Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Helen Rutledge. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Helen , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you tell us the backstory behind how you came up with the idea?
I would love to – I started my venture with a furniture and global home goods store, located in Charleston SC. However, my path took an unexpected turn in November 2021 when illness forced me to close that iteration of Bibelot. It was during the Round Top, Texas Antiques Show that I fell seriously ill with diverticulitis, leading to a period of bed rest and subsequent colon surgery in January 2022. Thankfully, the surgery went well, and after months of recovery, I sensed it was time to pivot the business. During my healing process, a long-standing interest of mine sparked anew—crafting replacement lampshades. Finding lampshades for my antique lamps had always proven difficult and the moment to address the problem finally appeared. Months of experimentation, stumbling, and persistence followed until I finally discovered the perfect blend of materials, meeting the standards of a luxury lampshade. With lampshades right off the press so to speak, I was offered a last-minute acceptance into the Highpoint Market in October 2022. I toiled around the clock, ensuring I had a sufficient collection of lampshades to showcase. But fate wasn’t quite done with its curveballs. Just before the Highpoint show, I received the news of stage 1 breast cancer in both breasts. Determined to forge ahead, I proceeded with Market and upon my return, underwent a double lumpectomy. The early detection proved pivotal, and I found comfort in the holiday season while receiving treatment, fueled by the hope of an exciting project on the horizon.
Highpoint Market gave me confidence in my product, while the unwavering support of friends and family reminded me that illnesses were mere setbacks. With their encouragement, I decided to press onward. And here we are today—a new Bibelot Home, a rejuvenated version of myself, and yes, a brand new website. Now, I find myself creating something that brings me immense joy—and I hope it resonates with others. By using exquisite materials from talented individuals and places across the globe, I play my small part as a creator. It’s truly a dream. With immense gratitude and a twinkle in my eye, I look forward to overcoming all the unforeseen obstacles and not taking it all too seriously.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I know that Bibelot is sometimes hard to say – it is (pronounced bi-be-low), and is defined as an object of beauty or rarity. We specializes in luxury bespoke lampshades and pendants for Home Decor Stores, Hospitality Groups, Interior Designers, and Customers interested in crafting a single unique lampshade. We sell a vast array of shades that are upcycled from fabrics sourced from all over the world including block print, Kuba cloth, mudcloth, designer, and ikat silk materials. Customers can buy from us directly online or from one of our retail partners. We also work with customers including interior designers to create one kind, custom order shades, mixing and matching one of our material selections or using the customer’s own material choice (COM). We know that it can be difficult to find the right size shade for your lamp so we can be very helpful in finding the right size shade. We also offer vintage lamps and new lamps for sale as complete sets. That way you are sure to get it right. All of our shades are made by artisans in our Charleston, SC studio. Each shade about 2-3 weeks to expedite.
Any fun sales or marketing stories?
The social media marketing ride is bumpy and complex. There are often times when everything is singing along, you have the right product, great photographs, great video and the whole package sells itself for months. But this is not a sprint, it is a journey and there is Instagram fatigue. Constantly comparing yourself to other brands and feeling that all your efforts are not moving the needle. I think this is very common. We need to talk about it more and let people know that is a part of the game as well. I have found during those periods when we had a lean staff that it was ok to back off the social media wagon for a while. Taking time away to let go of resentment and comparison proved very healthy for us. The quality did not suffer and we did not do anything stupid we just backed off a bit. New ideas and a fresh perspective grew and we were able to pick up where we left off and do an even better job. The mental struggle just disappeared and I was grateful to have had the break.
Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
I think that SCORE is a great resource for mentorship and endless resources. You can find business plan advice, press kit tools, marketing analysis advice, and templates for business resources. Also, use youtube for almost any area you are stuck from technical difficulties to social media tools. And finally, collaborating and networking with small businesses and entrepreneurs whether you think it is helpful or not. There is always an energy that comes with networking from name recognition to common marketing goals to collaborative events.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bibelothome.com
- Instagram: @thebibelothome
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bibelothome
Image Credits
Mira Adwell