Lilac Market Headbands wouldn't be anywhere without its family of wonderful employees. Today, just in time for her 3 year anniversary, we're putting the spotlight on Tessa, Lilac Market's very first employee!
Introduce yourself! Where are you from, what do you do and how did you meet Kelsey?:
I’m Tessalyn, but everyone calls me Tessa! I'm originally from Nixa, MO and currently go to school at Evangel University as a business major. At the time I met Kelsey, I needed a part-time job, and my best friend’s dad had worked with Kelsey at the hospital. Kelsey had just started Lilac Market and was looking to hire someone, and my friend’s family thought I would be a good fit since I’m crafty and love art. So on a fateful Sunday afternoon, I went to her house for an interview. I didn’t know how to use a machine, but I could hand stitch a little bit. I made one pillow, and that was the extent of my knowledge. We clicked right away, and I was her first employee!
What’s something you wish other people understood about working for LMH?:
It’s not as easy as it sounds. We’re not just “making headbands”, it takes actual work to meet goals and there’s a lot of things that go into it. It’s more than just a few steps, and I think a lot of people don’t realize what all goes into making and getting their headband to them. And it takes effort to manage the flow. Sometimes we need to problem-solve quickly, or there are challenges or delays you can’t predict. It’s never boring.
What were those early days like?:
There was no office at the time, and we did everything out of her bedroom. I would sit at Kelsey’s nightstand table at the one chair in the room to do orders. I would feed the printer page by page for the packaging that the headbands go on. We’d both sit and watch The Office while we worked. We didn’t get but a few orders back then, maybe 5 in a week. So we would lay them out on her bed, and then make the headbands for those specific orders. It would take the whole day just to do those few. A big milestone was when we had enough orders to put on the bed AND the floor - that was a huge deal!
I remember when I first got trained on a sewing machine. Kelsey had to go run an errand, so her boyfriend who was also helping and I kept working. I was so focused that we ended up sitting in complete silence the entire time because I was worried I would mess it up.
I started to help develop processes that we still use today, like the way we fold and stack cut fabric. I remember when we hired our second employee, and for the whole day we made Baby headbands since we had just released them as a new product. Every day we were learning something new.
What’s something that’s surprised you about working for a small company?:
The growth. It’s grown so much! In just three years, we went from putting headbands on a shelf in a closet and creating them per order, to now we have our own office, equipment that makes us more efficient and storage space for inventory. It’s come a long way, but it doesn’t seem like it’s been that long. Every year just brings more exciting changes.
If you could give advice to someone working in the early stages of a start-up, what would it be?:
Cherish each step, even if it feels small. Those are good memories to look back on to see how far we’ve come. It’s inspiring to see the expansion of the business itself, but also cool to see how it’s changed.
How do you feel about your namesake’s print being one of the most popular headbands we sell?:
Of course I love it! I love every single color, and fun fact: the print we have now was not the original Tessa Floral. The Leela Floral was actually the first Tessa that I chose, but we weren’t able to find it again once it had sold out. So we switched it out for the other. It always makes me smile when I see one in someone’s order.
Describe a Day in the Life at LMH now:
Depending on the day, if I’m the first to come in, I make sure the equipment is on and ready to go for the day's work. Fulfilling orders is the priority, and then we make the headbands as the fabric comes in. Sometimes I’ll help with props for the product photos. We’ll also do photo shoots and model the headbands! I always love getting a text from Kelsey saying we’ll be doing photos that day.
What’s been one of the funniest good times?:
We had a surprise Nerf war at the office over the summer during a long lunch break. We split into teams of red and blue, put on music and built forts with the tables. We basically destroyed the office for an hour and just had some fun! We’ve done several surprise office birthdays, including one time we drove by the birthday girl while she was outside on lunch and had to hide the balloons we had in the car.
Back in the day, our favorite office snack was pita chips. We would all work in the same room, so one person using a sewing machine would have to sit at the edge of their seat so that the pita chip bag could sit behind them, and everyone would be able to reach it.
What’s your favorite part about working for LMH?:
The satisfaction of knowing that something I’m making is going to be useful for someone is really rewarding. It’s all about making something for a purpose, and each headband really is made with loving care.
It’s also a good community to work in! It can go from cranking out work like there’s no tomorrow, to laughing really hard, to deep meaningful conversations in a single day. We get to build each other up while building the business at the same time. How many jobs get to say that?
What do you most look forward to this year with LMH?:
Implementing new systems to make our processes even better. I’m also a business major, and seeing the possibilities that a small business can have is inspiring. I’m learning the back side of how a business is run first hand and the ins and outs of the day to day.
Seeing all that we’ve accomplished in such a short time makes me excited for the potential. Being able to say I’ve been a part of that makes me proud, and I can’t wait to see what’s coming next!
Do you have the Tessa Floral in your collection? Which color is your favorite? Show them off and tag us at #lilacmarketheadbandsblog for a chance to be featured on our social media!
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