Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Molly Switzer. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Molly thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you have any thoughts about how to create a more inclusive workplace?
We started this company during the pandemic to give our kids some work experience that was safe and socially distant. We have learned over almost 3 years that not all of the aspects of the business are a good fit for each individual employee. One prefers to ride along and photograph setups, a couple help their mom organize and execute the setup and pick up, one likes the whole creative experience start to finish, and a couple more are “behind the scenes” help in our shop keeping the large inventory organized. And that’s perfectly fine! The barrier to inclusion is expectation – you have to meet the individual where they are and help them be comfortable or help them grow at their pace. Not every person is going to be able to fill every part of a role and you have to be okay with that.
Molly, 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?
We started on a whim in May of 2020. I was trying to find a service to deliver a gift to a friend and when I looked at the existing options in our area I felt that there was room for a new entry into the market, plus it filled a need for my son and my friend’s son and daughter. We started with basically nothing – one set of signs that spelled out Happy Birthday and some 8-12 inch little birthday decorations. We grew by reinvesting the money we made back into the business and paying the employees a small amount per job. Fast forward and we have a 20×10 space that we call the sign shop and over $10,000 worth of inventory – we can create pretty much any display a customer could want! Our goal was to provide a pace for the young adults to feel good about their “job” and feel part of a team. We frequently do little thing for employee appreciation – we want it to be fun for our 7 employees (and their moms). We are very proud of winning Best of Forsyth 2023 and of getting a vast percentage of our business from repeat customers and referrals.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
I think we offer amazing customer service. We communicate with our clients and send pictures of the display before setup so the customer can add, subtract of correct as necessary. We are very flexible and willing to go above and beyond without charging the customer for things like an extra day here or there or a rush job. We try to foster a real relationship with them and we have been rewarded with referrals, repeat business and votes for local Best of award.
We’d love to hear about you met your business partner.
When the idea for Celebrations by the Yard came to me I reached out to two friends with teens on the spectrum the same age as my son who I felt had the energy and self-motivation to get the idea off the ground – both are also very well connected in our special needs community as well. One was crazy enough to start the journey with me! We worked incredibly hard the first summer because we had such limited inventory and pretty high demand because it was new and there were lots of drive-by parties. It was pretty crazy! 5am setups and 9pm pickups! we are a lot more settled now and have a much more manageable schedule!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://celebrationsbytheyardga.com
- Instagram: @celebrationsbytheyardga
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/celebrationsbytheyardGA