We were lucky to catch up with Mandy Burch recently and have shared our conversation below.
Mandy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?
I think your very own definition of success is where you need to start when you are deciding what it takes to be successful. My personal success may not look at all the same as yours. But in general, I think the biggest key in being truly successful is knowing that I have lost nothing by taking chances. I have only gained knowledge, experience, friendship, and so much more. Also remembering that even if your end goal is not achieved, the time and energy and learning and growth you experienced along the way is its own success.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
What Haven’s Place was when I started in 2012 is very different than what it currently is, but one thing that has stayed the same is that as a small business I am and always will be a huge advocate for the little guy. I categorize my business as handmade home decor and gravitate towards all things wood but love to experiment in all mediums. After giving birth to my second child, who is the namesake for this little business, I had to make the hard decision to continue working as a stylist or find something I could do from home. I ultimately decided I needed to be home.
Haven’s Place and all I’ve created in this business has shifted and changed greatly as each year has passed. My creative soul has never been able to make the same exact thing day in and day out. One of the first products I started selling are my Birthday Reminder Boards. This is one item that has carried on through the years. I’ve made huge world maps, bathroom signs, laundry room decor, furniture, logo signs, and most recently wood letter boards. 2021 was one of my bigger shifts into the world of magnets and my newest take on letter boards, the magnetic letter board.
Everything I make tends to have a function. I always want my home decor to pretty, but also functional.
This past year has been very up and down with a big move from Utah to Texas this last July and because of that Haven’s Place has been on the back burner. But something I’m grateful for in this small shop world is the community that is created. It makes the times your business ebbs and flow not so unknown. Your customers always seem to be there for you, and fellow shop owners live the same way and are there to offer support and welcome when you return.
Haven’s Place has taught me to take chances, to be creative, to make goals, and to create community. I’ve learned all the in’s and outs of selling online, shipping, social media, selling in person, designing, packaging, failing, trying again, and so much more. The past eleven years have been amazing!
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I was always scared to just try. I tend to map out what could go wrong in every scenario possible and fear failure. I had to learn that the possibility of success is worth possible failure. I also had to learn that any experience gained along the way is a completely worth the chance you are taking. I also have to remind myself that when asking for something, the worst-case is that you will be told no. But if you don’t ask you will never know.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
I feel like being a stay at home mom while running an online shop, you are always pivoting. Between trying to balance all the things, you have to learn to bend or you will break. One thing that comes to mind specifically is when a product I designed and had sold for many years started popping up all over the seller platform I sold on. Because it wasn’t exactly copied I couldn’t do anything to stop it, but it no longer brings in the money it used to. I could either focus on how angry that made me and become stagnant, or move on and come up with my next great thing. It’s not easy, but being angry never changed what was wrong.
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.havensplace.etsy.com
- Instagram: @havensplace
- Facebook: Www.facebook.com/havensplacedesigns/
Image Credits
@lyndeedesign