turnaround is important.” “This is already a full-time job,” Tara added. “We love it and we want to continue to love it and make meaningful things for people.” “That's it,” Steph agreed. “It's about making meaningful things, and that means having a connection with your customers. I feel like we have that here in Emporia.”
FALL 2019 | 35