Thursday, March 18, 2010

Meet Shannon from Random Sacks of Kindness!

TGIF Ladies!   It's Friiii-Day!!!!   I don't quite know what I'm yippee-ing about; during tax time every day is a work day for me!  But hey, who is complaining?  Not I!   The brown, dry bleak wintery ground here in Texas has turned Bright Bright Green just in time for St. Patrick's Day!  It's so beautiful out there all I wanna do is go to Lowe's, by tons of plants and get to digging and planting and making everything beautiful in my yard!

Today, we have a lovely lady from California; by the beautiful Pacific Ocean!  Oh, I love Central California!   I would like you to meet Shannon, from Random Sacks of Kindness.  

She is truly a Busy Mom and quite colorful too, as we will see in a bit.   So, grab your Jelly Donut (@joycharde) or your tea, or your coffee and let's see what Shannon has been "whipping up" at her WAHM headquarters!


Kelly:  Hello, Shannon, and thank you for joining me here today! Tell us, how young are you?

Shannon:  Hehe, young…. I’m 39 years young, a wife, and mom of 4 kids or 5 if you include my husband ;).

Kelly:  What is the name of your business?

Shannon:   The name of my business is called Random Sacks of Kindness.

Kelly:  When did you begin?

Shannon:  I started last May when I realized how many plastic zip bags I was putting into my kids lunches and how many were not coming home! There had to be another way. So I investigated a fabric that I could use as a liner and went from there.

Kelly:  What motivated you to start  http://www.randomsacks.com/ ? What inspires you to create?

Shannon:  My kids, the idea of being green and reducing our carbon footprint. I really push recycling in our home and using products that are earth friendly. We have a garden each year and compost our yard clippings.

Kelly:  Do you have any background in business and/or sewing?

Shannon:  I worked in retail through college…then worked in the corporate environment before staying home with my kids. I have been sewing since I was 11. My mother taught me. My favorite thing to do is make awesome Halloween costumes.

Kelly:  What is your favorite product?

Shannon:  Kabuki Japanese Ladies Sandwich and Snack Bag Set of 2, Resusable  http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=42340492


I love this set because is is so colorful!

Kelly:  OH MY GOSH, that is So Cute!  I have to have that!  What are the special Features?

Shannon:   The snack bags are reusable… can be washed and dried with your kitchen towels. They have a waterproof liner so I can put things like grapes in the bags.

Kelly:  What are your business goals this year?

Shannon:   My goals this year is to achieve a total of 300 sales in my Etsy shop and just to get out there more… Get people interested in reducing the amount of plastic waste.

Kelly:  How do you get traffic to your website?

Shannon:   I have business cards, attend craft faires, hand out in the virtual lab on Etsy, and use social networking sites.

Kelly:   Yes, here are Shannon's Blog and Facebook Links:



Kelly:  So, how do you juggle work/life balance? For instance, 4 growing children and a husband. How do you “do” all that you “do”?!?

Shannon:  I have to do a lot everyday… taxi kids to/from school, make lunches, volunteer in the classroom, all the mommy chores…and then work on my shop. I mainly sew in the afternoons when kids are at school and then at night after bedtime. It’s tough sometimes, but worth it.

Kelly:  Can you share some of your frustrations?

Shannon:  My frustrations are not being patient. I hate waiting. (lol) But I do take it one day at a time, because I have to .

Kelly:  What is the most valuable lesson you have learned?

Shannon:  You know, I’m not sure yet… my business is still very new. I’m just trying to keep at it and keep the house in control (ha!).

Kelly:  What word of encouragement can you give a person who wants to also start their own business?

Shannon:  Patience.

Kelly:  Any other thing you would like to share with us?!

Shannon:  My products are featured in the Local Collection store in the Glendale Galleria in California. It’s very exciting to have a retail store presence. I hope to just get out there more! I am also working on some Alice in Wonderland inspired snack bags.

Special Offer: Anyone who orders something from now through the rest of March (3/19-3/31) will be entered into a drawing for one of my reversible grocery/shopping sacks! For more details, check my Facebook Fan Page:    Here are the details!  Good for the planet, handy for you!!Pocket measures 7in/18cm X 5in/13cm.


Environmentally conscious bags!
Grocery/Shopping Sack
This is a beautiful grocery sack and is reversible!
Carry this to farmer’s market, grocery store, etc…
The sack has a pocket for holding your shopping list or coupons!
The sack carries 0.67 cubic feet of stuff. I have 2 large boxes of cereal,
3 boxes of rice, a box of something else, 2 cans of Chef. That just filled
the bottom of it... you could still add lighter stuff on top!
It measures 17in/43cm tall (including handles), 12in/30.5cm wide and 8in/20.5cm deep.

Kelly:   Here are some more Great Products that Shannon produces: 



Kelly:  Shannon, I can tell from these great pics that your work is very high quality, durable, and totally relevant to the eco friendly consumer products market!   I love your use of color, the subtle sense of humor, and the workmanship!   We all at the Busy Mom's Team wish you success above your wildest dreams!  And, I absolutely Have to have the Kabuki; but now I see these ants I am torn!

Why don't some of us ladies go on over to RandomSacks's Blog, Facebook Fan Page and Shop and see what we can do to encourage, support, cheer on, refer and even buy?   She has a great product!

That concludes our Friday Spotlight Interview!  Ladies, I am going rogue looking for more lovely Busy Moms to Interview!   Please check out this link to let me know that YOU are ready to increase sales, exposure to your shop, and new friends today!  

Toodles!


Contributed By: Shannon
Shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/RandomSacksofKindnes




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2 comments:

Kelly Ann Taylor said...

Shannon,
I hope you get some extra sales!
I put your interview on my blog also and our Busy Mom's Facebook Page!

TFIG!

Shannon said...

Thanks so much Kelly! It was great sharing with you and your readers :)
Shannon