We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Allison McMahon a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Allison thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Success is the achievement of a desired goal. To be successful, you first have to have a goal and then you must be dedicated and work hard to achieve that goal. My goal is for every customer to have a positive experience and end up with a design or product that they love. I always strive to make each order be exactly what my customer envisioned. From the first initial contact, I try my best to find out exactly what the customer wants, whether they already know what that is or not. Having customers tell me things like “it’s like you’re inside my mind” or “it’s even better than I could’ve imagined” when sending them a mock up of my design for their product, makes my heart so happy. I love that I can create each order individually. I put my heart into each design and create each product specifically for that person. Being able to use my creativity to design from scratch really helps turn customers dreams into reality. Of course there are people that come to me with a photo they have seen that they want for themselves and they are so happy when I can recreate that for them. But the customers that want me to turn their idea into a design and then turn that design into a product are usually the most excited about their order. I have always had a passion for helping people and being able to help people in this way and to make people happy with my designs and products really is a success. Happiness is also a great measure of success. Unfortunately in life not everyone will be happy with you or your products, regardless of what you do or how hard you try, but that does not mean you are unsuccessful. When I encounter a situation like this, I still try my best, I stay true to myself, and I maintain my positive and helpful attitude and do what I can to make it right, but in the end if it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out, and that is okay. My success in this business is essentially measured on other people’s happiness. When a customer is happy with the design/product, that is a success. When a happy customer shares their happiness with others, by word of mouth, by showing off their products, by leaving a review or social media post, that is a success. When a new customer comes to me as a referral from a happy customer, that is a success. Thanks to my amazing customers I am happy to say I feel pretty successful.

Allison , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Hi friends, I am Allison, the owner and creator at The Happy Cow Clothing Co. Before all else, I am a mama and a wife. My husband and I have been together for going on 12 years and we have the most beautiful, smart, kind, loving 2-year old little girl. I’ve never really been good at talking about myself. I am a creative, always have been. I love being creative, thinking outside of the box, problem solving, and I love making things myself. I started out just making things for myself, then as gifts for family and friends. My family and friends kept telling me “you could sell that” so I decided to try. I turned my passion into a business and it has been the best decision ever! I create all kinds of things, from custom apparel to accessories, gifts, personalized logos, business cards, party decorations and much more. The possibilities are endless. I solve problems for my customers by helping them choose the right product/design to fit their needs. Two things that I believe set me apart from others are my passion for helping others and my creative mind. I love how my passion for helping other people gets to shine through my work. Owning my business has allowed me to help others even more by providing vast opportunities for me to participate with and donate to local organizations. Having the freedom to create new things makes each day more exciting. My greatest accomplishment in life is my daughter. Businesswise, I am most proud of myself. If you would’ve asked me two years ago if I would be where I am at today I totally would not have believed you. I am proud of myself for following my dreams, for having the strength to endure everything I have along this journey, for everything I have accomplished so far, and for never giving up. The main thing I want everyone to know about my business is there are no limits, if you can dream it we can create it.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

I would say the most effective strategy for growing your clientele is being authentic. You have to stay true to yourself. Create things that speak to you or speak your message for you and your clientele will find you. Watching the trends, listening to your clients feedback, and keeping an open mind also help build your clientele. For me, being genuine and creating quality products open so many doors. I will say I haven’t had a hard time finding new clients, thankfully. My best source of new clients has been word of mouth. Happy clients talk about the products/designs they received, they tell their friends, they post on social media, they leave positive reviews, and they keep coming back. That is what grows my business. I am terrible at keeping up with social media, both personally and professionally (something I am working on) and luckily, in my opinion, it has not hindered my growth. I get orders big and small, from different people, different businesses, even from different states. I attend local vendor events, I participate with community organizations, and I support other local businesses. I love meeting new clients and creating new things. This year, I, along with a few of my best gals (Rae Dawn Photography & AMC_Designss), started a group called “Boss Babes of Brevard” (you can follow us one facebook). We wanted to create a safe space for women business owners and entrepreneurs to network, make new friends, support one another, learn and grow together. We want everyone to succeed in their endeavors and if we can help each other do that, we will all be successful. Like I said, word of mouth is huge for a small business, being part of a supportive group who will help you grow your business is amazing. I am beyond blessed to be growing my business.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

A time when I had to pivot, in life, career and business was when I had my daughter. I always knew I wanted to be a mom and I thought I had the rest of my life planned out as well. I had been on a path with a career that I had worked very hard for and was very passionate about for a long time. After having my daughter, things changed. I realized that career was not as important to me as it had been. I knew I did not want to sacrifice my family for a career I no longer loved. I refused to miss out on any of the little moments; I wanted to be home with my daughter every day to watch her grow, so I had to make that happen. I honestly do not believe that anyone in their final days would reflect back on their life and say “I wish I spent more time working,” however I know everyone wishes they could spend more time with their loved ones. That was exactly what I planned to do. Deciding to change paths, especially without knowing what I would do, was huge for me, and my family, but we made it work. My passion for helping people was still there and I wanted to find a new way to help support my family financially. I loved creating cute things for myself and even more so for my daughter. She’s the perfect little model for apparel and accessories. This is when my business was born. Thanks to the support of my amazing husband, I was able to turn my creative hobby into a fun and successful business. I could not have done it without his support, he is my #1 fan, my voice of reason and the best partner in life and business. I am so thankful I took this leap. Although it was a major pivot, it was the best decision I’ve ever made.

Contact Info:

• Website: thehappycowclothingco.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thehappycowclothingco/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheHappyCowClothingCo/
• Other: https://linktr.ee/thehappycowclothingco

Image Credits
Rae Dawn Photography