May's Boutique of the Month

May is here and with the start of a new month we get to announce our new Boutique of the Month for May! Congratulations to Brooke Jacobson, owner of Licorice Lane Shop! 

Brooke has been in business for four years and some of her boutique photos may be very familiar to you because she is one of our testers at CKC.  Brooke does a fabulous job and if you take a look at her boutique you'll see that she definitely runs one to be admired and learned from.  We asked Brooke a little about how she keeps her business running successfully, and here is what she had to say.

How did you get into sewing and what got you to open your own boutique? 

It started when I had my daughter 4 years ago.  I wanted to cloth diaper her, so I started making cloth diapers... and just went from that to sewing her clothes, to getting my business license and opening up my online boutique. 

Being a mom and a boutique owner is hard. How do you find the time to fulfill orders, create new pieces, and just run a business in general? Please run us through your typical work-at-home day. 

Right now I find my weekdays are spent mostly sewing and fulfilling orders.  My 4.5 year old daughter is very independent and will hang out and play in the room while I work. This only happens while my son is in school. Once school is out and both kiddos are home, I have to wait until my husband is home from work to start my work again while he takes on dad duties. After the kids go to bed, I put on a movie or shows on my computer and sit down to work on more orders until "my bedtime." I spend weekends doing both sewing and family time so that I can make sure I don't neglect important time with my family, but any free time I have I am usually working on order. So far this schedule has worked out perfectly to make sure that orders are done on time and new ones can be started and I can still be at home with my children. 

How many items do you have currently listed in your shop that you used a Create Kids Couture pattern to create? 

I do custom orders only and right now I have 28 CKC patterns that they can choose from. 

Where do you find inspiration? 

All over the place! From a customer's idea, to a movie, to something I dreamed up in my mind. 

What is your favorite piece that you have ever created for your boutique? 

Oooh, that's a tough one because I love pretty much all of my creations.  I did make a Primrose for my daughter once. I didn't list it for sale but it's definitely my favorite: 

If you could go back to when you first started your business and tell yourself about the most important thing you've learned as a business owner thus far, what would it be? 

To be confident in your work. I used to second guess myself and my work, therefore I lost out on a lot of business because of that. If I had the confidence back then that I do now, I would be further along in my business than I currently am. 

Thank you, Brooke! That is such great advice! 

If you love Brooke's creations I showed you today, there are so many more available to look at in her shop! Please go show her some love at Licorice Lane Shop and you'll be glad you did. 

Let's Create! ~ Kristen