We are little extra giddy about this week’s blog post because we have been fan-girling this lady for awhile now. Cassie Huckabay, owner of My Fair Ellie, is not only someone we look up to professionally, but we heart her on a personal level as well.
She is someone that turned wanting to earn enough money to be able to pay for her son’s swimming lessons into a full time business that employs military mamas who want to stay at home with their kids. Congrats to her because she just celebrated her one-year anniversary being self-employed after leaving her job as a nurse at Women’s and Children’s Hospital on December 31st.
She makes us laugh. She makes us cry (from laughing so hard). She is someone you should get to know.
Q. What are some of your business’s highs and lows from 2019?
A. Highs: 1 Million Cups, HER Magazine cover, enjoying the fact that it was my first year doing exclusively MFE instead of balancing being a full time nurse and business owner.
Lows: Figuring out how to balance work at home life, whoa. LOL The tornado, losing some product, and seeing an area so close to my home be so permanently changed.
Q. With the start of 2020, what are some of your personal and professional goals?
A. Eek. Goals are a tough topic for me. I feel like my goals are either too small and I underestimate myself, or they’re unrealistic and I feel inadequate for not reaching them. So instead of focusing on specific numerical goals (ie 10k instagram followers or so much money in sales), I try to make my goals more broad sticking with a word of the year, or sectioning out time in my day for things I consider important, then consistently keeping with that.
My 2020 word: Accountability
Q. How do you track your progress?
I am very diligent about using my planner. I write down to do lists, track daily shop sales, keep ideas for future preorders, etc. Having a paper checklist helps me remember and makes me feel accomplished as I check items off the list.
Q. Your main focus is always on your family. How do you keep them a priority and still run a successful business? How do you stay well-balanced?
A. By far the most common question I get is “How do you manage the balancing act of being a stay at home mom and a business owner?” My reflex answer was always… I don’t. But over the summer I really thought harder about it, people wanted a detailed answer and I wanted to give it to them. Balancing act. That elusive life where one arm holds the perfect existence of everyone you love (husband/significant other, kids, family, friends, work) and one arm holds the healthiest version of yourself (physically, emotionally, etc) - all in perfect harmony. But the longer I thought about the word balance, the more I came back to the word act. Balancing act. That’s it, it’s all an act, a show, a sham, as fake as a Nicholas Sparks movie. I don’t have the perfect balance, although I guess somedays I’m faking it well? Grace is the key to my balance. It was my word of 2019. Grace, grace upon grace upon grace. Grace with my kids, grace with my husband, but most of all, grace with myself. Focusing on the things I can control, dedicating little bits of time to the things I find important and then watching as the rest falls into place.
Q. What does a typical day in your life look like?
A. My goal is to wake up everyday at 6 AM, it gives me just enough time to shower, get dressed and start breakfast for the kids. I found that if I can get even a 30 minute head start to them, I feel so much more accomplished in my day. I can’t really tell you what happens between 6:30 to 7:45, it’s complete chaos. Breakfast, getting kids dressed, finding library books and backpacks and pushing everyone out the door. By 8 AM my house is quiet and I’m in the office starting my day. I pickup Nellie at lunch time from her preschool program, get home, feed her, (cross my fingers and) put her down for a nap and then get back to the office til 3 when Henry is home. We get his homework done and then I can sometimes sneak in another hour of work before Nellie is awake and my husband is home. Evenings are always crazy - extracurriculars, family dinner night with extended family, sometimes work if my day wasn’t as productive - it really varies. But the kids are normally in bed by 7 and that gives me the option to sneak a few more hours of work in!
Q. How do you get/stay motivated?
A. I am motivated by checklists, little rewards (think iced latte or High Rise scone) and new shop items. I LOVE taking photos and sharing sneak peeks of new designs because our customers are so fantastic about sharing feedback. Their likes and comments are incredibly motivating to the MFE team!
Q. Without giving away too many secrets, do you have any new products you are launching in 2020?
A. YESSSSS! So we just released an interchangeable bow! This was in the works for a LONG TIME! It’s compatible with our badge buddies and it gives our bow moms an opportunity to purchase one bow, that can then have endless possibilities when you can change out the center. Beyond that, we are in the planning process of a fun new way to store your badge buddies, but we aren’t quite ready to share all the details!
Q. What tools do you use in your business that makes your life easier?
A. Top 3 business tools for me… Emily Ley Planner, Phone and Dymo label printer. Since we ship just shy of 2,000 orders in a month, my Dymo is my best friend… oh and my postman! LOL He never complains when he sees the latest pile of outgoing mail.
Q. What is your favorite app?
A. Rhonna Design! LOVE using it for adding text to photos/building a collage, etc.
Q. What are your favorite books and/or podcasts?
A. I am a HUGE podcast listener! It is so easy to listen while I work. I really have two categories of podcasts… true crime or personal development. LOL. For my true crime fix my favorites are... Crime Junkies, Live & Die in LA, Dr. Death, and The Thing About Pam. For personal development I love listening to Oprah’s Super Soul, Rise Podcast, and anything with Brene Brown.
Q. Who are your mentors?
A. So one year ago, almost to the day, I met these two girls who were standing in this construction site of an office space enthusiastically telling me about all the great entrepreneurial activity that would soon be going down there. I totally drank the Kool Aid and signed up to be a founding member of their “coworking space” but I had NO clue how much it would change my journey. Sarah Bohl and Missy Creed have helped me forge business and community connections over the last year, and build my confidence as a business owner. But since they write this blog, I’m not sure they’ll use that part, so I’m also going to include my non Jeff City Blog mentors… my mother, my husband, the MFE team… those people may not have a background in business, but they keep me grounded, and have encouraged me to go with my gut. In fact, I totally read my answers to my mom before I sent them to you guys! LOL!
Q. What advice would you give to new entrepreneurs in our area who are wanting to start their own business?
A. Surround yourself with good people - people who care about you, your business, your life, all of it. Prioritize, your life is only going to get crazier, so prioritize what’s important so you don’t lose sight of those things. Learn to celebrate the failures, because that’s how you up your game. And remember, especially handmade people, it’s all about that hustle. I know that a thousand other people make bows or badge reels… but a thousand other people don’t hustle like I hustle.
Q. What do you think Jeff City needs?
A. That’s easy, Jeni’s ice cream. And I really need Jeff City to completely connect the Greenway before my new Madsen Cycle arrives! Hahaha!
Q. What’s your favorite aspect of being a local business owner in Jefferson City?
A. GOSH DANG I LOVE JCMO! I love that I see my customers around town and I recognize my product on people I see in the grocery store! And vice versa, I love that my customers recognize me and my family and I have the opportunity to meet new people as a result of owning my business in this community!
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