We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Samantha & Harold Albert a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Samantha & Harold, thanks for joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

We started this company as a hobby. With family, kids, and traditional 9-5 corporate finance jobs it became something fun for us to do on the side. We are both originally from Florida, so Flamingo just seemed like the right name to pick that meant something to both of us. We started posting on Facebook the creations we were making and we had people start asking to purchase things. In our traditional 9-5 jobs we were laid off several times and this was a way to keep our heads above water as we navigated layoffs. As we were growing, we had discussed many times that something had to give. We couldn’t maintain the volume and our crazy schedules. My husband was laid off again right around the time we were discussing potentially one of us leaving our jobs to do this full time and we took it as a blessing in disguise and a sign that we should just go for it, and we did! Flamingo Ridge Designs took off and we have been able to expand more than we thought possible when we first started.

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

We are a husband and wife duo who started the company as a hobby. We have four children and reside in Cincinnati, OH in Anderson Township. My husband has a love of woodworking and I have a love for crafting and we blended the two together. We offer a wide range of products. We are most known for custom items like our signs, cups, shirts, cutting boards and other home décor. We have a wide range of machines that help us, but our favorite is our laser machine that allows us to cut different images and designs into wood.

Our favorite thing to do is to bring a customer’s vision to life. Many other companies have you select from a catalog or pre-made items. We design from scratch and let the customer have a full say in their designs. We help walk them through the design process and even provide mock-up pictures so they can see what their design looks like before we even make it. We are most proud of how we have expanded. Most of our customers come to us strictly by word of mouth from other customers. We treat everyone like family and want each person to have the best experience when purchasing from us.

The level of customer service we provide is key to our success. When you purchase from Flamingo Ridge Designs, you know you are going to get a quality product that you are happy with at a reasonable price.

How’d you meet your business partner?

My husband and I first met 12 years ago working for a local healthcare company in Cincinnati. We quickly became friends and realized we had so much in common. We are both originally from Florida and we discovered that our families in Florida only lived about 30 minutes away from each other in the Tampa/Clearwater area. Our friendship grew and we got married 5 years ago. Flamingo Ridge Designs was given the name due to our love for Florida and it had meaning for both of us.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

We started this company as a hobby. With family, kids, and traditional 9-5 corporate finance jobs it became something fun for us to do on the side. We are both originally from Florida, so Flamingo just seemed like the right name to pick that meant something to both of us. We started posting on Facebook the creations we were making and we had people start asking to purchase things. In our traditional 9-5 jobs we were laid off several times and this was a way to keep our heads above water as we navigated layoffs. As we were growing, we had discussed many times that something had to give. We couldn’t maintain the volume and our crazy schedules. My husband was laid off again right around the time we were discussing potentially one of us leaving our jobs to do this full time and we took it as a blessing in disguise and a sign that we should just go for it, and we did! Flamingo Ridge Designs took off and we have been able to expand more than we thought possible when we first started.

We have done everything through Facebook and word of mouth. We started in our local area and through Facebook and local customers sharing, we have customers all over the US. We have shipped to several different states over the last year as we have grown. We have upgraded machines to help meet the demand. Our goal down the road would be to open up an actual storefront location. A huge milestone for us was being in the position to not only upgrade our machines, but to be able to give back to our community. We have given back to several local youth organizations and schools in our area.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flamingoridgedesigns/
• Website: flamingoridgedesigns.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flamingoridgedesigns
• Other: Facebook VIP Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1406358546454883