We were lucky to catch up with Ariel McNellis recently and have shared our conversation below.
Ariel, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
My small business, Arrangements By Ariel was born just before my August wedding in 2022. I was looking for small personalized items to give to my guests and was having a hard time finding something affordable and with no minimum order. Having a sweet tooth, I bought a bunch of different candy and spent a few hours in my kitchen creating candy kebabs and different arrangements. It was the most creative fun I had in years, and with the encouragement of family and friends I quit my job and pursued what made me happy full time.
Ariel, 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?
I’ve always considered myself a creative person but never found the right realm to express myself. If you told me 5 years while I was sitting at my desk at a law firm what I would be doing now, I would have laughed and asked if there was more coffee brewed yet.
I found myself spending incredibly long hours working and spending my life building someone else’s dream. After my wedding I stared at the extra candy in my spare room. At that moment I realized I had a chance to build my own dream, and knew that I couldn’t expect my future to just fall into my lap.
I quit my job, spent a lot of time taste testing candy (no complaints there), and created an affordable product catalogue for any occasion.
After dipping my toes in the water with a few local markets, online sales, and advertisements – I had an incredibly successful season for only 6 months in business.
When I received an email from my town stating that I was nominated for a young entrepreneur award I realized that I was succeeding at my own dream for the first time in my life. It was only because I decided to actually try.
How did you build your audience on social media?
Building an audience and following on social media is no easy feat, and I know I’m still learning new things with every update and new app.
With that being said, for me and my experience with social media the most successful interactions are those which are the most organic.
I followed local businesses and influential people in the community, and got to know them better through their posts and local events.
Laying in bed eating cookies and liking posts does work to a certain extent, but it really does go beyond the screen.
Attending local events you see on social media and tagging local businesses when you go to visit them is vital in building an actual relationship.
The genuine friendships I’ve created is not only by being present online, but also by going out and supporting local events.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
One lesson I had to unlearn is being too generous. It is so important to support local businesses and friends and family, but you have to put the business hat on sometimes and make sure you aren’t losing track of your own goals.
The first few months of my business I found myself charging way less, and at times not at all for products for family and friends.
I found myself losing money and not making profit at times and having to hustle a little harder to keep the budget afloat.
I shared this struggle to a fellow business owner and they gave me some of the best advice I’ve received. If someone truly supports you and your business they will want to pay you for your time and not expect it for free. You have to respect your time too.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: arielsarrangements
- Facebook: arielsarrangements
- Other: [email protected]