We recently connected with Kimmy Sauer and have shared our conversation below.
Kimmy, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?
While I am proud to be a mom and a wife, I am also a proud entrepreneur. My business combines all of the facets of my life in a way that it doesn’t feel like “work.” I love designing products that my own children enjoy, and then sharing those products with other families. I also like inspiring my own children, particularly my daughters, by being a successful female entrepreneur. The 2+3=WE brand name is the summation of the various facets of my life; first there were the two of us (myself and my husband), then our three wonderful children came along (Abby, Annie, and Teddy). Collectively we form a family that I am very proud of.
Kimmy, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I quit my corporate HR job in March 2021 to stay home with our third child. By September, I was getting stir crazy and felt that I had more to give. I had always been creative and enjoyed crafts, but I had never tried to sell any of my creations. With Halloween, one of my favorite holidays, approaching, I decided to sell Halloween “BOO” buckets. While I received orders from friends and family, I was surprised by the positive reaction by others on Facebook who I didn’t know. The “BOO” buckets were such a big hit, I decided to sell fidget advent calendars that Christmas. After the initial success of the “BOO” buckets and advent calendars, I wanted to find a product that was less seasonal.
The inspiration for my next product came from entertaining my own children on long family road trips. After having our third child, it became nearly impossible to fly anywhere for our annual family vacation. That meant many hours in the family minivan driving to our vacation destination. That also meant entertaining three kids of varying ages for said hours. On previous road trips, I would put dollar-store toys in brown paper bags and create “surprise bags.” If the kids made it a certain number of miles without pulling each others’ hair out or screaming about the radio station, they would be rewarded with one of these bags.
This experience gave me the idea to develop travel busy boxes. Giving my kids a variety of small items such as coloring activities, fidgets, and snacks kept them engaged for longer than giving them one toy. They also traded amongst themselves to create their “perfect” box, giving mommy and daddy more time to listen to our podcast or guide the mini-van down windy country roads. These “travel busy boxes” are now my best seller. There are also baby and toddler versions as well as big brother/big sister, get well soon, wedding and summer camp boxes.
When I started my business a year and a half ago, I would never have dreamt that I would sell my products to customers in 49 states, Australia, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, Canada, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland and Spain. I am so thankful for my customers and for my children, who continue to inspire my creations.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
I had an interesting experience while building my social media audience. My 2-year-old son secretly dumped out a gallon of milk while I was unloading the groceries. I took a quick video of him playing in the spilled milk and knowing that he was being naughty. I eventually made the video into an Instagram reel; the reel was viewed 4.5 million times.
At the time, I was excited by not only the number of views but also the huge increase in followers. I eventually realized that many of these new followers were seeking silly videos or parent-fails, not busy box content. This experience, and others like it, have helped me realize that I need to build engagement with followers who care about my brand, not by seeking large numbers of followers who may not be interested in my products.
While I initially focused my social media energy on Facebook and Instagram, I have recently placed more emphasis on TikTok and Pinterest. I use these platforms to share authentic stories about my life as a small business owner and as a mom of 3.
We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.
Even though I sell most of my products online and ship directly to customers, I build relationships by communicating throughout the sales process. I often reach out to customers to clarify something with their order, ask if they would like me to include a gift note or inquire about how soon they need the item. I also send each customer an email with a photo of their order before I ship their item. I thank them for purchasing from my shop, include links to my social media pages and provide an offer code for 10% off their next purchase. I also ask them to leave a review once they receive their order.
I really go above and beyond to make sure every customer’s experience is positive. I accommodate special requests, such as filling three busy boxes with the same contents to avoid sibling quarrels or expediting a box to a kid at summer camp who needs a pick-me-up. Recently, I put a small “you got this” message on the bottom of a busy box for a customer who was nervous about flying with her one-year-old for the first time. Building customer loyalty, one small action at a time.
Contact Info:
- Website: 2plus3equalswe.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/2plus3equalswe
- Facebook: Facebook.com/2plus3equalswe
- Other: 2plus3equalswe.etsy.com TikTok.com/@2plus3equalswe