We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Monique Freudenberger. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Monique below.

Monique, appreciate you joining us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

When I thought about starting my business, The Blanket Loft, back in January 2015, I had this vision in the back of my mind that I wanted to create something big. I’ve always been creative and have, ever since I can remember, had this urge to be an entrepreneur. I didn’t know what it would look like, but I felt it in my heart every day. I’ve had several businesses over the years. My husband Dave and I partnered up together and ran a plantation shutter company, sold that, and then started an apparel embroidery/print shop. While we were at a trade show during that time, I was introduced to the process of sublimation, and I knew this was going to be a game changer. I loved the creative outlet of the business, and I learned so much during this time, but I felt it just wasn’t quite the right thing for me, so I sold the apparel business. I knew that I wanted to have an online store, and I kept going back to the sublimation printing process. I knew that blankets were popular, I used to embroider names on them and sell to local customers and even sold some on Etsy, but embroidery is time consuming and limiting. So, I came up with the idea of designing personalized one-of-a-kind blankets where the design could cover the entire blanket. I knew that I wasn’t the only one who was doing this, but I also knew that I could stand out by having the designs more customizable and having excellent customer service. I spent hundreds of hours doing research on competitors, designs, pricing, websites, learning SEO and how to market online. I created about 10 blanket designs, and I found a printer who could print my designs on the blankets and ordered some samples from them. This all took me about 4 months. It’s incredibly intimidating putting your designs out there for the whole world to see, but I decided that I was ready to throw myself out there and see where it went. I created my mockup photos, took pictures of the blankets that my printer had made for me, wrote product descriptions, and set up a website. I officially opened my online store for business in May 2015 and have had an incredible journey.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My mantra at The Blanket Loft is ‘Wrapping the world in a hug… one blanket at a time’. It is all about creating that special, one-of-a-kind, personalized blanket for each client. Each blanket is hand designed by myself, and I personally email each customer with their proof within 2 days of their order to get their approval before I have it printed and made, and I will communicate with them, and make changes until they love the design. My customers include new babies, kids, teens, sports teams, cheer and dance teams, grandmas, moms, dads, basically anyone who loves to wrap up in a blanket. These are such a unique and thoughtful gift for occasions suck as weddings, anniversaries, memorials, birthdays, Christmas, Mother’s Day, etc.
I partner with an B2B company in the USA, who takes my designs and creates the final product. They do an exceptional job for me, creating the high-quality blankets, that I demand, in a quick and efficient time frame. Customers normally get their blankets in 2-3 weeks’ time; although during the holidays it can take a little more time, because it gets extremely busy, so I recommend ordering early for holiday gifts.
I have sourced products and only offer the softest fabrics for my blankets. The blankets are printed with nontoxic inks, and the decoration process embeds the ink into the fibers of the fabric, so they are machine washable (wash in cold, tumble dry medium heat) and will not fade, peel, or crack. The designs will stay bright and vibrant for years.
I have around 300 different design ideas on my website that people can choose from with each design being customizable. Customers can pick colors, fonts, most characters, or clip art are changeable, and obviously the name or names will be changed for each customer. I am constantly adding more designs to keep up with trends and what customers are looking for.
I also offer custom designs, so if they don’t see what they are looking for on my website, or if they have an idea in mind for a unique blanket, customers can email me and let me know what they are looking for and I will create a custom design just for them.
I love creating new designs for customers, and a lot of those designs end up becoming best sellers for me. I feel like it’s all about listening to what my clients want and taking the time to create those designs for them that makes me stand out from my competition.
Customer service and trust is key when ordering from any online company and I want my customers to know that I am human, and I care about each blanket that I make. I am truly honored and grateful to them for trusting me to create a special keepsake for them. I always strive to make the process as simple as possible and for them to have an excellent experience working with me.

I offer several sizes as well as 8 fabric style options
Blanket sizes:
30×40 Small Baby Size $49.99 – $76.99
50×60 Large Throw $59.99 – $93.99
60×80 Extra Large Throw $69.99 – $108.99
Jersey knit baby swaddle $50.99 – $59.99
Hooded Sherpa Blanket $94.99

Fabric Styles include:
Minky Fleece
Tan Sherpa backed
Gray Sherpa backed
Cream Sherpa backed
Tan Faux Fur backed
Gray Faux Fur backed
Heather Gray Sweatshirt
Jersey Knit Swaddle

I am super excited for some changes I have in the works for the coming year. My husband and I have recently moved to a new home where I will have the space to set up my own shop and start printing my own blankets. I have also been listening to feedback from my customers for the past several years and I’ve come up with an exciting new product that I know that my customers will love! I can’t reveal what it is yet, but my goal is to have the new product announced and available on my website by the 2023 holiday season, if not sooner, so stay tuned!

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

I started my business as a side hustle while I was working a full-time job. I worked on my business every extra minute I had; learning, researching, designing, selling. In the first year of business, I had started halfway through the year, and it was slow going at first, but I made about four thousand dollars, which wasn’t bad for a side gig. My goal was, when I was consistently selling enough blankets to replace the income at my full-time job, my side hustle would become my full-time business. I knew that I would get there eventually, and I kept spending all the time I could tweaking SEO, retaking pictures, adding designs, changing designs and of course taking care of my customers with excellent customer service and quality blankets. Sales started to snowball after the first year, slowly at first, but customers kept returning, and referring people to me, and almost 3 years after I started my business, I had more than replaced my income, and had plenty of money saved up from my sales for a good cushion in the bank, so I made the decision to leave my job and just run my business full time. Five years later, sales have kept doubling year over year, and I am so glad that I worked hard and trusted myself to take the risk to quit my job. It’s been absolutely life changing.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

There is a lot of competition in this space, so I knew I would have to have an excellent reputation so that customers would have trust in me and my work. I think a lot of it is that I have always made it a priority to listen to what my customers want and need, if they want custom designs, I am happy to spend the time to get it just how they want it, I try to make the ordering process as simple as possible for my customers, and on the rare occasion that there is an issue, I make sure to resolve it as quickly as possible. My goal is for my customers to have an excellent experience working with me so they will come back, and they do!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.theblanketloft.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theblanketloft/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theblanketloft