I was just thinking that as I receive more and more visitors and LIKE's on this page, you all don't know a thing about me and why or how my business came to be.....so, here's the scoop! In '98, I was pregnant with my 3rd child and we lived in Southern California....miserably. We are Northern California folks and I asked my husband if we could move back home. Things just hadn't worked out as well a
s we had hoped for our family, since we had transferred and I was ready to go home. I called my mother, who had recently been widowed, and she exclaimed...."You can move in here until you have had the baby and are in a better situation!". That was an offer I could not refuse! We moved in November, soon after, my mother told me that she was making an investment and starting a home business. She had a 14' long arm quilting machine delivered that fall! She was off and running with immediate success. In January, our baby arrived; a beautiful girl, Emma.....and my mom made another investment....a 12 needle HAPPY Embroidery Machine! Our house was busy! The embroidery business was a bit slow as my mother was booked for months in advance for the quilts. I took to answering the phone, while washing laundry and soon was helping her with the awful Embroidery software while changing the baby! Soon, I had the baby in preschool and was doing the embroidery digitizing and set-ups, as the embroidery business finally began to pick up. Then, on April 12, 2003, my mom went out to dinner with a group of friends and never made it home....she ran a red light and the other driver was going 75 mph in a 35 mph neighborhood. After that, my entire life changed. There were orders due, my heart was breaking and my life was utter chaos! I was convinced, by the company that the embroidery machine was purchased by, that my mom had told them that she really wanted to have me work with her, so that I would be able to earn a good income while staying home with my children. Oh yeah....I cried my eyes out in that sewing center. Then the real fun began, because I had never even touched the embroidery machine and hated sewing all together. The main technician, who is still my mentor and my friend, came over on a Sunday and spent the entire day with me until I could program, hoop, and run the machine without error. From there, I found that I, very much, enjoyed this exciting world and it really was a wonderful income for a stay at home mom. From there, I sold the quilting machine to a friend....who is an amazing quilt artist....and I bought a second HAPPY Embroidery machine, and a much better software program! I still learn something new every day and have had the most amazing time meeting new friends along the way. I started out with a resale license to be able to buy polo shirts and baseball caps, but have since found such an abundance of wholesalers that specialize in gift items that are made to be embroidered. This year, the baby graduates from High School and will be heading to college. I no longer will be changing diapers, running errands between 3 different school pick up schedules, packing snacks and bundling up for a night at the soccer field, or being asked by all the mom's that worked in offices that needed help getting their kids to and from school or sports practices. Now, I have time to fill my shelves with the beautiful gift items that I like to embroider, decorate and give as gifts....and I know you will love them, as well! My hope is to have this page bringing you all in to my embroidery world, then soon, open a web store and a real store in Sacramento!
~Always, Leslie
