We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sara Heydens. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sara below.
Sara, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Almost every entrepreneur we know has considered donating a portion of their sales to an organization or cause – how did you make the decision of whether to donate? We’d love to hear the backstory if you’re open to sharing the details.
We are four generations of family striving to make a difference in our community for the benefit of children and animals. Most of our events are done for different charitable causes.
For example, the last few months my grandmother, mother, sister and I, along with my boys have been making homemade pet merchandise and treats to raise money for our local animal shelter. We raised thousands of dollars and purchased a truck load of goods and all of the raised pet beds needed for the kennel. We also held a raffle and raised over $1100 for the local dog rescue last month.
Earlier this year, my dog was lost out in Colorado after a lady tried to commit suicide and slammed into my spouse’s semi truck that was parked. The vehicles caught fire, my spouse was able to get out with our dog but had to go back and rescue the lady who hit him. During this commotion our dog got loose and took off in the remote part or Colorado. During our search for her, we had two ladies who contacted us after hearing our story help us search and trap her. It’s a long story in itself but afterwards we held events to raise money to purchase new equipment and a new large trap for them to thank them for their efforts.
We also do many children’s events like craft projects and entertainment activities. I have a white pony which we dress as a unicorn and do princess/Prince evenings or take her to schools for special activities. We went to a preschool this summer and everyone got to put their colorful handprints on her. We have done magic wand making, Christmas ornaments, a Dino Dig, a Transformation Station which we helped kids make their own custom super hero cape, and so many other things.
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 back background and context?
Creations By Generations is all about family!!!! I came up with the idea of us after years of us doing events and fundraising activities. We wanted to put a name to what we are doing. So along with myself and sister, there is our mother, our grandmother and then my two boys. We work together on so many different events and projects.
I am most proud of my family and our accomplishments but also how close we are. We are able to bring so much joy and happiness to others, making memorable experiences. We are very passionate about animal related causes so most of the charity work surrounds that’.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
Our best source is networking and Facebook. For instance. We partnered with Fetts Toy Depot in the beginning which then opened so many doors to other business partners. Our audience grew through Facebook especially after our comic con booths.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
One of my most memorable moments was this year at our Dino Dig. I had a mother of a little autistic boy who shared concerns of him getting in the sand to look for his treasures. He wanted to do it so badly but she was afraid of any issues that may arise. I’m said I would go and help him try to dig in the pit and we will what happens. He was so fascinated by the dinosaur props in there and the fossils that any of his fears were gone. I handed him his digging tools and he grabbed my hand and had me sit with him. We dug in the sand together and he grabbed my hand and sat on my lap just smiling at me. His mom was watching us in disbelief and was so excited to see him so happy. When he found his treasures he got up and gave me the biggest hug and smile and never said a word. I will never forget that little boy. When a child enjoys something we’ve created it makes the hard work so worth it.
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