Today we’d like to introduce you to Shelly Matthews
Hi Shelly, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I moved to San Diego from Michigan as a traveling nurse. I met one of my best friends right away Kelly Maidl whom was also a traveling nurse from New Jersey. We both have worked 20 years in the medical field and wanted to explore a business that would allow us to be creative and in nature. We both love the seasons being from the east coast/midwest. We love decorating with our kids for the holidays and we came up with the idea to bring the holidays to people’s doorsteps. We named our business Seasonaldoorsteps. Our initial business idea was to focus on fall and pumpkins, however we have had customers ask for all different holiday decor. We have decorated for halloween, fall, Christmas, Valentine’s Day and succulents and spring flowers. We aim to bring our customers joy throughout each season. We know life can be busy as working moms. So we wanted a business that could help other busy parents by bringing the decor to them.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We originally wanted all the plants to be live. But we learned wreathes and some things need to be artificial so the decor lasts the season. We focus on live plants with some artificial decor tossed in. We had to learn and how to build and business and advertise. This was a new journey for both of us and we had lots of friends and family that guided us along the way.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Our business is called Seasonal Doorsteps, a porch decorating service. We decorate clients front doorstep for the seasons and holidays. We have so much fun with it! We love gardening and getting our hands dirty, we make unique potted plant arrangements and wreaths for each home, we love working with pumpkins, pines, and beautiful flowers sourced locally. We love that decorating allows us to explore our creative side outside of the hospital. Life is hectic, families are working hard, and it feels good to bring holiday cheer to their homes and neighborhoods. we donate all pumpkins at the end of the season to local farms to feed the animals.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
We have invested all of our personal money in starting this business. We do not have any investors. We are not usually risk takers and this new adventure has definitely put us outside our comfort zone. As our friends tell us that have businesses… “If you don’t go for it you will never know”
Pricing:
- Small pumpkin package
- Medium pumpkin package 600
- Large pumpkin package 800
- Christmas tree package 500
- Spring valentines package 400
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://Instagram.com/seasonaldoorsteps
- Other: Seasonaldoorsteps@gmail.com
