Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Bailey Chalker. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Bailey thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

I originally began Magnolia Marsh with the purpose entertaining myself during this struggle of first time stay at home mom life. I need a creative outlet since I wasn’t working. I started out making personalized and custom gifts for people. Who doesn’t love receiving a gift with their name on it or in their favorite colors? I knew there was a market for these gifts as I’d purchased many for myself and friends over the years. I finally had time and knew I could create these things myself and so, Magnolia Marsh was created. I put myself out there and started posting on Facebook and instagram everything I was making and started getting orders. Word of mouth helped grow my business and seeing people wearing my creating and loving their gifts was so rewarding.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I first started Magnolia Marsh in 2016 after I had my first baby. She was about 6 months old and I truly loved staying home with her and not having to work for someone else. Although I was thoroughly enjoying my time, I felt I was missing out on day to day life. Life with a baby as a first time mom can be grueling and I needed a creative outlet. I’ve always enjoyed crafting and creating and thought between this and entrepreneurial classes I took in college I could start my own business doing so. I took the leap and bought a silhouette machine and never looked back. I started with paper crafts and banners for birthday parties. That quickly turned into creating customized shirts and gifts for wedding and bachelorette parties. I bought a heat press and upgrading to a new silhouette machine and orders were steadily rolling in! For a few years bachelorette gifts kept me busy up until Covid start. Once travel and large gatherings came to a halt, so did this large chunk of my business and I had to change directions to continue making money. I began to try my hand at making jewelry. I bought leather and started hand cutting basic earring shapes. Once I realized how big the jewelry market was, I invested in new equipment, leather and cork and Magnolia Marsh really took off. I revamped my Etsy store and finally started to see major growth in my business. I was so excited to keep my business growing and had since added more new equipment and dove into the world of acrylic and wood jewelry pieces. A huge accomplishment this past year, 2023, has been in person selling at markets and large vendor events. It’s challenging juggling now three children and a business but it brings me so much joy so selling my creations and jewelry in person and connect with my customers. I have some exciting new ideas that I hope to launch this year and bringing in new ideas keeps me loving be a stay at home mom and business owner.

How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.

Along with selling in person at vendor events, I also sell on Etsy. Although I thoroughly LOVE selling in person and connecting with customer on a personal level, I do most of my business online. Etsy allows me to reach an entire clientele I wouldn’t otherwise be able to obtain selling in person. I personally believe Etsy is an easy platform to use because it is user friendly and does a lot of the work for you (brings you customers!). Etsy has brought local customers to my vendor events as well, so even though it is an online platform, I have met some customers in person and this brings me so much joy. I currently only sell in the US and am so excited that I have now sold jewelry and gifts in ALL 50 states! My brand(although a small reach) is nationwide and that is a huge accomplishment for me.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

I have so many amazing customers and when an order pops up from a repeat customer, my heart beams with gratitude. I used to hand write long thank you notes to every single person that ordered and once Magnolia Marsh started to grow, I was unable to continue doing that. I’ve worked on my branding and now everyone gets a printed thank you card and I hand write the customer’s name on them as a personal touch. I invite all customers to follow me on social media in order for them so see snippets of the behind the scenes of creating their jewelry and gifts and to see new products. I believe that not only having an excellent product to foster brand loyal is important but also one of a kind customer service. I want my customers to be happy and also feel like they have a part in creating their orders so I do offer customization within my jewelry. I will send customers color options for leather, size comparisons and whatever they need to feel like they are getting the best service and product possible. I will randomly give away freebies for people to try new products and this is a fun, unexpected gift that my customers seem to love.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://magnoliamarsh.etsy.com/
• Instagram: @magnolia.marsh
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/odNrq8kiyUYRSzQJ/?mibextid=dGKdO6
• Other: [email protected]

Image Credits
Carissa Bradley Photography (headshot)