Spark & Hustle and a giveaway:)

We recently attended Tory Johnson's Spark & Hustle conference and left feeling beyond motivated! We learned soooo much from so many amazing business women. It was a great experience. I highly recommend reading Tory's book. You can purchase it here. You can also go here to see if they are coming to a city near you:)

AMAZING speakers Shameeka Ayers & Suzanne Sevier

Our new friends with Sarah Palisi Chapin, CEO of Hail Merry

Us with the AMAZING and totaly down to earth Tory Johnson:)

Tammy with Gigi Butler, owner of Gigi's Cupcakes!

So here are some things we learned:

•  It's impossible to please everyone. I am VERY aware of this. I constantly get emails asking why our items are priced like they are, then those are followed by emails from happy customers telling us how much they LOVE their item(s) and the quality. Personally I don't know why people feel the need to voice their negative opinions, but I do know it makes me more and more thankful for the very loyal customers we have:)

Awesome bracelets by Tory Johnson:)

• Make it happen!!! This is my new mantra. There are so many things on our to do list that I have been putting off because I'm scared of what may happen. But I've come to learn that if I don't go for it and take that chance someone else will. So we are on a mission to make it happen!!! If you've been thinking of doing something like a celebrity gifting, pitching to local media or editorials, JUST DO IT! I promise, you won't regret it!

• Always be networking! I love meeting new people and pushing their business to our fans on facebook and instagram! YOU ARE NOT IN COMPETITION WITH ANYONE!!!!! The quicker you realize this the happier you will be and the better your business will do. You have your own story with your own style. There is only one of you! Tell that story, show your style, and stop worrying about what everyone else is doing. I have seen WAY too much "bullying" from businesses lately. Chill the hell out! :) There is enough room in this big ole' world for us all. Building relationships with other businesses will only help you. Bullying other businesses will only hurt you. It also makes you into the evil bitch monster that no one wants to associate with and that's never good! lol

• Original ideas are very rare these days. We are all generally inspired by the same things. I've seen sellers release almost identical items at the same time! Neither of them knowing what the other is doing. More than likely you didn't "invent" the idea that you've come up with. There are very few inventors out there. You can have similar items as others and they will have your twist because they are made and designed by you! You have your own style which is not like anyone else. For example, my lovely pen pal Jennifer owns Blooming Lotus Jewelry. You're probably thinking "umm, hello, you guys are competition" but we aren't! And we bounce ideas off each other and help each other all the time!  We both have very similar fashion styles but are still different. She is more yoga inspired bohemian and we are more country inspired bohemian. Below you can see a stack from each of us. Very different feel and meaning behind them:)

Hippie Stack by HFG

Bee Inspired Stack by BLJ

We are now working on really getting to know our customers and would LOVE some feedback! Take a moment to fill out the survey below and then leave us a comment letting us know you've done so. We will be giving away a couple of these babies:)

We've picked 3 winners!!! Kimberly, Sara Pollack & Kel78belle please email your full name and address to

info @ horsefeathersgifts.com :)

Organzing this little biz....

We've been slacking on blogging lately. Attempting to get ourselves organized again since our little biz has about trippled in size since the beginning of the year:) I feel like things are finally coming together. We had absolutely no idea where we really wanted things to go or where we wanted to end up, but we have been given so many opportunities which have helped guide us along the way. I've read so many great articles on indie businesses lately, my favorite being ones by Gussy Sews. I mean how smart is this, put all your notes and post its and goals and ideas in one binder! Why didn't I think of that?!!?

This is my goal for the evening. Create a nice little home for all the ideas and designs that are the chaotic mess on my desk.

{Image via Gussy Sews}

Back in December I stumbled upon some great FREE printable's by Life Your Way that have really helped me plan out what our goals are for our biz. {There are also free printable's to organize just about any part of your world:)} About mid December I started jotting down my yearly goals for 2012. Did I expect to accomplish EVERY DANG ONE by March? NO! But was it fan-freaking-tastic to go back and have to create more goals because we had already accomplished our entire year? YES:) The goals set in Dec. were a bit more about getting our name out there more. Check. So now we really should focus on running this little biz (yes, it's sorta backwards but hey, that's how we roll in the south:)

Goals for HorseFeathers Gifts 2012

• Get in a national magazine
• Attend a celebrity gift lounge
• Average sales over X amount per month
• Focus on wholesale aspect of our biz
• Create more of a brand for ourselves
• Get jewelry on Pretty Little Liars (yes, Chelsea here, and I am addicted)
• Regularly blog!

Things that we accomplished that were NOT on our goals list:

1. Get interviewed on LIVE national TV
2. Mingle with celebs at a super fab Hollywood night club
3. Made a name for ourselves in Hollywood (we've been invited back 4 times already!)
4. Asked to fly out to be interviewed on Extra with Mario Lopez (we will be doing this on our next LA trip:)
5. Have our jewelry on TWO different TV shows. You'll be seeing our jewels on Disney's Jessie & on Nickelodeons Victorious

I honestly cannot believe how much has happened this year so far! It is completely insane to think about. We are seriously so fortunate to have all these amazing opportunities come our way and we truly appreciate everything. (for real!)

So back to getting organized....

Last month my momma, Karrie and I all got ourselves Erin Condren's Life Planner. Holy moly was that a grand idea! Besides the fact that we all now have events and deadlines and all that jazz in ALL our planners (you wouldn't believe how many times none of us knew when we were supposed to be doing a show!hahaha) but there are also totally adorable inspirational sayings throughout the entire planner! It is just fab I tell you!

So with all this organizational goodness going on I plan to keep you up to date on what adventures we are on and the journey of growing our biz:)