We recently connected with Misty Odenweller and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Misty, thanks for joining us today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?
I am a practical, crafty person with many skills and talents from floral design to yarn crafts. And after spending what I thought was an exorbitant amount of money on a homecoming mum for my son’s girlfriend their sophomore year, I freaked out. I could have done so much good with the amount of money I spent. It ate at me for an entire year. A friend encouraged me to make my own and start making them for others. I just didn’t have a clue what I was doing or how I would create other unique designs beyond this one.
So, I went to the store, bought a bunch of supplies, went home to begin creating and playing. Once I was done, I knew I wanted to make more. So, I decided I wanted to make it a fundraiser for our schools tuition assistance fund. I did this for many years. But from that plan, it grew to supporting other schools with fundraisers for bands, cheer, etc.
About the second year in, someone in the industry started a professional group on facebook. It is now known as Mums Inc. and we have changed the way suppliers look at our industry. They used to not care what we, as mum makers, thought or what we needed and wanted, and today, they seek us out for this information.
Once I joined the group, I became a board member, and my craft and hobby grew to be a business. I am now sold out every season. I ship state wide. I have been on ABC, CBS, and NBC local news. I have a showroom affectionately named the Mumdom and the BBB — braids, boa, and bling room. I have learned that Facebook and Instagram aren’t where my clients come from, but they come from Pinterest where I get as many as 170,000 views during our in-season marketing.
My “fundraising hobby” has grown into a ministry. I know my role is to be here to make beautiful creations, but also be a light unto others. I have prayed with my clients, helped those who can’t afford a homecoming mum, fixed nightmare issues, and grown to love serving them, the members of Mums Inc., and God.
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 background and context?
Mumstrocities by Misty started to raise money to help others, while creating beautiful traditional creations that fit into the budget of the individual. However, it grew to be a ministry that blessed me more than it blessed my clients and the community around me.
I consider it an honor to pray over every mum/garter and for the recipient that will receive the special creation and the purchaser. This has provided me many opportunities to pray with my clients in person, over the phone, and even out of season when the family or student might request prayer from me.
The last thing I put on a mum is a sticker that has my name and contact on the back along with a scripture from the Bible. Each year, I ask the Lord to provide me the scripture he would have me place on the back of my mums. I like that I send each one off knowing I have sent the word of the Lord.
Here is the scripture for 2022:
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
Hebrews 13:8 ESV
Like most professional mum makers, my customers are those looking for a customized creation that reflects their interests and tastes completely. They are looking for a designer that will pour into their mum or garter as if it was our only order. We appreciate and get to know each and every one of our clients in order to create the mum of your dreams. We believe this is more than a one-day item, it holds a lifetime of memories. There is a sense of pride.
The thing that sets me apart is, “bigger isn’t better” in my mum’s world. It must be beautiful and tasteful. For those that are in the industry and those that pay attention and do their research, they can all point out one of my mums based on the sophistication and elegance of my branding. I was asked to make a Chick Fil A-themed mum by a very good client. I told her, I don’t do gaudy things. I will make it, but my way. It will be pretty and elegant like all my others.
Don’t get me wrong! I have made huge mums, but not like the ones in the bed of a truck or front and back on the girl. They can be obscenely big, just not gaudy big. If that is what you are looking for, I am not your designer.
While I am a lifelong crafter and personally do things for myself and as gifts, I have chosen to pair my business back down to just mums. This decision came when the industry standards and trends began to shift, as well as when my time became more precious to me. I used to make about 160 mums and garters a year. On my own, no employees, and that meant I slept about 4 hours a night during September and October. But with all the braids and custom cutouts that go into these creations, there just isn’t enough time anymore. A few years ago, I became a Mimi, our travels increased, and my personal time became more of a quality of life issue. I now focus on about 80 a year, and about 50 pee wee mums for a local little league football team. I spend all year braiding and preparing to help me have the production I like to do in a more reasonable lifestyle.
What I am most proud of…my faith in God. I am known as a spiritual leader in my community, the mum industry, in Mums Inc., and to my customers. My clients know my faith and many choose me from my website because of my faith over other website searches. I am unapologetic. I cannot tell you the number of God moments that have happened through this craft and my faith. Even my logo reflects my faith.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
When I started to grow my social media presence, I noticed my sales were increasing. I thought it was based on the fact that I had added Instagram to my Facebook and Pinterest work.
