Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Mabel Young. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Mabel thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights 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?
It all originally started when my then eight year old asked if we could get a dog. After a few discussions, we went on the hunt looking for a rescue dog that we could add to our family. One Saturday afternoon at Lake Jacomo, we were sitting on the dock and to my right waddled a cute little Pomeranian right up to me. Turns out, she was found weeks prior and in all attempts to find the original owner – they had nowhere for her to go, Long story short, that little Pom turned out to be an old lady who joined our family and stole our hearts. I chose the name Greta because that name means Pearl in German and she really resembled a pearl with her shiny long beautiful fur. Also, i was on the search for a name that would flow with mine. June came from my desire to add a middle name to every name I speak. One of my guilty pleasures but it serves its purpose and Greta June became the talk of the town. When it came down to naming my business, i struggled with something that would allow others to see it and immediately know what the business is. Anytime you come to an event I’m at, Greta is the first to be noticed. So it was an easy decision. I am extremely thankful i chose to name my business after her, i hope to make her name a legacy for as long as i can. My sweet girl passed on at the end of 2022, leaving me with many memories and a whole business.
Mabel, 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?
My name is Mabel, I am 33 years old and I started a business on accident making custom door mats. Originally, I am a bartender by trade. I spent all of my working years in a restaurant working my way up to bartending and managing a local bar. I was also a single mom to my now almost 12 year old son, Alijah for the first seven years of his life until I met our match, Nate. If you ever meet him, you’ll most likely never forget him. When my son was little, I made a promise to him that I would quit working at the bar once I turned 30. He held me to it and once that notice came up, I did just that. Quit my job, had a plan, booked some private gigs and then… the entire world shut down. I dove into many things; one being plants, two being extremely more supportive of small and local business’ and three, learning something new even if it’s hard or doesn’t make sense. Which brings us to a cold evening in February of 2021 when I stumbled upon a TikTok of someone making a doormat and I remember thinking how freeeeaking cute is that and I should totally do it. And in true Mabel fashion, I had a blank door mat from an ikea run earlier in the day and some paint and brushes. It was totally meant to be. Yeah, that whole first time process wasn’t very fun but the results were good and after posting on my personal Facebook, I started getting orders. Then I started doing pop ups to reach more people and y’all, I’m pretty sure I’ve made well over 1,000 door mats. I am currently on the third floor at Bella Patina in the West-bottoms and at Anabel’s Makers Market in Desoto, KS. Late 2022, I hosted my first Make & Take Workshop and it was such a success, I became inspired to do something even more crazy. So I bought a full size 1991 Chevy School Bus and we are currently building it out to be my new “Workshop on Wheels” and also so I can pop up around town more often. When I started making doormats, I kept it pretty low key and funny with some nice little puns and a lot of planty vibes. I personally design each and every doormat I make from choosing fonts to creating a unique design to hand painting each one with exterior paint and finishing them off with clear UV spray. I have learned so much in this journey, the pressure is real when you add the word “custom” but I find the challenge thrilling and I absolutely LOVE the results. There is not one doormat I’ve made that didn’t turn out extra super adorable. If you’ve ever done a class with me, you totally understand the process. How I learned to make them is sooo different than how I make them now. I found what worked best even if it takes extra time. I like clean crisp lines and realistic colors and funny sayings. I love how much joy these mats bring people, like I’m here for all the giggles at the front door. And I am super excited to offer Kansas City a different unique way to host a celebration, girls day out, neighborhood gathering, team building event and more with the bus. Our goal is to be up and moving by end of August! The sky is the limit here!
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
Social media for sure! And I’m not all that great at it. I don’t have millions of followers. I don’t have hilarious reels and cute set ups. I use social media to find local events where I could set up shop and meet people. Each person that walks into my booth knows I hand paint each mat, I offer custom orders and they can pick up at a couple locations around the metro.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
Oh man, I really need to learn to say no. I get asked all the time to make a mat on the fly, ready for pick up first thing the next day, sometimes even as late as midnight and it never fails – 9 out of 10 times they don’t come when they say they will. So I’m learning to say NO when I need to and to be more understanding of how my prices aren’t for everyone. Not only do I sometimes bend over backwards to make sure my doormats get into the hands of others, i also have to respect my time and energy by charging what I have to versus charging what others are willing to pay.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.gretajunedesigns.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/gretajunedesigns
- Facebook: facebook.com/gretajunedesigns
Image Credits
Shelby Lynn with Shelby-Lynn Studios