We recently connected with Madison Geroski and have shared our conversation below.
Madison, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?
When naming my business which specializes in providing unique gifts, home decor, and baby/children’s apparel and accessories, I brainstormed SO many different name possibilities! Initially, I wanted to use a childhood nickname my family had given me, however after sharing the name at a trade show, I realized it was difficult for others to pronounce and although it evoked such wonderful memories for me, it didn’t encompass the purpose or mission of my brand. I had to pivot. I focused in on what the mission of the company was and what I wanted to help others with through my business. I identified key parts of my mission being to eliminate the stress of preparing for celebrations by providing everything needed to gift and celebrate with style, and offering products that spark conversation. The goal would be to help our customers focus on creating memorable moments with their loved ones. I wrote down names and checked if they were available online and on social media. Nothing seemed to have quite the meaning or connection I was searching for, and I quickly realized it was important for the name to not only inspire future customers, but it needed to inspire me as well in order to keep the mission of the company at the forefront.
I thought of the many inspirations behind my business and what an influence my Father had played in its creation. He was a fun loving, hard working man who alway made life’s moments feel special- no matter how big or small they were. Whether with encouraging words, humorous creativity, our just his joyous personality, he brought a light to any gathering. I often enjoyed gifting him very unique things because his reactions were filled with such happiness that I would feel contagious joy in return! He always stressed how important it was to ‘Do Your Best’. It was a motto he shared with me and my siblings and became words I found so important to live by that when I was in college, I had the phrase tattooed in his handwriting on my wrist! It was such a special moment I shared with him and now has become even more special as we have since lost my Father unexpectedly to an aggressive form of cancer.
As I was sharing these thoughts with a friend, she encouragingly asked me more questions about my goals and my father in particular. I shared another fun fact that the name Steven Paul’ had been passed down for six generations in my family and that it was my father’s name. She brilliantly suggested combining my first name, ‘Madison’, with my father’s middle name, ‘Paul’ and everything just clicked. ‘Madison Paul’ is a constant reminder of the joy togetherness can bring, and to always do your best. Which is what I strive for—to do my very best to encourage the making of memories, and inspiring others to celebrate with style.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
For fourteen years, I worked as a fashion designer designing Women’s apparel in New York City. My career sent me around the world and country to study colors, trends, style, consumers, and culture. I was always so inspired by the uniqueness of boutiques in these different areas and enjoyed seeing the product displays and trend themes the stores would create. I especially savored the joy I would feel when finding a unique gift for someone while shopping at these locations. I was inspired to bring that joy to others by opening my very own boutique to allow others to have access to unique and memorable things.
Today, I work with entrepreneurs who are passionate about creating goods that spark conversation, and promote items that have a purpose or meaning. By hand selecting each item and striving to provide a mix of merchandise offerings that include small businesses and growing entrepreneurs I create a truly unique shopping experience for my customers. Other things that set Madison Paul apart from other retailers is that we curate gift baskets, offer a gift concierge service where we will help source specific items to solve your gifting needs, and we also host fun community building events at our stores.
When you walk into Madison Paul, you’ll notice that our store is set up in ‘sections’. Each area of the store has a varying theme and serves different needs. These areas include Gentlemen’s accessories, Bridal, Home Decor, baby and children’s apparel and accessories, and gifts throughout. Our customers often say we are a ‘one stop shop’ and we love to hear that we make checking things off the ‘list’ so efficient and fun!
Another exciting thing we do is that we open a Seasonal store called Merry by Madison from September-February every year! It is focused around holiday specific decor and accessories. We kick it off with the Halloween and Fall seasons and then transition into the Christmas season by having multiple tablescape and tree themes. We have events like a craft night, Hot Cocoa Tasting, Mrs. Claus Book Reading, and more.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
In my business-owning journey I’ve learned how important it is to have a financial ’emergency fund’ available. Without having a nest egg of money put aside, every transaction or unexpected cost becomes much more stressful. There are so many excess charges like Workers Compensation, Payroll fees, domain renewal costs, security system subscriptions, etc. that pop up and during the times my nest egg was dwindling, those things felt more concerning than they needed to. In addition, I’ve learned you can’t do everything on your own or rely on Google. I recommend building connections with a Banker, Accountant, Lawyer, etc. so you can troubleshoot any situation that needs their expertise. Initially, I hoped to save money by trying to do my own business bookkeeping, but I realized the stress and the lack of knowledge of the programs and process was eating up valuable hours of my workday. When I eventually ended up hiring someone to handle it for me, I noticed I had much more time and creative energy to do other things for my business.
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
Walk-in foot traffic has been such a great source of new clients for us! We try different things to attract the traffic from using a large A frame sign on the sidewalk, making eye catching window displays, putting balloons out front, and hosting events. Our community also hosts art shows, car shows, and other events for the public so it helps to have those events bringing in new attendees!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.MadisonPaul.com
- Instagram: @MadisonPaulCollection
- Facebook: Madison Paul facebook page