Honestly, I wasn’t really even doing my Pinterest posts. However, as with any good business owner, I started looking at the stats and numbers. Where were people finding me and where were they coming to me from. I realized that I was missing out on my strongest area. Pinterest is where everyone was locating me and finding me. I realized my 170,000 views and engagements during my in season marketing and 40K-50K of sporadic marketing posts where 90% of my growth was coming from.
I will say, I am no IG influencer and really don’t have a presence there, but what I have is an organic and real relationship with my clients and people that follow me. Not all my posts are mum related. In fact, most aren’t. They are me in my natural element/state. They are funny things about my dogs, grandson, my thoughts, etc. I am just me and real. That helps me stay engaged with my clients throughout the year.
I mentioned that I am in a professional organization of mum makers. We have worked hard to create a “professional level and standard”. We don’t have a problem with the crafter or pop up shops, but we want to set ourselves apart and BE different. That is what I have tried to do with my social media and interactions with my clients.
Have you ever had to pivot?
My industry is different from many other businesses. As a rule, a majority of my sales used to happen September-October. I would do in those two months what many cottage businesses would do in a 6 month period of even a year. If you figure each of my creations can take anywhere from several hours to days to make, that is tough to achieve with only 2 months to make 160 items. Factoring in shifting styles and trends, I had to pivot into a different method of production or plan of action. Another issue in my industry is there isn’t any way to gauge or know what to produce or prepare for in advance. One year I have every girl in Texas ordering rose gold and the next year, I have 1 or 2. I might have the most popular mum ordered by the 10″ spectacular mum from me and the next year they all want triples. I have to be prepared for it all as I make mums for ALL OVER! Many mum makers have a few schools and then they are done. Or they may pick up a senior mum here or there and they don’t have to have all the color selection I do. But I am not that kind of business. I can pretty much service any school order and any specialty color add on to a senior mum. That has taken 12 years of growth and planning.
All that being said, I had to pivot about three years ago. I had to learn, I couldn’t make all mums and I had to say “NO,” and I had to learn how I could make the most of my popularity and still keep my sanity and health. That is when I pivoted in two areas.
1. After I learned I had to say NO, I am booked, I gave up all my other crafting sales. I strictly work all year long to braid all the intricate braids that go on mums today and I had to prepare supplies and be ready to grab and assemble. Things don’t look as pretty and organized as I like in my workspace, but I had to give up on that in order to have my mums and flowers out of their packaging, wired so they don’t fall apart once placed on the crown of the mum, and that means they take up more space and can’t be stored in the space that was allotted for them. That means I have to figure out how to store and organize pre-cut strips of ribbon instead of on a nice and neat roll on a shelf that can be manageable and accessible. The same thing for strips of bling to be used. If I precut and store pieces to use, it can save me time in assembling. If I unwrap and steam boas I can save time in season, but I have to store them and have feathers everywhere in the meantime.
Making those and many other time saving tips throughout the year helped me produce in less time during the critical homecoming crunch months. This isn’t exactly a new practice, I just took it to a much more extreme early prep schedule and plan than most.
2. I decided I needed to train my current clients to order MUCH EARLIER than ever and earlier than anyone wants to think about. I had to start shifting the thought process of the industry and get them to realize that if you want a qualified, top notch, highly sought after mum designer, you were going to need to order as much as 6 months earlier than the Homecoming Season. It has taken some time, but it is working. I am also seeing the trend in my Mums Inc professional group this year that at least 45% have shifted and opened up their ordering early with me and are actively marketing when the season is open. I gave helpful hints and tips to make the most of the off season at our conference in April and many are moving in the same direction as me. MORE IMPORTANTLY, our clients are paying attention and placing orders now.
Homecoming season and Homecoming Mums are a huge deal in Texas high school life and football. We are an important part of that tradition. People will spend from $120-$800 plus and item with me. I never know what the season will bring me in client orders. I just know that I want to be the most prepared possible so I can reach a larger audience.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.MumstorcitiesByMisty.com
- Instagram: @mumsbymisty
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mumstrocitiesbymisty
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3AA9cbuTZZGnMcdgOhrx1A
- Other: Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/modenweller
Image Credits
Christi Muhle took my headshot and I do have her permission.