Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Natalie Morow. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Natalie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Day to day the world can seem like a tough place, but there’s also so much kindness in the world and we think talking about that kindness helps spread it and make the world a nicer, kinder place. Can you share a story of a time when someone did something really kind for you?

Back in 2009 I took a leap of faith and decided to start my own business;; creating a line of custom women’s accessories. My close friend, Mary, believed in me and my little business venture and graciously offered to host a party for me. Mary’s enthusiasm and support boosted my belief in myself. On a Saturday morning, Mary opened up her house to a group of friends and acquaintances so that they could browse my sample products and place orders. The event was a huge success! In the years since, Stansberry has grown to be something I’m extremely proud to own. If it wasn’t for the kindness of my friend, I’m not sure my business would even exist. I’m forever grateful.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Designing and creating has always been a part of my life. I grew loving fashion and playing “dress-up.” As a child I played with Barbie’s and also designed and made clothes by hand for them. I was also very involved in 4-H growing up and would sew my own clothes and other crafty items for the county fair and Iowa State Fair. I’ve also been creative…I took every available art class in high school and enjoyed drawing, painting and making pottery.

After graduation from Drake University with a BA in Journalism I worked in Des Moines as an account manager for a couple of local ad agencies and also worked in advertising for a large financial corporation. While I appreciate all the opportunities that this career path provided, I knew in my heart it wasn’t my passion. I made the life-changing decision to leave the corporate world and become a fashion-entrepreneur. I launched Stansberry in 2009; it is named to honor my grandmother Edna Stansberry and Mother Doris Stansberry Morrow.

Stansberry offers an effortlessly chic collection of scarves, hair accessories and bridal veils. Each pieces is handmade.(by me) using the highest amount of care and quality fabrics. I like to think my accessories are classic with a bit of whimsy.

My primary goal for Stansberry is to inspire women, no matter their stage in life, to have fun with fashion accessories The Stansberry design philosophy is: “Good design does not need to be complex. A simple and effortless product that offers a multitude of styling options is often best”.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Fashion styles and tastes change and given that, my business has changed and adapted as well. Since 2009, I’ve made two major pivots in my accessories business. When I first started, custom, fabric handbags and clutches were extremely popular. I loved collaborating with my customers, helping them select fabrics and handbag styles. After a 3-4 years of I felt it was time to expand my line and added blanket scarves and neck scarves to the mix. Trends were changing and fabric handbags were beginning to wane in popularity. I eventually stopped designing completely and transitioned into scarves solely. Then two years ago I added a bridal collection and have pivoted to become more of a special occasion destination. This latest pivot has proven to be my best decision yet!

How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.

I sell on both Etsy( www.etsy.com/shop/stansberry) and my own website via Squarespace (stansberrydesign.com). Etsy is extremely user friendly and makes it easy for a business to set up shop in a few hours. With Etsy, customers are already have a certain amount of familiarity and is a trusted ecommerce platform. Etsy does take small percentage of sales, but for me it’s absolutely worth the money. for customer reach.

Reaching customers via my own website has proven to be more challenging with the cost of doing my own marketing for customer acquisition. Social media plays a more important role as well, which can become time consuming for someone who wears all the hats!

Contact Info:

• Website: stansberrydesign.com
• Instagram: @stansberrydesign
• Other: www.etsy.com/shop/stansberry

Image Credits
Photographer: Figment Art Photography