What started out as just a way to make cool things that I like for my son, has turned into a huge blessing!!
About two months ago, I grew fed up trying to find cool bow-ties for Jr (my son). Everywhere I went, they were soooo bland and were either solid colors, or if i got lucky- stripes (blah)! They were never the color I needed! I began making bow-ties for him, and these were the first ones:
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| "SuperMan" |
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| "I-Robot" |
I took pictures of the bow-ties I'd made, and people loved them! I especially received a ton of positive feedback on the social media app, Instagram (@msshonduh, come follow me!)
Not before long, people asked if I was interested in selling the bow-ties as custom orders! I had thought about it before, but not really THOUGHT about it! I uploaded another picture to social media sites within the same week (including Facebook and Twitter) and I got my very first customer! I so remember that day! I felt amazing! I was doing something that I started from a lingering idea, and it turned into a mini business in days!
I remember how I felt each time I posted a picture initially! I would always send the picture to one of my best friends before posting and after she went crazy over them, it gave me the confidence to show the "world." One of my other best friends texted me one day and said, "You should really think about making some for women." I couldn't believe it! It was confirmation! I was just thinking that a couple of days prior, but didn't think it would go well, now that she mentioned it, I knew it could possibly be a hit! I completed my first women's bow-tie (the lace bow-tie pictured above), and what do you know?! The people loved it! I started getting orders like crazy and I knew I had to come up with a name quick! BowsByElle was easy for me. I wanted to incorporate my name, or my sons name, but I knew since I had been working on other projects, that using my name was the way to go since I began entering into the "branding" world.
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| Themed Bow- ties and Bows |
Now that I had begun to branch out of just bow-ties, it got so real to me what I was doing!. I began doing hair bows for little girls, adult fashion headbands, winter head wraps and winter scarves! Everything customized by customer preference and 100% handmade by me!
I'm often asked if I have a website where the entire collection is available to view, and when I began this journey, I told myself, "Don't jump the gun with this, just see how things go, and then RUSH the gun!" ... I am now working towards building a store on Etsy, where my entire collection can be viewed and purchased. ... This is bigger than I'd ever imagined and I am often bought to tears just thinking about it!
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| Silver Sequin Bow-tie for Women |
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| Rihanna Inspired Cheetah Bow-tie with Black Sequin middle |
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| Adult Headband, Girls hairbows |
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| Cheetah Headband |
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| More Headbands |
Baby Headband
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| Infinity Scarf |
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| More Infinity Scarves |
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| Long Scarf, Winter Headwrap |
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| More Long Scarves and Winter Headwraps |
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| Bedazzled Scarves |
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| Bow-ties for Men |
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Bow-ties for Doggy's
MORE BowsByElle ACCESSORY ADDITIONS COMING SOON!! Stay tuned! |
*** I also just have to add! I only told two friends about this idea (and my boyfriend who is ALWAYS supportive!!), when I began making the bow-ties at the very beginning for my son. One of them was soooooo supportive from the start (and if you know my connection with God, He actually told me that one of them would have just the answer I needed with how to begin this, and it was her!)! She just felt that it was going to go well, even when I didn't think it was such a big deal and ignored her assumptions! It was definitely God using her to tell me that this is what I was supposed to be doing! We had a conversation about it recently and she was kind of like, "I told you so!" I hated it, but I had to give it to her! She was right! [Excuse her language, she was excited :-)]
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