We recently connected with Emily Boyer and have shared our conversation below.

Emily, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Quality control is a challenge almost every entrepreneur has had to focus on when growing – any advice, stories or insight around how to best ensure quality is maintained as your business scales?

The trick to maintaining quality for my business is small batches! I mix small batches of concrete and design a few items at a time. This allows me to give each idea, each item my full attention to detail and quality.

Emily, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Emily Mae and I am the owner and product designer at ConcreteHome by EmMae. I started this business as a creative outlet. I was interested in concrete as a medium and decided to make my first fire bowl. To seal the fire bowl, I used a unique stoning technique. My family and friends loved it! It really set me apart from others that were creating fire bowls. So with all the positive encouragement, I listed my items on Facebook. It was a success! I sold dozens of fire bowls within the first two weeks and knew I was onto something. I soon created my own website and launched my creations on other platforms as well.

After 2.5 years in busines, I added other home and patio decor items such as tables, coasters, pots and planters, charcuterie boards, plants stands, and many more items.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Owning a business is hard! There are so many ups and downs that you need to be prepared for. One of the biggest challenges I faced when I first started was the holiday season. I did not know what to expect and found out quickly, I was not at all prepared! I didn’t have enough items on hand to ship quickly and I didn’t have enough hands to help me ship and create products. While I am so thankful for the busy season, it was definitely a learning curve.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

What started out as a creative outlet and as a way to make money on the side, turned into a full scale business for me. I lost my job shortly after creating the fire bowls due to Covid-19. I suddenly looked at my “side-hustle” as my main income. I knew I had the creative drive to make this work and I was going to succeed.

I researched how to make a more durable concrete blend, how I could create a more weather resistant sealant and other techniques to improve the quality of my products. Overtime, I was able to create quality, longer lasting products that people loved.

For me, a key milestone was knowing I have quality, handmade products that I am proud to stand by. Many of my clients purchase for themselves and then come back for more as gifts!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.conctetehomebyemmae.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/concretehomebyemmae
• Facebook: Facebook.com/Concretehomebyemmae