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A bit of background.
Growing up in Texas, Susan moved to
Michigan with her husband, Jeff, in early 1995. She
worked on and off for nearly 10 years in childcare, knowing
Motherhood was the one thing she really wanted to do. "I
have always wanted to be around, and work with, children.
It's what I feel like I am meant to do." Now as a mother
of her own children, Suan says "I am blessed with the
opportunity every day."
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The birth of two children and a
business. Susan gave birth to her first child,
Madeline, in December of 1997. By June of 1999 she
had developed CuddleBuns™ and found she had a waiting list
a mile long. Christmas Eve of 2000 her second child,
Jackson, was born and Susan found herself short of both
time and energy to keep up with the orders. Not
wanting to resort to factory production of her diapers, she
decided to sell, and subsequently license, the CuddleBuns™
pattern. "I figured it would allow more moms to stay
at home with their children - just like I had been - while
sewing and selling CuddleBuns™."
CuddleBunsByU™ was an instant success - so
much so that Susan found herself needing to sell off the
notions and supplies portion of the site, 'SewShop,' to
fellow colleague, Amy Ludlam, whom Susan calls "A smart
and savvy businesswoman in her own right." Later, Susan
introduced other diapering patterns into her store and CuddleBunsByU™ evolved into today's BabyByYou!™
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At the heart of her business: truth &
beauty. Over the years of Susan's entrepreneurial
career, she learned a lot about herself - "That I can work for
24 hours straight. That I can survive on a pot of coffee
a day. That I have a voracious passion for marketing and
I have learned to trust it, even when my vision of a project
goes against the grain." Susan's biggest lesson
in marketing is enmeshed in two beliefs that she attempts to
incorporate into every project - truth and beauty.
"I never want to trick, coerce, or otherwise
snare someone into buying a product or service. I want
the truth and beauty of whatever the idea may be to shine so
clearly, that a customer is compelled to make a decision.
Whether or not they buy or believe isn't as important as the
fact that, for a moment, they really thought about it.
And I believe that my calling is to put everything in its
best, and truest light."
A focused vision. Susan's focus
has now moved on to her newest purchase, WAHMall - renamed
KittyBids.
Having now sold BabyByYou!™ to
SewShoppe.com owner, Amy Ludlum, Susan's vision and design ideas for an auction
super-site catering to mothers - in particular those mothers
who desire innovative products for their children - can be
displayed. "The best, and often most unsung, aspect of
Work-At-Home-Mothers is their innovation" says Susan.
"Cloth diapers have been selling commercially
for decades, however with the advent of the web it seems
diapering technology alone has surpassed all commercially
available items by mother-pioneering in the past 5-10
years. FuzziBunz, HoneyBoy!, FuzBaby; these are
incredible examples of the resourceful and creative spirit
that belongs to mother-inventors. And these same
products were simply not available less than five years ago."
Susan recognizes the power of online auction
houses to help small business Work-At-Home-Mothers to break
into the online mothering community. She felt that
WAHMall offered this promise when it opened in the summer of
2000. Auction sites, Susan says, are one of the best
ways to get noticed and the most exciting. "I'll never forget
my first auction. Literally holding my breath as I
pressed 'Submit!'" Having watched new moms create and
grow their businesses at BabyByYou!™ was an
amazing experience Susan says she will never forget. "I
look forward to watching the maiden voyage of the next big
inventor - and hope I might even be able to say, 'I knew her
when.'"
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