It's Crunch Time

It's last week before meeting with Macy's buyers as well as launching my Kickstarter.com campaign and my to-do list is not short!
1. I have to get an EIN number so I can open a business bank account
2. Register on Amazon Business with this number and bank account so I can get approved by Kickstarter and launch my campaign
3. Finish filming the Kickstarter video
4. Create appealing rewards for Kickstarter so I can create a successful campaign
5. Photograph models wearing my products for the rewards
6. GET APPROVED BY KICKSTARTER (this is the biggest challenge, apparently it is very competitive to get your video and campaign approved so I am working my butt off to make it an awesome video and story). I am very stressed about this as well because it takes a few days to get approved and my goal is to launch the campaign the same day VOGUE UK comes out which is March 11th. We will see if this is possible!
12. Make a ton of samples for Macy's! AKA sew, sew, sew...
13. Wait for my leather to come in so I can make samples for Macy's using leather. This is a problem because I ordered it over a week ago and they did not process my order so there was a delay. I won't have any time over Spring break to sew because I immediately leave for the Grand Canyon with my family and we fly back the night before Macy's.
14. Create sample sheets for Macy's buyers with a list of all the products, wholesale price, and recommended retail price.
15. Place an order with my manufacturer for a sample run of 50 purses using grant money I recently received.

It's going to be a busy week!

Hello Again

So after many months, I decided I am going to start blogging again. Looking back a year from now, my idea to start Nicole Kelner Designs was in its infantile stage. I had made a few purses by hand out of scraps of old purses and had no idea what Etsy.com even was. Then on March, 19 2012 after doing very minimal research and having only one purse to sell, I spontaneously launched an Etsy Shop. I sketched my first logo and voila, I was in business.
About 2 weeks after launching my Etsy Shop I started contacting random blogs, websites, and magazines in hope of getting some publicity to raise awareness of my purses. I ended up getting a review on the front page of CNET.com overnight. The review gave me some incredible exposure and it was my first taste at seeing how my idea could actually interest other people than just myself. I took the feedback from the review and adapted my design. I slowly started getting sales and made them to order.
I realized the beauty of custom design. People love to make their own personalized and one-of-a-kind purse. They would pick which style and fabric they wanted and tell me any other specifications they desired. I would work with them until they had their dream purse. These custom purses were not only great for my customers, but for my business as well. They helped push my limits and made me think outside the box to create new innovative designs.
My business continued to evolve from then on. The sales were coming in and I bought myself a brand new sewing machine as my first business expense. I started buying more fabric, making more purses, and developing a steady cash flow. Many websites around the world began to feature my designs and I started to realize that my business had potential.
At the end of summer, I had made over 100 purses by hand! I got back to college and joined Innoblue, the entrepreneurship club on campus, and was accepted to their Startup Accelerator program. I surrounded myself with motivated people full of passion and a whole new world opened. Constant encouragement and support from these new friends, old friends, and family helped me keep pushing myself even more. My goal was to get my purses into Macy's or another retail store.
After redesigning my website, reaching out to manufacturers, finding great resources, getting 2 grants, and sewing nonstop I got an email that changed everything. VOGUE UK contacted me to be featured in a section called "Techno Chic". Even in my wildest dreams I never thought that my products could be in VOGUE let alone VOGUE UK! I accepted their offer for a low-priced ad (hugely discounted because they approached me) and knew that I needed to get everything in order.
One week later, I got an email from a buyer at Macy's. I had applied months before to a women vendors program on Macy's website, knowing I didn't meet the requirements but applied nevertheless. She wanted to meet with me to see my products in person. I couldn't believe what I read. I asked her how she heard of my products and see said that my email had been forwarded from 3 other people and eventually led to her. I quickly agreed and am schedule to meet with her in the Macy's headquarters in New York at Herald Square. I am going to go to meet her over spring break.
In under a year, my business has grown from a dorm room crafting project to potentially being in Macy's and featured in VOGUE UK. I have pursued my passion and it has been the most rewarding experience I could imagine.
I cannot wait to see what will happen in the upcoming months and I hope to inspire my readers and young entrepreneurs to purse your dreams no matter what.