Today we’d like to introduce you to Annette Faber.
Hi Annette, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I have three boys, and my last baby was a girl! I started teaching heirloom sewing and smocking in my home to friends (two of whom were also expecting little girls). I got a business license and purchased basic sewing supplies that students would need to work on projects during classes. After Kaylee was born, I got a job making valances for a family who was doing some updates in their home. I realized immediately that the money was in window treatments and not in making smocked dresses. Soon afterward, I attended the Custom Home Furnishings Academy in Charlotte and earned multiple certifications in operating a drapery workroom, fabricating drapery, shades, top treatments, pattern drafting, etc. My business was originally Kaylee’s Keepsakes and then became Kaylee’s Creations after making the switch to soft furnishings.
I have been in Greenville for 17 years now, and my business has grown to be approximately eight times the size it was then and continues to grow. We serve the finest interior designers in Greenville. Our clients have been featured in many different magazines, both local and beyond. Our foundation is built on caring for our clients. The job of an interior designer only looks glamorous from the outside, but in reality, it is mostly grueling work. They get in the trenches, but when they come out, there is a fabulously beautiful space left where they were. Someone needs to support and care for the designers! That’s where we come in. We have processes and procedures that have been crafted to make the soft furnishings part of their jobs seamless and stress-free. We take on as much or as little of the process as they are comfortable with so that they can focus on the other parts of their job. We see ourselves, and so do they, as a vital part of their team.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No honest business owner will say the road is smooth but I can honestly say that there are far more days where I love my job than days where I want to quit! The building phase is hard. There are long days and little or no money. You absolutely must push yourself outside your comfort zone and keep showing up if you’re going to succeed. Even at almost 20 years in business, I still learn something new on most days. I’m a lifetime learner, so that part is fun for me, but with learning some mistakes are inevitable. It’s hard when a mistake jeopardizes our profitability, but the lessons that we learn make us better. The first turning point for my business was hiring a business coach. I was stuck at a hobby-level income, and my family needed me to have a “real job” income, so I sought out and hired a coach, Michele Williams of Scarlet Thread Consulting. I am still coaching with her almost 13 years later. When people ask me what she cost, my answer is that I always made more by acting on her advice than I paid her, so she’s never really cost me anything. There is no doubt in my mind that I would NOT be where I am without her in my corner!
I will say that when I entered the agreement with her, I had no idea where the money would come from to pay her each month. Have faith in yourself!
My next “level up” came from one of my clients. We were pushed to a new level of organization and fabrication standards when they came into our business, and we haven’t been the same since. The most recent “level-up” came when my daughter-in-law, aka Operations Manager, came to work with me. She is a process queen and has documented and built processes and procedures, digitized our workflows, and done so many things to increase our professionalism. She has given us the wings that we needed and we are able to fly now. Our next “level up” will come in additional staff and new clientele.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
We make custom window treatments, including valances, cornices, draperies, roman shades, pillows, and bedding. We do anything except upholstery and slipcovers, but I know great people I can point you to for those. I am a connector and love to help people. We specialize in customer care. My team and I genuinely want our clients to feel loved, seen, and valued for who they are, not because they pay us. We want to know what we can do to make their lives easier and to bring them joy. We want them to look like the rock stars that we know they are to their clients. We will do everything within our power to help them out. Our job description is not to deliver exceptionally crafted window treatments; our job is to make our designers feel loved. We do that by delivering exceptionally crafted soft goods on time, every time, while catering to the client’s needs throughout the entire process.
Our processes are designed to instill confidence and ensure clear communication from start to finish. We want our clients to pass the baton and feel safe moving on to other parts of their jobs. We achieve this goal by initiating communication, providing dependable delivery and installation dates, answering questions promptly, taking accurate measures when needed, inspecting and measuring fabric upon arrival, handling fabric returns when necessary, and providing rapid attention when issues arise, among other things.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
We want to be a fun, educational, and safe place to work. We believe in celebrating a job well done with a reward, like our local favorite shop, Claire’s Ice Cream! We may or may not bribe ourselves regularly because we recognize that ice cream makes everything better.
Our team is composed of competent and caring people who share our values (integrity, responsibility, quality, and fun). We see our clients as people with personal lives, hard days, exceptional abilities, and as fellow team members. We document our designer’s preferences, whether specific styles, delivery tendencies, or their “signature” fabrication techniques. We are always looking for ways to go above and beyond –even if it’s as simple as encouraging them by reminding them that they are actual superheroes.
If you want to work with a workroom whose sole purpose is to provide excellent service and exceptional quality, while uplifting and encouraging our designers, we’d love to connect!
Pricing:
- we quote yardage and labor for each job
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kayleescreations.com
- Instagram: @kayleescreations.studio
- Facebook: Kaylee’s Creations
