Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jennifer Lingley. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Jennifer, 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?
2020 was a year of great trials for our family, as it was for many. For us, it was a year filled with many Doctor visits trying to figure out what was causing my Husband’s body to fail him. He began to lose feeling in his hands, his muscles began to atrophy, and his right arm began to shrink from the muscle loss. The right side of his body wasn’t functioning properly and from the outside he looked like a healthy man, on the inside things were slowly falling apart. It took months of countless tests and process of elimination in search of a diagnosis. As a contractor who used his hands and arms to lift daily, the nerve pain became excruciating. With advice from Doctors in February 2020, he needed to step away from home remodeling as lifting heavy things could cause more severe nerve damage.
In March of 2020, we were thrown into quarantine from the pandemic. As many, it left us now both at home with no income. My Husband couldn’t use his hands due to the pain and numbness, but I could! Being home gave me the chance to craft again. I hadn’t picked up my crafting tools since 2010 when my mom and I closed our family Scrapbook Store. It was in those moments, that I knew I wanted to bring back our family business name and create things again. This time I wanted to sell things that were meaningful to me and with purpose. God created me to create, and my heart has always spoken through my hands!
Jennifer, 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?
What most people here in Tennessee don’t know about me is, I was born and raised in Sarasota, Florida. I went to Western Kentucky University where I majored in photojournalism. After college, I went back home to Florida, where I worked alongside my mom as a partner at our family Scrapbook Store. This is where Made For Memories name was originated. After 10 years of business, we closed our doors and for the next 8 years after that, I was a Family Photographer until moving to Tennessee in 2017.
From a very young age I would watch my mom create and make things to sell. It was always her way of making extra means to provide for our family. She would always let me help her and she’d always show me how to create anything. From time to time, I would go to Markets and craft shows with her and I just always remember having so much joy when I would make anything. Clearly the apple didn’t fall far from the tree and like my mother, creativity flows through my bones.
Fast forward to now, and after bringing Made For Memories back to life, creating with purpose is what I continue to do. I started with just my Stronger Together Tanks and T-shirts and now have over 20+ of my own created T-shirt designs. I’m continuously adding new products to my website and expanding my products that include Door Hangers, wood signs, serving trays, handmade Home Décor items, custom wood pieces. I specialize in tons of custom designed t-shirts for people and companies, and I’ve recently started to create affirmations and decals, which will soon be added to my website.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
If there could be a photo next to the word resilience in the dictionary, I feel like mine could be there. Every week we are thrown curveballs or roadblocks. There are countless days when I feel like I will have to quit what I’m doing to get a more sustainable job for my family. My Husband’s health has kept him from working many days and my small business just hasn’t been enough to sustain us. I have days of self-doubt, feeling like I’m not good enough or my products don’t compare to someone else’s, or times of complete creative blocks.
As any small business owner knows, you put so much of your own money into your business. There have been many times along the way when I’ve had orders and I haven’t had the means to purchase the right products to create them. Yet, some way or another God has ALWAYS come through and provided a way for me and I push through and make it work. For me anyhow, there has never been success without struggle. I once saw a passage that said, “Don’t give up before the Miracle Happens” and it has stuck with me to this day. Once we believe in our purpose that God has created us for, and we begin to trust completely in His plan. We start to shut out all the comparison traps and we become a conqueror, where no lack of resources can stop us from achieving our goals. You matter to much for God to give you an unfinished blessing.
Everything I have encountered has been a part of my journey and will continue to be. I will more than likely continue to stumble along the way, but difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations. Being resilient is a must, and I will continue to carry on with Grace.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
Word of mouth has always been my biggest source for new clients and orders. I’m not the best when it comes to posting to social media. I’m really working on finding the time to post more consistently. When I do post and share to social media though, Instagram has brought so much traffic to my social media pages and website. Creating has always been my purpose and quality has also been my promise!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://madeformemories.info/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/made4memories/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/madeformemories/