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

Hi Kelsey, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

Since college, I knew I’d love to run my own company someday. After graduating, I took a corporate position, not entirely sure where I was going, or what I wanted to do. Over 5+ years I dabbled in different areas of business (MLM’s, fitness coaching, Etsy shops, etc.), and through all that I decided I’d love to run a retail business. However, after really thinking about running a retail company, I decided I didn’t want to simply purchase items at wholesale cost and re-sell them. I’m a designer/creative to the core, so wanted to add that middle piece where I get to be creative, and then resell the items.

A few days after deciding this, at 3am I was feeding my then 6-month-old, and scrolling Pinterest. It was then that I saw a beautifully curated gift box… and I knew, “Hey, I could do that!”. So I began my business by designing 1 self-care gift box to sell on my self-made website, and after I sold all of those, I designed 2 more gift boxes, and so on.

I was so scared to get started… who was I to run a business and create beautiful gifts that I thought strangers should give to their loved ones? But when an idea doesn’t leave your head, you know you have to do something with that idea or it will never go away, and you’ll always wonder “what if?”.

Kelsey, 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 Kelsey, and I own Wonderfully Made Gifting Company. I provide my customers with pre-designed, beautiful gift boxes to give to their VIPs (parents, siblings, friends, coworkers, employees, donors, etc.). I also love creating custom gifts in bulk for businesses who are wanting gifts branded/geared toward to their company, recipients or event.

Giving well-thought-out, intentional gifts (in the business world, especially), can be tough amongst all of the other to-do list items, so we are here to help make memorable gifting simple. Think of us as the space that individuals and businesses outsource their gifting needs to! We source beautiful upscale items, package them professionally, handwrite every single card, and ship the gifts to their recipients.

Customers can shop pre-designed or build-a-box gifts (where they pick each individual item that goes into the gift) through our website, or work one-on-one with us to create those custom gifts.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

“The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry” by John Mark Comer has changed my personal life, and my business life. In a nutshell, the world tells us to GROW, SCALE, MAKE IT TO THE TOP as FAST as you can. It’s all very overwhelming, but I found myself thinking there was no other way… that’s how I had to do it if I wanted this business to survive. Well, long-story-short, I burned out, big time. I found myself wanting NOTHING to do with my business anymore. But deep down, I knew I did want something to do with it… I had just learned to associate my business with stress, frustration, speed and non-stop work, and that needed to change.

Like the title suggests, I needed to ruthlessly eliminate hurry from my life. I took 3 weeks to slow down, get off social media, work minimally, spend time with my family, workout… all the things that helped me slow down and refocus. I then “restarted” my business. Now, of course, it was already functioning, and I didn’t completely start over. But I restarted how I was running it. I decided that my business could thrive s l o w l y if I wanted it to. My business could be successful s l o w l y if I wanted it to. Slow growth can be so good for a business, and so good for your mental health as the owner.

So, my recommendation to anyone feeling burnout, overwhelm, whatever, with their business, is to read “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry”, and it will change the way you view things.

Can you talk to us about how you funded your business?

Never once have I taken out a loan. My business was started from a savings of $1000, which I grew through selling stuff on FB marketplace, and doing odd jobs for friends and family. And throughout the first year of my business, I continued to do that stuff to make enough money to steadily grow my business when sales weren’t doing the job — and I was always OK with this, because I knew someday I wouldn’t have to do those odd jobs anymore, and that they were the beautiful, humble beginnings of a fantastic business!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thewonderfullymadeco.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/wonderfullymadeco.studio
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/wonderfullymadeco.studio

Image Credits
605 Magazine
Maddie Peschong