As seen through the eyes of the RuffleIntern...
Boy, have we been busy this past week. Gracious thanks to BabyTalk Magazine for the kind words about RuffleButts! I could not believe how many orders we have fulfilled in just one week! I finally know where I can find everything in our office because I have been pulling customer's orders so much. Don't get me wrong now, this is a fantastic thing that is happening! I am so thrilled to be interning for a company that is gradually "booming!" So far this experience has been so amazing, and I cannot wait to see what summer will bring to us. Lately Amber and I have been trying to come up with a new Trendy Tee design for our fall line. We have come up with a few great ideas, however you will just have to wait and see what we will have in store for you when our Tee is complete!
Besides all of the orders we have been pulling, I was informed that we are bringing along a second intern to help RuffleButts. We need the help greatly considering all of the feedback we are receiving from BabyTalk magazine. It is great that we are having another person join the RuffleButt clan. This will allow us to gather more ideas, put our heads together, and gain more information from one another. I am excited to meet our new intern, and I cannot wait for us to all work together and bring our ideas to life!
"WOW" and "thank you God"!!! That is all I can say at the moment. These past few days have been insane and I am loving every minute of it! Orders have been rolling in like crazy...seriously, my inbox is overflowing with order notifications. I recruited my husband to help me pack orders on Saturday, and by the time we were caught up from Friday and Saturday's orders, we had even more sitting in the inbox! This is what I have been waiting for, but I must admit, although I feel so incredibly blessed and am thrilled that the business is finally ready to run, I am totally scared out of my mind on how I will keep up and fill orders! We are already sold-out on a handful of our products and are running a replacement production now. With that said, production requires at least 4 weeks, and customer service is my #1 priority. I want our RuffleButts customers to be delighted by their shopping experience, and I want to stay true to my goal of spreading ruffles and sharing smiles (not frustrations with delayed products)!!
So, how did this come about...
RuffleButts was selected by babytalk Magazine editors for their page called "Stuff We Love"! They did their own photo shoot with our lime woven RuffleButt Bloomers and ran them in their May issue. First, I have to say, with complete honesty, that I have never worked with a more pleasant company. I was already a subscriber to this magazine, but they are now at the very top of my favorites! I am so truly honored that such a well-respected national publication took notice of our products and even recommended them to their readers!
If you are an avid reader of this blog, you know that the journey of entrepreneurship is one with so many ups, downs, twists & turns, but it is milestones like this that make me feel like I am accomplishing what I set out to conquer! I know we have so much further to go, but the fact that others are taking notice is a huge step in the right direction. And for those of you that email me asking for words of advice...and I am so far from an expert here...but based on this experience, I would just tell you to go for it, ask for it; you never know what will come of it!
I just received a note card in the mail from the Ballard Family thanking me for my generosity and praising our RuffleButts. I must say that I am so pleasantly surprised by this true act of consideration and kindness. Of all the celebrities that visited us at the Boom Boom Room this past January, this is the first to send us a thank you note. With that said, I do understand what a huge task it would be to send thank you notes to all of the incredible companies that participated in the event, and never expected this from anyone. I think this says so much about this family that they went through the effort of either accomplishing this on their own, or through the expense of hiring someone to do this for them.
I must give total praise here, and if you are not already a fan, I hope this gives you a new respect for this talented Actor and his family - Alimi (David Sinclair on CBS' Numbers), Dahn, Naya & Kairo Ballard. This is obviously a beautiful family, both inside and out!